WRAPPED BIRDS

I got myself a birdie-wrap dress just in time for the last days of summer.
It’s from Love Ur Look and it’s made of a very soft and thin and flowing cotton. Perfect for summer but won’t work too well when winterised, you know, layered with thick stockings and sweaters on and so. So from now on, apparently, it will have to wait for the next warm season.

It was called a ‘wrap dress’ which made me think it would be, well, wrappable, but it was solid with just the front wrapped over the bust. Nothing wrong with that, except for that it was way too big for me to look good. So after thinking about it for about two seconds I grabbed the scissors and cut it in half in the front! Then I cut the belt that came along in half too and attached it at the sides of the dress to be able to wrap and tie it. Plus I took the shoulders and sleeves and the back in a bit too…

...and now it’s rather perfect -it also has pockets too as you see!


TO end this pos I give you a bonus picture of how it most often looks when taking blog photos in our house:

Ta-ta!

RAW CHOCOLATE MOUSSE CAKE

I had the idea to use the "magic chocolate mousse" for a cake for a long time, and this summer I got around making one first version of it!

The cake did not turn out super-perfect,  but it was one step int he right direction, and was highly approved by the ones sharing it. A bunch of kids also had this and they were totally fooled, thinking they were eating “conventional” chocolate cake. Ta-da!

I make a lot of raw food cakes and bars and goodies. I do bake a lot of sweets in the oven too, somewhat healthy and then not so healthy, vegan and non-vegan as well. With raw food I like the fact that you can make something taste totally chunkadelic while it is still basically full of only healthy ingredients. (Raw food cakes are of course not light in calories, with lots of nuts and seeds and dried fruit, but you also tend to eat less of those as they are rather heavy. And, for most people they still don’t make you feel as stuffed as after having ‘normal’ cake). Sometimes healthier versions of the "real thing" mostly taste good only because you tell yourself it does, but with raw sweets I don't think that is the case; they taste just as good, sometimes in their own way, sometimes in the same way as with butter and sugar.

Most of the time when I cook and bake I add things a little so-so, making it up as I go along or working from memory. I think it works well especially for raw food sweets, as it is the texture that counts, and dried fruit may vary in consistence. But lately I’ve been trying to write down amounts as many don’t like to play around with measurements the way I do. Here’s how this version turned out and what it consumed:

I made a crust using nuts, seeds and dried prunes(plums).

3 dl of sunflower seeds and 70g of nuts (I had walnuts) and 12 plums.

I like walnuts in the crust for raw food pies, they make a good base.)

Sunflower seeds give a full, kind of butter-like feel to the dough. I have made raw brownies using only sunflower seeds as I was serving it to a person with nut-allergies. it works very well.

Most raw food sweets contains dates in different form. If you grow tired of them you can try using other dried fruit instead, plums, figs or apricots etc. I love dates, but sometimes change them, mostly just for variation in recipes. These plumes were not very sweet so I added a spoon of coconut sugar.

Then in with 1,5dl of coconut oil and 2dl of cocoa powder. -personally I think regular powder works as well as raw - and a little hint of good salt.

I personally think this recipe will work better with cashews tor almonds han walnuts, as cashews are more mild. So I will opt for such in the version to come. The cocoa together with the walnuts made it rather bitter;  I came to the conclusion that  walnuts works better in a crust without cocoa. I will also try to make the next version with dates anyway, or a mix of dates and plums for more sweetness. But many will prefer a less sweet version, so stick with the plums and walnuts then. 

Press out the crust in a non-stick cake mold (or place a baking paper underneath).

Put it in the fridge to firm up while you make the fillings.

The first filling will be the instant marmalade. I made mine of raspberries, red wineberries and dates. About 1,5 dl of berries and 3 dates.

Mash and mix it together and spread it over the cake.

The second fill/ topping is a variation on the magic chocolate mousse, the whole idea of the cake. I have started to add half a banana to it, as sometimes the avocado tastes trough and makes the mousse taste too “green”. For an even smoother mousse I also add creamed coconut.

Here’s what goes in it:

1 ripe avocado

1 ripe banana

20 dates

8 tbs cocoa

1-1,5dl creamed coconut

Creamed coconut is not the same as coconut cream; it is firm as a paste.

Spread the topping out on the cake and put the cake in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Raw cakes are said to not, like many other cakes, not get ay better by waiting over night or so, but in this case I still felt the cake tasted better the second day!

I might try this with a pale crust (dates and walnuts), no berry filling and fresh fruit on top instead the next time. And then I am sort of dreaming of making a triple chocolate version with a dark crust, this chocolate mousse filling but sans the coconut cream, saving that for the third topping; he coconut-chocolate one I used for my raw muffins.  But we’ll get back to those once the experiments have been conducted!

THE SEQUIN BOMB! / PALJETTIPOMMI GIVEAWAY

Last weekend we celebrated a sparkly launch of the first Finnish Burlesque-zine, Paljettipommi (the "sequin bomb"). It's created and edited by fellow performer Kiki Hawaij and has small fun contributions form most of the active performers that were around when the scene over here was created, as well as a few longer text on the subject what burlesque really is, and can be at it's best.


