KEEP YOUR MIND CLEAR AND YOUR SHIRT CLEAN

I have neither as I have some of Dag's dinner on my sleeve and red wine in my glass.



But what I do have is a terrible nostalgia for the harbour, summer nights in the city, beer and jukebox playlists, running along the shore in Merihaka (my old jogging route) to some Marko Haavisto, driving my old Taunus to the same playlist. (Which I  can't do because Eddi has lost he keys to the Taunus and it has now been parked for xx years under an apple tree at the farm. This summer it will happen though. Locksmith. Clean up. Roadtrip, if only just a small one around the corner.)

We have this this Finnish music- challenge going on on Facebook and listening trough my favourite Finnish songs (which all tend to lean to the rautalanka sound) I got an itch for all of the above and some more. I was sure I had posted this song by Marko Haavisto & Poutahaukat here before (as seen in The Man Without a Memory by Kaurismäki) but apparently I hadn't. Well, here you go - it does not get more Finnish than this.

Now I'll have another glass of wine and play some rautalanka and then watch some more Kaurismäki clips.

PINK AND GREY

 I let my pink Parikkas out of the closet for the first time in years!
They go well with the vintage deadstock knit top that I got from Style me Betty a few years back.

The skirt however I have worn a lot lately, as you may have noticed. I am very much of a period-wearer, going trough my wardrobe in cycles. The skirt is H&M.

POTS AND PLANTS

As you may recall me saying before; I am a huge plant consumer and I start feeling all green-thumb at the change of seasons and usually spend a small fortune on plants and flowers for both the house and garden and balcony. (And now in spring time on seeds to. But I seldom get as far as to actually plant them to be honest...).

Some plants I've managed to keep alive and even grow for years*, but the ones I try to treat like they should be treaten over winter (like my geraniums) always die. So I've just stop doing that, and the ones that are by the window all-year round instead of being put in winter-mode make it.

This week I had a couple of days kind-of-off, so I took the time to change the soil for my indoor flowers, took come cuttings, bought a lot of new plants.

I haven't really liked it at home in quite a while as I have been so busy and everything has been so messy but new plants and flowers really do magic!

I always thought this part of the dining room was too pale and lacked something (while waiting for new wallpaper or some paint on the furniture or what we decide to do when the time is right); I have been seeking a large colourful painting for the wall to give it what's missing but for now, plants shall do the trick - they can really save a lot of things.

Ah, orchids, I love them, but have never managed to get any to bloom again after loosing their blossoms, even thought I've cut the stem like adviced. This time I'm going to try and be more consistent with fertilising etc. I think I'm going to name Monday my plant day so I'd remember to do all those other things that plants need to thrive other than just water them.

I clearly have it in me to become not only crazy cat lady but also crazy plant lady one day.

(*btw, someone was worried that the large plants in the living room would not make it as they were not by the window but I can let you know that they are doing just fine ;)

RAW MANGO CHEESECAKE

Spring is here, Easter around the corner, pretty much all food featured anywhere is yellow.

So I am not going to be any worse - here's a yellow cake suitable for the season! (Or at any other time of the year, of course.)

You will need:


A couple of mangoes, cashews, pecan nuts and almonds, lemon juice, dried dates, dried pricots and cocoa butter.

This recipe makes for a rather small cake, 20-25cm in diameter.

Let the apricots and dates soak for about 10-15minutes in water so that they soften up.
I used six (small) apricots and 2 dates.

Make the crust first. Mix almonds and pecans in a mixer; I used 1,5dl of both. You can use just pecans too if you so like (and perhaps live somewhere where pecans are not ridiculously expensive). You don't need to mix them all smooth, leave a little crunch. Add the apricots and dates plus a pinch of salt and mix.


Press the crust out in a baking mold. Add a baking paper or plastic film if the mold does not have detachable edges. I usually put a bit of baking paper in the bottom anyway.

Put the crust the fridge while you make the filling.


First start by puttig the cocoa butter, 1-2 tbs, to melt in a cup or glass placed in a bowl with hot water.

Mix 200g cashews along with some squeezed lemon juice in the mixer (about half a lemon). You can add a few drops of lemon more after a while to make the mixing easier. Use a spatula to push down any cashew crumbs that rise along the edges of the mixing bowl. The mixture has to be very, very smooth. It has to be all smooth before you add anything else; you can not "go back a step with this one".  The mix will start forming a ball when it is ready.


Slice one mango and add it in pieces. Mix smooth.
If you want you can add in a spoon of honey or agave (or some sweetener of your choice), but it will be fine without.


When the cocoa butter has become liquid (add some more hot water to the bowl if it has not yet melted), pour it in a thin string while mixing. Mix for a while so the cocoa butter blends in well.
The cocoa butter is used for firming the filling. You could also do this with coconut oil.

