Tag Archives: #365grateful

One Cake To Rule Them All

by in cooking, Random musings and tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Some time during Covid-19 and lockdown, I lost my cooking mojo. And, finding the joy of cooking of any sort once again has been difficult if not impossible. Too little time, too little inspiration and a general boredom with food in general have limited my time in the kitchen over the past several years.

Recently, however, I decided to make my most favourite chocolate dessert at the end of a challenging and intense academic year, partially simply to celebrate surviving the last year, but also and more importantly to celebrate my colleagues and let them know I am enormously grateful for their support, kindness and overall loveliness.

After posting a few pics of the cake to shame all other cakes, several friends asked for the recipe. I finally sat down and wrote it out and put all of the various links in one place.

Here it is….

This is actually several different recipes combined to create my version of the New York Times Cooking’s Mississippi Mud Pie, which The Cuban and I now call The One Cake to Rule Them All.

Layer 1: Chocolate Shortbread Crust

Start by making a chocolate shortbread crust. I used this recipe, but doubled it to make one larger pie crust and another smaller crust. I also use a bit less than 1/4 c of sugar the original recipe or 1/2 c when doubling the recipe.

Once the ingredients are mixed together, I place the dough in between two sheets of parchment paper and roll it out to the desired thickness (I prefer thinner, but thicker works as well). Once rolled out, place the dough on a flat baking sheet and chill it for a few moments (~5 min). Then, use the centre of the springform pan(s) to cut the bottom of the crust, and trim a long straight strip for the side of the tin. You may need to repeat rolling out the dough a couple of times to line the springform. You’ll want the crust to extend to a bit more than 1/2 up the side of the tins.

This is perhaps the hardest step and takes the most patience, to my mind. You may need to use scraps  from the shortbread to fill in gaps. It’s fairly easy to work with, but once it warms up and reaches room temperature it is a bit trickier to roll out. The important point here is to get the crust as even as possible and press it in to the tin so that you have a full crust. If it isn’t exactly straight at the top, that’s fine. It doesn’t need to be perfect. 🙂


Layer 2: Chocolate Fudgy Brownie

This layer and the next are fairly consistent with The New York Times Cooking’s original recipe, which is also available here if you do not have a NYT subscription. Here are my notes:

  • I use 95% dark chocolate throughout the recipe. At a minimum I would use at least 80% dark chocolate, but darker chocolate seems to make this even better to our mind, particularly if you like chocolate and want the chocolate flavours to really shine through. I prefer to weigh the chocolate and use a bit more rather than a bit less than the recipe calls for.
  • I use about 45 g of light brown sugar rather than 67 g dark brown sugar.
  • I also use about 50 g of granulated sugar or less than the 100 g called for in the recipe.
  • I recommend slightly underbaking this layer so that it is rather chewy and a bit more fudgy.

Layer 3: Chocolate Custard

This layer is also fairly consistent with The New York Times Cooking’s original recipe, which is also available here if you do not have a NYT subscription. Here are my notes:

  • Again, I use 95% dark chocolate throughout the recipe. At a minimum I would use at least 80%, but darker seems to make this even better to our mind, particularly if you like chocolate and want the chocolate flavours to really shine through. Use at least as much as you need in the recipe rather than just under the amount. I prefer to weigh the chocolate as well.
  • I use about 50 of granulated sugar.
  • If you need to smooth out the custard, you can run it through a fine mesh strainer.
  • Chilling this before adding it to the to of the brownie layer is crucial. Let it chill completely and then whisk it a bit before pouring it over the baked brownie. I would also recommend chilling the brownie and shortbread layers completely before adding the custard. Tap the pan a bit to smooth it over once you’ve added the custard.

Layer 4: Mocha Mascarpone Frosting

This is an addition I introduced to my version of the Mississippi Mud Pie a few years ago, and I think it makes it an entirely new and extra special cake. I use a modified version of this recipe, which doesn’t come out as dark as it looks in the picture, but it tastes a-maz-ing. Added bonus: the cake recipe in this link is also rather tasty if you need a chocolate cake. 😉 Here are my notes on the frosting only:

