Only this weekend for Christmas!!! 

I couldn’t write much on the blog since my post about the Advent Calendar… life becomes quite hectic in the holidays season… right? ;)

Well… all I wanted today was to wish you very heartwarming Holidays and a Merry Happy Christmas (with my troop of silent snowmen >_<)!!

Hyvää joulua & onnellista uutta vuotta 2013 :)

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

Hello everyone!

Christmas is around the corner!  And nothing is more exciting than counting down the days for Christmas with an Advent Calendar right?

Keeping the tradition  I crafted a new one this year too, for something unique, special and interesting :). 

Well, at a first glance, it looks complicated and without much resemblance to an Advent Calendar…

The idea started from those socks I made a couple of years ago (to refresh your memory: each day my daughters would find a paper with an image inside the mini socks showing where I placed the small gift-of-the-day). My oldest daughter is a a first grader now and husband suggested I could make some type of riddle for each day, to practice her reading and calculating skills (yea, we are such nerds…).

So how to do that in a sane way? Inventing a game of course! More like a letter puzzle (hangman anyone?).

2012 Advent Calendar – Letter Puzzle game 

• Each day my girls will receive one envelope (numbered from 1 to 24) containing a card with a question and a letter-sticker. Simple math problems or matching games to practice letters and words. I added couple of “easy” ones for my 5 yo daughter too. 

  “How many (snowflakes)?”

  

   

  “Is the image a : skier, skater or runner?”

  

   

  “How many syllables are in the word snowman?”

  

   

• Solving the question of the day will show them where to glue the sticker-letter in the puzzle display board. By completing the diagram they will be capable to read the “mysterious sentence” : The present (the Advent Calendar big gift) is hidden at grandpa´s place (written in Finnish conveniently using 24 elements :)

  

   

• We thought that getting a “big” gift instead of little small things each day is as well fun. Besides, a “pre” Christmas present is not that bad (stand the wait for Santa!!)  and everyone can enjoy it together. The gift is a board game to be played on Christmas Eve ^_^. 

• And! To deliver the envelopes, a Christmas mailbox I crafted using an empty cereal box and red card stock. Awesome isn´t it? The front door is attached with magnets (Oh…  I am so happy with the result!). Maybe my daughters will find some treats there too… who knows? ;)

For now, fingers crossed the girls will enjoy this year´s Advent Calendar. Poor little ones to have such mad mad loony mother … >.<

Happy December friends! 

PS. Isn’t that polka dot fabric tape the cutest? ha!

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

We got our oven door fixed today! Yay! (Hmmm…if you don’t already know, the glass door of our oven went into pieces a month ago. So weird. ) 

It took quite a while… The glass replacement had to be ordered and the repairing service was schedule for this morning, lunch time.

Knowing I couldn’t cook  or use the kitchen properly, I prepared bentos for the whole family, wisely using some “extras” from last night´s dinner ^_^ (thumbs up for leftovers!)

Contents of the boxes (for my girls): lettuce, cucumber slices, mini plum tomato, mini carrots, steamed broccoli, strawberries, red grapes and pork schnitzel. Onigiri polar bear head with nori details, catchup ears and cheeks and a pack of furikake. 

My husband´s bento: plain onigiri, pork schnitzel with tonkatsu sauce, steamed broccoli, carrots, tomatoes, cucumber, kimchi and moyashi (bean sprouts) aemono (with ponzu sauce, lemon juice and sesame oil dressing).  A juicy strawberry and grapes.

Hah! The onigiri needed to be rearranged so I could close the lid :P.

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

Geez.

Yes. My writings on this blog are a bit random. Maybe I can get into the rhythm again? Perhaps not (my moods to blame!). Yea! Someday.

I am weird.

For now, let´s see what brings me here this time ;)

My daughter´s school is having a Halloween party this week and I committed myself to make something for the bake sale. To be sincere, this is our first Halloween party while living in Finland and I had no clue of what people eat there. The only thing I was sure is that there would be tons of cupcakes and tray bakes (bringing more’d be definitely boring!).

I decided for size-wise mini cheesecakes. No fuzz for cutting slices and just perfect to carry easily to the party.

BUT IT IS HALLOWEEN! Hello?

hmm… the decoration! Oh gosh, cupcakes are so much nicer to decorate with spooky touches! After brainstorming (uh, you certainly don’t want to see me doing that. Hubs says I have lightning clouds on top of my head. Every time)  I came to an idea when I thought about the bilberry sauce that goes with the cheesecakes. Hmmm… yummy blood clots (eeeek)… topped with eyeballs. Just enough creepy!

