As I spend more time at home now I finally have a chance to try many interesting recipes. One of the things on my kitchen curiosity list was spring rolls. I had rice rolls paper and also used yellow bell pepper, lettuce and tune. Here's what we got. My first ever spring rolls - yummy!
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Sunday, January 29, 2012
ToyPortrait Valentine's Day Challenge!!!
Hello Everybody! In honor of our new service and Valentine's Day, we decided that it's time for another photo contest!!! This time, we are interested in seeing the true nature of your Toys -- we'd like portraits!
To enter, send an email to toyhop@gmail.com including:
We'll post your toy to a contest album on ToyHop's facebook page, where you can send your friends to vote! The photo with the most "likes" on Facebook by the 12th of February will win one of our three great prizes:
1st - FREE ToyPortrait + 50% discount on any Hop to Moscow!
2nd - FREE ToyPortrait + 25% discount on any Hop to Moscow!
3rd - 50% discount on a ToyPortrait + 10% discount on any Hop to Moscow!
Prizes will be announced on the 14th! The sooner you enter, the sooner we can put your photo up! We'll also feature entries here on the blog after the contest has finished.
Yours Truly,
Michael TheMonkey and the ToyHop Team
To enter, send an email to toyhop@gmail.com including:
- A wonderful photo of your toy that shows who he/she really is!
- Your Name
- Your Toy's Name
- Where your toy is from
We'll post your toy to a contest album on ToyHop's facebook page, where you can send your friends to vote! The photo with the most "likes" on Facebook by the 12th of February will win one of our three great prizes:
1st - FREE ToyPortrait + 50% discount on any Hop to Moscow!
2nd - FREE ToyPortrait + 25% discount on any Hop to Moscow!
3rd - 50% discount on a ToyPortrait + 10% discount on any Hop to Moscow!
Prizes will be announced on the 14th! The sooner you enter, the sooner we can put your photo up! We'll also feature entries here on the blog after the contest has finished.
Yours Truly,
Michael TheMonkey and the ToyHop Team
Labels:
guest
trees and cartoons by Mister B.
Here are some of Ben's paintings from my own collection. The first three are from 2010-2011 and the last two are from 2006. So you can clearly see different creative periods :-) I love when bunbun paints, I wish he had more free time to do it! Ben also has an Etsy shop - there are more paintings!
Saturday, January 28, 2012
What I wore: winter at home
cardigan//Zara
dress//Seppälä
home shoes//Accessorize
As most of my time these days I spend at home I decided I shoud take pictures of what I wear! Ben gave me this shoes for New Years, my mom got me this awesome tights, the dress is from a Finnish store. Ben asked me yesterday if I would still wear my home dresses after we get married.. hahah how cute!! Of course, why not?? Especially now when I know how much he likes when I do :-)
Thursday, January 26, 2012
i love surprises!
Maybe you remember some time in December I talked about my love for mushrooms and pretty things with them. And today I got a really wonderful surprise in my mailbox from my bunbun! He got this awesome necklace for me:
Bunbun ordered this pretty thing on Etsy from talented Allison at Rocky Top Studio! The necklace came along with a birdie postcard:
Oh, I'm so very excited for spring when I'll wear these mushrooms outside! :-)
Oh, I'm so very excited for spring when I'll wear these mushrooms outside! :-)
Labels:
mister
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
around the house
* my kitty napping at the window
* a card from my Mister
* more cute napping kitty
* a beautiful painting from B's mother
* a troll made by B's mother!
* sunny and frosty day
Labels:
projects
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Love is in the air
I know it's still January! But it's so sunny and days are longer now... and one pretty lovely day is coming in 3 weeks! These thoughts brought me to the kitchen today. I decided to bake and to have some experiments. At first I made cookie dough and tried making really tiny cookies: I found a little round metal cream dispenser and used it as a cutter to make circles. After maybe ten or twelve of those made I realized I could turn them into little hearts! I'm really happy I did as they worked out perfectly well! So I had circles and hearts.. what about stars? I didn't have a little star cutter.. so I made one! I used just regular foil, folded it and shaped into a star! Well, it's not the best cutter ever and the stars look like starfish but it's my first handmade cutter :-) It wasn't the last trick: I suddenly thought that the heart cookies should be more special so I mixed some dough with fresh raspberry juice! No, the cookies after baking didn't save their pink color ( it's somewhat browny) BUT the smell is so wonderful! mmmm I packed some in a little box for when Ben comes after work.. surprise! :-)
Labels:
food
Monday, January 23, 2012
Something new from one of our other projects!
