Blueberry pie in Finnish style

Here we go again! I'm not really so much into cooking or baking, but like I told auntie-N today, you are not a woman in Finland, if you can't make a good blueberry pie, probably won't even get married. So here's a simple, fast and DELICIOUS recipe for a traditional Finnish blueberry pie!

Here's what you need: 

1. Melt the butter in a microwave.
2. Mix it in a big bowl with sugar.
3. Add flour little at the time, mixing smoothly. TAKE ASIDE A CUP OF THIS MIXTURE, you'll need it later.
4. Add the egg, milk, baking powder and little tiny bit of vanilla extract. Mix. The dough is suppose to be loose at this point.
5. Pour the dough in a pie dish. Add the blueberries on top and press them slightly in the dough. 
6. Now sprinkle the cup of the dough, you left aside earlier, on the blueberries. 
7. Bake in the 395F/200C oven for 30min. 
8. Serve warm with cold vanilla ice cream!



Super easy and so yummy! 

Today I had a really happy day. I've been smiling the whole day and just can't stop. He is the reason why. 



I hope you all had as a lovely day as I did, if not, make some blueberry pie! 

xoxo

- Sanni

Elf's Treats

Since this post is for my non-Finnish speaking friends, I'm just going to write straight in English, so you guys don't have to use the crappy translator. I'm dyslexic, so writing in English is really not my strength, forgive me that. For my friends and family at home, I'm alive and well and will be posting more soon!

So, this post is a recipe for Finnish Christmas Tarts (=joulutorttu). H's cousin E wanted to have Elf's Treats today, and we had no idea what those were, so since I was making these, we started calling these as Elf's Treats. Actually it kinda makes sense, since Santa is from Finland you know (you know?!). So these delicious treats are traditional Finnish dessert in the Christmas table, and my absolute favorite. These are super easy to make, and I'm not lying when I tell you, that last year I ate 8 in a row... 

You need:

- puff pastry (one pack gives you 18 tarts)

- plum marmalade

- one egg

- powdered sugar
- oven with 400F degrees

About the marmalade, you can also use jelly, but it doesn't stick together as marmalade when baked in the oven. And feel free using other flavors. At home we use apple too. Also, I wouldn't use raspberry or other sweet one, since the pastry is pretty sweet itself. But it's up to you, plum is the traditional one! Gives the tart perfect combination of sweet and bitter!

Let's do this step by step! 

1. Warm up the pastry in a microwave for 15 seconds, so that it becomes easy to cut and bendy. If it's too hard, it brakes and you end up having random pastry pieces you do nothing with. Then cut the pastry board in three equal squares (depends on pastry size, bigger ones gives you two large ones). 

2. Cut the corners. We are making stars! Of course you can do others shapes too, but this is the traditional one. I've used that word a lot today...



3. Bend in every second corner and pinch them to the pastry so that they won't pop up in the oven! 



4. Scoop in the marmalade! With a tea spoon, as much as you like, in the middle of the star. After this, grease the tarts with the egg. This isn't necessary, but gives the tart a nice shiny surface!



5. Make sure you've placed the tarts with a little space between each others, we don't want them to stick together in the oven! Put them in the oven for 12-14 minutes. My first ones were in for 14min and came out a little too dark, second round was in for 12,5min and came out perfect! Depends on the oven also. But they should have a nice gold color.




6. Let the tarts cool down a little after taking them out of the oven. Place them on a server and sprinkle the powdered sugar on them to give the nice Chirstmassy look! Serve the Elf's Treats warm with milk or glogg! 



I used H and E as my guinea pigs and I'm happy to tell you guys, that we are having more of these on Christmas! Please give these a shot, and tell me if you liked them! 

Merry Christmas everybody! 

- Sanni

THANKSGIVING CRANBERRY SAUCE

Eilen oli mun eka LCC-kokous ja tapasin lähialueen muut au pairit. Ne muutamat joiden kaa ehdin vähä enemmän jutella, oli tosi mukavii ja nyt on kalenteerin merkitty jo muutamat treffit! IHANAA MULLA ON YSTÄVIÄ JOTKA EI KUOLAA MUN VAATTEILLE! Eivaa lapset on ihania, mut kyl ihminen kaipaa omanikästä seuraa!

LCC-kokous on kerran kuussa ja tällä kertaa meillä oli perinteinen amerikkalainen Kiitospäivä-illallinen. Kaikki toi jotain syötävää, ja meitä kun on yli 20, nii sitä ruokaa sit tosiaan oli pajon. En ees pystyny maistaa kaikkee! Mut mm. kurpitsapiirakka oli just niin hyvää ku leffoissa sanotaan. Ite tein perinteistä karpalohilloa, johon sain ohjeen host äidiltä. Jaan tän ohjeen täällä koska a) se oli tietty niin hyvää et kaikki haluu reseptin b) se ihan oikeesti oli hyvää ja sopii myös Suomen joulupöytään! c) superhelppo ja hauska tehdä!

Sekoita kattilassa keskenään sokeri, appelsiini mehu, ja reilu desi (1/2 cup) vettä ja lisää kanelitangot. Anna kiehua, lisää sitten karpalot ja anna taas kiehua. Vähennä lämpöä ja keitä "hellästi" 10 minuuttia, välillä sekoittaen. Loupuksi sekoita mukaan appelsiinin kuori. Peitä kannella ja anna viilentyä huoneen lämmössä. Jos jäähtyneessä hillossa on kanelitangon paloja, ota ne pois!

Combine sugar, 1/2 cup water, cinnamon and orange juice in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and add cranberries. Return to a boil. Reduce heat and boil gently 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in orange zest. Cover and cool completely at room temperature. If there's still pieces of cinnamon sticks in the cool sauce, take them away.

Että sellanen! En oikee oo karpaloiden ystävä (paitsi sidukka, duh) mut tä oli tosi hyvää! Just sopivan kirpee JA makee, tosi jännä lopputulos. Tän tekemiseen meni ehkä puol tuntii, joten jos sulla on tylsää, ja ylimääräsiä karpaloita kaapissa nii tätä sit vaan kokeilemaan!

Ihanaa viikonloppua kaikille!

- Sanni