Eat your greens

So much prettiness at the allotment right now.

The anemones are blooming.

The first zinnia.

This bunch of summer flowers have gone nuts with blooms.

Pretty pink potato flowers.

Peas have such pretty flowers too.

But the best part is that the blooms mean this:

I picked my first potatoes, thinned some carrots and beets.

The beets are about the size of golf balls.

There's also salad, spinach, sage and some peas.

I have quite a bit of spinach.

The best thing I can think of doing with it is a soup. A creamy Finnish style spinach soup.

I'll show you how.

You will need:

50 grams of butter

4-5 tbl  flour

1 liter of whole milk 

150-200 grams of spinach

white pepper to taste

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

Now, you really need to use whole milk to get the taste. Mine is 3%, I wouldn't go lower than 2,5%. Trust me. You will end up crying in your soup as it will not have the taste it should. And don't even think of using skimmed milk!! Also butter is preferable to margarine.

This is not one of those recipes you should skimp on the calories.

My spinach leaves are quite big already so I cut off the thick middle and stalks.

Roll them up and slice and then chop. chop, chop.

Melt the butter in your pot, add the flour and whisk for a minute or so.

Then slowly add the milk while whisking, so you won't end up with clumps in your soup.

Heat to almost boiling, add spinach and let boil  on low heat for  five minutes.

Add seasoning.

Enjoy with a nice boiled egg on top.

PS. I really garden for the flowers.

Courtney's got a garden update for you too :)

Rhubarb, rhubarb and then some more rhubarb

Last year I split and replanted my rhubarbs and consequently got none.

This year they are coming up like crazy.

Plus there's the rhubarb from the allotment.

I've been trying out several rhubarb pie and muffin recipes.

This one with apples was pretty amazing.

I'm freezing a bunch, so that once strawberry season arrives (it will take a while, it's been a cool June), I have some ready for jam.

Even so.

It's coming in the windows and doors as the saying here goes.

So my cousin tipped me off on rhubarb infused vodka.

Oh hello!

What you need are glass jars, rhubarb, sugar and vodka.

Chop it up.

Add to jar, every 4cm (1½ inch) sprinkle lightly with sugar. 

Then fill with vodka.

Screw on the lid and let sit in room temperature, but not in direct sunlight, for a month.

Turn the jar occasionally.

After a month, strain, bottle and chill.

I'll let you know how this turns out.

Mine have been brewing for two weeks now.

I'm thinking that left over strained rhubarb might be pretty good on (adults only) ice cream...

Oh dear good bread...

I tried a new recipe.

I have never baked bread this good.

It is bakery bread good.

The crust is to die for.

And you wouldn't believe how easy it is.

The only thing is, it does not come fast. You need to preplan this.

Plus you need a dutch oven, or other lidded oven pot.

The recipe has been going around in the Finnish baking blogs like wildfire, so I have no idea who to credit this deliciousness to. 

A genious baking goddess I'm sure.

-Dutch oven bread-

You need: 

7 dl flour

2 tsp salt

0,5 tsp dry yeast

3,5 dl lukewarm water

Yes, that's it!

This is easy enough to make into anything you want.

In mine I used 6dl of flour and 1dl of rolled oats.

Feel free to throw in wholegrain flour, seeds etc.

Mix the ingredients with a spoon.

Do NOT knead.

I know, it sounds wrong, but trust me, don't do it.

Instead cover your bowl with plastic wrap and leave it for 12-18 hours.

Go enjoy your evening and have a good long sleep.

Warm your oven to 225C. Mine was set to 200C, worked beautifully.

Put your dutch oven in the oven to heat up.

Sprinkle some flour on your table and empty the dough on top.

Roll it around gently in your hands to form a round loaf.

Resist the urge to knead.

Cover loosely with the plastic wrap and leave it for 30 minutes.

Put the dough into your pot, cover it and bake in the oven for 30 minutes.

Then take the lid off and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

Pop your amazing bread out of the pot and just admire the crusty perfection.

Let it cool and devour it.

Or just cut into it while still steaming hot like I did since I had used up all my patience during that long wait :P

 

My new staple weekend morning bread for sure.

Only next time I'm making two doughs.

Another favorite

A while back I promised I'd be right back with this recipe..
..that was July 28th... oops.

One of the perks of being home sick and actually being able to sit up today is the fact that I get to do some much needed catching up. I still got a high fever yesterday, started about 1pm.. so I've got a few hours at least.. hopefully all day. I was truly bored out of my mind yesterday.. I couldn't even do knitting after 1pm.. hmmpph..

But back to the recipe.

