Tänään - Today

Tiramisukakkua ja sangollinen tapetteja...

Elämäni ensimmäinen tiramisukakku ei onnistunut ihan toiveitteni mukaan. Maku oli hyvä mutta ulkonäössä olisi ollut parantamisen varaa.
Sangollinen tapetteja puolestaan muistuttivat olemassa olostaan siivotessani vaatehuonetta. Sinne ne jäivät, edelleen sankkoon, odottamaan inspiraatiota tai seuraavaa siivousta.

Tiramisu cake and bucket full of wallpapers...

My very first tiramisu cake didn't turn out as I expected. The taste was good but the appearance could have been better.

The buckett full of wallpapers instead reminded me of their existence when I was tidying up my clothes closet. There they still are, in the bucket, waiting for inspiration.

Muutos - The Change

Kirjoitin tämän vuoden alussa kuinka veljeni keittiöremontissa tuntui kaikki menevän pieleen. Kauniita keittiökalusteita myyvän keittiöfirman kompastuskivinä olivat olematon asiakaspalvelu, venyneet toimitusajat sekä huono työnjälki. Kyseinen yritys ei siis ole vielä oivaltanut, että tyytyväiset asiakkaat tuovat lisää uusia asiakkaita.

No, keittiö on nyt viimeistä osaa vaille valmis. Allaskaapista puuttuu yksi tukipuu jonka pitäisi tulla tämän viikon aikana. Onhan tässä jo odoteltukin. Allastaso onkin muuten jo kolmas. Ensimmäinen taso tuli väärällä altaalla ja toinen taso halkesi kahtia kesken asennuksen. Mutta oli miten oli... Kyllä veljen kelpaa nyt kokata!

Ennen - Before

Jälkeen - After

Earlier this year I wrote about my brother's kitchen disaster, when everything seemed to go wrong. The company, where the kitchen was bought at, had a non-existing customer service, long delays in delivery and a very bad quality of work. It seems that this company hasn't realised that a happy customer usually brings more new customers. Or maybe they just don't care.

Well, the kitchen is almost ready now. Only one piece of the puzzle is still waiting to be installed and that should happen this week. Finally! Oh, and by the way... the counter top with the sink is already a third one. The first one came with a wrong sink and the other one broke when being installed. However... my brother has a very good looking kitchen now, doesn't he!

Biscotti

Eilen sähköpostistani löytyi Martha Stewartin Cookie of the Day -viesti. Viesti sisälsi herkullisten suklaa-pistaasi biscottien reseptin. Ikinä en ole moisia keksejä leiponut, joten kokeiltavahan se oli. Hieman aikaa ja vaivaa keksien tekemiseen vaadittiin, mutta mitäpä muuta sitä sateisena sunnuntaina tekisi... Reseptiä hieman soveltaen syntyivät elämäni ensimmäiset Biscotit. Lasillinen kylmää maitoa ja muutama suklainen herkku tyydyttivät tämän päivän makeanhimon!

Yesterday I found in my mailbox a Cookie of the Day recipe from Martha Stewart.com. The recipe was for a yummy looking "Chocolate Pistachio Biscotti". I have never baked these kind of cookies before so I had to try. It took a little bit of time and effort but what else is there to do on a rainy Sunday afternoon... I just made a small changes here and there and here's the result.

Lauantai - Saturday

Suomalaiset, amerikkalaiset ja yksi britti...

Finns, Americans and one Brit.

Waffle Night

Few good friends of mine came over yesterday. Good company and a huge pile of waffles made the night fun! I cannot even remember, when was the last time I had waffles. Mmm... they were really yummy!!

42

Today I did some I-know-I-do-not-have-any-extra-money-but-these-are-so-cheap-almost-free-and-I-am-sure-I-will-need-these-someday-so-these-will-be-a-good-investment-for-the-future shopping.

Arabia/Hackman/Iittala Factory shops sold cutleries for 1 €/piece.

12 tablespoons

12 forks

12 knives

12 coffee spoons

Total amount 42 €

(coffee spoons were only 0,50 €)

Maku

Butterfly lollipop... No, I haven't eaten it yet, but I promised to tell you something about it. The lollipop belonged to the invitation seen below.

Arabia held a press conference yesterday. They invited us to see their new kitchen collection Maku designed by young designer Sami Ruotsalainen. I like it, it's like old meets new! What do you think? Have a closer look and click on the picture!

Flirt

Flirting... gosh, I'm so bad at flirting! I guess it's just not my thing... But you know what they say about men: A way to mans heart is through his stomach. And if only it were true I would just need to make a fancy dinner and let these Flirt cutleries to do their magic! Wine, Food and Flirt... who could ask for more!?

Hola

Hei

And last but not least Hello.

New cutleries from Hackman by Pentagon Design and Dog Design. Available in stores in the beginning of May. Check out for more product info.

Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny...

Yippee, days are getting warmer and warmer. Summer is finally on its way, which reminds me...

Everybody loves the sympathetic characters of Moomin Valley, created by the Finnish writer and artist Tove Jansson. Artist Tove Slotte has designed the delightful Moomin Collection for Arabia, mugs and bowls decorated with the beloved characters. In this summer's seasonal product Beachlife, which will be in stores May 5, the Snorkmaiden (niiskuneiti) is heading down to the beach.

