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Posts from the ‘Finland’ Category

Aug 25

Turku, oldest Finnish city

In June, on spur of the moment, we decided to visit Turku, the oldest city in Finland. I’ve never been to Turku (and a lot of other places in Finland!) but have heard quite a bit of the city. It used to be the capital before it was moved to Helsinki. Nowadays, it’s an important port city for the country due to its close proximity to Sweden. In fact, it’s very popular to take an overnight cruise ride to Stockholm from Turku. Naturally, the city also has one of the most number of Swedish speaking people compared to other places in Finland. Note that Swedish is the second national language of Finland and every child studies the language at least for six years in their education period.

Aura River, flowing through the city of Turku

Aura River, flowing through the city of Turku

On the weekend that we happened to visit Turku, we found out that the Medieval Festival was happening. Just the right time to get to know Finland – err, maybe not, considering everything was in Finnish. Anyway, we visited the festival and had a nice stroll through the market and tried the various so-called traditional cuisine.

Turku’s river flowed through the centre and along the riverbank, there is a strip of shops, cafes and restaurants. It might seem common in other European cities but there are not many places in Finland that I know of, which have such lifestyle, not even in Helsinki. I wasted no time checking out which cafe to visit and found on Tripadvisor that it’s recommended to lunch at Mami.

The place was packed and the terrace dining area was full, fortunately we managed to find a table indoor and ordered our set lunch. Food was good and the atmosphere was elegant. We had wanted to have dessert, but the service seemed a bit slow and none of the waiters approached us so we decided to skip it for tea later.

In the evening, I wanted to check out this French restaurant, Le Porc that was highly recommended on Tripadvisor but lo and behold, when we arrived, we found out that it’s no longer in business. Urggh .. so off we went to try to find food at almost 9PM, where most kitchens are almost closing. Fortunately we found Vaakahuoneen Pavijonki, which was next to the river, and although service was bad, the food was pretty good (or maybe we’re just hungry).

My "accidental" dinner - butter fish with fries. So simple but so yummy!

My “accidental” dinner – butter fish with fries. So simple but so yummy!

The next day, we headed to the Turku Castle for a visit. Some of the Medieval Festival activities are held in the castle so there are a number of people, plus a wedding that was being held there. Due to the festival, there are free guides available to bring us for a tour and an elegant lady, Helena came and offered to bring us around. Thanks to her, we had a chance to learn a traditional Finnish dance as well as listen to a shepherd girl played self-made flutes.

Before we left Turku, we visited Tinta, a wine place that is along the riverside. We initially sat at the terrace but it started to drizzle so we moved indoor, which was a really cozy atmosphere with bottles of wines on shelves against the wall and two barrels served as table near to the counter. We took the table next to the door and while having our drinks and dessert, we watched people passed us by.

Choc cake with coffee while watching people passes by @ Tinta, Turku

Choc cake with coffee while watching people passes by @ Tinta, Turku

Blue Eyes suggested that we drive further to Naantali, one of the oldest towns in Finland. It’s also a popular tourist attraction due to the beautiful islands surrounding the town. It is also home to Moomin World theme park. Moomin is a popular Finnish cartoon based on old folks stories. We arrived to Naantali in the late afternoon and had a nice walk along its coast. It’s indeed a quaint little town with beautiful houses up on its hill. Numerous cafes and ravintola (Finnish word for restaurant) are found along the coast. And of course many boats and yachts docking at the jetty.

Summer brings many boats to Naantali

Summer brings many boats to Naantali

Naantali  is quite good for a weekend getaway. Not too big but there are enough activities to keep people occupied. It’s also calm enough to just sit in the cafe and simply enjoy the scenic view around.

Aug 21

Warm days in Finland

Now I know I have a lot to update on the blog. I’ve been quite a bum in the last couple of months, ever since the warm days hit here. Can’t blame me, you know, considering that I’ve been deprived of warmth since December and spring didn’t arrive to Finland ’til April! So I gotta make my days worth and enjoy them to the most. I also have another excuse – I started intensive Finnish classes in Helsinki and the two-hour journey by train (two-way) plus the four hours class, by the time I reach home, I’m usually dead tired and not very inspired to blog  *sheepish grin*

Ok, enough with the excuses.

