fish patties & apology

week ago friday i drove to my brother's with the intention to bake (a lot) for little niece's birthday, felt a little chilly when getting into bed friday night. saturday i had the house all to myself as my brother and nephew went to help my dad at the cottage and my sister in law took the nieces to an orienteering event in tampere. here is all i have to show for...







i baked pulla (coconut and cinnamon fillings), dorie greenspan's party cake in wilton dancing daisies pan, martha's coconut macaroons and made marchmallow's (a first!) with a recipe from delicious. i was having a flow so i forgot to take pics while preparing everything.

i had the intention of making buttercream frosting in pink and pale green to decorate the cake, etc, when, on saturday afternoon, i started feeling little woozy and had to lie down. first, on the sofa and later in bed with a bucket beside me, i will spare you the details. i ended up staying in bed for 3 days, fever and all. sister in law and older niece were left to make do with what i had started and some more to bake...i'm sorry i missed yet another little niece's birthday, and i was so close to making it this year! and you missed a grand post with my latest baking accomplishments, so sorry about that, too.

i stayed at mom and dad's apartment while sick and on tuesday afternoon, after carefully considering whether a 2½ hour drive could be accomplished, i drove home. i ended up staying horizontal most of wednesday, my stomach wasn't quite settled yet.

but eventually one needs to eat something...dad had caught some small pikes and knew that certain someone and i would appriciate them. there is one kilo of pike filees in there...certain someone got one fried in butter but the rest went into fish patties...







i made fish patties for first time a year ago, almost to a date. i used more or less the same recipe (who am i kidding? there was no recipe...), i did browse thru some recipes for inspiration, like one from maku magazine.







i ended up using:

1 kg pike filees
3 dl cream
2 eggs, separated, whites whipped
4 pieces of rye crisp bread, minced
1 dl bread crumbs (white bread)
10 cm piece of white part of leek, minced
salt, pepper, chili powder, peel of one lemon, fresh parsley and dill minced

first mixed together all of the dry ingredients.







then minced the pike filees in the food processor. (let the machine run long enough, you don't want tiny fish bones in your patties!) then, the machine running added the cream (mixed with the dry ingredients), leeks and yolks, mixed well. at this point i felt the machine might be getting over its capasity (a slight odor...), i mixed the whipped egg whites in a large bowl.







then shaped the batter into patties with wet hands, rolled the patties in rye breadcumbs and fried in butter on medium for 4 minutes per side.







perfectly done







served it simply with boiled jacket potatoes, butter and lemon juice

garden this morning

haven't been able to do much (=anything) in the garden, but nature seems to be doing fine by herself...

blueberries are blooming







a more dramatic take of the blooms







the muscari took their time getting up this year







as did the tulips. i have no idea how these will look when in bloom







managed to be quick enough to capture a moment's stillness







bee being busy







the palest yellow daffodil







anemone nemorosa is plentiful at the shack







my sad attemp of gardening, tomato, pumpkin and nastutium seedlings, the paprika is a no-show...now, if i could find a magic wand to turn the mossy lawn into a vegetable garden...







the dog isn't really enjoying the sunny, warm weather

salmon and asparagus tart, from delicious, my way

as i've mentioned, i've taken a habit to mark interesting recipes in the magazines. the may issue of delicious got 5 marks (so far..). i tried the salmon and asparagus tart from the article cost-conscious suppers the other night. well, i read the recipe and made do with what i had...







i used puff pastry instead of shortcrust, cold smoked salmon instead of salmon fillet and red for yellow onion, but the rest of ingredients were close enough to the original recipe.







did my blind baking, dutyfully...those peas must have been in the oven for a dozen or more times...







sauteed the thinly sliced onion and let cool a bit before placing on the base along with the sliced salmon.







blanched and halved the asparagus as the sprigs were quite thick.







on the left, that's how the tart looked in the magazine. on the right, my puffed version.







i my mind i imagined how nice a salad of mixed greens with lemon vinaigette would have been with this. but i was lazy and ate it as is...delish!

i still have to figure out what the system of posting recipes online is for the magazine. there are quite few online, maybe it was just me not finding this one, yet.







ps. as i write this i'm pissed off (pardon the expression) beyond belief at my doctor, the surgeon. although i fully agree on his reasons for wanting to try a new procedure on my wrist, i would have appreciated him telling me that this procedure is, in fact, so new that there isn't a license (in finland) for its use yet. since january, they've (the hospital) been telling me that my surgery will take place latest june, by midsummer.

had i not called them on monday, i would have waited and waited, until august, if not longer, to hear anything from the hospital. i have tried to live with the pain, reminding myself that people live with more devastating conditions, but that helps only so far. i can see how the nagging pain seeps into my behaviour and i become nasty, and i don't like it. i have pain-killers but they have their side-effects.

it's infuriating not having been able to plan anything for early summer and now this will continue for i don't even know how long. like, when do they get the license? how long it takes before my surgery takes place after that? will it be august? october? december, worse yet, next year??

yesterday i spent an hour, in vain, trying to find out which institution grants those licenses. from the hospital, i was given the phone number for my doctor but so far i have resisted the urge to call him, i don't think anything constructive would come out of my mouth right now. i might email him, next week, when i'm in a calmer state of mind...

i won't even start on what i think of my supervisor who couldn't be man enough concerning his issues about the timing of my leave. he knows who he is.

swiss trip II, details, flora & some fauna

more (a lot) from switzerland...this post is all about little details, curiosities, and pretty things. the shutters of my friend's house.






i thought these guys were french?!?







at kartause ittenger, by the stable, somewhere to park your horse...







i wished it had rained, the gushing water would have made quite a sight.







more of the same, in fact, these dragons were all over.







i would not have thought of putting a face on this shutter stopper...







house decoration in diessenhofen







thirsty?







my friend's cat, monster. her tail really is that short, there was an accident...







although she is very catlike in many ways, she does not meow but bark.







morning dew on primroses at kartause ittinger







i want these in my garden...







i must have told you i love pink?







my friend's neighbour







a very elizabethian picture of branches.







want these too!







my friend's horses






there are lots more pics, i will only pain you with one more batch...in a day or two.

swiss trip, kartause ittinger

here at last, first of the swiss pictures. i visited the kartause ittingen for the first time over 20 years ago as my friend happens to live in the village of warth. a lot has been done during that time. the place itself dates back to 1084, it used to be a monastery, then a farm for 110 years before a trust was formed in 1977 to restore the buildings.

nowadays there is a hotel, a restaurant, conference facilities, gardens, art museum and a residence for handicapped people, who work on the property.






the restaurant is located up there







can't help but wonder the skills of the builders hundreds of years ago







the resident stork







this little pond is in the middle of the property







the rose garden. i wished it had been june already with all the roses blooming...such a tranquil place.







even a bench to sit and contemplate, or admire the beauty of the gardens.







on that particular morning i wanted to be one of the gardeners...right now i realize that the reality of the job might not be as romantic as i imagined it. although, there must be a reward in the beauty and serenity of the surroundings despite the hard work.







they also have sheep, and other animals on the premises. there is a shop that sells wine, cheese, butter, dried herbs, all grown and produced on the property. there were plenty of products i wanted to buy to take home, but i settled on a bottle of "birne edelbränd" (a grappa style beverage made of pears).







the apple and pear trees were already in bloom everywhere. i'm sure this horse is very happy when the pears start falling from the tree in the autumn...







ps. happy may day! hope you're not too hung over...