We Went to Lappland! – And I Made Bread

PB and I went on a short trip to Lappland for Valentine’s day.

Obligatory Photo With Reindeer

Our intent was to see the Aurora Borealis, but it was overcast for the whole three days, so no luck. (Even though we paid a lot of money for a safari. Well, next time we might just rent a car for the same amount and just drive somewhere on our own.) We went to Rovaniemi by overnight train. It was extremely comfortable and very quiet, to my surprise! (I’m used to Italian overnight trains, though) We even had our own bathroom with shower! Now that we know how easy it is to get to Lappland we will probably just check the weather forecast a week or so ahead and go search for northern lights without much planning.

So here are some pictures of what we did. We decided to do the touristy stuff full on, to get it over with.

PB at the Polar Circle in Santa Claus Village

Arctic Museum – Very nice building!

View on the Kemijoki? Ounasjoki? – I don’t know, they meet here

Detail View of Ounasjoki or Kemijoki – It’s not as stable as the Jyväsjärvi, it seems

Snow Shoe Hike – Not as exhausting as I feared

Some Trees at the Hike – You can interpret all sorts of things into these

That was what we did in 2 days. The 3rd I spent in bed as I had underestimated the cold and got sick. Silly, I know. However, we still had a fabulous Valentine’s holiday, as we got to spend time together, just the two of us.

Apart from being away for this trip, we’ve had a “steady stream of visitors” as one of our Finnish friends put it. This might sound like a complaint, but I love to host people (one of my secret dreams is to one day run a guesthouse, like Corthna Lodge in Skull, Ireland, where I used to work). Also because I get to perform culinary experimets on them. Mwahahahaha!

Most of the stuff I tried came out great, but I’m still in the process of refining, so I will reveal the experiments’ outcomes some time later. However, upon popular (well, just 1) request, below there’s a recipe for bread.

I started making bread just recently, even though I took a course in 2008, when I was in a “I need to cook everything from scratch” phase. I re-discovered the recipes from that course when unpacking my cookbooks. On a side note, here’s where they reside now:

The Kitchen Bookshelf – I found it in the common room in the basement

This is opposite the stove etc. In the background you can see the living room.

Anyway, bread (this will take you to a silly song on youtube, be warned!). While many things in Finland are really great, bread is not one of them (I’m not talking about the delicious black and rye breads, through). It isn’t easy to find a bread with a crunchy crust. So I gave it a try again and have been rather pleased with the outcome, so here is my simple bread recipe:

Ingredients
500g flour (I use Sunnuntai rouheinen sämpyläjauho at the moment)
15g salt
15g fresh yeast (or 7g dried yeast)
300ml water (room temperature)

Preparation
Mix the flour and salt in a bowl. Only for fresh yeast: dissolve the yeast in the water. Otherwise stir dry yeast in flour. Add water to flour from the center and knead until smooth “like a baby’s butt” (teacher’s words…). Let rest at room temperature covered with a wet towel for 1 hour (dough should approximately double in size). Knead very shortly to get rid of big bubbles and form bread, cutting some diagonal slits in the top. Bake for 30-40 minutes in a preheated 220°C oven. The bread is ready when it sounds hollow when you tap it on the bottom with your knuckles.

I am usually too eager to eat it, so no pictures, sorry!

Winter Is Here

So, yeah, what it says in the title. On Monday a week ago we still had relatively warm temperatures (meaning in the plus degrees section). But then on Thursday and Friday, just when my Mam was due to arrive, a snowstorm hit. I have to confess, though, that I didn’t really experience it, as I took off of the duty of going outdoors for half an hour those two days.

We were obviously not the only ones getting snow. My Mam’s flight was  already one hour late departing from Switzerland, due to snow. In Helsinki, where she had to change planes, the delay increased to two hours. In the end she arrived at our home at 3.30 am instead of around 1. Saturday was freezing! As was Sunday. We got temperatures around -20°C. It wasn’t the first time I experienced temperatures like that, but the first time when I actually had to do things. Let me tell you: I don’t like it much. Here’s why:

Frozen Hair and Lashes – *shiver*

Strangeley enough my Sicilian PB seems to enjoy it at lot:

Yay, Snow! And Ice!

However, on the upside, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday the sun shone all day (which currently lasts from 9.30 to 14.30), so I took the opportunity to get some vitamin D and to take some sugary pictures:

View From Livingroom

One of the Prettiest Houses in Town

Sun is Already Setting – at two thirty…

Jyväsjärvi – somewhere under all that snow there’s a lake

Before Sunrise on Saturday

Well, it’s gonna be better soon, in only 3 months I will be enjoying the warmth again. Though it won’t be in Finland.