As the weather started to get warmer in May, we spent more time in the outdoor. The Linnapuisto (literal translation Castle Park) is just steps away from the flat so we often find ourselves having picnic there by the lake. Blue Eyes’ so-called “new” knee has been recovering very well and after 1.5 months on crutches, he finally ditched the two sticks and started walking on his own, albeit slowly.

Spring has arrived and fresh greens are found everywhere in Hämeenlinna

Spring has arrived and fresh greens are found everywhere in Hämeenlinna

Simple picnic - beer, cider and homemade sausage buns

Simple picnic – beer, cider and homemade sausage buns

Matias and Chienting came to visit one weekend in May, and we decided to have a day out on the road. Jarmo joined us also and the five of us ended up driving to Petays Resort, which is a holiday destination surrounded by the Vanajavesi valley. After that, we headed to Lepaa, the campus ground of a local polytechnic. There, they produce their own wine as part of their agricultural activities. We took a break in its cafe and sat down for tea and ice-cream while enjoying the sunshine.

Boys enjoying the sunshine by the lake at Petays

Boys enjoying the sunshine by the lake at
Petays

As summer reached its peak in July and with Blue Eyes’ knee gaining strength, we also started trekking in the woods and stumbled upon wild berries there. I particularly enjoy the blueberries as they’re so good with yogurt and honey. We also received an invite from Blue Eyes’ neighbour, an elderly lady, to join her for raspberries picking at a nearby farm. It was a sunny evening and there were so many ripe raspberries. We brought home 4 litres of berries and for the next one week, we had fresh raspberries for breakfast. I also made for the very first time my own jam with the raspberries. Btw, the shops here sell sugar especially for jams. They’re called hillosokeri, literally means jam sugar. Have I ever mentioned that you can buy anything from the shop here? *wink*

Blue eyes filling the boxes with fresh raspberries

Blue eyes filling the boxes with fresh raspberries

There was also the annual Finnish House Exhibition, which was in July that we visited. The exhibition attracted thousands of Finns to visit every year, as the locals seek for interior design ideas while various providers promote their goods ie. furnitures, landscaping, flooring, etc … It’s quite an eye-opener for a foreigner like me to see the exhibition myself. Btw, the new houses on display are actual homes of families, who have agreed to put them up for viewing in exchange for discounts on some of the homes’ furnishings. But apparently, there’s still a public discussion on whether the discounts are worth it considering that after thousands of people have thronged the homes, the owners need to spend some money to fix them up.

In July, we also made a weekend trip to Turku and Naantali, both places that I’ve not been before. That will be a separate post (promise to do it before summer ends!) later, so watch this space.

So here are more views of spring/summer this year.

May 22

Learning Finnish dishes

Blue Eyes cooks quite a bit and he takes over the kitchen on certain occasions. One thing that Finns like is using the oven to make their meals. Oven food is easy, not messy and usually is a one-pot dish that can be eaten for at least two days. Saves the time in preparation as well as cleaning up.

I’m not particularly good with using the oven to cook, except for baking. It’s partly because I didn’t grow up in a household that used oven. It’s more a stir-fry and steaming kitchen that I grew up in. Quite a typical Chinese home I believe.

A popular and common Finnish oven dish is makaronilaatikko, which literally means macaroni in a box. In reality, it’s macaroni baked in a pan. The macaroni is usually mixed with spiced minced meat, and it’s baked in cream, eggs and cheese. In Blue Eyes’ case, since he doesn’t eat cheese, he uses bread crumbs as topping instead.

Finnish style of baked macaroni, except Blue Eyes' version doesn't have cheese.

Finnish style of baked macaroni, except Blue Eyes’ version doesn’t have cheese.

Blue Eyes is from Joensuu, in the eastern part of Finland. It’s close to Karjala, and this is where the dish karjalan paisti originated from. It’s basically a beef stew cooked in a pot. Lots of herbs were used and the stewing took two hours in the oven. Blue Eyes prepared this dish on one cold winter day and by the time it was ready, I was dead hungry. The meat was super tender and the sauces were delicious.

Finnish version of the beef stew with herbs, cooked in perfection for 2 hours.

