fashion blog

Lets start the week with some cake! The other day I was a guest at a radio show where we talked about the usual things that I tend to visit various shows for, but also had some chit chat on different things, one of them being food. But I can't really asnwer the question of weather I cook or not correctly. Perhaps a boring  ' sometimes ' is the right answer. Most of the time I just make what I can get away with quickly (and, as you may recall, due to how I work I most often buy something fast that I have in my car...sniff). But sometimes I do cook properly, and mainly tend to bake things. And I have a habit of not really following recipes, but rather get inspired by them, and often coming up with things myself. So - here is a semi-raw, no-bake, vegan and  gluten free cheesecake without white sugar that I put together for Easter. Ok, I know the above categories will make some go "blah" but for me the thing with making these "free of"-cakes is that they sho...

This is a quick 15-min   dish that I usually   make a big pot of and bring to work the following days. You can sneak a lot of your daily vegetables into this. They key is seasoning it with ajvar relish, which is a roasted paprika paste that you can get in most larger stores. The ajvar makes a really yummy combo with the salty halloumi. If you want to make a vegan version choose firm tofu instead, but then add some salt when you fry it. You will need: -chopped/sliced   vegetables - I have kale cabbage, carrot and onions.   -1 jar of tomato-vegetable pasta sauce. You can of course make your own tomato sauce but then this is no longer a quick dish to make. -1 250g pack Halloumi cheese -Ajvar relish  +  Cauliflower rice (steamed grated cauliflower) to serve with, for even more daily veggie bonus.   Tastes good with any actual full grain rice as well, or a 50/50 combo of any rice and cauli-rice. Possibilities folks! Fry the vegetables and halloumi in a ...

Do you still have apples from this fall? One of my favourite things to make of autumn apples is apple mash with ginger! Apple mash is what we usually cook of apples around here; as in smoother than jam with bits and looser than a hard marmalade.  I usually make one jar spiced with vanilla as well, but the ginger version is my favourite -just grate a little chunk of peeled organic ginger at the end of cooking the mash and enjoy a spicy treat that goes well as a jam on pancakes, porridge and peanutbutter sandwhiches (especially!) but due to it's taste also is a great add to salty foods like grilled tofu or meat.

Buongiorno! I am still in Italy and hopefully eating some nice pasta or gelato (not or ! AND) plus enjoying myself some wine. Meanwhile, for the rest of you, we have a throwback to a creamy mushroom pasta I did some time ago with walnuts and chive from the back porch.  The chives were from the back porch that is. The walnuts were from Lidl. (The mushrooms however were almost from the back porch as well; porcinis my father-in-law picked last autumn.)  My friend Dixie who has worked in many restaurants before gave me the advice to add a little bit of coffee to a mushroom sauce to bring out their taste and so I did, and so it did as well. Try it! Otherwise this one took cream (I use oat cream), salt and pepper and garlic. 

Altough being stacked up in every store for the moment, it still seems I am in the minority of Finns actually rejoicing that mämmi season is here! Well at least if you ask my Facebook feed, that is. It is a short and sweet (and a bitter one, if we are being literal and going after that taste here) season, lasting only for a week or two around Easter. Once my parents did this thing though where they froze mämmi and had it for midsummer dessert. With  Christmas dishes for dinner. (It tasted wrong on so many leves, but was rather fun of course) Traditionally meant as a dessert, I like to have my mämmi (or memma, as we say in Swedish) for breakfast. I buy the version without sugar that is somehow sweetened slowly by itself. Don't ask, can't explain how it's done. As I posted here some seasons before, I started having mine with fruit and quark instead of the traditional cream and sugar. So I can both piss off people by saying I actually like mämmi, or then the tradtionalists by...

When I don't "have anything at home" and need to cook dinner I tend to make this tomato-lentil-noodle soup. I still always have lentis, crushed tomatoes and coconut milk at home, and this one is ready in no-time. Double the batch of soup if you want this to be Tuesday-soup and Wednesday-stew aswell, it tastes just as good a couple of days later! I think I've posted some version of this before but that was so many years ago so here you go again - This soup takes: 1,5 dl red lentils A handful of rice noodles (or noodles of your choice) 1 can of crushed tomatoes 1/2 - 1 can of coconut milk Chopped garlic (All measurements are approximate. I never measure. Not sure if it's even possible to fuck this up, you can have it more creamy or more tomaty if you like, everything works) Cook everything together in the order above. Choose the amount of water yourself, depending on if you want your soup thicker or runnier.  Season the way you like - I always add garlic, preferrabl...