Apartment Update

Let’s celebrate! We managed to completely furnish one room in our apartment, and here it is:

The Sauna! – Complete With Bucket, Thermometer and Sand Timer

Kidding aside: we managed to put order in most of the apartment and apart from the sauna, most rooms are (nearly) done. The room that doesn’t require any more attention (apart from cleaning) is the one you will see first when visiting:

Entrance to Our Pad

I like that we seem to be able to maintain a sufficient degree of organisation here. I have to admit, however, that not all of my shoes reside here. Most of them are actually in the “off season closet”, as most of them are sandals and/or highheels.

The rest of our home is coming together quite nicely. The guest room is mostly finished. I’m just debating if I should hang the pictures of my loved ones here or in our bedroom.

Almost Done – The Guest Room

With all the whites and blues going on here, it seems a little cold, so maybe I’ll also add a contrasting rug or carpet.

The biggest contrast to the last home tour, however, is the living room:

The Living Room – Too Empty to Be Cosy

I like the difference a lot! Even though it looks bare in these pictures, we spend a lot of time in this room. The sofa is very comfortable, despite the fact that it is a sleeping couch. We took a loooooong time to decide on it (4 weeks of going sofa shopping…), but I’m really happy with it. I’m also extremely happy with the lamps. The one hanging from the ceiling was a lot of fun to assemble. The one beside the sofa is a genuine 50’s/60’s lamp we got for free from a friend.

One more room to show you:

The Sunroom – a.k.a. the Mathematician’s Room

The round chair is our newest acquisition, so now the room is actually used for it’s intended purpose: doing mathematics! I really enjoy cooking in the adjacent kitchen while maths is being discovered and discussed.

Talking of the kitchen: it’s very functional now that all the utensils have found a place, but doesn’t look any different from last time, so I’ll save the upload space. I’ll spare you the bedroom, as that’s still pretty much a mess. I might do a post on that sometime in the future, though.

It Was a Rainy Day…

… and still we went outside for nearly 4 hours. People who know me might start to wonder who I’ve become in the month I’ve lived here. I usually prefer staying inside, especially when it’s raining, as it was Sunday a week ago. However, there was something to tempt even me to go out: mushroom hunting!

It was an “expedition” organised by the university and Martha, the local mushroom picking club (I don’t know if that’s the correct expression). No pictures of the picking, as I didn’t want to take the camera (did I mention it was raining?).

Once home, PB sorted the mushrooms, at which point I took out the camera:

Last Weeks Loot

I forgot the names of the varieties we picked, but I think I could recognise them now. The trouble is that they tend to hide quite well. Even after the 4 hours out, it was just enough to make a simple mushroom dish for the two of us that had to be stretched considerably with bread.

However, we got hooked on mushroom picking and yesterday we did it again! Heli and Jouni (a couple who I met at ETH last (academic) year and who are permanently at JYU) invited us to join them to go to a little market in Rautalahti (a small town outside Jyväskylä) with successive mushroom/cranberry picking. Again I didn’t take my camera, but this time it’s because I forgot. PB took his camera and some pictures, but he’s not around and I don’t know where he put it. However, that’s not a problem at ALL, because Heli and Jouni brought their cameras and they blogged about the hike. There are the most gorgeous pictures on there, make sure to visit!

Thanks to them, we also found mushrooms, and a lot of them:

Yesterdays Loot – I Already Forgot the Name again

We (well that is Heli) also found quite a lot of funghi porcini. We ate most of them yesterday for dinner and it was a complete feast. The ones we didn’t eat are being dried right now, hence no pictures either, sorry! Well, even wihout pictures to proove it, rest assured that we were having a great time! Thanks again Heli and Jouni!

Sunny Day

Last Sunday was the sunniest day since I arrived here. I took the opportunity and my bike and spent most of the afternoon cycling around the Jyväsjärvi (another lake close to home). I took the camera, but forgot to charge the battery, so I only have pictures of the first half of the mini-trip. Here are some impressions of the southeastern part of the Jyväsjärvi:

Near the “Neverending Bridge” Close to Home

A Public Orchard (Don’t Know the Name)

East End of Jyväsjärvi – With Beautiful View of the City

Plenty of Wooden Nature Around

View From the Northeastern Part – Including U.F.O.

