Cheese Ravioli

So I finally decided to give the cheese ravioli a try and made them the other day. They were far too much work, should have been rolled thinner and all in all very yummy :)

However, by the time it was time to eat them my kids were tired, and grouchy.  I was so frustrated after all the work that I had put into these things that I could not even sit and enjoy them in peace. My kids weren't too eager to try them either- new things are always weird to kids.

At least my husband and I enjoyed them and my pregnancy craving was attended to :)

Mele Kalikimaka

I love listening to Bing Crosby when getting into the mood of Christmas. I loved this song today :)

Preparing for Birth

Here I am 14 weeks pregnant, yet unsure how and where I want to have my baby. I am not a first time Mom- rather I have already had two home births. These were births assisted by a wonderful midwife, births that took place in our own bedroom.

Never have I wanted the interference of medicine in my life and the more I prepared and read about birth the more sure I was that the best birth for a healthy Mom is one where there is no interference. This means no painkillers, no rushing to be induced. No hurrying of a process that God made me, a woman for. I have read countless books on birth, home birth and preparation for birth and am 100% sure that natural birth is the best option for baby and Mom when both are healthy.

So then, what keeps me from being sure I want to have my next baby at home? I am not exactly sure. But I think it has something to do with my "fear" of pain during labor, especially during the pushing stage. During my second labor I knew what to expect and could handle the contractions just fine by rocking, groaning, swaying, leaning on my husband or the sink, etc. There were even times I needed to move things along because I wanted more steady contractions and then I climbed the stairs. But when the time came to push and my baby was on her way out I felt like I was dying of pain. I screamed, I groaned, I cried "Lord, have mercy." And of course my baby entered this world and all was "forgotten" making it all worthwhile.

But that pain is not forgotten and because of my fear of pain I even asked God for twins so that I can have more children with less pain.

But there is another thing that rankles my spirit and makes me wonder. . . how is it that some women know virtually no pain when giving birth? A dear friend of mine just had her fourth baby at home and when we discuss birth and I ask her if it hurt she always says, "No." How can this be? Does she have a higher pain tolerance? Or has she learned to "let" her body give birth while I fight my body, trying to control even this uncontrollable event.

So as I prepare for birth in the next weeks and months and work through my feelings, experience and desires I will perhaps share a bit with you.

A Productive Day

I woke up feeling very ready to get some things accomplished. I have been making a list every morning with the things I need and hope to get done. It helps keep me on track for the day.

A friend just back from Paris had given us some cheese. I have been longing for french bread and cheese for some time and was determined to make french bread today to enjoy the cheese with. I made whole wheat french bread so that it would be healthier and it was simply wonderful. Oh how I LOVE the cheese in France. . .

Another thing I wanted to do was to get  my piparkuka  cookie dough made. It is very good to make it in advance so the many spices and their flavors have time to blend. It is rather a big job, but I didn't make such a large recipe this year.

Then we went outside for a while and raked some leaves.

By lunchtime I was so worn out I had to take a nap with the children, and that refreshed me a bit.

This week I went into to work to resign. I know that I won't be going back anytime soon and I can't stay on indefinitely. I was sad today though when I got my work book (for keeping track of how long I had worked there and my yearly salary) in the mail. I don't mind leaving this work place, but feel insecure being "out of work."

I also got a package from my dear parents with a lovely bag of Autumn Candy- candy corn and pumpkins. I will now be able to make some darling cupcakes sometime. Thank  you Mom and Dad!

Signs your little boy is becoming a BIG BOY

Daniel is facinated with getting bigger and here are a few things that prove it:

1. Finally being willing to try and ride his bike, of his own accord. Without us initiating it. 
2. PUSHING his bike when he doesn't want to ride it and not asking ME to do so. WOW! 
3. Always talking about being strong!
4. Wanting to carry big things himself up the stairs, without Mom's help. 
5. Not wanting to give Mom a hug or kiss before she leaves for the day- only from a distance. He blew me a kiss, and a hug. Oh how sad, I didn't think this would come so early. 
6. Helping with the raking of leaves and digging with Dad. 
7. Preferring new places and friends to staying with parents. 