  • I do not make as much frosting as called for in the recipe, and even with the amount I normally make (which is roughly half what is needed), it will be enough to cover two pies (one large and one small). So, you may have some frosting left over, which goes great with brownies or mixed with strawberries and blueberries or… by the spoonful if you need a late night snack a la Nigella Lawson. It’s a great chocolatey cream cheese-like frosting.
  • I do not normally add the espresso powder for this recipe.
  • I use about 1/2 of the heavy cream called for, warming up 1/2 c and setting aside 1/4 c of cream.
  • I use about 1/4 c of sugar total. We prefer less sweetness and less sugar in general.
  • I use 1 container of mascarpone.
  • It’s incredibly important to let the warmed cream cocoa mixture to cool completely before mixing in the mascarpone.
  • If you want to add a bit more wow to this layer, when warming the milk, split about an inch of a vanilla bean and add it to the cream when you warm it up. Then, remove the vanilla bean strip and scrape it into the cocoa mixture.
  • After whipping the mascarpone into the cocoa-infused cream frost the cake top only — that is the brownie layer. You can add as much as you like, but only frost to within about a cm from the edge of the cake.

Once you’ve assembled all of the layers, chill the cake completely before serving. I normally make this the day before we slice it up.

When you do serve this, you’ll want to offer rather smaller slices. Less is absolutely more with this cake. It is rich AF. Folks can always go back for seconds. 🙂 When you serve it, make sure you get all four layers out of the tin. The first slice will be hard to remove from the tin. But, it still tastes fantastic even if looks messy.

It also tastes brilliant with strawberries especially and blueberries.

Enjoy! And, if you do make this, let me know how it turns out for you!

Ripples & reflections

by in #365grateful, Attitude, Community, Environment, Everyday Life, family, Finland, Gratitude, Helsinki, life, nature, Random musings, The Cuban and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This year has been anything but stress-free, let’s say. Finding moments of calm and allowing my mind to rest and find a peace have been… fleeting and exceedingly rare.

But, I’m extremely fortunate to have an amazing partner in life to help distribute the heavy loads and ease those burdens and fears, and who never fails to take my mind off the more weighty issues on any given day and helps me find moments of calm and something to smile or laugh about.

One of the highlights each day centres around our evening strolls. I so welcome these times spent together, exploring wherever we are regardless of scenery or season. And, there is something particularly welcome about strolls in the summer months in Helsinki, when the days are long and the evening light stuns. Each day and each sky offers a slightly different canvas, and one which provides an explosion of colour, a contrast so incredibly stark when compared with the blacks and whites and greys of the longer winter months and absurdly short winter days.

It’s so, so hard to recall what the opposing seasons look like when we are in the middle of one. We far, far prefer summer. Always.

The following three panoramas were taken [on a Nokia G42] on three separate and recent strolls, within the last week or so. Each image was taken from a spot which lies less than a 15-min jaunt from our building. And, we love each one immensely.

One of the things I love about these specific images are reflections of the sky and scenes above that lie on the water. Even with the ripples created by the many ducks who call these areas home, the reflections seem so crisp and so clear.

Most importantly, each time we go out and spend just a few moments during our strolls standing and drinking in these pockets of beauty and incredible views, I can feel the stress of life sloughing off and away.

Come December, these are the images I’ll hold in my mind’s eye and reflect upon, wondering ‘Was it all just a dream?’

Love the one you’re with

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Near Seurasaari, Helsinki, Finland. 24 July 2020

The Cuban and I took a long walk around Helsinki this evening on our stroll, and found a new-to-us route. It was stunning and we plan to return with proper cameras tomorrow (weather permitting). There was something about this walk, though, that we just joked and laughed and enjoyed ourselves the more we walked, to the point that my cheeks actually hurt a wee bit as I’m typing this. I’m not sure either of us had just let loose that much in far too long.

This year sucks, y’all. And we’ve all already experienced more heartache than we need for a single year, perhaps even a lifetime. But, you know, today wasn’t all bad, and I think that’s largely because I got to spend it and a few uninterrupted hours with my favourite human, without worrying too much about everything else going on. Yes, we talked about our worries. But, we also felt free to marvel at the good around us. And likely scared the shit out of some poor woman we said ‘hello’ to unprompted. We are still in Finland, remember?

So, despite the shit and chaos that currently surrounds us all, try to take a few moments out to enjoy those in your lives and those you love. Life is entirely too fleeting to not stop and photobomb at least one panoramic photo every once in a while. And look at how long your torso can become!

#lovetheoneyourewith #loveistheanswer

2018

by in #365grateful, Attitude, Current events, Everyday Life, family, Gratitude, holidays, Kindness, life, Love, Random musings and tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

I will not miss this year. At. All.

It’s proved challenging. It’s tested my limits. And, it’s frayed my nerves. It’s brought successes and bitter disappointments, sometimes simultaneously. It’s brought the pain of loss and grief. And it’s been emotionally and physically exhausting.