Finnish version of the beef stew with herbs, cooked in perfection for 2 hours.

Being in this part of the world, salmon and tuna are popular as they’re aplenty, whether from the sea or lake or river. I’ve never been a fan of salmon as I find the fish a bit too “fat” for my taste. But like the saying goes, when in Rome, be like the Romans. So I’ve bought salmon and cooked it pretty much like how my mom prepared fish back home – frying it on the pan.

One day, Blue Eyes decided to show me a different way of cooking salmon – baking salmon in a smoked bag aka lohi savustuspussissa. Quite a mouthful to say in Finnish but it literally means salmon in a smoked bag. Here, one can find almost anything pre-prepared. Mothers are busy people, can’t afford to spend too much time in the kitchen so there are almost everything available to reduce the cooking time. Smoked bag is one of them. Can easily get one from the supermarket.

Now the salmon should be cut to resemble a butterfly before it’s seasoned with salt and black pepper, and other additional herbs desired. I only know how to cut fish fillet into slices, not a butterfly so Blue Eyes did the honour of showing how. After that, he dished the salmon into the smoked bag, put it on the warm grill and flip it every 15 minutes and half hour later, it’s done! The smoked salmon can be eaten with rice, or potatoes, or salad. Quite a pretty dish!

Salmon in the shape of butterfly, smoked in a bag over a grill.

Salmon in the shape of butterfly, smoked in a bag over a grill.

Now Easter has come and gone rather quickly but it’s a huge celebration here in Finland. Aside from the religious meaning, it’s also sort of a milestone that spring has arrived and that it’s time to start the spring cleaning, pack the winter clothes away and bring out the shorts and dresses. Easter meals are usually associated with Christian symbols ie. lamb and eggs.

Blue Eyes chose to make a lamb meal (since he doesn’t eat eggs!) and it’s a stew cooked in a pot with the oven – did I mention that Finns like their oven food? *wink

Blue Eyes put in so many different types of fresh herbs that I lost count but the ones I remember are mint, parsley, thyme and basil. The pot needed to be in the oven for four hours so that the lamb would be nice and tender when it’s cooked. It’s a freaking long time to wait for dinner but it’s worth it when the smell filled the kitchen as we dived into the awesome meal. Had it with a glass of red wine and it’s a nice closure to Easter (until next year!).

Easter meal was lamb that has been stewed for four hours - that's called dedication!

Easter meal was lamb that has been stewed for four hours – that’s called dedication!

 

May 17

1 Comment

Baker wannabe

This is perhaps quite a delayed winter post, since we’re now in the middle of spring, and have a lot more opportunities to be out and enjoy the warm, sunny weather. Nevertheless, I’ve been wanting to write on my baking adventures here so today is the day to do it 🙂

When I first arrived end November, I had a hard time adjusting to the lack of sunshine and the long darkness for most part of the day. And being cold outside, I wasn’t too keen to go out daily. So I ended up spending a lot of time in the kitchen, cooking and baking.

When it comes to baking, I’m the first to confess that it’s not a natural talent. I learned the basics of baking from my mom, who used to bake lovely butter cakes for me and my sister when we were growing up. I don’t remember when baking stopped at home but mom hasn’t baked for a long time now, and I didn’t pursue it til’ four years ago when I moved from journalism to corp communications. I had more time in the evenings after work and I ended up using the time to bake. It’s also motivated by the fact that two of my close friends, Jules and Lynn baked too, and when we sat down to enjoy the goodies on the table, it always gave me a warm feeling to know that I was enjoying their their loving baking.

So anyway, I have one or two fool-proof baking recipes that I always return to. They are my banana muffins and chocolate brownies. But given the amount of time I had in winter, I decided to be adventurous and try more diverse baking recipes.

One of my fool-proof recipes - choc banana muffin

One of my fool-proof recipes – choc banana muffin

I was also craving for some Malaysian snacks that were previously easily accessible but now almost impossible to find it here. So the only way to fulfill my cravings is to make them myself. And seriously, it ain’t as easy as they looked. I gained new respect for the aunties/uncles selling goreng pisang and all sorts of kuih-muih by the street back home! How they managed to bake such great goodies takes amazing skills!

