I love cooking

Hey!

Such a beautiful day outside. Today I don't feel like cooking at all. During week days I usually eat at the University's cafeteria or sometimes bring leftovers from home. I love to make food in the evenings, it relaxes me a lot :) I also often cook during the weekends if I feel like or when I am short in money :(

Here are some of the pics I had taken. I do not take a picture of every meal, only sometimes... That is why some of my best dishes (goulash or some of salty tarts) are not in the picture... 

Very often I make things up, usually I grab sth from the fridge and just make some dish of it. I try not to eat meat now, I eat fish, super rarely I eat chicken. It is usually some pasta, couscous or tart with veggies or cheese. ENJOY THE PICS :)

 salad of gods (my fav Greek salad)

 Italian antipasta made of zucchini, mozarella and parmesan cheese(not baked yet)

 the simplest desert in the world: strawberries, whipped cream and after eight cookie

 my new love: quinoa (seed) and lots of fried veggies + salt, pepper, dragon spice and lots of garlic....

another antipasta: tomatoes, zucchini, fresh basil, mozarella and parmesan (before)

 

 the same dish as above after baking

 

 I love smoothies, so easy to make, here: ingredients for a mango-banana smoothie (add honey, yoghurt and some milk)

 
 ready smoothie 

pancakes with spinach

yummy pancake

chicken breast with Brussels sprouts and goat's cheese 

 ready chicken

 vegetarian paella

  vegan ice-cream (coconut taste)

Rhododendron park in Helsinki

Last Thursday we went with T. to a beautiful rhododendron park in Pohjois-Haaga, Helsinki. Although all of the flowers have not bloomed yet (they should all bloom around the Midsummer, that is approx. in two weeks), some of them were already out and really, really beautiful. Yellow rhododendrons had an amazing smell too. What is ever better, we went there by bikes in the evening and there was hardly anyone in there. However, amazingly I met one of my friends in there :)

 

A website of the rhododendron park (in Finnish only) can be found here: http://www.hel.fi/wps/portal/Rakennusvirasto/Viheralueet?WCM_GLOBAL_CONTEXT=/HKR/fi/Viheralueet/Puistot/Puistot+alueittain/Alppiruusupuisto

What is cool about this park is that these kinds of rhododendron were actually modified from the original ones and now adjusted to Finnish conditions (they survive the winter). They also have some cool names as Helsinki University (where I actually work :)) or Pekka (common Finnish name - male)... I attach some pics from the trip. They are from my phone so actually of pretty crappy quality..