merry christmas!

happy holidays for you and your loved ones!

twice with pak choi, soup & stir fry

besides the market hall there are several asian markets in hakaniemi. one i visited was oriental supermarket, that is one of the few shops in helsinki that carry pak choi. my only groan is that they sell pak choi in huge bags...

on tuesday i made a soup of the other half. started by washing and slicing three pak chois







then chopped 3 green onions







put the soup kettle on and added 2 tbsp of this into one liter of boiling water







added the white parts of pak choi and green onion, and cooked them for a minute before...







...adding the green parts of pak choi...







...and odd collection of shrimp i had in the freezer







dug out some rice noodles as well, cooked those and added to the soup







on wednesday i used the remaining 3 pak chois for a stir fry (or something to that effect...) chopped also 3 carrots and one medium onion







sliced some turkey to go with. the turkey breast i bought for christmas was humongous, 3,2 kg. while butterflying the turkey breast i removed some of the meat to use in this dish. i think we'll still have plenty of turkey for christmas...








browned the sliced meat on a hot pan, added the carrots and onion, cooked for a few minutes more to make sure the meat is fully cooked, then added 2 tbsp hoisin sauce, cooked rice noodles and the chopped pak choi. oh, and cashew nuts, mixed well and here is wednesday's dinner

shopping & more of snow

if hakaniemen halli (hakaniemi market hall) was more conviniently located as to whereabouts i wander, i would spend a lot more time there. i have, however, told certain someone that one day i want to live within easy tramride away from the hall. whether this will ever happen is another another matter.

monday i went there with purpose to get some turkey for xmas, but couldn't resist taking a tour upstairs. food vendors are downstairs, other merchandise upstairs. some of the shops sell quite regular stuff, some are more touristicky (is that a word?)...i did buy something from upstairs but santa might be upset if i told you how i helped him







there are a few specialist shops, like this punainen lanka for buttons, lace and ribbons. i had to pass it quickly as i have more nicks and nacks for any of my possible future sewing projects, and then some.







this shop i had to stop at, the colors of these yarns were too juicy, more colors on their website vihreä vyyhti oy. almost without realizing, i had started picking out colors, but then remembered the amount of yarn i already have and my sore wrist, i took a picture instead. the shopkeeper was very understanding when i told her about my dilemma.







very, very sinfull, i know, and not very christmassy, but i really was hungry!







view from the window at work, sunday afternoon







seems like my neighbour isn't an avid biker







love the feathery frost on the window