But, this year also brought love. Kindness. Patience. Support. And laughter, so much laughter, at times through tears.

This year, 2018, is once again not defined by things, but by the people in my life. I am enormously grateful, humbled and honoured to have so, so many amazing people in my life.

Naturally, there is that one person who stands out, namely, that constant known to me as ‘Sweetie’ or “Twewtie’, and to many as The Cuban. As we move into our 14th (holy shit, time flies!) year together, I am still amazed by how much more meaningful each day is through the simple act of sharing time and space with this most incredible human. As much as I love many of you, I am not afraid nor ashamed to say there is no one on this planet I’d rather spend time with.

But so many others in our life, those both near and far, those at once virtually and physically near and dear, have provided both strength and hope, kindness and solidarity, silliness and seriousness when we most needed and least expected it. And we are grateful beyond measure. You’ve cheered our successes, shared our outrage at injustices and aimed to make this world just a little bit better, and we love you for it.

As the clock ticks towards another day and another year, we thank you for sharing your lives with us in 2018. And we wish you boundless happiness and joy, love and laughter, and endless hope and prosperity in whatever way you measure it in the coming year. May 2019 exceed your expectations and dreams. And may we cross one another’s paths as often as possible in the near future.

Happy New Year!

¡Felicidad! ¡Felicidad! ¡Felicidad!

by in #365grateful, Everyday Life, family, Gratitude, Inspiration, Kindness, Love, Random musings, The Cuban and tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Today is the best, most important day of the year.

Today is The Cuban’s birthday, and my absolute favourite day.

Today, we celebrate the day when this thoroughly lovely, witty, silly, insightful, thoughtful, caring, infinitely patient, creative, and at a times crazed creature entered this world.

There will be pie (banana cream, because bananas!). There will be singing and dancing (because that happens every day, but especially on birthdays). There will be much pampering and spoiling (because he deserves it). And, there will be laughter (because we like the laugh lines and chicken!).

Happy, happy birthday, my love. You make this world infinitely better each and every day. And, if you ask me, we need to celebrate your birth every day.

¡Felicidad! ¡Felicidad! ¡Felicidad!

Crazy Cuban

The Cuban & The Che Fufu doing what they do.

 

Stolen moments

by in #365grateful, Attitude, Everyday Life, Finland, Gratitude, Helsinki, Inspiration, Random musings, Running, The Cuban and tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

This ‘summer’ in Helsinki has not exactly gone to plan. It hasn’t been bad; just not entirely what I expected.

But, moments—collections of seemingly insignificant moments—have made this summer much more memorable and heaps lovelier, best intentions and expectations aside.

Whilst work has kept me crazy busy and completely disinclined towards boredom or sitting on the balcony to enjoy a bit of afternoon reading in the sunshine, Helsinki’s weather hasn’t brought the sunshine and warmth our balcony garden needs to flourish let alone temps comfortable enough to sit without multiple layers for any amount of time. My free time has also coincided with days utterly devoid of sunshine. Sod’s Law, naturally. Rather than chillaxin on the balcony admiring giant sunflowers in July and August, we only seem to find a few moments at a time to spend tending to our balcony garden / wildflower ‘patch’ or to fill up the bird feeders. We do finally have tiny little wildflowers just now opening up, which thankfully go largely ignored by our community of feathered friends.

It’s lovely enough out there even if we have not spent any amount of time truly enjoying it. Those tiny little flowers are gorgeous. They’re also a nice reminder to be patient and accepting—there simply isn’t a whole lot we can do if we don’t have just the right balance between across and elements.

It is what is, this Helsinki summer. So, we’re finding the bits that are lovely and focusing on those. I’ll focus on these lovely little bursts of purple for as long as they stick around.

From seed to flower

From seed to flower, from our balcony garden and ‘wildflower patch’

As I add miles to my weekly run tallies, it’s also been incredibly important to find time to bond and unwind with The Cuban. So, nearly every evening that we can, we go for a walk, no matter how short on time we are or how stressed we may be and, lately, regardless of weather conditions.

This last week, we’ve spent a bit of time on our jaunts sitting on a lovely little bench just at the water’s edge, enjoying the view and completely letting go of all that ails us.

A few days ago, we were treated to an incredible sunset and absolutely tranquil conditions.

sunset in munkkiniemi

An evening sunset in Munkkiniemi. 

Stolen moments these are. And, as my schedule intensifies for the autumn term and life gets busier and more chaotic, I’ll not only remember these precious moments, but also try to steal and enjoy a few more.