Since it's the New Year, we decided to kick into gear and develop some ideas we've had but haven't gotten around to actually doing. Here's our new concept for our Toy Tourism project - logos for traveling toys called ToyPortraits! Ever since Amelie, people have been taking their toys on vacation with them and taking silly photos of them, it's fun! So we thought we'd provide a service to help people share their stories.
The monkey is our "Toy Tourist" - Michael TheMonkey.
Homemade Magic
What i really crave these days is... peanut butter! And we can’t find it in Russia. I mean if you search really hard you might find some but as i am stuck at home right now it's impossible. This is when I realize I can’t live without it anymore and it’s time to go to the kitchen and do some magic!
Homemade Peanut Butter
15 oz roasted peanuts
1 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp honey
1 ½ tbsp peanut oil
Combine peanuts, salt and honey in the bowl of a food process. Whiz until well combined and mixture looks sandy, about 1-2 minutes.
With the motor running, stream in the peanut oil until peanut butter comes together and is smooth. Blend for about 2 minutes to smooth the peanut butter out as much as possible. Add in additional seasoning to taste.
That’s it! Super easy! Now there’s always a nice jar of this yummy thing in the cooler. Let’s use it for something even more magical! Peanut butter cups! Yes!!
Homemade Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups
approx 1 1/2 cups chocolate, chopped (or chocolate chips)
1/2 cup creamy organic/natural peanut butter
1/2 cup crunchy organic/natural peanut butter
1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
generous pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
Set 2-dozen mini muffin/bonbon wrappers on a baking sheet. This time I used premade chocolate cups my mom brought from Austria. If you do so you should be very careful with hot chocolate as it easily melts the thin walls of the cups.
Melt approximately half of the chocolate stirring frequently, until smooth. Use a spoon to pour a little chocolate into each muffin wrapper. Use a small, very clean brush to paint the chocolate up the sides of each wrapper.
Chill candy shells until set, about 20-30 minutes.
In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla. When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave (in short intervals, stirring frequently), until it is very, very soft. Fill each prepared candy cup with the mixture. Chill again for approx 30 minutes, or until set.
Melt all remaining chocolate and, when the candy fillings have set, fill each muffin wrapper up with chocolate. Chill until set.
Serve cold or at room temperature.
Makes 2 dozen.
Have a happy and sweet week!
Labels:
food
Sunday, January 22, 2012
creating the mood
all through Pinterest
i just can't wait for all this snow to go away
and it'll be sunny, we'll watch clouds pass by
and i'll make sandwiches
then we'll have picnics again..
right now it is -15C (5 F)
the forecast says it'll be -25C (-13F) on wednesday
i'll just keep dreaming of spring and picnics
Saturday, January 21, 2012
burunduk and burgers
When i was at the hospital and nothing looked fun for me Ben gave me a postcard with this cute hamster/chipmunk! It made my day! Ben sometimes calles me "burunduk" which is Russian for chipmunk. Inside the postcard it says: "Sometimes you just need a little push." but Ben wrote under it: "Sometimes you are a burunduk." I can't even tell you how much better i felt each time seeing this note on my desk. Benjamin dear, you are wonderful!
And today Ben came to visit me after work and brought a huge Milka chocolate! Awww! I know i have milka obsession and i try fighting but i just loose in this sweet war all the time!
But the main course tonight was.. BURGERS! I've been dreaming about it for a long time! Ben makes the best burgers ever! He uses beef, soy sauce, lettuce, tomatoes, onions and pickles mmmmm.... I love being home!
Friday, January 20, 2012
i am back!!!
Hello, darlings! Hello, 2012! It's my first day at home and my first dive into the Internet since a long time.. I feel pretty lost right now and it's just hard to keep all my thoughts together. What i know for sure is that i am very happy to be back and i am grateful to have my favorite people with me. I think the best thing for now would be having more rest, catching up on everything i missed and finally enjoying all the new years gifts! Some of them are already in use:
Have a very nice and warm weekend!
K
Sunday, January 15, 2012
Missing Katie -- something from Proust
Hi, this is Benjamin again. I have been making my way through Proust for the past few years, and every now and then I read something that I have to share. I really miss Katie and I thought she would appreciate this excerpt about Marcel and Albertine lying in bed in the morning listening to the sounds of a vegetable market. She won't be able to read it tonight but her friend visited her earlier today and gave her a French cookbook, so this quote is also fitting for that reason.