Our little man in now becoming a big boy. He is now years and 4 months old.

I really, really want. . . .

So I am pregnant, living in a land far from the USA, and having some cravings that can't be satisfied.

I want:

1. Cheese ravioli
2. Taco Bell Tacos and Nachos
3. Bagels with garden vegetable cream cheese 
4. Pizza Hut
5. Subway

You get the idea. . . all places that don't exist over here :) I am trying to get up the motivation to try and make my own cheese ravioli, but from past experience it is a rather time consuming job. 

Christmas is Wooing

In the mood for some Christmas music, try this :) Listen to more of Leigh Nash on http://grooveshark.com

The Wedding

Saturday we headed off to the reception area about 10:00. We wanted to deliver the cake in one piece and get home again to prepare for the wedding. The drive to the camp seemed to take about 30 minutes, and the last part of the drive was HORRIBLE. It was a very bumpy dirty road- which we later discovered is not the main entrance and seldom used.

We got the cake settled, fixed and put together. There were already lots of good comments and I was eager to have it be completely decked out so people could see the end result. But since there were several hours to wait I put the flowers in water and we headed home.


Amelija's godmother had agreed to stay with them for the day and we had the whole day to ourselves. The wedding was nice!


We headed to the reception early to get the cake finished. It was a great success, not only being very lovely but VERY delicious. It was a black forest type cake. Chocolate cake, with cherry filling, a cream filling and delicious swiss buttercream over that, entirely covered in marzipan. It was scrumptious!

Wedding Cake with Two Kids

Today I began making the wedding cake I have to make for Saturday. I have been preparing all week little by little to make this process as smooth as possible. This is the first wedding cake order I have accepted in three years. The first I will have made with two children. . . yikes!

I have been mostly worried about tiring myself out, as full days in the kitchen leave me with an achy back. I began this day on my knees and jumped right in after breakfast.

Much to my amazement my kids are playing VERY peacefully together, and they are staying out of the kitchen so far- unheard of! Wow! Thank you Lord of watching out for me and making the beginning of this day smooth so far :) It is now 9:00 a.m :)

13:47 The morning didn't progress as smoothly as I would have liked due to an unplanned trip to the store. All my lists and trips to the store somehow left me with no milk and therefore only one cake baked. After returning home my kids were ready for a snack and they were then much more emotional and grouchy. Oh dear. Somehow I got the 6 layers of cake made and baked and lunch made. I turned on cartoons (which is only a special occasion thing in our house) and hoped that would keep them busy. It worked for a while, but when it was time to eat and I turned it off we had a 3 year old fit on our hands. YUCK. So now the kids are fed and in bed. Though D is still not asleep- he doesn't nap every day anymore.I am off to make fillings now.


Whilst the kids napped I got a lot done. I made my cherry filling and the cream fillings. So ends the first day.


Day 2:


Morning: Now comes the time of putting together the cake. However, my kids have not been in the best of moods and by 9:30 a.m I was feeling rather stressed and desperate. My husband encouraged me by phone to stop and give the kids some moments of my undivided attention. We read 4 books and then I was able to finish filling the cakes. I realized the biggest problem was that they weren't "allowed" to taste what I was making and doing. Once I started leveling the cake and had leftovers they were both happy. Not to mention that I had left over cream filling and cherry filling which they both loved!

The afternoon had a few bumps along the way because of a trip to the store ended in the frosting flopping due to mixing two different brands of butter. I had to run to the church to choose flowers for the cake. And my husband saved the day by getting more butter. Finally about 20:00 I was able to finish frosting the cakes and get to the decorating.

I had chosen to cover the cakes with marzipan. Originally I had been daunted by this idea since I had never used marzipan and didn't know how costly that would be. However, after watching this link and some other very good videos on marzipan I was ready to try my hand at it.

I stopped decorating at 22:00, my back was killing me and I was ready to head to bed. I was pleased with the results of the cake and even though simple it looked stunning with the fresh flowers.