Welcome to my kitchen!
The best place I like is absolutely in the kitchen. I would like to share what I am cooking and eating in my kitchen these days with you so then you might be able to get some ideas to refesh to your meal.
This is my favortie quote by Banana Yosimoto, Kitchen
“Why do I love everything that has to do with kitchen so much? It’s strange. Perhaps because to me a kitchen represents some distant longing engraved on my soul.”
Thank you!
Welcome to the fourth episode of the Last 7 Days of Cooking series! This time there is no specific theme; the dishes, ranging from first courses to desserts, are mostly Italian with some Asian diversions.
Orecchiette with broccoli and Italian sausage
When temperature drops and daylight gets shorter in winter, what would you like to have for dinner? The first thing that comes to my mind is a warm homemade soup, absolutely. Here are three of my favorite soups I hope they will help you to beat cold weather!
Chickpeas soup
Welcome to the third episode of the Last 7 Days of Cooking series! This time the theme is vegetarian. Would you like to see what I cooked? There are some new dishes that I’ve never tried before! 
Farfalle with Shrimps and Zucchini
Welcome to the second episode of the Last 7 Days of Cooking series! The main idea is very simple: what happened in my kitchen in the last week. If you are curious about the “philosophy” behind it, you can read the first post of the series. But let’s go to the meals!
Egg drop soup with chicken stock and vegetables
Wait for a moment! If you are looking for recipes for the pictures below, I’m sorry but they are not there (at least yet). This new project – Last 7 days of cooking – will only show you pictures of food I cooked in the last week. I know it might be unfair to share only the results without the recipes but, frankly speaking, I do not have them ready! But I’m working on it
Let me make it clear why I started this. I tend to buy certain ingredients every time I go grocery shopping – for instance, zucchini, carrots, potatoes, celery, eggs and so on – so I instinctively cook similar dishes very often. I thought that posting my meals here could help me cook the same ingredients in different ways and make a better meal plan. That’s because people are looking at my meals 
Does it make sense? Anyway, I hope that this new project will foster ideas for healthy and varied food. Let’s see what happened in the last 7 days!
Lentil stew with bay leaves
Last Wednesday I got a surprise bag from one of my friends It was totally unexpected! Let me show you what I got from her garden!
Surprise herbs and baby greens from the mystery bag!
I have to tell you something: I was a plant killer! Honestly I still do not know what I did wrong to my all poor plants in the past. I watered them regularly and even marked on my calendar when I was supposed to. In addition, I considered whether they got enough sunlight or not. So? What was wrong with me? Maybe you can tell me more about this. Anyway, you might have noticed that I said I was a plant killer. Not anymore! At least for now As you can see from the picture, now I have a healthy basil family and even a tiny apple tree! Follow their story on my diary below!
Basil family and an apple tree (May 31, 2012)
I think this milk carton is the most artistic one that I have ever seen. When I discovered it in a grocery store, I had to buy it right away, even though I don’t really like skim milk. It is so different from regular milk cartons! One of my Finnish friends told me that it was designed by Klaus Haapaniemi, who is well-known for his illustrations, advertising art and clothing fabric prints. Haapaniemi also designed mugs and dishware for Iittala. You can even buy a print of this beautiful cat, called Putte The Cat, on Haapaniemi’s website. All the profits will go to the Khanapur School for unprivileged children in India.
Valio milk carton designed by Klaus Haapaniemi
I had an early Italian Easter lunch with friends a few days ago. I tried to get all the ingredients from Italy, and I managed to find most of them, even though the shank of lamb I got was from New Zealand.
Starter, Bresaola with Arugula and Grana
I started with bresaola with arugula and shaved Grana Parmesan. Bresaola is an air-cured beef meat which is typical of northern Italy, and it is usually eaten this way as an appetizer.
First course: Mini Italian Easter Pie
A few days ago, I was inspired by the post Dried Pineapple Decorations and I wanted to give it a try. I love it! Have you ever thought that a dried pineapple slice can be a beautiful decoration? It took a bit long to dry the slices – about an hour in the oven at 110°C (225°F) – but they turned out very well. They could be a fabulous decoration on top of an ice cream or a cupcake, and they can even be a tasty snack. I made them last week and they are still in good condition. You should try it! It’s so much fun!
Beautiful dried pineapple decorations
I was intrigued by one comment on my biscotti recipe. What about using whole grain flour instead of all-purpose flour? Well, since I am not a professional chef, the only way I can do is to experiment… and the experiment was successful indeed! So here you are the whole wheat biscotti with pecans.
Whole wheat biscotti with pecans
Simple dinner Spinach feta pie
Spinach used to be my less favorite when I was little. One day my mother showed me this episode “Popeye the Sailor in Gopher Spinach . Believe it or not 10 years later spinach became my favorite vegetable!
Spinach Feta Pie
Spinach, feta cheese, chopped leek, onion, salt and some puff pastry dough
Spinach Feta Pie
Thank you mom! You knew how to raise your kids very wisely! Miss you
Speck with arugula
My favorite light is absolutely natural sunlight but, unfortunately I am living a house does not get a lot of sunshine. So this was my lunch the other day. I opened a big window then my left hand was holding this lunch plate outside and the other right hand was trying to get beautiful shot of Speck with arugula.
Making homemade tagliatelle
I was going to make Lasagna dough the other night but, suddenly changed my mind to tagliatelle.The reason? I don’t know maybe that’s because the dough came out pretty good than I expected.
Tagliatelle nests
If you are familiar with tagliatelle, probably you know it is not cheap at all. The ingredients are nothing special though. It only needs some flour, eggs and a pinch of salt. quite simple! I made porcini mushrooms tagliatelle but, unfortunately I didn’t have Italian parsely at home for garnish so could not take some pictures. I do care too much about food style and presentaion.
4 tagliatelle nests
Promise next time!
Time to eat!
I brought this “Entrecôte steak” from the market hall at Kauppatori market square. It took a long time to find out where the butcher shop is in Helsinki. Finally, I found one.It has a beautiful premium beef cut “entrecôte” for steak! It’s very expensive more than €40/kg. However, I forgave it because when it arrived in my mouth it just melted.
맛있게드세요! Buon appetito!