Tinker and I, as part of the Rubies, have our own recurring column there on wellness showgirl style and a Q&A section. As it is us, it is of course very tongue in cheek, as you may notice. Here we are demonstrating our so called pin-up abs.

You can read the digital version for free online at issuu.com/paljettipommi.

Among the ones commenting on this post I will draw one commenter who will receive a printed copy of the magazine! I will send the copy worldwide but note that the articles are in Finnish, so it will probably bring most joy to one that understands the language...

THE PLAY KITCHEN

I got Dag a play kitchen!

I fixed it up in town during summer while the rest were on the farm. I bought hooks and a (shower-) shelf with suction fastening to hang stuff on and make the module more like a kitchen.

Dag loves playing with it. Or in it, whichever way you prefer.

Food tasting.

I have to try it too.

Dag got the vintage tin cups and -plates from his friend Pieter in The Netherlands.
The pots and pans and soft veggies and fruits are from Ikea.

The lettuce also doubles as a football on occasion. (The feet of the chairs made great goals.)

I  guess it will be dinner time soon!

LOOKING BACK ON A SKIRT

Somebody apparently turned a switch and changed summer into autumn the other day. A bit sad, because I was looking forward to one last summer roadtrip this weekend; we're driving far up north east for a show at a rockabilly weekender. Well. I am however glad that I during the warm weeks came around wearing many of my clothes that otherwise don't make it out that much -this skirt is one of my favourites! I've had it for many years already; I picked it up at our family cabin in southern Carelia when I was there with my sister in 2008. It had been left there as whatever-wear.

I have some vague memories of my mother wearing it with wedges. Or then I've seen her do so in photos.

 

I wore it quite much once it was back with me to town! These are from 2008.

Here's me with Ina in 2009.

I almost forgot I got my hair that platinum! At this time it also had the baby pink sections in it. That was 2010.  I still dream about cotton candy hair every now and then. But then again i also kind of like having a lot of hair on my head again, and not just thin silvery locks...

The good thing with wrap-y items is that they fits you trough a few sizes... here's me on holiday wrapping my baby bump under the skirt. In early 2012.



And here's the same skirt going strong in 2014 still! I have had to mend it a few times as it once got stuck in a bike wheel and got torn and has grown thin in a few spots, I've ironed some supporting fabric on  the inside.

FOUR THINGS RIGHT NOW - FROM SUNDAY EVENING TO NIGHT

Came home to the city; we spent the end of last week on the farm. But now that summer will one over the city flat will be our base camp again. (And now I intend to organise things and tidy up so it will be nice again; the past year it has been an awful chaos.)
This is what Tapiola is like; lots of midcentury- and sixties houses embedded in lots of green, following the landscape; building low where the landscape is low and high on the hills. Or, what old Tapiola is like, as they are building lots of new and high for the moment. Our balcony is the one with the colourful hanging lateens ont he top floor.

Most of my weekend however was spent at a fitness education course. I took as support for the dance classes and courses I hold. See  how my work out bag has a neatly sewn (put two fingers up in the air and do a little double bend on them as you say "neatly") IBTC patch on it (we still have a handful left).



On my way home I popped by Anttila in Sello which is closing down and being emptied out. It's rather empty by now but I came over a hundred euros worth of shoes for only twelve; these everyday wedge sandals I still intend on using for the last warm days and a pair of girlie/granny autumn walking shoes. I got Dag a moomin scarf for a few pennies as well.



And then the sun set and we had virigin mary's on the balcony.

GARDEN LIFE

Oh summer, with those warm summer days that feel like they were endless when you think back on them but in real life went by all too fast!

Summer is not over yet, by far, I hope, but school has started and Eddi's back to work and we've moved our base camp back into the city so the change towards autumn has been made already. Well, those few days when the older boys are not with us we tend to stay out at the farm anyway, but I've noticed the change in nature too - the heatwave is gone and there is something about the wind in the trees that sounds different.

But we had some ver hot and sunny weeks when the outdoors and the indoors blended - doors and windows were open all the time, the temperature around +30C every day. I did a lot of work this summer, but spent some days in between just laying around the garden doing a lot and nothing at the same time. 

Most mornings I did my work out and stretching under a blue sky.

Then we waited out the heat with Dag in the hammock chair.

We had dinner outside too, late, when the heaviest heat was over.

(The dress is now pink-and-red btw. Damn it you, red skirt for not keeping your shit - well, colour- together!)

Every now and then Dag ran around in nothing but sunscreen.

And I could wear my thin summer dresses.

This one in particular is from Love Ur Look. Me likes.

I also picked a lot of berries. It's nice when you can do that in bikinis.

This year we had a crazy amount of cherries! I've picked around 12l and there would still be as mud left but I just can't take it anymore.

The cats took it easy in the heat too.

And some flowers bravely stood in bloom until they dried away.