Great weekend to end a great week

Outi and Jukka left Sunday evening... :( We had such a great week, and the weekend just topped it off. Love those guys! 

Saturday after I got out of work, they bought us some beers for the house, I put my feet on the table and we watched some Finnish comedy and old childrens song competitions in Youtube. There's nothing better than reminiscing your childhood with your landsmen, who know exactly where you're coming from and get the same jokes. Then, once we were drunk, we went out to Clärchens Ballhaus with my roommates.

 

Havin' a break at work is the best time of the day... especially if it's sunny and I get to chill outside.

The view from my 'break spot'.

Sunday, we got up late and sat in Mauerpark listening to karaoke. This guy brings his soundsystem to the amphitheater in Mauerpark every Sunday. The singers are quite good and the audience is big. I might have to go give it a try sometime, cos' I love it and I have huge karaoke-withdrawals from Finland, where singing is a national sport...

Jukka's illustration in out guest-book.

Jukka, Outi, Outi's accessories and some jersey-scarves. lol! I'll miss those sweeties!

After I took my friends to the airport, my sister invited me to have Finnish pancakes ('lettuja') with her family. I just love going there... I've been missing home a bit lately, and it's just so good to have some family close. My nephew, 6, showed me his collection of some Japanese little monster- and alien dudes that are called "Gogons" or something (I don't always quite get what he's saying).

 

Anton's Gogons.

Then my niece, 4, came with a bigger bag, saying: "I have THIS many Totons!" and put them all on the table. She had gathered all her smallest puppets and pretended them to be the same monsters and aliens. I love her resourcefullness!

Olivia's "Gogons". :)

One of her Gogons was a Tupperware-bread-box-keychain!

These were some of the things that impressed me this weekend.

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Here's a little randomy-post of things that have kept us so busy the last few days, that I haven't had time to write anything consequent... hopefully the pictures speak for themselves.

Buying scissors in the rain.

Going out a tiny little bit.

Laughing at Sam's gestures in the subway.

Sake and California inside-outs.

Munchking the leftovers of my friend's breakfast.

Foosball.

...and, well, working aswell, but that really doesn't make very pretty pictures.

And then the Project!!!

Mysterious... maybe you already noticed the result of this on me in one of the previous pics...

But hey now, what's this?

Our little factory went outside when the sun came out. Stay tuned to see how the project proceeds...

Little pieces of home & big chunks of Turkey

Our quest to cover the best places to shop (and drop for a relaxing pint) in Berlin continues. Here's what my companions brought me from back home: Fazer's chocolate and salty liquorice ('salmiakki'). They're my fuel!

Anyone who brings me more of this stuff gets to go places too!

Yesterday we found some inspiration in the good old shops of Hackescher Markt. A new aquaintance for me was the Boss Shop, that looks amazing from the inside. It really is a work of art, check it out, even if Boss is not your thing. The fitting rooms were all designed by a different theme. Love those kind of things!!

Fitting room 1. Living room. The Boss Shop, Münzstrasse.

Fitting room 2. Green room. The Boss Shop, Münzstrasse.

Today we spent like 4 hours fishing for fabrics in the Turkish market on Maybachufer. In addition to having loads of fresh food and small turkish grandmas, it's a huge treasure chest for any designer/seamstress, full of loudly yelling guys selling cheap and inspiring fabrics. It's open each Tuesday and Friday. It was raining like hell, but the atmosphere was great as usual.

Outi and the ladies crazy for fabrics. We only found like our 20 favorite colors of jerseys!

I also found some gorgeous rings I couldn't keep my hands off, because they reminded me of the North... don't you think?

My obligation as a good host of course was, again, to take my friend to some cool shops. Outi is my old classmate from fashion school, and it really has been a pleasure to go out with such an enthusiastic fashionista. Our shopping montages take hours, and just getting to see all that funky stuff makes me happy, so I can proudly say I haven't spent much money. (Knock on wood.)

California Selected (on Alte Schönhauser Strasse) is by far the coolest second hand shop I know. It looks exactly like the only womens wear shop in Vääksy in my 80's-childhood that was probably the first thing that made me wanna become a designer.

Outi found this designer-piece in Oderbergerstrasse.

That creation is such a childhood fantasy, and I would totally wear it with the army-rubber boots if I had just fit into it... buaah...

And meanwhile down the street: the boys we're "getting to know some culture" by treating themselves for 'Berliner Weisse'.

Project!!!

Here are the smokin hot fabrics we picked up at the market. We're gonna be makin some luvvy accessories these days that would cost us like 10 times more in the stores. If you're nice, you'll see some After-pics later. Excited!!!

Before:

Some Candy... (and we also bought the cucumber at the market).

Can you believe you get these heavenly creatures for 2 euros??

Cookies, Cream, Strawberry AND Cheesecake!!

A rainy but happy Sunday

So, my darling friends Jukka and Outi are now here, and I have 5 free days to spend with them! As a co-blogger and fashion-freak times 10, I know Outi will want to check out all the shops and flea-markets. As a co-beer-lover, Jukka will most likely appreciate the German brews and terraces where to drink them (if the weather allows). That's what I will most likely be posting about this week then!

The tourists.

Today we started off in the good old Mauerpark. That was pretty much enough for one day, because it took us chicks like 30 minutes at every counter. The guys, of course, got fed up quite fast: Rene bought a sign that said 10 reasons why a beer is better than a woman, and they took off to one of the biergartens. 