Dec

As Christmas was fast approaching, I was inspired to bake some Christmas cookies. I found an easy shortcake recipe from Taste Australia and decided to give it a try. The first batch came out rather brown and tasted overburned, but fortunately the following two trays were just nicely baked. It’s my first time to bake own cookies for Christmas and it’s thoroughly satisfying to have them during the season. Baking won’t be fun if it’s not shared, so one jar of cookies was saved for the Christmas party with my Malaysian friends in Tampere while another jar was for our visit to Blue Eyes’ sister’s place on Christmas Eve.

Getting ready for Christmas!

Getting ready for Christmas!

Jan 2013

Come January, winter days became slightly easier as the days started to be longer. Instead of seeing the sun only at 10am, it started to shine at 9-ish and it lifted my mood quite a bit. So I baked a bit more, often beating the batter on the dining table next to the window so I could enjoy the sun. One of the things that Finns like a lot is cinnamon and its version of cinnamon roll, aka korvapuusti, is a popular snack.

Coincidentally, I too love cinnamon rolls and I urged Blue Eyes to teach me how to bake them. He found a recipe online and we started a Saturday afternoon baking. It wasn’t as difficult as I imagined it to be although the time spent was more than I expected – 30 mins waiting for the dough to rise. The results were 24 freshly baked cinnamon rolls and oh, the kitchen smelled heaven! One of my most memorable baking experiences here!

Finnish version of cinnamon rolls

Finnish version of cinnamon rolls

I love to bake when there is an occasion cos’ it means others could enjoy some goodies too. Blue Eyes had a doctor’s appointment in Tampere and I took the opportunity to bake some zesty lemon cupcakes and bring over for some friends. The nice thing about lemon is it gives a rather different taste than sweetness. And the recipe I used which incorporated sour cream gave a lightness to the cupcakes. Also, the yellow is just such a happy colour! 🙂

A happy dessert!

A happy dessert!

The following week, we had a visitor coming over and it’s just perfect timing as I’ve been wanting to try out the apple strawberry crumble cake recipe on Taste Australia. I love crumble. There’s something about butter melted with some oats over a nice cake. It’s sinful but oh, so satisfying! I consoled myself that it’s an apple strawberry cake, so technically it’s a healthy dessert 🙂

Served with a scoop of ice-cream, it was so yummy!

Served with a scoop of ice-cream, it was so yummy!

Feb 2013

This was perhaps my most difficult month in Finland so far. Partly because I was terribly homesick. While friends and family back home got busy preparing for Chinese New Year, I was stuck in winter white place without no notion of the festivity. I missed my pei pa duck, siew yoke and lou sang! So to ease the homesickness, I decided to bake some peanut cookies. It’s not my favourite CNY cookies but its recipe seemed to be the simplest. Boy, was I wrong! It took a lot of time as the toasted peanuts need to be grind and since I don’t have a grinder, I had to grind it by hand. I was dead tired after grinding some 100g of peanuts. But the cookies turned out buttery and yummy, and I was glad I managed to bake them from scratch. And yes, I felt less homesick too 🙂

Who would have thought freshly baked peanut cookies could taste so good?

Who would have thought freshly baked peanut cookies could taste so good?

March 2013

It’s Easter month and it’s a big celebration here in Finland. I did some baking in the couple of days leading up to Easter, and they were all my favourite desserts. For the first time, I made the first Malaysian snack ie. sesame balls with red bean filling. It was a strange thing to crave for, but I guess it’s also partly because the recipe on kuali was so simple. I used the pan instead of the wok, which was a mistake cos’ the balls came out a bit squared. But it tasted good and brought back some good ol’ memories of growing up in Kuala Lumpur.

Some were a bit burned but I still finished like 4 balls in just minutes.

Some were a bit burned but I still finished like 4 balls in just minutes.

Some of my Malaysian friends from Tampere were coming to visit one day and I decided to attempt Jamie Oliver’s bread and butter pudding. I love bread and butter pudding. One of my favourite dessert. Especially when the custard is buttery and sweet. As I had dark bread, I decided to pair it with chocolate. The colours might be weird if I were to do the usual bread and butter with a brown bread. Besides, if I failed, at least it’s chocolate, and no failed attempt could make choco bad.