What's Your Style?

How do you decorate your home? What is your style? Do you like modern, classic, romantic or maybe country style?

What's my style? How do I decorate my home? Well, I like mixin and matching old and new. I like simple things, modern but not too modern. And the colors... I like white as you might have noticed, earthy tones but also bright and bold colors.

I'm a flea-market junkie. I love to search for bargains that I can transform into something wonderful for my home. I like scraping and painting, to give a new life and maybe a new use to something old.

Here is a picture of my latest flea-market finds. Two half litre beer glasses from the 70s, designed by Oiva Toikka. I don't even drink beer, but hey, that doesn't stop me from searching and buying these! I'm not a coffee drinker either, as you might have read from my earlier posts, but still you can see in the picture a coffee machine. Isn't she a beauty!

Let's Celebrate!

KARTIO GLASS SERIE

Happy Birthday Kartio! Iittala's Kartio glass serie was designed by Kaj Franck in 1958 for everyday use. An essential part of his original idea was that the colors should be mixed. The form of the glass is simple and pure and is therefore easy to combine with any dinner set. Kartio is celebrating its 50th birthday. Can you believe it?

Kartio glass, new color: turquoiseblue.

BLACK IS BACK WITH FRIENDS

Have you been missing Black Teema tableware? Well, now you can dry your tears, because Iittala brings Black Teema back in production. Four pieces will find their way to stores in black and they are plate 21 cm, big and small bowls and a mug.

Black Teema bowl.

And the black friends are:

Origo

Aalto vase

Mariskooli

Kitchen Disaster!

Imagine getting a brand new kitchen. A beautiful and expensive kitchen (at least for your budjet). Those doors, cabinets and kitchen appliances you'll be looking many years after... Then the disaster happens, when the kitchen arrives and the work begins, just about everything goes wrong...

This is what has happened with my brothers new kitchen. Here are only few examples.

My brother ordered a cooking hood cupboard with a door because he didn't want the hood to stand out from the kitchen. (The kitchen opens to livingroom and the whole livingroom/kitchen space is small).

This is what he ordered, this is how the cupboard with cooking hood should look when you open the door...

This is how the cupboard looks now in my brothers kitchen... Can you see the similarity because we can't... There are bits and pieces missing and there is a huge hole on top of it that shouldn't even exist.

And what about the kitchen sink then? Well... the sink is wrong, of course, and it takes more than five weeks to get a new one. My brother ordered a sink with a faucet hole in it but now there's a sink with a hole on the counter, 1+1=wrong sink. How on earth my brother can get water out of this tap when there is now way to open it. Well, I think the photo will speak to itself.

Make a wild guess what are my brothers feelings and thoughts right now!!! I think my feelings and thoughts are quite alike...

Sorry, about the bad quality of the photos ;)

Coming Up!

New Year is just around the corner so it's time for a little sneak peek at Marimekko's Spring 2008. It seems that there's a lot of green colors coming out...

From left: Metsänhenki bedlinen, Metsänväki tray, Metsänväki teatowels.

Fabrics from left: Kaakaopuu, Korsi, Kevätjuhla, Pientareella.

Hot, Hot, Hotter...

I don`t understand... It seems to be mission impossible to find a decent looking electric water kettle. I`m not a coffee drinker but I like tee. Because I haven`t found the water kettle that I like so every morning I boil some water for my tee in an old kettle. Aargh... is there something wrong with me...

Well, I did find a beautiful looking water kettle but unfortunately it`s not electric...

Suomi Steel Water Kettle by Timo Sarpaneva, from OPA. Size 1,7 L. Stainless Steel. Available at Finnish Design Shop.

Mix It Up!

I have a new mixer in my kitchen. I´ve obviously been a good girl this year because a week ago I received this new Kenwood Hand Mixer from the new kMix range. Thank you for the lovely present!

I tested the mixer a week ago when my friends came over to celebrate the coming christmas. Yep, we were early this year! Last night I decided to test the mixer again and baked a chocolate cake to my mom to thank her for loaning me her cake pan (I know it sounds stupid but I don`t have my own cake pan). So, this time, instead of an empty cake pan I`m going to give her this delicious chocolate cake. Thanks for the cake pan loan, Mom!

P.S. The new Hand Mixer from Kenwood is Superb!

Spice Up Your Life

No, I`m not talking about Spice Girls song. I`m talking about spices. Have a look at these beauties.







Hackman`s new spice mills are too good to leave sitting in the kitchen counter. Display the stylish mills of glass and steel on the dinner table. There are four different mixtures that Santa Maria produces for Hackman`s mills. Touch of Sea brings a salty tang to the table, Touch of Pasta perfects your Italian dishes, Touch of Meat brings out the best in your meat and Touch of Herbs transports the herb garden to your kitchen.

The Hackman Touch spice mills are designed by the Finnish company, Pentagon Design.

HACKMAN TOUCH SPICE MILL 25 €, SPICE MIXTURE 5€, Buy It Here.