Sunday brunch

How I love slow, lazy Sunday mornings.

When we're all home, and there's no rush to do anything or go anywhere, it's nice to take the time and prepare a proper breakfast or brunch.

Bread rolls, sauteed kale, bacon, fried tomatoes and scrambled eggs. And freshly squeezed juice. And coffee.

Perfect start for a lovely day! Have a sunny Sunday!

Blueberries, so many blueberries

A week of summer vacation spent at the cabin in Eastern Finland resulted in litres and litres of blueberries (or, officially bilberries, I guess).

Most are in the freezer to enjoy during winter but some I baked into a pies and pancakes.

INGREDIENTS

150 g butter

1,5 dl sugar

1 egg

3 dl flour

1 tsp vanilla sugar

1 tsp baking powder

blueberries (recommended amount approx. 350 g)

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for the crumb:

100 g butter

1 dl sugar

2 dl flour

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for the vanilla custard:

3 dl milk

 1 egg

2 tbsp sugar

1,5 tbsp corn starch

vanilla sugar to your liking

Heat your oven to 200 degrees C.

In a large bowl, mix together soft butter and sugar. 

Add rest of the ingredients and mix until smooth. 

Grease a large (30 cm) pie dish with butter and spread the dough on it evenly. 

Add an even layer of blueberries, amount depending on your taste (more blueberries, more moisture).

Prepare the crumb by mixing all its ingredients in a bowl by picking & crumbling with your 

fingers and sprinkle it on top of the blueberries. 

Bake in the oven for about 30 minutes. 

For the vanilla custard, in a kettle mix together milk, egg, sugar and sieved corn starch. 

Heat up on medium heat while constantly whisking. 

Be careful not to boil, as the egg will cook and you will have clumps. 

In 5-10 minutes the custard should thicken. 

Remove from heat when consistency is to your liking, let cool a bit and add vanilla sugar. 

Cool to room temperature.

Best, if served immediately!

But, will do the following day too :) Enjoy!

Soak it up.

First days of summer.

Have coffee on the terrace.

Fill the pool.

Just soak it up. The sun. The warmth. The summer.

Bubbles

We have upgraded our entertainment equipment from last year.

Kid got this bubble gun from his grandparents and there was no chance to avoid testing it immediately.

It's ten degrees outside, and in my opinion it's too cold for summery outdoor fun. Apparently, I am very, very wrong.

Enamel

Summer is coming, outdoor kitchen will be built, and old enamel pots and buckets will make perfect decoration.

A great flea market find for 15 euros.

The impatient person that I am, I wanted to make use of these immediately. That is right NOW. So for a while, they serve as planting pots for tete-a-tetes.

Vallila Emerald

Our next big renovation project is the hallway. And how else do you start a huge, tearing down walls and re-doing the whole floor kinda renovation than by buying a rug.

And since you haven't even started your project yet, you actually have no place for the rug.

So you place it in the living room, where it's a bit too small but you like it anyway.

It's exactly the pattern you've been looking for and exactly in the right colours. And it cost 69 euros only. Now all that needs to be done is to take down a few walls and lay some floor tiles.

The better pasta

Pasta bolognese is something we make quite often, but normally it's our fast food. Minced beef & canned tomatoes and it's ready. This is the better, slower version.

It's still nothing more than chopped onions and garlic, seared minced beef, seasoning (salt & black pepper, beef stock cube) and tomato pulp, but it has simmered for two hours in a cast iron pot.

Well, I loved this, but the thing about living with a two-year-old is the immediate feedback. And apparently this time it wasn't good. See, no sauce.

If you'd like to take my word, and not the two-year-old's, for it, here's the very simple recipe for this very tasty bolognese.

700 g minced beef

1 medium sized onion

2 garlic gloves

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1 tbsp butter 

1 can of tomato pulp

beef stock cube

salt, black pepper

1 tbsp chili seasoned olive oil, optional

Peel and chop onion and garlic. 

Heat your cast iron pot on the stove, add (both) olive oil(s) and butter and let butter melt. 

Add onion and garlic and sauté for a few minutes. Mix so they don't burn. 

Add minced beef and quickly sear it. Season with salt and black pepper.

Add the can of tomato pulp and half a tomato can of water. 

Throw in the beef stock cube and mix until it dissolves. 

Reduce heat to low, cover the pot with a lid and leave to simmer for 1,5 to 2 hours, stirring occassionally.