Take a couple of slices of the other mango and put it in the mixer with the filling. Mix for a while so the mango gets a bit chopped up and mixed in, but it does not need to dissolve completely.
(Use the rest of the mango for decoration on the cake or just go ahead and eat it while you wait for the cake to be ready.)


Take out the crust and pour the fill on. Put in the fridge for a couple of hours or in the freezer for about half an hour before serving.

Then enjoy!



Next time I think I will take some bits of dried mango and grate in on top of the cake for some extra mango-ness!

The cake will stay fresh some 3-4 days when kept cool.

BOYZ

EDIT: If you don't bother to read the text beneath the pictures or can't grasp it; these pictures are for a drag (-king) performance mixing burlesque and boyelsque, playing with gender roles and also doing a parody on nineties boy bands such as NKOTB, East 17 N'sync and, well, whatever their names were, as well as on those pierced-tattooed-trying-to-be-badass metal-hiphop-genre mixing bands of the early '00s with a little dose of  Magic Mike male stripping in it ;) Next Friday at Drag Me To Hel.

Channeling our inner late nineties/early 00's boy-band selves!

Because as you may know, burlesque is about more than just sequins and fluff (and corsets and top hats, which seem to be the most widespread stereotype).  Although I do like sequins and fluff very much too.

I took these pictures of us last night at our studio after my pilates class. It was probably the quickest "photoshoot" we've ever had.

Last year I went to Drag Me To Hel as a spectator (dressed as Mr.Freelancer) with my fellow Bitty-lads, and here the idea for a super corny boy band act was born. And alas, this year the BittyBoyZ will share the stage with drag queens and -kings, faux queens as well as other gender bending burlesque acts. At Dubrovnik on March 28! Whoop whoop! I mean ye ye! Or something that one of the Boyz could say.  Now if you excuse me I have to go watch some East 17 videos (and Magic Mike clips too once I am at it. Heh).


And a little psst. If you have a moment go drop our pages at the London Burelsque Festival -we'll head there in May- a like? Mine, The Rubies and the Bitties (in a bit more glitter and fluff).

SPRING, BLUE JEANS AND LEOPARD

 It's been warm and sunny the whole week and my sunglasses have made it out of the closet and the spring coat is on.

Dag and I went out out to the farm together for the weekend (E is away because of work again). Today we were out enjoying the weather before I had to head into town for my pilates. I have been teaching (as part of my training) every Sunday all winter.

Another thing that also made it out of the closet were my blue jeans which I haven't worn for months.
I have a fear of everything even slightly uncomfortable and always think of pants and jeans as going into that category when these in fact do not. Must remember that the next time.
My jeans are Emmy Design, from Pinup Garage.

AFTERNOON TEA AND GIN & TONIC

Well I have been doing other things than working too. The other week I was invited over to the British Embassy for afternoon tea. Or, afternoon tea and gin tonics, to be more exact.

If you'd asked me a decade ago what my favourite drink was, I'd give you a standard answer (that, contrary to what some of you may think, did not come straight from the local tiki bar's list) - simply, "the free drink". On our late high school- and early student years we always used to participate in the season opening day at the university and hang out at art exhibition openings because of the free wine they'd serve.  (This actually sounds pretty bad now put into writing, but it was a lot of fun back then. And I did go to art exhibitions for other reasons as well, being an art student.). But, for a more serious answer, a good gin and tonic definitely makes my top five.


So I grabbed my passport and wore plaid (quelle surprise) and head up to the big pink house at the top of the hill in the big park in the city, where a bit of the UK faces a bit of America.

I'm a sucker for decor and that is always what I pay attention too  when arriving somewhere. I want that lamp.


And those huge windows too. The view is a quite amazing one of of the park with Finnish Bay opening up behind it.


Sibelius was here once too.

Now, I was not invited by the embassy but rather to it, but by Pernod Richard Finland for an event regarding the release of the new Beefeater 24 gin (which is, for those of you who know about, or are interested in these things, a premium gin distilled with - among many other things- grapefruit peel and two different kinds of tea. And thus goes surprisingly well together with tea too. It was good. Very round and soft to taste). The event consisted of a little introduction to the British tradition of afternoon tea as well as the history of gin and tonic and gin in general and the making of it (distilled by hand, in London). Most definitely one of those things that you never knew you wanted to know about before, but now do. Really interesting once you get into it, especially if told by a connoisseur with a passion for the subject, like bar tender-master Timo Siitonen from A21 Cocktail Lounge (one of the best in town btw).



Time for tea! Served by a silent butler who showed up to fill my cup before it ever got empty.


