Berry Pie

In order to cut and serve a wet pie neatly, bake it in a shallow dish. Learn from my mistakes and don’t use a tall spring form – it’s a bad, bad idea! When lifting the side piece up, I pierced the crust and trickled the juices; when removing the bottom part, I tore off the entire base of the pie. What a mess! Maroon berry compote splattered around the kitchen and my dress.

Luckily I had photographed the pie when it was still hot and intact. These pictures would give me a narrative license to create a visual illusion and you would never have to know about the mishap! Or, so I thought before realizing I had accidentally – and very permanently – deleted the pictures from the camera. All of them.

I was unfocused. It was a hot day: I wanted to finish baking and photographing as soon as possible. I sweated, had heartburn and a headache. Funny, when the mind becomes distracted it storms all over the place although it should pause and re-evaluate. But, in the heat of the moment, it is too engrossed and ignores the little cues that forecast trouble. How many times have you neglected the flash of premonition that strikes the thought process just seconds before cutting a finger or dropping a glass? Often only a shock will halt a passionate mind. Breaking the pie and loosing the pictures did it for me.

Instead of baking and photographing again, I decided to deal with the mind. Interestingly, when it was calm, the failure no longer bothered me and I could happily share the crumbles with my husband. It seemed like a natural thing to do, and reminded me that cooking and eating are irreplaceable mediums of affection. The rest – in what form the recipes are presented in social media and how artful the images are – is less important.

Thank you.

Berry Cake

Paper-thin oat cookies, cream and fresh berries stacked into a cake – can the summer get better than this?

Never mind the cold, rainy weather that keeps us wrapped in wool. I hope your heart is warm.

Thank you.

Pancakes

Do you prefer a sweet or savory breakfast?

Although I’m able to devour a mountain of desserts in the afternoon – four o’clock marking the zenith of the craving – my first meal of the day must be salty: khichdi, uppma, or rice, dal and vegetables. We like hearty breakfasts in our household. A lighter version could consist of a soup or warm salad with a saline pie, chapati or paratha. Sometimes I make potato filled dosa (rice and dal crepes) with coconut chutney or idli (steamed rice and dal cakes), although, idli must always be escorted by a bowl of rasam or sambar (toor-dal broth). Dunking these little white sponges into feisty liquid is a sheer joy and, in my opinion, a proper way to start a day!

The exception that proves the rule is that we had a sweet breakfast today: pancakes, strained yogurt, berries and honey. And, we survived! However, I was tempted to grill zucchini slices and serve the pancakes with herbed yogurt instead of berries and honey.

The pancakes recoup a recipe (chocolate roulade) I had planned for the blog. While dumping the crumbs in the recycling pin yesterday, I realized, it would need some product development. It’s yet to be seen if an eggless cake bent into a roll without breaking. Have any of you done it successfully? Tips are welcomed!

Thank you.

Strawberry Sorbet & Sweet Paratha

Nobody drives a forty-eight years old car. It doesn’t meet today’s need for speed, practicality, ecology, prestige or other values attached to a vehicle. Cars could, potentially, last longer but our ever changing desires dictate when a car, mobile phone, computer or camera is outdated.

Buildings from the 60’s, on the other hand, are still used for living although they may require renovation. They are more expensive to design and, thus, more respected. Also, homes are emotional investments: they are made of memories. Unless abandoned, a house will stand for several generations.

As awkward as it may sound, the human lifespan is somewhere between a car and a building! Our tissue deteriorates faster than the combination of earth, water, fire, air and ether in wood, stone or metal. Or, even, plastic! A physical body is made of matter, although it’s organic and able to stretch, transform and facilitate our mental and intellectual development to a large degree. It’s intricate and, in many ways, inconceivable. But, it will decay and die, just like everything else. Even the subtle matter that forms our sense of self, mind and ability to discriminate will, often, debilitate in old age, despite of its advanced metaphysical nature and ability to archive impressions during a lifetime. It’s the part of us that wants to and will manifest again, even after death, to realize our passions. Therefore, death is nothing but changing a set of clothes for a new role, situation and relationships. It’s the end of a play and the beginning of a new script.

If you are wondering why the morbid subject, no, I’m not dying. Yet. I just turned forty-eight!

