visiting

i could so easily adapt to this not having to go to work... if you asked right this second, i couldn't remember any of my passwords for computer at work. unfortunately there are also other things that i forget easily...

as certain someone also had some time off from work we went to visit my parents at the cottage and took the dog with us. the dog, obviously, liked to be able to run around free.

we arrived saturday afternoon and i just had to make some more of lahey's pizza. i have now, i think, found the optimal filling: thinly sliced red onions, prociutto, calamata olives, tomato and mozzarella







it had been freakishly cold during the night (-20C). certain someone and i slept in the old cottage (built some 30 yrs ago) with the dog. on sunday morning we woke up to a crisp +10C temperature, inside the cottage... the dog had done a runner around midnight and we had kept getting up during the night to take him back indoors, no luck, but more on that later.

mom and dad were all cosy in the new cottage and after such a cold (and sleepless) night we decided that soup would be good. by now you all should know how i make a soup, what's different this time is on which kind of stove the soup was cooked on. namely this wood burning one







steaming hot







as the stove was burning all day anyway, mom decided to make some oven pancake as well. why is it that mom's pancake tastes so much better than mine? could it be for finally getting to eat some with strawberry jam? the amount of butter and eggs mom uses in the batter...







on monday then, we still had to burn the oven all day... might as well take advantage of the heat in the oven and bake some brownies. the thing with wood burning stoves is that the oven temp is never quite accurate and is hard to adjust. the top got a tad bit darker than i would have liked but the brownies tasted great







there is still so much snow, i wonder if it's going to go away by midsummer?







my dad has a habit of putting things in most peculiar places, correction: peculiar things in peculiar places. i have no idea what he ever thought when he placed this thing (part of a winch??) beside the pillar in the front of old cottage. well, the things laying around do make nice still-lives...







it's amazing how diffrent the snow...







...makes everything look







now, there seems to be like a zillion things i need to get done while i still get to use both of my hands to do them with, like tons of laundry...

tomorrow at 7am i need to be at the hospital for the surgery all scrubbed clean, nails clipped, sober (would people really show up drunk?), with my own medicins (you'd think there'd be plenty in a hospital), tootbrush and slippers, with no make-up, nailpolish nor pierced jewellery. i do get to eat dinner tonight but nothing to eat after midnight and nothing to drink after 3am. they are kind enough to offer a "snack" after surgery.

if all goes well certain someone should be able to come and pick me up from the hospital sometime tomorrow afternoon/evening. let's hope i do wake up and that they'll medicate my pains away... see you once i feel lucid again...

more pulla

there seems to be a mouse at the shack, a mouse that keeps eating all the pulla i bake... and it's not me, i swear. i've posted about baking pulla before, but thought i'd share last friday's buns as they were the best i've ever managed to bake, so far. not sure if it was the moon being in the right angle, or something to that effect, but these buns came out perfect. i used the same recipe as before, maybe it was some extra butter in the dough, maybe the extra 2 minutes of kneading in the mixer, or, could it be that i'm getting the hang of it?

anyways, this time i used coconut...







...and cinnamon as fillings







ready for the second rise before baking







with coconut filling straight from the oven. the smell of baking pulla is amazing







with cinnamon and sugar. i had to taste one, ever heard of quality control?







all this went into freezer and is supposed to last for a couple of months. there might be a way to bake pulla with just one hand, just don't think that i'll be that desperate to have some. certain someone seems to think that he could do it... if that miracle happens, rest a sure, you will get the story and pictures!

new pan & crepe-style pancakes

we've been at the cottage since saturday, lots of things going on, been too "busy" to blog... here's something i made at the shack last tuesday, namely pancakes. i had bought this new pancake pan (on sale) and i wanted to try it... and mom, yes i do have plenty of pans. it's just that the cast iron pan takes forever, the bigger ones are difficult because of high rims and... let's just say that i needed a pan for pancakes and leave it at that, shall we?

for the batter you'll need ½ liter milk, 2 eggs, 3 dl all purpose flour, 1/4 tsp salt, ½ tsp sugar and some fat, either melted butter or, for a lack of better name "liquid margarine". i find it easiest to first mix the eggs and 1 dl of milk, then add half the flour, mix vigorously, add another dl of milk, rest of the flour and mix again, then add salt & sugar, rest of the milk and the fat. i usually let the batter sit for up to an hour, but it's good to go as is







batter is a bit thinner than i would use for frying on a cast iron pan







warm pan on medium heat, pour just enough batter to cover the pan, fry until the edges start drying...







...and the underside is golden brown, or, if you like your pancakes a bit on the darker side a bit longer. my dad likes his pancakes quite dark and crispy and insists that sparkling water be added to batter right before frying. it does make the pancakes crispy and lacy







this batter makes approx 12 pancakes (not sure how many i ate before counting them...)







these were eaten with mom's raspberry jam (as i, still, haven't made any strawberry jam...)