Pomegranate x 3

Royal red pomegranates resting on the table gives one a feeling of luxury, wealth, exuberancy. So far seeds have found their way into müsli (great), mulled wine (hmm... ok) and for the dessert: winter-marinated pears with pomegranate seeds and creamy blue cheese. The marinate spice combo of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, lemon, a touch of ginger is just so seasonal. Just be sure to use green cardamom, not black cardamom, as black tastes exactly like smoky throat pastilles. This was the most recent discovery exploring new spices

and ingredients.

Educational day

I learned frog pose (mandukasana) and fish pose (matsyasana), 12 new words in english (hullo my dear Merriam-Webster) inclunding pernickety, nitid and hyaline. Also learned the rudimentary operating principle of gyroscope. I wish still to learn how to knit a buttonhole, but that's too much for one day.

Invincible dream

After a very nice relaxing evening yesterday I had one of the best dreams ever, maybe even the ultimate best.

I was bathing in finnish sauna with my loved one. We went out to roll in the snow in the light of the full moon, it was a cold crisp midwinter night. When I looked up to the sky, I saw the greatest, most colorful Aurora Borealis ever. More vivid and color-saturated awaken mind can ever imagine. Along the northern lights there were nebulas, comets, shooting stars and also alien space ships shuttling in beautiful precise formations across the sky. I felt my heart bursting with happiness, joy and pride.

Under the bridge

Walked in Troja for 3 hours to clear my head the other day, it's hard to beat the crisp sunny days of late autumn. November showed its best character. On my way I walked through a truly cool underpass at Prague 7. Just love love love the minimalistic details.

Some days are stickier than others

Today is thick and sticky. Everywhere I go, Internet connections don't work properly. My nose is running and I have a heavy head. People don't answer to emails, people I meet are somehow gloomy and reluctant. Someone I met just two months ago didn't recognizse me, have I turned old all of a sudden? The tram was slower than ever so I missed my appointment. I feel neglected, disrespected, disqualified for no reason. Plus I'm hungry. 

Simultaneously I'm trying to figure out what is it that makes me feel like this. Nothing hormonal, no more setbacks than usually. I want to feel calm, peaceful, happy. Not cranky, ferocious and frantic.

I'll make a list of things that I can do to feel better. Preparing and eating good food usually helps. Maybe portobello burgers with sesame seed mayo. Pomegranate something as dessert. Lo and behold, I already feel lighter thinking about pomegranates!

Presidential dream

I became the president of Café Club Börlin. I had no idea what the club was about but it sounded great. The club had been dormant for some time and I was to the one to revive its actions.

I was given a fancy shiny black car because I was the president. Even though I couldn't drive a car at all. So I didin't start the engine but instead kicked speed with my foot.

Delicatessen

It has been some weeks of total feasting. Friend visiting, harvest delicacies, long dinners, lazy breakfasts. A lot of veggie restaurants, cafés, hot wine, cakes, cookies... After Christmas season I should start a new active non-fat life, my skirts and jeans have been shrinking mysteriously.

The butternut squash has been one of the most delightful findings this autumn. Latest pumpkin dishes were chocolate cake, pumpkin risotto and roasted pumpkin-goat cheese-raddish-pine seed-avocado salad. Yummy! Especially the cake, I can't stop wondering how delicious and moist it is. The recipe (in finnish, sorry) is originally from Frantsila organic herb farm cookbook, we altered it a bit. No nuts but seeds, butternut instead of zucchini, organic egg instead of soy flour etc. We've been eating the cake with Madagascar vanilla ice cream which happens to be the best ice cream in whole wide world!

I think I'll pause posting this and have a slice of the cake with my newly roasted Sumatran coffee. Just wait a sec. Photo comes later.

Independent island dream

I was on my way to a remote island. The ship sank, only a few of us passengers survived to the island. It was a totally self-sufficient independent place, they even had their own electricity voltage. Electronic devices couldn't be charged on the mainland, only on the island.

The island was somehow situated in eastern Finland, still it had mangroves and river deltas, rain forests. Also the time passed differently on the island. I talked to a teenaged boy who rejoiced about the last free summer before starting school at the age of seven. He looked more like 17 than 7. I realized that the island would be a rare once-in-a-lifetime experience.