This photo is the best I have to illustrate what I imagined while reading. It was taken through my window in September or October, when it was much lighter here in Moscow.
This photo is the best I have to illustrate what I imagined while reading. It was taken through my window in September or October, when it was much lighter here in Moscow.
"Here's carrots for lunch
At tuppence a bunch.
'Oh!' exclaimed Albertine, 'cabbages, carrots, oranges. Just the things I want to eat. Do make Francoise go out and buy some. She shall cook us a dish of creamed carrots. Besides, it will be so nice to eat all these things together. It will be all the shouts we're hearing transformed into a good dinner. Oh, please, ask Francoise to give us instead skate au beurre noir. It's so good!'
'Very well, my little darling. But don't stay any longer, otherwise you'll be asking for every single thing on the barrows.'
'Alright, I'm off, but I never want anything again for our dinners, except what we've heard cried in the street. It's such fun. And to think we'll have to wait two whole months before we hear "Green and tender beans, fresh green beans!" How true that is: tender beans; you know I like them as soft as soft, dripping with oil and vinegar, you wouldn't think you were eating them, they melt in the mouth like drops of dew.'"
At tuppence a bunch.
'Oh!' exclaimed Albertine, 'cabbages, carrots, oranges. Just the things I want to eat. Do make Francoise go out and buy some. She shall cook us a dish of creamed carrots. Besides, it will be so nice to eat all these things together. It will be all the shouts we're hearing transformed into a good dinner. Oh, please, ask Francoise to give us instead skate au beurre noir. It's so good!'
'Very well, my little darling. But don't stay any longer, otherwise you'll be asking for every single thing on the barrows.'
'Alright, I'm off, but I never want anything again for our dinners, except what we've heard cried in the street. It's such fun. And to think we'll have to wait two whole months before we hear "Green and tender beans, fresh green beans!" How true that is: tender beans; you know I like them as soft as soft, dripping with oil and vinegar, you wouldn't think you were eating them, they melt in the mouth like drops of dew.'"
| Skate au beurre noir (Recipe here) |
Katie loves peas and the part about the beans especially reminded me of her. I can't wait until she feels better! Looking forward to lying in bed on a bright morning deciding which vegetables to eat.
Labels:
food
Pip-beard!
Hello, this is Benjamin, we've been absent lately because Katie got really sick! She had a bad cough and has been in the hospital for the last week with bronchitis/pneumonia. She is almost better though, thank goodness. Neither of us can wait for her to be out, she gets really bored. I got to go see her this weekend for a little while, I really miss her most of the time. We haven't had much time to take pictures or go on adventures, but I wanted to share the origin of pip-beards and a short, goofy poem I wrote a long time ago.

And here's the poem: "Une Pomme de la Route"
I ate an apple yesterday,
It tasted slightly rotten.
And though I chewed it heartily,
Its texture I've forgotten.
I've been a long time without fruit --
So long I can't remember
The reasons people eat the things
That drop in mid-September.
I'd rather suck down mounds of meat,
Or maybe pies and candy.
I am a cook trés exemplaire!
With fat I am quite handy.
Do give me lots of naughty food.
Soft cakes and basted turkey
O! Give me custard laden tarts,
And mesquite-flavored jerky.
You can keep your organique,
Your light, un-filling menus,
And I'll keep mine, my tasty treats
And greasy smelling venues.

He came to me in a dream.
"You look a little like someone I've seen before, but your beard is longer." I said.
"This is what's called a 'pip-beard,'" he exclaimed gleefully. "It's short on the left and then 'pips' to the right!"
"You look a little like someone I've seen before, but your beard is longer." I said.
"This is what's called a 'pip-beard,'" he exclaimed gleefully. "It's short on the left and then 'pips' to the right!"
And here's the poem: "Une Pomme de la Route"
I ate an apple yesterday,
It tasted slightly rotten.
And though I chewed it heartily,
Its texture I've forgotten.
I've been a long time without fruit --
So long I can't remember
The reasons people eat the things
That drop in mid-September.
I'd rather suck down mounds of meat,
Or maybe pies and candy.
I am a cook trés exemplaire!
With fat I am quite handy.
Do give me lots of naughty food.
Soft cakes and basted turkey
O! Give me custard laden tarts,
And mesquite-flavored jerky.
You can keep your organique,
Your light, un-filling menus,
And I'll keep mine, my tasty treats
And greasy smelling venues.
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