Mini Baked Cheesecakes for Halloween

adapted from a recipe posted already here

Makes 24 individual cheesecakes

For the crust:

• 300 g Digestive biscuits, finely crumbled
• 140 g butter, melted (I used HYLA, low lactose)

For the cheese filling:

• 400 g cream cheese, full fat, softened
• 200 ml cream (I used HYLA, low lactose)
• 100 g caster sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3 tbsp lemon juice

Line 24 holes of two muffin pans with muffin cases.

Finely crush the biscuits in a strong freezer plastic bag. Add the melted butter to the biscuit crumbs and “knead” until well combined. Note that you can use the plastic as a mixing vessel (no dirty dishes yet!). Alternatively, use a food processor to crush the biscuits and mix the butter.

Divide the crust mixture evenly among cases pressing firmly down with your finger or the back of a spoon. Set the pans aside while making the filling.

Beat the cream cheese and sugar in an electric mixer until it gets smooth and creamy. Don´t overdo it otherwise you will incorporate too much air into the mixture and it will “puff” in the oven.  Add the eggs and beat until combined. Add lemon juice and cream and mix again.

Pour the filling evenly among cases.

Bake for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool before storing in the fridge.

Cheesecakes are ready to serve when they are completely set and cold.

Making the “eyes”:

Simply draw/paint the white candy balls with the edible pens to depict eyes (green/blue for the iris and red for the arteries/veins) . For the pupil I used a tiny ball made with black marzipan, mostly because my black edible pen ended (*lol*)

Horrific? Eye popping! (yuck)

Before taking the cheesecakes to the school I added about one teaspoon of bilberry jam to each cheesecake and decorated with one toffee “eye”.

Happy Halloween!

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

Yet another month almost to its end… Summer is going so fast!!

I usually make pancakes every Sunday for brunch but last weekend I was feeling a bit bored about the regular ones and decided for something more “sophisticated” : waffles! (HA! Not that chic but hey, they are more troublesome to make.. right?)

And for the toppings… I generously covered  them with fresh juicy strawberries and syrup, just in time for June´s  #twitterfoodparty ! This month´s theme is our beloved all-time-favorite-summer-fruit: strawberry ^_^ (Finnish strawberries are delicious!)

Waffles

adapted from Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook, similar to this recipe

Yield 8-12 servings, according to your waffle iron

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar (the recipe calls for two tbsp but I put less)
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 eggs, yolks separated
• 1 3/4 cups milk (I used without lactose)
• 1/2 cup melted butter
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture.

In another bowl or jug, mix the milk, egg yolks, butter and vanilla.

Beat the egg whites until stiff peaks form.

Combine the milk mixture all at once to the flour mixture. Stir until just moistened (the batter should still be slightly lumpy). Fold the egg whites to the batter gently.

Pour 1 cup of  batter onto grids of a preheated, lightly greased waffle iron machine. Bake according to manufacturers directions.

When done (golden and crispy), lift waffle off grid (I use chopsticks ^_^)

Repeat with remaining batter. Serve warm with your favorite jam, fresh fruits and syrup

Check my friends´ contribution for this virtual potluck by looking for the hashtags #twitterfoodparty #twitterstrawberryparty on twitter and visiting the Flickr pool dedicated to this happening. Join us too, it is fun!

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

Hi everyone!

Summer time here, yay! That means… my kids are home 24-7…  trying to keep the girls busy and entertained is driving this mama crazy ;)

Oh well… I am trying to enjoy the vacations too (ahahah, *lol*)… not much time/subject for blogging…

Aren´t these two friends lovely? I crafted them for a very sweet friend of mine (and her BFF <3). The big teddy bear is crocheted with my own pattern and I added a little Swarovski heart crystal pendant to his ribbon lace. The little buddy was needle felted with wool felt and I built a little charm from it (and forgot to take a picture!).

Must say… I was obsessed with needle felting a month ago after making my daughter´s preschool staff thank-you gifts. The results are always so fuzzy! Uncontrollable wool wanting to go against the shape I want! Grrrrrrr.

(Little thank-you gifts: mobile charm with bear faces)

I was very happy to create all of these and it was double joyful to hear my sweet friend liked the teddy bear I sent her :).

