Come on in from the cold – I have some warmed up glögg for you. Christmas Eve is tomorrow and I’m sure you could do with a small breather. I have finished my shopping and cleaning, so it’s the perfect time for a proper Christmas chat.
Last Friday I got quite excited about 6k’s new breakfast trolley in Kamppi. I’m such a breakfast person! They have NYC rolls which I haven’t seen anywhere else in Finland. You can even order a cupcake if you feel like it.
On Saturday our daughter’s godparents and their kids came over. I made a tex-mex buffet. I’m allergic to avocado, so no guacamole this time.
You might remember that I mentioned I wanted to try a Tres Leches Cake.
It was so yummy! The cake soaks in a three-milk mixture overnight. For the topping, I ditched the recipe and just used regular whipped cream with a pinch of vanilla sugar in it. I topped the whole thing with strawberries. It would’ve looked better with some mint leaves but I forgot those. Also, if I were to make it again, I’d use even more strawberries.
Come Sunday, my mom, daughter and I decided to go and sing Christmas carols in English at the Otaniemi kappeli. Now I don’t know what was going on but in the end only a few of the songs were in English. I think if a sing-a-long is advertised as being in English, Finnish is not needed! Who would go to an English event if they don’t understand a word of English anyway? I wish there was a Christmas carol sing-a-long with fun, upbeat Christmas tunes, this one was not my cup of tea. Interesting fact – hubby and I were married at this chapel back in the day.
On Monday I finally had time to explore Helsinki’s Christmas Markets. I never really realized how many there were till I read Piia’s post about them all!
For anyone visiting Helsinki at this time of year, it would be difficult to miss Helsinki Christmas World as it’s right in front of Stockmann. This one you can still catch in January. I liked the fairy lights above you as you walk and enjoy the atmosphere.
I’d seen the TRE Christmas Market on many occasions when walking past and I was very curious to see what they had in store.
A visit to what used to be a bank hall was in itself interesting for me. It’s a great space for an event such as this. Lots of Finnish designers were to be found there.
At Senate Square’s Helsinki Christmas Market (Tuomaanmarkkinat), I tried a new kind of Christmas (rice) porridge by Restaurant Grön at their Puur Porridge Bar. I loved it – the rice porridge was topped with apple, cinnamon, almonds and caramel flavoured apple vinegar. If you like sweet stuff, you would love this. They also had another one which was spelt porridge topped with porcinis but I was not adventurous enough to try it. What was totally new for me was their pinewood glögg! It was greenish and tasted heavenly. This Market is now closed, as is TRE.
The Manta Christmas Market was a bit quiet but it’s open till the 8th of January, which is always good news!
The pop-up X-Mas Garage on Aleksanterinkatu was really cool and trendy, unfortunately that too is now closed. It’s been on since 2011, so make sure you check it out next year.
Walking along the Esplanade, I happened to see a photo session going on. The model had to step in and out of the car. It would be interesting to know where this ad will be in the future!
I am now on a quest to try out different Japanese restaurants near my office. Fuku is a firm favourite as it’s a sushi buffet which always tastes fresh. This week my colleagues and I tried Koto but my Teriyaki Chicken wasn’t anything special, so I doubt we’ll visit again.
On Thursday I left work very early and hit the shops. Yay, my Christmas holiday started then! I had to go to three different grocery stores and still didn’t manage to get everything I needed.
In the evening I cleaned the house and then watched the end of a Transformers movie I had started with my son earlier in the week. My goodness, there was way too much action in the end (even son agreed) – I actually fell asleep for a bit. Later hubby and I watched the last episodes of The OA. Have you seen that yet? It’s the weirdest series ever but I couldn’t stop watching – I needed to know how it all played out. In a way it’s quite ridiculous but interesting enough to make you stay glued to the tv. It’s on Netflix if you are wondering.
This morning I went for an aquajog at the Keski-Espoo swimming hall. I never even knew there was a swimming hall there till this week! The pools in Espoo had candlelight hours with Christmas music this month. I managed to catch it twice.
After, I did the last bit of shopping and drove to two different cemeteries with my mom and the kids. In Finland we have a tradition of taking candles to the graves of passed loved ones at Christmastime. As you can see from the photo, there’s no snow for Christmas for us this year. The cemeteries look grand when it’s dark with all the candles everywhere lighting the way.
