May Day Funnel Cake-Tippaleipä

I know I'm a little late posting this, but we are still in the start of May.

May Day! In Finland it is called Vappu, which is a day that is celebrated by going out and having a picnic. Though the weather in Finland seems to be cold, rainy or even snowy during this time... or lucky with some sun . Non the less, we still go out and have a nice time.

2012 Vappu. Helsinki, FI

The eve of May 1st is the drinking day, well mostly for Uni students and the capping of Havis Amanda statue. So fun!

Anyway I wanted to share my Tippaleipä or Funnel Cake recipe that my friends LOVE, and I've made them every year and they go fast.

I can't remember where I found this recipe, but here we go.

Ingredients:
3-4 cups flour
3 eggs
2 cups milk ( I drink almond milk, which works too.)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Optional
1-3 teaspoons of vanilla sugar and cinnamon
( I added these to the recipe because I wanted some tasty flavor and the hint of vanilla and cinnamon is addicting )

powder sugar for dusting
vegetable oil for frying

Directions:

In large bowl, beat eggs, add sugar and milk. Stir.
In a medium bowl sift together flour, salt, baking powder.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients until batter is smooth- should not be too thick.

The funnel should have an opening at least 1/2 inch and be able to hold a cup of batter. Put your finger over the bottom and add about a cup of batter. Remove your finger and allow the batter to pour into the center of the oil.

Be careful! the oil may slash!

Gradually swirl the batter outward in a circular motion or criss-cross back and forth to make a cake about 7-8 inch round.

I made mini ones, but you can eyeball how big you want them to be. Have fun with it! 

Turn it over when the bottom becomes golden brown.

*** A piping bag will work to, I use a ziploc and pipe the batter in until the cake is the size I want.

Enjoy!

Any questions? Leave a comment :)

Thanks for reading! 

Lumene Gel Effect

I was bitten by the spring bug on my shopping trip to Anttila earlier this month and bought 2 Gel Effect nail polishes by Lumene.

Price: 5.90 €
Size: 5ml

Sand Shimmer #18(Gold)   Early Morning #7 (Pale Sherbet/Peach color)

They go on so nicely. The Sand Shimmer only needed 2 coats of polish and lasted 3 weeks. It's gold with specks of blue, but suited the Early Morning polish and my skin tone nicely.

Early Morning polish took about 3-4 coats to really show the color. So now I have almost half a bottle left  :( It's a pretty color, but I wish it was more opaque instead of shire since each bottle is 5.90€ for 5ml. It also lasted 3 weeks.

I do a lot with my hands, so there was obviously some chipping, they aren't like normal gel polish since no UV light is used. But they definitely look like the after results of gel polish. 

If the price was lower or the bottles bigger, I would love to buy more colors from this line. I'll be keeping my eyes open on any 2 for 1 deals. 

Thanks for reading!

Week of Achievements

Hello! Hello! Thought I'll take a break from my thesis writing and share to the internet world my achievements this week. :D

MY THESIS IS NEARLY DONE! This week I've been coming to school early in the mornings and staying until 6/7pm. That's real dedication to finish and graduate this spring. I now have a total of 11,668 words, which is 29 pages, not including the 2 page of references, title and table of contents. I still need an abstract and conclusion page, along with my appendixes. But I’m so proud of myself. :D

Moving on to running. This Friday I ran 11 miles in 1hr 43mins. It felt awesome. I now know I have it in me to run the half marathon next month. :) and I will survive. Still having my bowl of oatmeal before my long runs and my energy drink that I shared in a previous post.

I also have been making spinach and cheese egg omelette in the morning with cucumbers on top... why not! hahahaha! So good after my running days. Never skimp on the cheese and spinach... can never have enough ;)

Well I guess that’s all. Keep your eyes peeled for a new polish I bought, I’ll be reviewing it once I find some more free time. :)

Thanks for reading!