(wish I could be as tall as you!!  =^o^= )

Hope you are having happy Summer days!

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

The #bacontwitterparty was last monday and I was so busy this week I couldn’t post the recipe of my entry… as usually, you can check everyone´s contribution for this virtual potluck by checking the hashtags #twitterfoodparty #twitterbaconparty on twitter and taking a look at the Flickr pool dedicated to this fun happening!

This is a very easy recipe to make if you have everything at home, I had some frozen puff pastry and I thought it´d be a good idea to use it in this  savory recipe.

Egg and bacon little pasties – Muna-pekonipasteijat

Recipe from the Finnish cooking magazine Maku 4/2003

Yields 12 little pasties

• 1 package (500g) ready puff pastry, thawed if from freezer
• 120g back bacon (fileepekonia , use streaky bacon if you don’t have it)
• 2 hard boiled eggs
• 50 g chive cream cheese
• 1 tsp chopped thyme (I added chopped fresh oregano too)
• cracked black pepper
• 1 beaten egg to brush the pasties before baking
• poppy seeds

Heat oven to 225C. Fry the bacon in a non-stick pan over a medium heat until it gets crispy. Drain the excess fat on kitchen paper towels and chop into small pieces.

Chop roughly the boiled eggs inside a medium bowl using a knife or a fork. Add the cream cheese, bacon, thyme and mix well. Season with black pepper.

Unroll the pastry and with a rolling pin, roll out until it’s large enough to cut out 12 square pieces of pastry ( approximately 10cmx10cm). My puff pastry comes already in rectangular shapes, needing only to divide in the middle to achieve equal square shapes. Lift onto a baking sheet.

Spoon the filling into the middle of each square. Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg wash, then bring them up to the middle, pinching with the back of a fork to make a triangular pasty. Brush the surfaces with the egg, sprinkle poppy seeds, then bake for 15 mins or until golden.

Leave to cool on a rack and serve.

The pasties can be eaten as appetizers, snacks, brunch/breakfast or a quick lunch with salad. Complemented by a fresh fruit portion it makes a neat filling for a bento box  ^_^. Delicious even cold!

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

Hello everyone!

Coming back and cleaning up the dust (*cough cough* look out for the allergies!) from the blog! I disappeared for a while, yes I know… too much of everything happening at the same time.

But hey! I am here and with a new bento! Wow!!!!

My 6yo had a “Spring celebration” at her pre-school today, lots of outside activities for the kids and parents. Mr Mies joined her and I stayed home to take care of little daughter who was still sick from flu she caught earlier this week from her big sister (ha! complicated stuff! Well hmm, we´ve been sick…). I prepared these bentos for us to eat when they´d get back home. You can notice the portions are quite big, to be shared properly among four not-so-hungry people :).

And… the theme: Pokémon! As for normal children, my girls keep changing what they like every now and then. They had  seasons of adoring Anpanman, Kirby, My Little Pony and lately it is Pokémon… partly my fault this time… I allowed them to play my DS game “Pokémon Diamond Version” and they were introduced to the world of the pocket monsters… (blame me blame me). Their favorite ones at this moment are Pikachu, Jigglypuff and Squirtle.

So Pikachu bento, that is!

Contents of the boxes: Round onigiris (rice balls), tamagoyaki, raw carrot sticks, steamed broccoli on a lettuce bed. Nectarine slices, cucumber, green grapes, strawberries and raspberries. Pikachu made with cheese, nori details, carrot cheeks and pepperoni mouth. I also crafted a pokéball sticker to decorate the onigiri wrap ^_^, nice isn’t it?

* Gotta Catch ‘Em All!!!*

Oops, no ketchup this time! ;)

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

Today is May Day, Vappu in Finnish. Vappu comes from the Swedish term ”Valborgsmässoafton” (Walpurgis Night) a traditional festival for Spring. The celebration actually begins on the evening of last day of April and continues to 1st of May.

Vappu can be compared to a big street Carnival in Finland, everyone is soooooo happy, go out to have picnics and party outside. People wear decorative clothes, children get huge colored helium balloons, you can throw serpentines and wear your “yliopilaslakki“, the cap you receive when you graduate in High School (lukio). The same cap is used for “crowning” statues in towns around the country. 

Also, as part of the tradition, people enjoy Sima, a sparkling drink that you can make yourself at home, usually accompanied by tippaleipä (a traditional Vappu fried cake), rosette (fried pastry) or munkki (donuts).