 

Full circle

by in #365grateful, Attitude, Everyday Life, family, Finland, Gratitude, Random musings and tagged | Leave a comment

What a wild, unpredictable, and thoroughly life-affirming ride the past five years have been. Why the past five years? Well, that was the last time we found ourselves on the precipice of a much-needed, long overdue holiday.

Recently, a friend tagged me in a post designed to prompt individuals to reflect upon and post photos of five things for which they are grateful. I have yet to post the actual photos, largely because, at the moment, I’m filled with gratitude for many, many things. I’m fairly certain that I would not have said the same thing this time last year, let alone five years ago. But, given that this will be my last post for 2014, and I started off this year attempting to post daily on all things grateful and lovely, here is my list of things for which I’m most happy. (For those who didn’t know, I have not mastered pith and my list exceeds five.)

The primary and most-persistent and consistent aspect of my life for which I am always grateful remains and will continue to be my husband. We left for our last holiday completely wasted and spent from too much work and not enough time for ourselves. Neither one of us was completely content in our jobs, and we knew then that specific changes were necessary. Since then, some decisions were made for us, others we made for ourselves, and we’ve faced more uncertainty and obstacles in the interceding years than in our entire relationship (and, I’d say, these events have eclipsed everything else in my life). Five years on since our last holiday and facing our 10th New Year together, I’m amazed by him each and everyday. Still. There’s no one with whom I’d rather spend six weeks, 24/7. Hell, we practically spend every waking moment together as it is. I doubt at this stage in life that I could spend 24/7 with anyone other than The Cuban. But, I’m looking forward to disconnecting from the digital world and focusing all of our time on one another and the family and friends we haven’t seen in far too long.

Alongside The Cuban, I’m truly blessed by membership in a tribe of folks both near and far who continue to support both of us in ways that astound me. Too numerous to name them all, as well as the many forms their helping hands assumed, it humbles me and fills me with such awe to call each of these individuals ‘my friend’. I can only hope to reciprocate their kindness and care in some way, particularly when they most need and least expect it. After all, that’s precisely what they did for us.

As much as we harp on about the nuisances of life here in Finland, we’re profoundly grateful to whatever bureaucrat decided that we represented no threat, but might actually contribute a little something to Finnish society and granted us our permanent residence permits. I’ve never known the terror of sorting out the myriad documents true immigrants must navigate and understand. After our ten-month battle, we’re safe to remain together and that’s golden. Above everything, that’s all we really want or need.

This year progressed in the most unexpected ways career-wise. Nearly 15 years since my last foray into a classroom, I found myself standing at the lectern attempting to impart some tiny bit of knowledge, wisdom and experience to eager young(-ish) minds once again. Perhaps more surprising to me more than anyone else, I find myself loving it. Combining a bit of activism and advocacy by way of editing and writing alongside teaching took me from the mind-numbing boredom and frustration of being perpetually underemployed to absolute delight and excitement about returning to work after our holiday. I’m honoured to be a part of the University of Helsinki’s Language Services, and indebted to all those who worked towards granting me this opportunity. And, I’m delighted to find myself with a new set of talented, inspiring and dedicated colleagues and mentors. What a difference a year makes.

If you haven’t picked up on the common thread running through this post yet, I’ll let you in on a not-so-veiled secret — I’m tremendously grateful for this crazy little life I find myself living. Never in my wildest dreams would this life occurred to me. Yet, it’s pretty f*cking awesome. Is it perfect? Not even close. Is it filled with richness? I’d say so, although not the sort of wealth measured by money or bank statements. Regardless of the many obstacles, difficulties, and nightmarish moments, there’s no other life I’d like to be living.

As we embark on our epic holiday in the sun, be well, my friends. Most of all, be happy. Until 2015…

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Simple gestures

by in #365grateful, Everyday Life, family, Gratitude, Random musings, The Cuban and tagged , | Leave a comment

It amazes me how the tiniest of gestures carry such intense meaning and emotion at times.

It’s no secret in our house and amongst our friends that we aren’t big on gifts for occasions. We prefer to surprise one another with little things we find that we know will carry more meaning and indicate that we’ve been listening to one another, or little things we hope will bring a smile to the other’s face when things aren’t going quite to plan.

Yesterday was my darling husband’s birthday. As far as I was concerned, the day was entirely about making him smile, feeling loved and enjoying his day. Once the workday obligations were met, it was entirely up to him what we ate, what we did, etc. There was much silliness and singing, most of which was insanely off-key and mine. His smile was all the thanks I needed — and his laughter was an even greater gift.

