After Midsummer Day

So I had been stressing over Midsummer Day – how fast it will come and is summer over after it. The truth was that it didn’t come so fast and the summer is not over. In fact this June has felt so long already (which is goooood) and hopefully it’s not even over yet.

We didn’t have a plan to go anywhere special on Midsummer Day like on our relatives cabin or something. The Midsummer Day didn’t go right like I had planned it to – it kind of went by me. But we have been enjoying the days after it more than anything.

On the other day we just sat in the balcony, drinking rosé and eating fresh strawberries and peas and enjoying the day with talking and reading.

 

The cats were also enjoying the breeze outside in the balcony.

Later that night we made vegetable-tofu “ricotta” lasagna which was so good as always.

 

I was asked am I going to any festivals but I have to say I’m not a festival type of girl. I can’t be with hundreds or even thousands of people around me. So I’m planning to spend my summer with friends, out with people, enjoying it at the balcony and outside and I’m going to go to the picnic in this summer. I have truly enjoyed these days of summer and I will not think when it’s going to be over but I will just enjoy it with my fullest!

Write and write

My last days have filled with writing and writing. I have been learning and hearing that writing is a good form of therapy just like reading is. And I’ve been reading and writing a lot lately...

I’ve been writing for over 4 years now. I’ve been writing diaries and fictional stories. I’ve been writing both Finnish (like the picture above) and in English. My oldest writings have been my diary entries but my oldest fictional writings have been for over three years and nine months now in progress. It is already 267 full A4 pages long. I first wrote it in English but then I started to turn it into Finnish for the sake of if I’m ever going to publish anything it needs to be in Finnish first because I would be going for the Finnish translation agencies and from there maybe more. This is still hoping, of course...

I have been having to think about to find out what is my thing. I have become to a conclusion that writing and other artistic things (like drawing and painting) will decrease the bad feelings I’m feeling time to time. By doing them so I can cut down the excess of the bad feelings and concentrate on writing and on to the good things.

Turning into a Vegetarian & Spicy Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti

I have started to eat cheese after being without it for three years. I don’t know why but I just suddenly did. At times I feel bad about it and I feel like I should stop it again but I haven’t yet... So my veganism is on hold right now. I’m lacto-vegetarian right now. I don’t drink milk or eat yoghurt but I do eat cheese right now. It’s the only thing which I craved while being a vegan so that was my downfall. I did eat soy cheese but that didn’t feel like enough at times. I do think about the animals and the mass production of milk products and maybe this is just a phase.

Today we made tomato-mozzarella salad with fresh basil for a starter. I had never eaten it before. And I have to say that mozzarella tasted pretty good after many years.

Then I made Spicy Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti.

Spicy Tomato Sauce with Spaghetti

Ingredients:
1/2 onion
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
3/4 red bell pepper
2 medium sized mushrooms
1 can (500 g) crushed tomatoes
10 tiny tomatoes
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon paprika powder
1,5 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon vegetable bouillon powder or salt
5 leaves of fresh basil

Directions:
1. Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium-high heat. Cook the onion in the oil until translucent.
2. Add chopped mushrooms and cook until the liquid coming from the mushrooms is evaporated. Add chopped red bell pepper and stir for a while.
3. Add the canned crushed tomatoes. Slice tiny tomatoes in half and add to the sauce.
4. Add spices and let the sauce simmer in low heat for 5-10 minutes. Lastly add minced basil leaves and stir for a few minutes.
5. Cook the spaghetti and drain. Serve the sauce over the spaghetti or mix it all together. If you like, you can top the dish with cheese. If you leave the cheese out the dish is vegan.

Have a Nice Day!

On the other day I had a nice summer day at the balcony. We popped sparkling wine and sat there enjoying the warm day, listening to music.

 We sat and did a crossword puzzle and time to time I wrote my diary. I missed Siru again when we did the crossword puzzle for she always liked to sit on top of the magazine. This is the first summer without her and it’s hard.

We put on the grill and I grilled a soy stake inside a rye bread and made it into a rye burger. Oh so good!

I enjoy days like these, just be able to sit in the sun with no hurry and no worries. This is what I have been waiting through the long, cold winter. I want to enjoy every single day of summer so it won’t just go past and I would realize it in the Fall that it’s too late. So I will take everything out of this summer!