BAKING: Delightful Rhubarb Pie

It's been awhile since I updated the last. The move to a new place was fast and smooth, but getting everything in place and going to work now that we have finally opened, have eaten a chunk of my time I thought I had. But now things have gone a lot smoother and I'm starting to have a daily schedule again, so I decided to bake something. That something being Rhubarb Pie. This recipe is from my Grandma, and I swear on this recipe. It's the best thing ever. You can use the base for any sweet pie. I've done apple pie and red berries pie in the past, but really, anything you can think on a pie works fine.

Now let's get to the fun part. Baking. The recipe after the jump!

Geeky Friday: Learning to love Comic Books.

While waiting to move into my new apartment or making an apartment related post, I'm not going to be as active. But I'm trying to post at least 1 post a week ( if not more ). I hope you enjoy this rambling of a comic book fanatic aka me. We've got some baking, so let's put some geeky there to represent that half of the name of this blog.

I haven't always been a comic book lover, that's for sure. Where I live, comic books weren't really a thing you read, at least not in the city I grew up in. The only comic book I read was Donald Duck that we got every week from the mail. I think I got my hands on some Spider-Man books in the mid and late 90s, but for me that was 'a boy thing'. I was more into reading novels and books without pictures. Looking at my younger brother now, who is 13 years old, he actually started liking reading because he was reading some comics. Still, I don't think the demand for comic books is still not at the level that it is in, for example, U.S. But I think that with the recent success of the comic book based movies, there are more for people to pick up.

Back to my journey of becoming a comic book lover now. I was introduced into the comic book universe by the movies. I feel like this is frown upon on the community just like people getting into certain books only after the movie is released. In my opinion, that's just ignorant. Everyone has their own way of joining into their hobbies and getting into something they love. So, for me, the first movie that really lit up that spark to know more was the 5th installation of the X-Men movie franchise, X-Men: First Class, in the summer of 2011. Then through social media I got to know more people who were so invested in this world of massive amount of characters and stories. So during the summer 2011, I made sure to watch all the available movies from Marvel. I was never really a fan of the Batman movies, excluding The Dark Knight, because the movies were really dark and didn't have that comic book feel to it, at least not for me.

The community and discovering the MCU ( Marvel Cinematic Universe ) were a ground breaking point for me. But, luckily for me, there was more to discover. The comics. I started reading some comics online and focusing on certain characters that had interested me in the movies. Reading more comics and watching the movies over and over again, made me see them in a whole new light. This world is almost infinite. There are comic books from Marvel with these characters from the 1960s. That's more than 50 years of stories to read and character development to see. And that's only the Marvel Universe.

During my time in England I got my hands on several issues of my favorite comic books. I think of myself as a bit of materialist, I like to have the hard copies on my shelf even though I might read them online. I would purchase more comics as hard copies, but the only option for me is to order from abroad and the shipping costs are about triple the price of the actual comic. So purchasing them on a reading tablet is what I do.

Maybe few words about how people react to someone who likes comic books. I've learnt that especially guys, who are familiar but would not call themself a fan, are giving a smug grin and looking down on you for it. They give you all these 'questions' to try to seem more masculine, because the major audience for comic books is guys, and when you outsmart them because you actually know what you are talking about, they go very quiet. This is, however, not a hobby with gender restrictions. There are comic books made for girls, for guys, for both and mostly for anyone. Anyone who enjoys a good plot and characters. Comic books, like when I grew up with Donald Duck, are not books that are meant to read while in the bathroom. They are literature just as much as any other novel and they are an art form that should be just as respectable as any other form of art.

I'm always encouraging people to read, whether it's comic books, poems, novels, news or blogs. Hope you go pick your favorite book or magazine and have a nice weekend with some good reading.

BAKING: Gluten-free Chocolate Rollcake

This is one of my favorite recipes. And also my family keeps asking me to make these roll cakes very often. I've baked this roll cake more than any other pastry ever. It's delicious, fluffy and melts in your mouth. On top of all that goodness, it's completely gluten free!

Recipe:

3  eggs [ room temperature ]
1,5 dl  sugar
1,5 dl potato starch
1 teaspoon of baking powder
3 tablespoons of cocoa powder

The filling:

2 egg yolks
100 g butter
2 dl powdered sugar

1. Mix your eggs and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Mix together potato starch, baking powder and cocoa powder.
3. Add the mixture into the egg and sugar fluff through a shift.
4. Gently mix them together.
5. Prepare a baking sheet with high edges and line with baking paper.
6. Scoop the mixture on the sheet and spread evenly.
7. Bake in 275C for about 5 minutes. Keep an eye on it, but don't open the oven while baking.
8. Take another baking paper on the table and spread sugar on it. Take the cake from the oven and flip it over on the sugared paper. Remove the paper on the top. Let the cake cool.
9. Prepare the filling: Mix butter and powdered sugar first at slow speed and then high so the sugar won't go everywhere. Lastly add two egg yolks. If not using any egg yolks you can use a table spoon of vanilla extract.
10. Once the cake is cooled, spread the filling evenly on the cake. Then roll it neatly with the baking paper and set to rest in the fridge for few hours, so the filling sets. You can also put it in a freezer for 20-30 minutes.

You can use this converter to change quantities into U.S measurements.


Enjoy!

First post, oh my.

Looking at my keyboard and wondering what to write. What would be interesting enough to get someone's attention and get them to come back? I really don't know. I have nothing really to show yet. But I could tell a little bit about myself and the direction I want this blog to head at. And maybe what you can be expecting from me in the future.

Alright, let's get to know each other. I'm Riikka, but most people here on the internet call me Rii. Don't worry if you can't pronounce it, no one who doesn't speak Finnish can. But I'm okay with it and if we go with Rii, it's much easier. Short and simple.

So as you probably read on the sidebar, I'm 25 years old, and you probably played a detective and noticed that I mentioned Finland earlier, so I'm from Finland. In this small town that has nothing in it really. This town is probably one of the most beautiful towns I've been at and it's not the buildings ( which are pretty ugly ), but the open water and the rustic feeling of an old paper factory town. I love it here. Most times.

I'm studying International Business and majoring in Management ( minoring in Management Accounting, if you wondered ), and I'm about to graduate soon. I still have to write my thesis and then I'm done.

I'm currently working as a waitress/chef/bartender/office person/IT support and everything my bosses need me to in a small Bar & Bistro we are in the process of opening. It's pretty exciting times because we built this from pretty much nowhere. I guess I'm almost a part owner, except I did not invest in this. But I've chosen everything from the name to the wallpaper and the drink list. I'm pretty proud of what we've done, now if only we could open in time. The paperwork you need to put in this is ridiculous and the government really makes everything 100 times more difficult.

So that's pretty much the 'waitress' part of the name. The Geeky part comes from, surprise surprise, being a geek. I love comic books, movies, tv-shows, books. So expect projects including those, as well as baking, Home Decor DIY and crafts.


This has been a pretty much a synopsis of my current life. Why did I decide to start this blog then? My life doesn't sound that interesting right now. Well, yesterday I got approved to move in apartment. I'm currently living with my dad and stepmom. I know, I'm 25, I should be moving out already. I've lived on my own before, but because of school I decided to move back home and the time just kind of stretched and I ended up staying longer than I was suppose to, but now I'm ready to move back on my own and I wanted to document this journey, mostly for myself. I want to learn to cook and decorate my apartment. I want to show my crafts and bakings and also try to lose some weight and start a healthier lifestyle.  By binding myself into something like blogging, I know I can keep in the track and best of all I can go back and see the progress I've made.

So, without further ado. This is the Geeky Waitress.