As a part of his birthday celebration, he requested his favourite dishes of mine, something which has become somewhat of a tradition — Chickpeas a la Vanessita (a creation of my own which I made up when we first started dating) dressed with a bit of avocado and lime and chocolate fudge brownies. Despite cleaning up the kitchen whilst everything was cooking, there were still a few things which needed tidying up after we ate, all of which annoys me more than him and which I normally save to do over my morning coffee.

This morning as I entered the kitchen all bleary-eyed and sleepy ready to make my coffee and tackle the dishes whilst it was brewing, I found a relatively spotless kitchen and clean counters, with the exception of this guy:

A tiny little gestures which speaks volumes...

A tiny little gestures which speaks volumes…

I quite literally cannot stop smiling. As I mentioned in my last post, The Cuban continues to surprise me, mostly through things like this simple gesture.

Waiting room antiques

by in #365grateful, Everyday Life, Finland, Health, Healthcare, Helsinki, Random musings and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Unexpectedly transported to another time

Unexpectedly transported to another time

Finland has a most impressive national healthcare system universally available to all residents. In terms of efficiency against quality, Finland ranks 23rd in the world. Touch wood, we’ve been fortunate to remain relatively healthy during our stay here and have enjoyed precious little in the way of waiting times, received excellent services in English and been generally impressed with the level of service and quality of equipment, facilities and medicines (when necessary).

There are moments, however, when we feel as though we’ve stepped into a time machine and been transplanted into the 1950s or so. From the architecture to the fixtures coupled with the design and decor including the furniture in the lobbies, it’s an incredibly surreal experience.

This particular waiting room is situated in the radiology department in one of the local hospital complexes in Helsinki. It’s a gorgeous location not far from our neighbourhood and not far from the very centre of the city. As with much of Helsinki, it is surrounded by a lovely park, and much of the hospital complex seems far too historically significant to house the modern diagnostic tools necessary for a top-notch healthcare system. Yet, it does.

When we returned a few days ago to this particular waiting room for a routine part of a check up, we once again marveled at the furnishings. These particular chairs and the very long bench/sofas which matched them could be equally appropriate for the set of Mad Men or in an episode of The Jetsons.

What made the experience all the more surreal was the film which was showing on the gigantic flat screen on the wall. Nevermind that the flat screen was a complete mismatch with the rest of the decor. The film playing on it was absolutely perfect. We’ve no idea what the film was nor what was really happening other than what appeared to be a lot of silliness. A Finnish film from most likely the same time period during which the furniture we sat on was manufactured, it perfectly matched the era of the room whilst allowing for a little comedic relief for the nervous patients awaiting their various scans. We watched completely perplexed as various Finnish actors from days gone by paraded around the black-and-white set in a series of dance moves which, quite frankly, made no sense at all. It was fantastic. Utterly and totally fantastic.

What a way to spend a bit of time. The scan went well and all is as it should be in terms of our health and well-being. Many thanks to the fantastic folks in the Finnish healthcare system who not only provide great care, but who also might just have a hidden sense of humour which comes through in the most unlikeliest of places.

Lost and potentially found, part 2

by in #365grateful, Everyday Life, Finland, Gratitude, Helsinki, Inspiration, Random musings and tagged , | 1 Comment

Another day, another lost (and found) mitten

Another day, another lost (and found) mitten

On Sunday evening, I spied the above mitten draped on a branch close to one of the bicycle trails traversing through our neighbourhood. The next morning, it was still there and looking lovelier than ever in the bright yet dappled sunlight, as if it were expectantly awaiting the hand to which it belongs.

Every time I stumble across one of these lost and found although not-yet-reunited items, it gives me hope for humanity. They brighten my day and remind of how even the simplest random acts of kindness and charity can mean the world to another individual. Having lost things myself at one time or another, I understand the joy and relief that accompanies that moment of realisation when finding something I thought was gone forever.

It’d be easy for whoever discovered this mitten to have just left it where it lay. It would have been just as easy to have picked it up and thrown it away. Yet, they didn’t. That someone took the time to pick it up and hang it in a place where it could be easily spotted.

So simple. So easy. And, yet, so selfless. And, dare I say, hopeful. Hopeful that its rightful owner would travel that same route again and discover what they had misplaced, dropped and possibly considered long gone.

A few lines from Edmund Spenser’s The Faerie Queene have been running through my mind since seeing this particular mitten, words which are cued whenever I think of items lost and searched for:

For whatsoever from one place doth fall,
Is with the tide unto an other brought:
For there is nothing lost, that may be found, if sought.

I’d love to hang out near one of these objects sought to witness the instant when it is found once again.