The cucumber on the sandwhich was infused with gin.


And then gin and tonics! Here a classic triple-citrus one served the Spanish way in a round glass. (You learn something new everyday). I got a big urge to go home and throw a fancy party with a proper bar and drinks. (My friends once hosted a cocktail party for new year's. 2007 I think. They had made an amazing amount of small cocktail bites to eat that were really good and we made drinks out of an 1960's drink recipe book. The drinks were all very strong it turns out, most tasted rather awful due to that.)

Well, anyway. I also got to notice the big difference between tonic water and tonic water.
After this event I will propaböy never be able to fully enjoy a regular GT at a bar knowing how it could taste...


Tasting and smelling the ingredients of the 24 gin.


Mr.Siitonen giving some tips and tricks on how to spice up the original gin and tonic - herbs and spices are easy ways to give the classic a new twist.

My cocktail party itch got even more serious by this point because all of the versions looked ridiculously inviting.

I went for a mediterranean inspired "forrest version".  It had a branch of rosemary, juniper berries and lemon in it. The ideal proportion is one part gin and two parts tonic.  I think I have to start pimping up my water at home too with other than lemon and the occasional mint or cucumber because this looks just as nice as it tasted.

For those of you who go virgin I'm sure a fine tonic (this was Fever Tree, Fentimans was also very good) with the same ingredients would most likely taste rather swell too.

IT'S ALMOST MID-MARCH ALREADY

...which means summer will soon be over. Because that's the way it goes you know. Fast.

Oh well hello there! Yes I am still very much alive, although it may seem a little too quiet over here. With all the work, hanging out with Dag, puzzling babysitting around for my work as Eddi is abroad because of his work all the time and when at home out on the farm because the older boys go to school there now and I'm kind of living part-time in my car due to all the going back-and-forth between homes and jobs and gigs and rehearsals plus the pilates training I am studying I have a pile of posts stacked up that will soon be too old to post anyway.

Well that was a long sentence. But it pretty much describes how things are for the moment, in the way it was structured. A highly energetic mess. But, here are some thing's I've been up to the past week as my phone and Instagram saw it:

We have started our own recurring club at Mascot -

The first of Rubies Klubit was last Friday under the theme 'Abstinence'. It was a really good night!

(The last shot is from the curtain call at the end of the night that I took from our golden gogo-boy's Instagram, orginally taken by JBM.)

Go ahead and like our page to find out the dates for the following ones as we set them!

Then I head over to Turku to perform at a Women's Day celebration event. Here's a shot from out small backstage as well as one of dragqueen Miss Divet performing before us and our huge mirror in our hotel room.



Then I came back home and by yesterday spring had arrived for real! I'm tempted to say the classic "finally" but to be honest it's pretty early and apart from that magical Christmas week winter was not that long or cold or white but seemed to pass rather quickly this time. We took a walk outside and it was warm. I feel all my shoes starting to wake up from their winter sleep and making small sounds in the closet already.

Also yes, that is how my son keeps putting his glasses on, constantly.

Later then showed up to the dinner table dressed as a sailor.

ANOTHER DAY AT THE OFFICE

One of the things I have been working on lately - we made something of a "burlesque play" for the Helsinki Burlesque Festival (which was last weekend). I had this idea of something of an eerie but also totally crazy funny short story about a laboratory and a burlesque robot that I put into a script and that we -the Itty-Bitty Tease Cabaret, five women strong again for this one- worked on together.

And the result turned into exactly what it was supposed to! We performed our little play together with the festival's jazz trio improvising in the background (and that band is so good! They made it perfect). It was the most fun I've had on stage in a long time; to make something totally new and rather unseen before. Burlesque, in short, is entertainment, and you aim to please the audience, but at certain events -like a festival - you can go for different numbers, stretch the limits of what belongs to which genre and please the audience by giving them something else than the expected. (This number is not for the dinner parties no). And most spectators loved this  -but not all liked it (because we were not being "just" pretty and dancing in beautiful costumes which some want to limit down to because they don't think about the whole spectrum of what a performance can be; this also in short). In this case I am happy about that; doing something that was not meant to make everyone love it straight away but to rather to make people go 'Oh, you can do it like this too?'

And I have to add that that robotic metallic hair I was working on at 3am last week turned out pretty good.

Because this after all is burlesque I am not going to show you the pictures from the end of the play but yes; the robot takes over the world.

For those of you suffering from burlesque abstinence from the festival week Tinker and me are throwing a small relaxed burlesque club at Mascot this Friday. (And then I am off performing for a Women's Day part-charity-show spectacle in Turku on Saturday in case you still want some more.)

Photos 1, 3&4by Tuomas Lairila and 2&5 JBM.