After a succesful shopping spree, we sat down on Oderbergerstrasse for a delicious dinner in a Turkish restaurant and some coffee in Kauf Dich Glücklich.

  There's only one guy that sells fabric in Mauer Park, but he has so much goodies!!

Here's where Outi bought 3 cool shades. Brillovsky is always around, and soon also opening an online shop... So maybe she can add to her collection later on from Finland!

My favorites were the blue specs she found. The Clark Kent-ones aren't bad either.

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Oh, all that shopping was too tough to handle without swinging in the oasis with a 1,50-€-Beck's in my armpit for a while.

In Kling, Oderberger Strasse.

Some waffles in Kauf dich Glücklich, Oderbergerstrasse.

Outi taking pics of her new findings for her blog.

Finnish recipes vol. 1

These were my biggest hit at the Carnival on Monday.

I wanted to translate the names for you, but I already tried it at the market the other day for a German lady, and as I realized that Korvapuustit would be something like 'a slap on the ear', I gave up. Kukkoset has something to do with a small rooster, but the image of that is not that delicious either, so I'll just call them...

Rice pasties (Kukkoset) - 12 pieces

Kukkoset are not to be confused with Karelian pasties, that have a thin hard crust. Kukkoset have a soft bread dough as a base, filled with rice porridge.

Bread dough:
2,5 dl water
25 g yeast
2 dl multi-grain (or wheat) flour

1 tsp salt
3-4 dl wheat flour
2 tbsp oil

Rice porridge:
5-8 dl milk
100 g round grain rice (suitable for risotto and porridge)
dash of salt
lump of butter

I usually use a multi-grain bread mix (which would make my grandma turn in her grave, but is actually really delicious in my experience, and much harder to fuck-up). But if you choose to do the 'real thing', go for it! Mix the yeast with lukewarm water and add the first part of flour. Put it aside to rise for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil the rice in 5 dl salted milk for atleast 30 minutes, in simmering heat, until soft and creamy. Add more milk, when needed. Be careful that it doesn't overcook or burn, 'cos milk somehow just loves doing that, and it smells BAD. Add butter and check the taste to be rich and lovely.

While the porridge is cooking, add salt and flour gradually to the dough. Knead the dough with your other hand when adding more flour. It's ready when it doesn't stick to the bowl anymore. Finally massage the oil in. Feels great, right? Heat up the oven in 225 Celcius. Divide the dough into 12 parts and roll them to small flat buns. Let them rise another while, until they are soft.


Press the buns with a glass (see picture) to create a pit for the rice. Fill them with rice porridge and let bake for about 12 minutes in the oven until they look golden. They taste best eaten with cheese and a glass of cold milk. The leftover porridge is great with some cinnamon and sugar on top.

The Working Girl

I'm only working in the shop part-time at first, which is of course great in the summer, 'cos you have time to hang. For a humble girl like me in a cheap-ass city like Berlin it's not even a financial impossibility. But, it would be nice to not only survive, but also to enjoy some small luxuries once in a while. This is why I'm trying to think of all kinds of ways to make some extra cash... But there's something just great about being broke in Berlin, like my loveable Canadian friend Lena said it (whom I hope to have back here some day soon).

 

Taking life as it comes is quite easy, with the right attitude. The two small old guys sitting in the corner of the asylum house were wishing us a good day as we passed by.

One of my "side jobs" is freelance writing for a Finnish newspaper. Today I interviewed Annika Rendell, a Finnish fashion designer and the founder of an adorable and really succesful children's label in Germany called Finkid. We had a really interesting discussion about her experiences of her Finnish roots and how she likes to bring them out in her collections. The article will be published in Etelä-Suomen Sanomat during the summer.

 

Annika's wall of ideas from Finnish items.

Later I went to take care of some bureucracy at work, and luckily got some extra shifts for the rest of the week! That was just perfect and well in time before my two cute friends, Outi and Jukka are coming from Finland for a weeklong visit. Then I'll be enjoying my penniless but oh-so-free days with them going around parks, fleamarkets, terraces and other necessary summer thingies! :) I'll be posting about that next week.

Traditional Freaks from Finland* ...it really did look like my sign said so

My day at the Carneval went just friggin great. Dispite the forecasts, the sun was shining all afternoon, and I sold all my Finnish goodies to smiley people!

I had woken up early to bake fresh cinnamon rolls and rice pasties. Then we brought all the stuff to Mehringdamm, Kreuzberg, next to the station, where a band was playing and people stopped to listen. Next to them was a good place to put my stand. During the day I met some great people, Finland fans, Finnish Berliners, a Norwegian speaking French guy (?)... I also heard some interesting new bands (Gods on Vacation was one), made some money and got a tan as well! Not bad at all.

This is what you get when you put a baking patriot in a city where everything is just so easy!

Call me crazy.

The look.

My leather-pants-wearing neighbours.

Gods on Vacation brought some rock for the folks. It made me miss going to Finland later this summer, there are loads of music events and people partying on the streets.

I wasn't the only 'entrepreneur' on site.

Suddenly it was all gone in people's bellies!

We ended up in Rene's new work place with friends and my stand and the whole gear...

And the guys helped us to carry the stuff back. :) End of story!

PS. Recipes coming up later... too tired to think of those buns anymore for today...zzZz gnite guys!

*) a comment made of the previous post, it actually said Traditional Treats from Finland.