According to Finnish Wikipedia sima is considered to be mead but differs a lot from its counterparts by being much more sweeter and flavored with citrus fruits. Its alcohol content is very low too.

Honey might have been used to make Sima in the old times but nowadays the flavors are given the most by brown sugar and lemons. Believe me, it is a very refreshing beverage!

Sadly, I didn’t have time to make Sima last year… The beverage needs to be prepared in advance,  takes about one week for it to become ready. 

Sima – Traditional Finnish Mead 

Recipe adapted from here 

• 4 l water
• 500 g brown sugar (because I prefer a darker sima with deep flavor. If you want lighter, use 250g brown sugar and 250g caster sugar)
• 1/2 dl honey
• 2 organic lemons (juice and zest). Alternatively, remove the rinds and slice the lemons. 
• 1/5 tsp fresh yeast (about the size of a pea)
• sugar and raisins for the bottles

Utensils:

• a big clean bucket (I used a 10L bucket) or a big pan with loosen lid
• 4-5 bottles with caps (if you don’t have glass ones, use clean plastic soda bottles, well washed and dry)

Boil 2 litres of water and put the sugar into the bucket. Pour the boiling water over the sugar and stir to combine. Once the sugar is totally dissolved, add the rest of water, honey, lemon juice and zest (or the lemon slices)

Let cool to lukewarm, then stir in yeast (dilute it in a small amount of water and add to the mixture). Cover and allow to sit at room temperature for 24 hours (and up to 48 hours), until surface begins to bubble slightly. 

On the second or third day you can bottle the sima. Strain the liquid into clean glass bottles or plastic ones. Add to each bottle a couple of raisins (3-5) and 1 tsp of caster sugar. Make sure the caps or lids are barely screwed on. Don´t close too tight!! Leave space for the gas to escape otherwise you will get too much pressure to your bottles.

Sima is ready when the raisins float on the surface (on day 5 or 6): takes about 3 days at room temperature or a week refrigerated (the temperature affects how quickly the beverage ferments).

Once ready, tighten the caps and put the bottles in the fridge. If you fear it is getting too much carbonated, release any gas from bottles that are too tight.

Keep in cool and serve chilled! 

Consume in one week

Obs:

You can easily double the recipe. Use 1/4 tsp fresh yeast for 1kg of sugar (half white half brown). 

The raisins are added in the “secondary fermentation” to control the amount of sugars and to act as an indicator of readiness for consumption — they will swell by absorbing carbon dioxide and rise to the top of the bottle when the drink is ready (from Wikipedia article on Sima)

Hauskaa Vappua! Happy 1st of May friends!!

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.

Hello everyone!

It has been a while I know… sickness in the family to blame my disappearance! We caught a terrible stomach flu (or viral gastroenteritis, before my sis corrects me :P) and as usual, after making rounds I am the last one suffering from it. Ugh!

Well, enough from that (ugly subject!). I made this tart sometime ago but took me a while to write the recipe down and transfer the photos to my computer…! See… I am lazy… (*slap* *slap*)

The tart was very good… I liked the fruity taste the emmental cheese gave to it… but please! It is an OD, eat lots of salad with it! ;)

Ham and tomato tart with emmental cheese

Pastry recipe from here , filling adapted from here.

Yield a  ∅ 24 cm pie. Serves 8.

For the pastry

• 175 g flour, plus extra for dusting
• pinch of salt
• 75 g butter
• enough cold water (I needed about 2-3 tbsp)

Roll out the pastry on a light floured surface and line a 24cm pie dish. Chill again.

Preheat oven to 200C.

Remove the pastry case from the fridge. You can bake blind for 20 minutes before adding the filling but I skipped this step this time (< lazy again!)

Sprinkle the ham strips into the pastry base, the cheese, chopped basil and spring onions.

Combine the eggs with the crème fraîche in a bowl and season with paprika and black pepper. Pour over the ham and cheese.

Arrange the tomato slices on top of the tart and bake for about 30 minutes until set (and gets golden)

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Garnish with basil leaves and serve with salad.

Simple isn’t it? You can use ready pastry if you don’t want to make it yourself. Pikkusiili just eats this crazily… she adores cheese. On the other hand… Luonnonvoima is not a big fan >.<! Sisters, so similar but so different!

This post was written by karaimame exclusively for Acquiring Taste. All writing, images and other materials in this blog remain the property of Acquiring Taste and cannot be used without permission.