That’s it for now. It’s good I took advantage of the day. It’s rained every day since then. This made me realise that I forgot my rubber boots in Switzerland. To Quote Homer: “D’oh!”

Exploring the New World – Including Berry Pie Recipe

How time flies! How boxes don’t! Although I have to say, there are not too many left unpacked. Therefore we were heading out to explore the surroundings. Here are some impressions from the past 2 weeks.

The Road in Front of Our House

This is the road that is visible from our guest-, living-, and sunroom. I was lucky to shoot a picture with sunshine as here it’s often cloudy. There is usually a fast succession of sunshine and shadows from the clouds.

Even though it’s not very warm, we try to go out at least half an hour every day. So within that walking distance there is one of the lakes:

Me in Front of One of the Lakes

Two weeks ago we saw some people swimming. By the sound of them, it must have been cold.

In addition to walking, we do as the locals do:

Wild Bycicle Parking – A Normal Sight Throughout the Whole City

We cycle. We both got the same bycicle, which is black. As some of you might know, I prefer colourful things. So PB suggested I knit a cover, a bit like this one. I’m already working on it.

In addition to walking and cycling, we try to still get the advantage of late Summer (or better: early Fall) and go pick berries.

PB Hard at Work

In this case they are from our backyard:

Berry Bushes in the Backyard

All the bushes you can see are edible berries. And here, as promised, is what I make with them:

Berry Pie – Mamma Style

This is a pie my mum used to make very often when we were kids. It’s best with fresh berries, but frozen also work. It is one of my favourite summer pies, becuase it’s just the perfect combination of sweet/sour berries and buttery cake crust.

Ingredients for a 24cm springform pan
375g flour
90g sugar
1/4 Tbs salt
180g butter
1 egg
3 Tbs water
300g berries or cherries
4 Tbs sugar
4 Tbs ground hazelnuts

Preparation
Mix flour, sugar and salt. Rub butter into it. Whisk egg with water, add to butter/flour mixture and work everything into a smooth dough. Let the dough rest in the fridge for 1/2 hour.
In the meantime, mix the berries with the sugar. Roll out dough into two rounds, put one round in a springform pan, add edge, sprinkle with hazelnuts, spread berries on it and cover with the second round.
Bake 30-40 minutes in the middle of a preheated oven at 225 ° C. Sprinkle with icing sugar before serving.

Even though it can be kept up to 5 days in the fridge, it seldom takes that long to look like this:

Berry Pie – 12 Hours After Baking

Slowly Settling In

Almost one week has passed since I arrived in Finland. PB and I were busy with bureaucracy so far. Now we’re both known to the police and I’m registered at Jyväskylä University and ready to start taking courses. We’re still waiting for a bank account (obviously our credit history has to be checked). Also, we are not yet able to get a phone contract, as we don’t have a social security nor tax number. Which means I won’t get a smartphone for some time longer.

Our home is still a mess and we’re living surounded by boxes. On Saturday we went to lay around a bit. The result was that we bought a bed that will be delivered in about 2 weeks. Up ’till then we sleep in the guest room on the guest bed. The room is very small, so that when the bed is opened to queen bed size, you can sit on the bed and work on the desk:

Guest Room – Currently Master Bedroom / Office / TV Room

However, the kitchen (most important room in any house) is almost done. Here we have a lot of storage space, so It’s easier to keep organised.

Kitchen – Almost Tidy

As you can see one of the cabinet doors is broken. It will be fixed by the owner company soon, I hope. Behind that door is the trash organisation system: four plastic containers to separate your garbage. The garbage deposit is in a shed in the yard, so you don’t have to wait for a specific day to get rid of it.

Speaking of the yard: it’s full of berry bushes! PB already went and picked redcurrants and blackcurrants with which I made a cake. But that’s for next post.

We invited one of our neighbours with his kids to eat some of the cake. Here’s what they found our living / dining room to be looking like:

Living / Dining Room – Also Known As Boxland

In the background the lodgia is visible. This might easily be our favourite room. This s partly due to the fact that it’s one of the few rooms with a lamp in it. Next Saturday we will probably go lamp shopping.

The other rooms (master bedroom, entrance and bathroom/sauna) look pretty much the same as the rest of the apartment, so I’ll spare you the pictures. Hopefully next week we’ll be completely unpacked, but I wouldn’t bet on it.

Anyway, this was the little apartment tour one week after my move. More to follow.