Turned out yummy and moist, like how I like bread & butter pudding

Turned out yummy and moist, like how I like bread & butter pudding

And finally for Easter, I decided to make my second foolproof recipe ie. chocolate brownies. I must thank Lynn for showing me how to bake brownies. She bakes the most awesome chewy brownies! I haven’t gotten to her level yet, but I think mine is quite decent too. For this particular version, I included some crushed almonds into the batter to split the choc taste a bit (I didn’t want to buy walnuts cos’ they were expensive!) and top it with icing sugar after it’s out of the oven. The best way to eat brownies? With a scoop of vanilla ice-cream of course!

Quite a perfect dessert for Easter

Quite a perfect dessert for Easter

April 2013

Vivien, who is currently based in Switzerland, came for a visit. It was so much fun to have a familiar face and someone to share with, and the girls’ time was awesome! It so happens that Vivien enjoys baking too and she shared a marble cake recipe with me, which we tried it out together one Sunday afternoon. I always thought marble cake is a tough one to try but Vivien made it really simple. And I love the baking smell of the oven!

Great turn out for a first attempt!

Great turn out for a first attempt!

May 2013

Spring finally arrived. Though it’s supposedly the last month of spring, to me, it only started to feel like spring in May. The days are warmer (in the teens!) while fresh green grass are growing from the ground. Trees too started to sprout branches and I finally got to wear shorts out!

I was somehow inspired to bake my own bread after visiting my Taiwanese friend in Tampere. She shared that it’s not a difficult skill to tackle. I also remember that Jules always bakes organic bread for her kids and it felt somehow healthier to have our own bread. There’s half a pack of bread flour lying in the cabinet anyway. I tried a simple multi-grain bread recipe found on the BBC Food website and I started work. Unfortunately I left the bread a bit too long in the oven and it came out hard 🙁 Was still able to cut them into slices to try the texture. Not exactly the best tasting bread I’ve ever had but it’s an achievement that I did it. Not sure if I would try it again though.

My first time baking bread!

My first time baking bread!

And finally yesterday, I made my second Malaysian snack ie. onde-onde. Back home, this is usually a pandan-flavoured ball stuffed with gula melaka. But since I couldn’t get pandan and gula melaka in Hameenlinna’s Asian shop, I decided to skip the former and substituted the latter with muscovado sugar. I halved the ingredient portions as I’ve learned that Blue Eyes doesn’t eat a lot of desserts and I always ended up finishing them. Very bad for the waistline, and overall for health of course. I must say, my mat salleh onde-onde (my friend Vivienne called it that cos’ it’s white instead of the usual green, hehe…) tasted very close to home. I can say it won’t be my last time making this 🙂

The plate was empty within minutes :)

The plate was empty within minutes 🙂

Watch this space as one of these days I plan to blog about my cooking adventures here 🙂

May 12

Happy Mother’s Day (Spring’s here!)

Happy Mother’s Day!

And what great weather greeted us this Sunday 🙂 The parks start to sport a freshly green, while sprouts of leaves are growing quickly every day. It’s hard to imagine that it was dark and grey couple of weeks ago.

The weather in the last one week has ranged around 15-17C during the day while evenings were slightly below 10C. Although there were couple of days of rain but the sunny days were warm and nice.

Yesterday, I was able to wear my dress and flats out (without any additional layers!) for the first time in six months! The big deal is not the dress but the fact that I didn’t need to have another layer over me. Gosh, it felt so good. So light, so free!

On the same day, I wore my shorts out to the nearby park and sat down for coffee. Imagine that I had to have at least two layers of clothes on every time I had to throw garbage bags outside the flat, now, I can go out in shorts! Woohoo!

Our friends, who are celebrating Mother’s Day at Aulanko, invited us to join them for tea on this special day. It’s a great weather to be out. The last time I visited Aulanko, it was two years ago during winter. It was very cold and the forest was covered in snow, hence this time round, the view that waited for me is very different indeed. We went up to the Aulanko tower to watch the view from the top, and I could see the clear water Aulanko lake, as well as vast spread of pine trees surrounding the lake.

 

 

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