"Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery but today's a gift. That's why it's called the present."

Ooh this is going to be such a fine post today. Such a fine post, I'm telling you. Because there will be many nice things to tell about! And at least one thing that has never before been in this blog. More about that later.

Today while eating breakfast (all the good ideas always strike me while I'm eating breakfast) I decided we need to, abso-bloody-lutely Need to eat something Very Good today. And what is more, I also decided that we need to have new, wonderfully shaped plates today. Perhaps with nice patterns. Two of those, actually. In fact I just lied, I didn't exactly know they were going to be plates this morn, I was thinking more about cups than plates. But something nice and new and kitchen-y in which you can put food, nevertheless. So, after talking with my dear sister on the phone and deciding what wonders I'd fix for dinner, I left to the bus stop, regardless of the rain. And where else could I find just what I need if not from Stockmann.

I've been eyeing these deep plates for some time now, every now and then when visiting the third floor. I think they are very beautiful. After weighing all the choices most carefully, I bought two of these, just as I intented to. And am very happy with them. Even the price was very reasonable!

Then I bought all the foody stuff I needed according to the recipe and came home. The recipe was from Bowl Food again since I really do like that book. And it has nice pictures. I've never really cared for cook books without pictures. I think pictures are quite relevant in a cook book. It must be quite a book with quite mindbonglingly good recipes if it doesn't need any pictures. Oh, the recipe was for Indian-style butter prawns. Sounded nom.

Was nom, too. Goodness. A couple of days ago I suddenly realized that I clearly don't use enough spices since I know only little about them in general. So, I've decided to get to know the wonderful world of spices more closely and this dish was just what I needed since it included more spices than I usually use. Here, take the recipe. It's good. The only things I changed when making mine were the prawns, I couldn't afford the big ones so I took some not-so-big ones. I bet the Big ones would have been even better, but I don't complain. Nor did I use that much butter. It sounded rather suspicious to me. Oh, and I halved the recipe.

Indian-style butter prawns
Originally from Bowl Food

serves 4

1 kg large raw prawns
100 g butter
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 ½ teaspoons garam masala
2 tablespoons good-quality ready-made tandoori paste
2 tablespoons tomato paste
300 ml thick cream
1 teaspoon sugar
1/3 cup (90 g) plain yogurt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh coriander leaves
1 tablespoon flaked almonds, toasted
lemon wedges, to serve

Peel and devein the prawns, leaving the tails intact. Melt the butter in a large saucepan over medium heat, then add the garlic, cumin, paprika and 1 teaspoon of the garam masala and cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant. Add the tandoori paste and tomato paste, and cook for a further 2 minutes. Stir in the cream and sugar, then reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce thickens slightly.

Add the prawns to the pan and cook for 8-10 minutes, or until they are pink and cooked through. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the yoghurt, the remaining garam masala and half the coriander. Season.

Garnish with the flaked almonds and remaining coriander and serve with steamed rice and lemon wedges.

--

Then the mysterious thing never before seen here. It's a poem I made last night. No, there haven't been any poems here before. Here it is.

toivoisin voivani olla

kaikkea sitä mitä laventeliunet

ovat sumuisina öinä näyttäneet

mutta vaikka kuinka yritän en

vieläkään kuule syreenejä

en ymmärrä sateen sanoja en

tiedä mitä hopeakyyhky

todella tarkoitti

katkerilla kolikoilla ja

eilisen epäonnella

olen kalleimman hinnan maksanut

kalpean huomisen

ennakkoon nähdäkseni

mutta nyt kun aika on täynnä

en enää taida halutakaan

tietää mitään tulevasta

en tuulien levottomista ajatuksista

en apiloiden hartaista rukouksista

eiväthän ne ole minua varten sillä

olenhan vain huokaava kanerva

yhtä unenomainen kuin

hiljaa helisevä kielo

Pariisin viimeinen ikkuna on auki

sieltä minä hyräilen eilisen

viileään iltapäivään jolloin

näin sinun täällä kulkeneen

mutta ethän enää kuule

sinulle aika on vain

kertomus muiden peloista

hyräilyni kuuroille kuiskattu

At least I think it's not the worst I've written.

Wow, after writing this post I'm on a better mood than before it. Here, take Dylan. Why would anyone want to be sad anymore?