Behold the Two Story Currant cake

..or what was left of it... hehee..
I guess you could use any berries, but nothing too sweet. I think rhubarb would work really
well too.. just cook the rhubarb qiuckly with a bit of sugar first. The cake has two different cake doughs on top of each other.
I use a pan that has the latch at the side to pop the bottom off.

You will need (and these are metric measurements, dl= desiliter, l= liter):

100g softened butter/margarine
1½ dl sugar
2 eggs
1½ dl flour
1dl potato/corn starch flour
1 tsp baking powder
½ l clean red currants

Whisk the butter and sugar until it is light and fluffy (you know what I mean...). Add eggs one at a time whisking well. Add dry ingredients together and add to mix. Whisk smooth.
Pour dough into a well buttered and floured springpan. Add berries on top and pop in the oven at 175C for about 30 minutes.

Make a cup of tea and sit down for 15 minutes and then start on the next phase.

For the second layer you will need:

2 eggs
1 dl sugar
4 tsp vanilla sugar
1 dl flour
5-6 tbl potato/corn starch flour

Whisk eggs and sugar (you know the drill by now.. whisk whisk and then whisk some more). Mix dry ingredients and add to the dough. Mix until smooth.

Take the cake out of the oven and pour the new dough on top. Pop it back into the oven for another 15 minutes at least.

Let it cool a bit and enjoy :)

Easy dinner

Tuna potato patties

You need:
400g frozen mashed potatos (defrost in microwave for 3 minutes),


a can of tuna in oil,


200g of garlic cream cheese and two eggs.


Mix tuna with defrosted potatoes.

Add cream cheese.

Mix in eggs.

With moist hands shape into patties and fry on the pan.

Enjoy with a side of green salad.

The kids loved these.

I thought they were great.

Mika's jury is still out, he is not a fan of tuna.

His loss :)

Tastes of summer

Were you wondering what I baked today?
The easiest summer taste.

What we call a sugar cake, more commonly known as sponge cake.

You need one glass.
Measure equal amounts of eggs, sugar and flour.
I used four big organic eggs in my cake.

You pour the sugar on top of the eggs and whisk away.

For a good long time, until the mixture is light in color and thick.
Whisk in the flour.

Butter and flour your pan, pour in the dough.


Bake for about 35 minutes in 200C/390F.
Test with a wooden cocktail stick to be sure it is done, if any dough sticks to the stick (heh), back into the oven for five more minutes.


Mmmmmm... smells sooo good.

How do you make it taste like summer?
You add whisked vanilla sauce or whipped cream and fresh strawberries.
Make yourself a cup of tea.
Sit in the sun.
Put your feet up and enjoy.

February!

My birthday month.
One of the reason's I like february is that you can now see that the darkness is fading. It's light at 9am :o)
Oh yes... we are going forward to spring... even if that isn't until April ROFL!

Also in February (the 5th to be exact) we celebrate a poet named Runeberg. We celebrate by eating these delicious (well...for a lack of a better word) muffins. Come to think of it, we are actually celebrating the ingenius concoction of the poet's wife. The legend tells that surprise visitors came by and Mrs. National Poet threw bits of what was in her pantry and whipped up this delicacy.

recipe follows:

Runeberg Tortes

150g (5,3 oz) soft butter, 1dl (1/2 cup) sugar, 1/2 dl (1/3 cup) brown sugar, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 dl (1/2 + 1/3 cup tough measurement to translate LOL) flour, 1 1/2 dl (1/2 + 1/3 cup) fine crumbs ( dry white bread with a few leftover xmas gingerbread cookies thrown in ), 1 1/2 dl (1/2 + 1/3 cup) fine ground almonds, 2 tsp baking powder, 1/2 dl (1/3 cup) cream, raspberry jam.

Mix sugars and butter, add eggs one at a time mixing well. Combine dry ingredients and add to butter mixture little by little with the cream. Divide into muffin pan (lined with pretty paper cups). Make a small hole on top of every one with a spoon and ad a dollop of raspberry jam. Bake at 200C (390F) for 15 minutes. Once they have cooled add a bit more jam on top and decorate with icing (mixture of powdered sugar and water).

I need to bake another batch because these are all gone now.

I also wanted to show you a little something I did yesterday. I was completely inspired by Keisha's/KLCards lovely chipboard art pieces.

I've had these Heidi Swapp chipboard frames for a while, didn't really have a use for them. So I painted them white, added some doo dads and ta-da! Wall art.

I'll be posting these on 2peas with more detailed photos later... it's down right now. Oh the woes of the web...LOL!