Something soft and furry around my neck

I love Rowan Kidsilk Haze, but haven't knitted it for a while. I had a stash of random end of balls, and wanted to get rid of them. But I felt the combination needed something to give it some kick. So I went to the shop, and ended up buying two balls... so now I have a scarf and more kidsilk than I started with... But I'm sure I'll think of something...

I wanted a plain scarf, with a simple stitch, and I thought if I added some lace in the sides, it would not curl. But it does. So I might make it into a tube, maybe then it would curl a little less.

Käsityömessuilta

Ensin se ihmeellisin asia - en ostanut lankoja! Enkä muitakaan mahdollisia luomuksia, vaan toisten valmiiksi tekemiä tuotteita! Tässä vähän makupaloja - värikkäät asiat jaksavat kiinnostaa aina vaan.

Tälläisen korun tilasin itselleni, sopivaa kokoa ja väriä pikkujoulumekkoon! Ja tuon korin löytää nykyään meidän sohvalta, siinä säilytetään keskeneräisiä käsitöitä. 

Punajuurikeittoa

Yhteishyvän resepti oli taas aika hyvä. Korvasin kyllä fetajuuston Aura-juustolla. Jopa mies, joka yleensä ei välitä mun kasvispöperöistä, kehui keittoa. Lapsi taas ei oikein tykännyt, vaikka sai pinkkiä keittoa!

Bagels

We got hooked on Great British Bakeoff - and on the second episode they had to make bagels. I've never done them before, but decided now is the time to learn. And I have to say they were pretty good, just to right chewy consistency and good taste. But a bit troublesome, you have do a lot of kneading and rising. The recipes used in the show were a bit easier (they only had 4 hours or so), but I was using a very thorough recipe from a bread book I got from the fleamarket. 

I was a bit worried about the process of actually baking them, but it turned out quite easy. First you make round balls of dough, and then just stick your finger through and try and form a nice donut shape. 

Then you put each bagel in boiling water for about 30 seconds, to cook the outside and stop the rising process. And supposedly it helps to create the right kind of surface. Then you did them in poppy seeds (or the topping of your choice).

And then you stick them in the oven. Now, you should use egg wash to create the shine, but as we can't use it, we have to settle for this ugly non-shiny surface. But like I said, the taste was good!

Leipää! Bread!

I love bread. I also love making it, and I'm determined to learn how to bake really good bread. Sometime ago I bought this Ballymaloe Bread book, 'cause I wanted to learn how to make brown bread. The book gives some good recipes for brown bread, but I've always modified them a bit. And anyway the bread just won't taste the same if you bake it from Finnish flour. 

But anyway, yesterday I wanted to try something else, and ended up making this walnut-raisin bread. This book (and other foreign books, i.e. not Finnish) tells you to mix the dry yeast with the water and let it stand for 5 minutes, to activate the yeast. All the Finnish recipes always tell you to mix the east in with the flour. Anyway, this is what the yeast looks like after 5 minutes. 

And then kneading the dough starts. Even though I had a keen helper, it was hard work! I think I didn't put enough of water, as the dough was really tough and dry. 

The recipe included walnuts and raisins (which I substituted with cranberries). They were only added towards the end of the kneading, which was a bit difficult, as they kept falling from the dough. Again a bit more water might have prevented this. 

And this is what it looked liked when it was done! The texture was okay, and the walnuts worked really well in the bread. And it tasted freat!

Spinach and mackarel for dinner

Instead of going to the shop I decided to make dinner from whatever was available, starting with the smoked mackarel. Found this recipe, which turned out splendidly!

First you put the spinach mixture (I used frozen spinach) and the smoked mackarel on top (and I prefer the whole smoked, not the filets). 

Then you make a whole in the middle, and fill it with the egg. And then put the creme fraiche and cream cheese mixture on top and pop it in the oven. 

Scrumptous!

I've admired a local restaurant, who serve eggs (poached in their special cooker where you can adjust the temperature very very accurately) so that the yolk is nearly hardboiled but the white is still a bit loose. Well here I managed it myself!

Roast chicken

I've been pondering about getting an organic chicken and tasting it, just to check if they are any better than the normal ones (as I don't like the normal ones - they are not as good as chicken in my childhood). Plus of course the ethical side. So here it is, the chicken!

And this is what it looked like when we started...

Lemon and herbs (thyme and rosemary) in the cavity...

Bit of oil on the skin and in it goes.

Half way through you add the potatos and garlic. And then just before it's ready, you add the tomatoes. 

Then you set the table and enjoy!

With some pear and blue cheese salad... 

and side vegetables. Perfect comfort food. Let the autumn begin!