I have noticed that keeping a jug of water on the table with stuff in helps me get closer to the goal of drinking enough water during the day (as in opposite of having a jug with just plain water, or no jug at all). And even better, it also helps the kids and man in the house to drink more too, which is a big bonus. The water we get is good and tasteless, but a hint of berry or herb in it makes it more appealing none the less, and is also pretty to look at. Here are three ideas on how to spice up your water - Strawberries, cinnamon-basil and a dash of apple cider vinegar. I came across cinnamon-basil in the store the other day but any kind  of basil will of course do. Orange and rosemary. My colleague Tink came up with this one: Pineapple chunks and fresh mint. Try it by putting the pineapple bits in the freezer for a while before dropping them in the water. Enjoy!

Easter. This year I managed to plan a little in advance (as in I beat my side note challenge from last year, did them the night before; tada !) and did not have to rely on what randomness I could find in the drawers. We went feather-free and decorated the willow branches with small pom poms. The kids use these to hand out for when they go around wishing neighbours well for the year to come and expect to get treats in return. They actually turned out rather nice so maybe next year I'll make a vase for us as well. Well, we'll see about that next year then... And then! Once a year: Mämmi. Memma. Yum. During my thirty-something years of eating mämmi I have, being the kind of person who apparently just can't do things without having to alter them a little, come to the conclusion that I prefer mine with lemon quark, with or sans fresh fruit on the side. And this is for breakfast in my book (and most likely my book only); not dessert. Well here's another one who also tweaks tr...

Gingerbread brown blouse that I came across for less than 5€ the other day at the Fida thrift shop. Breakfast. Or, part of it. Also: unintentionally inspired by my post a few days back , matching my snacks. 1970's vintage cowboy boots that I bought via Etsy some time ago. When you live in the countryside you need boots. And then the best thing about Easter. Mignon eggs. Full, solid nougat.

Fennel is a vegetable which anis-like taste I sometimes crave for, and sometimes makes me go 'Uh, not now!'. It is however mostly the first option for me, and this easy-to-put-together side dish salad suits Easter well I think. It goes well with mild foods like eggs and rice to add some sour and piquant vibes, or middle along wiht some eastern dishes but also on top of a cheese sandwhich for example. Fennel & Lemon salad sliced or diced fennel sliced cucumber juice of a lemon a bit of oil and white vinegar black pepper Just blend together in a bowl and you're good to go! I use a white vinegar with black currant which gives some extra taste to the salad. If you want a spicier version you can add a little Sriracha sauce as well. And add some more oils and fine chopped cabbage if yo do,  but now we are going into totally different territories and salads already.

You know I like it when something is more healthy than it may seem? These pumpkin treats would be something that fits that description. It is also something you can treat your gluten free friends with. Totally cake-y with a yummy frosting, they still are kind of breakfast worthy as well. You know, as the main ingredients are a vegetable (pumpkin) and eggs. The original recipe is from  here , but as usual I always alter things a little bit. I am keen on trying to come up with a vegan version of these. And perhaps to try make a round using sweet potato with / instead of pumpkin. You will need 2,5 dl mashed pumpkin (or 2 dl + half a banana) A handful of almonds 3 tbs peanut butter 1 dl honey or maple syrup 1 teaspoon baking soda cardamom vanilla half a teaspoon of salt 3 eggs Lightly roast the pumpkin in the oven on 175C so it turns soft and then mash it. (As a bonus you can take out and wash and dry the seeds of the pumpkin too, then when dry roast in a pan with a bit of salt. A...

It looks like this when you open the door: Which a) is just so wrong as it's only the 7th of November (yes, that is my sad frozen Halloween pumpkin under all that snow   -ffs this snow fell ONE DAY AFTER HALLOWEEN. So wrong.) and b) would be cozy would we be three weeks from now and would one not have to go anywhere. I've been outdoors today, sadly, and driving home late at night was not very nice . For the moment indoors is not that nice either. It's all full of boxes; we have pretty much emptied the city flat by now. Or, I have , suitably we had to move out the month when I'm alone in the blizzard while Eddi is in a sandstorm in a dessert in Iran for four weeks, doing stuff geologists do (in this case; teaching research methods). These boxes will empty one by one as we get some renovation done upstairs while others will be repacked to wait for future times and possible new flats. So now we a) don't have to have Christmas at our place this year or b) should have C...

I've harvested my tomatoes -from the three slices of tomato I planted we got a big bunch of beautiful green tomatoes.   I started my whole tomato-project a little too late in spring in order for them to have the time to ripe properly and turn red, and now the couple of sudden sneaky frost nights that we had managed to kill some of them off already. So I had to harvest those that were left now. It does not matter that they are still green, as they taste pretty awesome when fried in butter and garlic anyway (well, doesn't everything...).