Korjaamo Design Market

We'll be at the Korjaamo Market with lots of other design people on the 12th -13th of December from 11.00 to 18.00. Come and say hello and buy a Pulmu-kit (still enough time to make it for Christmas) or buy a ready-made Pulmu-bird!

Day in Tallinn

We seem to be surprisingly busy before leaving for the well-earned Christmas Holidays. Last week I went to Tallinn for work, to visit few textile factories. Luckily, Estonia is close, only two hours on the boat. After the work was done, I had couple of hours before the next boat back, so I was able to visit one of my favorite places in Tallinn, a restaurant/ café/ deli called Bonaparte. It's situated only about 5 minutes walk from the Townhall Square and well worth the visit. They do French style food, all products made at the premises. The food is lovely, as are the pastries, but to me still the best thing is the Earl Grey with jasmine -tea. It is served at the cafe and you can buy it also at the deli next door. Such a lovely scent in my bag all the way home...

The World Design Capital

for the year 2012 will be Helsinki! The title was just announced at the World Design Congress in Singapore. Our competitor was Eindhoven in Netherlands. The Design Capital is expected to organize design events during the year, and the title tells about the use of design to improve the social, cultural and economic life.

Beetroot Salad

The last beetroots from my garden were sent off with style in this salad. I was quite sure I'd seen the recipe somewhere, but then could not find it in any of my cookbooks, so had to make it up. It turned out really nice, and will be made again, I'm sure. This time it accompanied organic lamb, but it would make a nice lunch or light supper by itself or with some bread.

500 g beetroots, washed, peeled and cut in half or quarters if they are big
2 cloves garlic
5 tbs olive oil
1 tbs balsamico or red wine vinegar
2 tsp thyme
salt and black pepper
aluminum foil

Make a dish for beetroots and all the other ingredients of double foil. You'll need enough to cover the beetroots too. Pop in the oven for about an hour in 225 Celsius. You can eat them hot, but if you want to make this salad, cool the beetroots first.

Mix the cooled beetroots with:

goats cheese of blue cheese
basil leaves, or parsley or marjoram
toasted pine nuts or sunflower seeds or cashew nuts

Finish with some nice olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste.

Morning coffee with the minister

Top: the structures of the main elevators of Sanomatalo, main office of Helsingin Sanomat.

Bottom: the current minister of foreign affairs, Alexander Stubb and the former minister Erkki Tuomioja being interviewed.

Happy anniversary Hesari!

Finland's biggest newspaper Helsingin Sanomat is a 120-year old institution this year. They are honoring the anniversary for example by updating the outlook of the newspaper. This week they are serving free coffee and pulla (sweet breads typical of Finland) every morning 7-9 am! The occasion offers also live music and current conversations with acknowledged people.

This morning the coffee was fresh, pulla delicious and conversation funny and inspiring. On the panel were Alexander Stubb, the present minister of foreign affairs, and the previous placeholder Erkki Tuomioja. The refreshing contrast of the two men's opinions created a pleasant and thought-provoking conversation on the "finnish brand" and how our country is perceived abroad. Where Stubb is keen on actively fortifying the positives of the brand, Tuomioja is more sceptical of "branding" countries at all.

See the whole conversation and other morning talks here (in finnish only).

Fair Food

We were honored to have our fabrics used as a back drop in the first Fair Trade -cookbook in Finnish. It's sold nationally in book shops and grocery stores. The first thing I'm going to try is the banana bread...

Back in August, we did a little picture puzzle, and as a result, one of our tea-towels traveled to Hamburg. It was lucky to find a home in Siobhán's kitchen.