Mar
31

Easter Cookies

by Sofia   -   in Cooking  DIY projects

I baked some lemony cookies for me and the girls to decorate. I used my sugar cookie recipe ( it is a winner! It´s similar to this one that is in English) but substituted vanilla for lemon extract and added the grated rind of a lemon too. I also added some lemon extract to the icing. And I let the girls do whatever they wanted with their cookies. Bubble Gum obviously went a little crazy with sprinkles but Cotton Candy was quite restrained and tried different techniques and made pretty pearl necklaces for the chicks and bunnies. I love how they decorated their cookies ( you can see them here). I made polka dot bunnies and chicks that will be cute for an after school snack before the Easter holiday starts.

Mar
30

Easter tree

by Sofia   -   in DIY projects  Interior design

Over the long weekend we had with the girls we managed to decorate a big bunch of cute cookies, get soaked in the playground, watch The Sound Of Music and paint easter eggs. I blew 15 eggs and washed them and the next morning we painted them and hung them on the gorgeous tall pussy willow branches my friend brought over. We added some Beatrix Potter characters and feathers too. This is how it looks like…

Mar
27

Namusia

by Sofia   -   in Good things for kids  Random

Palmusunnuntaina käy taas oven takana rapina kun pienet noidat hiippailevat pajunoksien kanssa namusia itselleen virpomassa. Virpomisperinteessä sekoittuu Länsi-Suomalainen pakanaperinne jossa pukeudutaan noidiksi ja Itä-Suomalainen ortodoksiperinne jossa pajunoksat siunattiinn lauantaina kirkossa ja sunnutaina niillä virvottiin onnea ja terveyttä sukulaisille ja ystäville. Nykyään pienet trullit liikkuvat yleensä naapurustossa ja virpovat itsetehdyin oksin toiveenaan ehkä enneminkin hyvä karamellisaalis kuin terveyden toivominen. Suloisia pikkuisia noitia, pupuja ja kissoja odotellaan kuitenkin myös meidän ovemme taakse ja heitä varten on varauduttu namusilla.

This Sunday we are expecting little witches to ring our doorbell. They come bearing decorated pussy willow branches and chant an ancient song wishing health and happiness. As a reward for the branches they get sweets that the children put in little baskets they are carrying around with them. This tradition actually mixes two old traditions. It was a pagan tradition to get dressed as witches and an Orthodox tradition to bless pussy willow branches in church on Saturday and then give them to relatives and friends on Sunday for good health and good luck. Today these traditions are combined and I doubt many of the children or even the parents really know the old Orthodox custom behind it. I only learned about it as an adult. But we are more than happy to receive pretty branches and give Easter candy as a reward. I have a whole candy bar ready for the little ones. The only problem with living in the centre of Helsinki is that all the front doors for the buildings are locked so receiving as many chanters as in suburban areas is not very likely. But our doorbell has rung a few times in the past years. So we are optimistic. And waiting with these so do come by…