Optimistically speaking, forty-eight is a late afternoon, six o’clock, in a twelve hour circle. It’s a transition hour; a twilight. The fall of night is probable, although not immediate. Naturally, I find myself less enamored by the wonders of this world and more withdrawn. Similarly, there are fewer smiles on my face but many in the heart.

If anything, birthdays remind me of the transitory principle of material life! Accepting a sack of blood, flesh, bones and mucus, as a residence, is a mixed deck. However, the cards are not delivered randomly. We get what we order, knowingly and unknowingly. We may not remember when, where, why or how we requested what comes our way. Neither can we, usually, cancel the order at our convenience but, thankfully, we can deal with it in a sensible and sober manner. The sages recommend observing the field and working with it intelligently: being in, but not of, the world! For a soul, constituted by the finest transcendental substance of eternity, knowledge and bliss, it’s the way to remain unaffected by the erosion of time. For one who is never born, there won't be death.

To celebrate of being never born, we enjoyed refreshing strawberry sorbet and sweet parathas (flatbreads) made with cinnamon bun spices with my husband yesterday. An odd combination, perhaps, but it tasted otherworldly.

Unlike the banana ice-cream I’ve made before, this sorbet was far from insipid. Strawberries restore the potential and glory of the recipe.

Today is one of the biggest holidays, and a fasting day, in our vaishnava tradition of yoga. It’s to commemorate Sri Caitanya Mahaprabhu, who appeared like the moon to dissipate the darkness of ignorance. He is prananath: the one in charge of my life-air.

Thank you.

It’s Christmas Time!

For someone who doesn’t observe Christmas, the holiday season means another year will come to an end. Like in 2011, I will take a break from blogging until February. It is the darkest period with a few hours decent daylight, which makes photographing impractical. Instead, I will concentrate on recipe developing and, hopefully, come back with a renewed enthusiasm next year.

I would like to thank you for visiting the blog, engaging in conversation via comments and exchanging private letters with me. I appreciate your feedback, and value your encouragement and well-wishes. Although I am a new blogger who is still defining an angle, you have been patient and understanding. I hope, I haven been able to offer something useful to you, too. With these traditional Finnish recipes, I wish you a warm and peaceful Christmas and a happy new year!

Let’s start with joulutorttu (Christmas pastry) that is a palm-size puff-pastry, shaped as a star, flower or half moon. There is usually prune-jam in the middle, but any other preserve that tolerates baking will do, too. For the dough, I’ve used butter, flour and cream. Remember to keep it as cold as possible when rolling out the pastries! If warm, it will be impossible to handle.

As for the instructions of how to shape the pastry as small flowers, please pardon, both, my visual and written aids! Unfortunately I lacked skills in making either of them clear. I guarantee, though, they are easier to make than it looks like. When you come to the point of having many small squares with slits cut on the edges and jam in the centre, you’ll be able to figure out how to fold them properly! Hopefully these instructions will assist.

There isn’t a household in this country that doesn’t serve mulled wine, glögi, during the winter holidays. My non-alcohol version is based on black-currant juice and boosted with orange, lemon, lime, fresh ginger and warming spices. It is just the right thing to enjoy when coming home from a snow storm!

I have already made three batches of piparkakku, gingerbread. I love the combination of ginger, cinnamon and cloves. Sometimes the cookies are made thick and chewy, sometimes thin and crisp. Usually decorated with a mixture of lemon juice and powder sugar, they are as beautiful to look at as to be eaten. I piped mine with white chocolate which is easier but not the best idea considering that chocolate remains soft in room temperature.

I have found that the tastiest gingerbread cookies are made of finely milled wholegrain spelt. I wouldn’t use flour that has a volume of bran, though. All-purpose flour is commonly used.

Here is a simple layout for those of you who would like to make a gingerbread house. If you plan and cut patterns beforehand, you will end up with functional architecture. The pieces are glued together with melted sugar. It’s a process that calls for swift hands! A tip you will like: decorate the pieces before assembling the house!

This is my dream house. Well, except I'd like to have more windows! It would be a small clay rendered straw bale hut that has a loft interior with an open kitchen. Having a hearth, there would always be a faint fragrance of wood and camphor. The ornaments would be made of cow dung! How would your dream house look like?

Stay warm, do good and be satisfied! See you soon, again.

With love, Lakshmi