Adventures in bread making...

Excuse the seriously awful photo - it was quite late and I'd had half a bottle of wine! But this is my very first attempt at breadmaking. And (if I do say so myself) it was a total success! I'm a bit scared of yeast (and couldn't be bothered spending hours letting dough prove and whatnot) so I started off with a simple brown soda bread recipe from Rachel Allen. If you click on that link, ignore the bit that talks about needing a tart tin - I think that's crept in from another recipe! Her recipe suggests adding seeds as an optional extra - I didn't have any seeds, but I did have walnuts and they made a really lovely addition to the bread. I'll definitely be making this one again!

What a difference a week makes...

Last Monday I was excited because there was still a tiny bit of light in the sky when I left work. Look at it now! There was even the tiniest bit of light around when I got home!

Frugal February...

I stumbled across the idea of Frugal February on Gemma's excellent Big Girls Browse blog. And, after the month or so I've had, it definitely appealed to me! I seem to have done nothing but spend money since Christmas - some of it justified, like spending money on a fabulous weekend visiting my sister, and buying a couple of new dresses and a new pair of jeans that actually fit me now I've lost weight, but I can't keep on buying things. I find it really easy to fall into the trap of spending money that I really shouldn't ('Oh, but it's in the sale! But I don't have a pair of blue shoes! But it's nearly spring, I'll need a few more dresses!') and I'm hoping that participating in Frugal February will help me rein in my shopaholic tendencies. For a while, anyway!

The rules are simple. For a month, starting today, I won't be spending any money on non-essential items. Food and drink don't count, obviously - although I will be trying to think more carefully about what I buy. Do I really need that bottle of wine? Do I really need to buy a whole load of things for dinner when there's pasta in the cupboard? And I'll buy toiletries and cosmetics - when I run out of what I already have.

If you want to join in, head over to Gemma's blog!

A new Moomin mug...

I couldn't resist treating myself to another Moomin mug to add to my collection - I thought this one, featuring Moomintroll, was fab.

The sea's frozen! And I'm standing on the sea!

Amazing, eh?

Runebergintorttu...

February 5th is Runeberg's Day in Finland, which celebrates the birthday of poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg. He's Finland's national poet, and it just so happens that he used to live in a house on the site of the very building where my sister now lives! So we just had to indulge in some of the special cakes that are sold to commemorate his day. They're little sponge cakes (this one had nuts in it, but I also had one with no nuts, and others are flavoured with cardamom or soaked in alcohol) with jam and icing on top, and they're yummy!

Tervetuloa Helsinkiin

If my Finnish (more like my Google Translate) skills are correct, that's welcome to Helsinki...