Now it’s time to hear how you are. Do you celebrate Christmas? If so, is everything sorted? Let me know in the comments below or write your own Weekend Coffee Share -post! The linkup and more info are to be found on Diana’s blog.
A very Merry Christmas to all my dear readers!
xx
The Life and Travels of Mrs Suvi 
I give up: What is a “NYC roll”? Your tres leches cake looks identical to the one we shared in the office last week – same toppings! Did you secretly transport it to Irvine, California?!?
I can’t imagine being allergic to avocado… THE HORROR!! Are you allergic to aspirin? (avocados are supposed to be high in salicylic acid so I “should” be allergic but am not)
Since it is rare to find glögg here, every time I read the word it makes me feel a tad giddy.
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It was a soft dinner roll filled with scrambeled eggs and then you could choose your topping from salmon, bacon and there was a third one too but I can’t remember what! How fun that you had the same cake, I think these toppings were excellent for it. Hahah, I used to love avocado but after I discovered that it doesn’t agree with me I can’t stand it! So it’s not such a big deal anymore 🙂 Thanks for reading!
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Love the Christmas as it always come in a good weather… All the pics are really amazing SUVI. you are such a nice photographer too.
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Thank you for your kind words – it’s lovely of you to visit my blog!
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Excellent pics, you lookin cool SUVI!!
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Why thank you! 🙂
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Ugh, that buffet looked dangerously tempting! 🙂
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Heheh, I’m glad you liked the look of it. Thank you for finding your way to my blog!
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I don’t remember any Christmas markets still being open in January when I was there; I must have missed a few! Luckily I got my market fix in Tallinn just before getting to Helsinki, so I was able to do other fun things in the city instead. Such a cozy place in the winter!
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I think this is a new thing that the markets are extended till January. Usually they have been closed a day or two before Christmas. The Tallinn one is open much longer. 🙂
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happy holidays, Suvi ♥
I am so happy to read you had a lovely Christmas celebration with your family…
all the food looks so yum (as always… :>D))
no snow here either…
will you be having vacation till New Year’s day? 🙂
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Yeeeees, I will have vacation till the 2nd Jan! I am really enjoying it, finally time to relax and enjoy our new home. Plus the sun has been out which is not that usual for Finland this time of year! xx
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Merry Christmas to you and your family Suvi ❤ 😀
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Oh thank you dear Iris 💕💕 Happy Holidays xx
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I love singing Christmas carols! It’s not the same here in France, especially since all the best Christmas songs are in English! 😀 Thanks so much for sharing your Christmas traditions in your winter wonderland ❤ Merry Christmas to you, Suvi!
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Yes Caroline, I agree – the best Xmas songs are in English for sure. 😀 Merry Christmas and thank you for reading ❤
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Have a very Merry Christmas.
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I wish the same to you John 🙂
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That strawberry cake looks delicious Suvi! And in general it seemed you had a really nice week! Have a lovely weekend and merry Christmas!
Lisa | http://www.fromdreamtoplan.net/
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HI Lisa – Merry Christmas!! You are right, it was a nice week but so busy. I am looking forward to just hanging out on my holiday 🙂
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Very interesting! I’d like to try that strawberry cake. Those markets sound wonderful with all that food and drink to try. What exactly is in a glass of glogg? I thought Hlsibki would be covered in snow at this time of year. How cold is it with you?
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Glögg is basically mulled wine. Maybe the spices differ though. And we like to drink non-alcoholic glögg too! Almonds and raisins are put in the glass before the glögg is poured. It’s very disappointing not to have snow 😦 It’s around +4 Celcius during the day. Waaah!
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Definitely want to try the Porridge cafe, sounds delicious! Everyone’s home here now and we’re curled up in front of the open fire with a glass of wine relaxing after all the cooking, cleaning and shopping ! Happy Christmas Suvi – Lots of Love Marion xx
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Sounds absolutely wonderful! Hope you have a lovely buffet dinner tomorrow and even better on the 25th! I look forward to tomorrow’s menu 🙂 Happy Christmas M xxx
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Have a peaceful Christmas with your loved ones.
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You too Kristiina, I hope you have snow!
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It is raining, and grass is green.
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Waaah, sounds like what we have!
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