Winning Wenlock

The Olympics are definitely on their way, the torch is making its way down to London and almost everyone I know is getting into the spirit of the event. I certainly can't wait for the games to start.

The London 2012 Mascots for the games are called Wenlock and Mandeville. They are name after Much Wenlock in Shropshire and  Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire. The three points on Wenlock's head represent the three places on the podium. The pattern on his body with the logo of the games symbolises the  world coming to London in 2012. The shape on the front of his head represents the shape of the Olympic stadium roof.

We were asked to review Winning Wenlock. Winning Wenlock is dressed in his Union Jack outfit. Wenlock can be bought from retailers such as Argos and John Lewis for £29.99. He has poseable arms and a lovely gold medal around his neck. Fingers crossed we will see some of our athletes bringing home the gold for us too.

I think Wenlock is totally awesome as do the boys, we have all been singing along while he dances to the official Mascot song "On a Rainbow". The song is written and performed by Tom Fletcher, from McFly, his sister Carrie and the children from West Leigh Junior School. To see him dance and hear the song you need to press the button on his foot.

Here is Wenlock dancing.

We were really impressed with Winning Wenlock and his song, it definitely is catchy and you cant help but sing along to it too. We give Wenlock a 5/5 rating and will definitely be letting him cheer on team GB.

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Olympic Torch Relay

Today the Olympic Torch came through our local town, Matthew and I took Nathan and James to see the procession whilst Callum saw it with his class.

Luckily for us the weather stayed dry, was a good job as the procession was running at least 20 minutes late - it really wouldn't have been any fun waiting in the rain.

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Israeli food, and a recipe for Roasted Aubergine (Eggplant) with Feta

 I'll be eating lots of Israeli food in the coming few days, together with few other foodbloggers from England, France and the US, and you'll bound to hear much more about it. In advance of the foodie journey, we were all sent a gorgeous coffee-table/cookbook by Riga-born and Israel-based food writer and cookbook author Janna Gur, called The Book of New Israeli Food: A Culinary Journey. I've been browsing through the book and sticking enough yellow post-it notes on the pages to give my family and friends menu ideas till Christmas. The first dish (and certainly not the last one) I tried was a little number with roasted aubergines/eggplants.

Lovely on some rye bread crisps!



Please keep your fingers crossed that this Nordic foodie won't collapse under the Israeli sun - the dry heat is somewhat intimidating, I must admit. Nordic summers with about 20 Celsius and few degrees above that are what I'm enjoying most, you see, but sometimes we need to challenge ourselves, especially in the name of good food and good company ;)

Roasted aubergine with feta 
Serves four to six



2 firm medium-sized aubergines/eggplants, rinsed
200 g feta cheese, crumbled
4 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
a pinch of sumac
a pinch of dried oregano or marjoram leaves
3 chopped spring onions
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Roast the rinsed eggplants either on an open flame (if you've got a gas grill) or simply in a hot oven until soft and blackened. Cool slightly, then peel (discard the skin) and mash the roasted flesh with a knife and/or a fork.
Add the crumbled feta cheese and olive oil, season with sumac and oregano (I used a close relative, marjoram). Add the chopped spring onions (I used a mixture of chives, green onions and Siberian garlic chives from my garden), season to taste with salt and pepper, if necessary.


Note: if you season the aubergine/eggplant flesh while it's still slightly warm, then the flavours are absorbed much better!

Serve at once or cover and keep in a cool place until ready to serve. 

Other bloggers cooking from this book:
David Lebovitz tried the Tu bi'Shvat Cake
Family Friendly Food baked the Apple, Cinnamon and Walnuts cake
Noshes, Thoughts and Reves made the Beetroot and Pomegranate Salad

NB! Note that you can follow Nami-Nami foodblog updates - and my other food-related tweets - in Twitter now: https://twitter.com/#!/PilleNamiNami

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Win A Football Fan Curly Teddy

Wow what a match that was!!! nail biting to the end... Its a shame England didn't make it through to the semis but penalties have never been our strong point. However to cheer everyone up we have a new competition for all our lovely followers.

How do you fancy winning a Football Fan Curly Teddy from Build A Bear Workshop, worth £26. He comes in his Chelsea Kit and football boots.

We have been supplied this prize to coincide with our 1st year anniversary next week and the Euro 2012 tournament.


To enter:
Simply fill out the Rafflecopter form below:
UK entrants only, Winner drawn at random on 8th July 2012


a Rafflecopter giveaway

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Happy 3rd Birthday James!!

Yesterday our little James turned 3, I honestly can't believe its been 3 years since he was born the time seems to have gone so fast. As with the births of his brothers I can remember the day well, it started around midnight with my first contraction these kept coming all night every 20 - mins or so, at 7.30 am I decided I'd had enough and woke Matthew up, rang my mum and told her to come down for Callum and Nathan and then rang the hospital, the midwife didn't believe i was in labour as i wasn't stopping to talk for contractions so told me to ring again in an hours. I rang back at half past eight and told her i was coming in whether she said I could or not! We arrived at the hospital at half past nine and James was born just over an hour later, the midwives hadn't even admitted me before he was born. But like i said to Matthew I will always listen to what my body is telling me and no one else. We have a laugh every year when we reminisce about James' birth as Matthew had a TV in the delivery room as it was the weekend of the British Grand Prix and he couldn't miss qualifying! (I am a huge F1 fan but obviously had other things on my mind) He, like the midwives expected me to be hours before giving birth but I proved them all wrong and he got to watch the qualifying in peace (well ish) on the ward with our new son.

Anyhow 3 years down the line and here we are. As were off away next weekend we decided just to have a low key family day. James loved all of his presents and loved opening them too - this is the first time he has ever shown an interest in the unwrapping bit and it was so great to watch him, he was so excited with every thing he got.

I think James' favourite presents are his Lets Rock Elmo, Lets Rock Cookie Monster and his Little Charley Bear Airplane toy. I'm pretty sure he had a fantastic day as he didn't wake up until half past 9 this morning which is about 3 hours later than normal.

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Reading Chest Review 2

A couple of weeks ago I wrote my first review about Reading Chest (read it here). A few days after I signed up to Reading Chest both Callum and Nathan received an envelope each. Within the envelope was 3 books, a bookmark, progress chart and stickers and a bag for them to be able to keep their books safe.

Reading Chest has a huge range of reading books, they cover all levels from early readers to books suitable for 9 year olds. You can choose from top reading schemes used in UK schools such as Oxford Reading Tree, Project X, Collins Big Cat, Rigby Star, Alphakids, Treetops, Pocket Reads and Yellow Door, including both fiction and non-fiction. Here are the books that the boys were sent. 

Callum loves reading and is one of the stronger readers in his class, I'm hoping Nathan will be the same when he starts learning in September. Callum was really happy with the books that he was sent to read, whereas Nathan wasn't happy at all. I think this is because he can't read yet. We did look at the books together though and he did attempt to tell the story by what was happening on the pages so I'm hoping hes made a bit of progress, we shall see what happens when the next set of books arrive.

Here is the boys progress chart showing that after they've read a book they get a sticker.

They boys have read the 3 books that they were sent and are now ready to post them off so that they can receive some new books, Callum cant wait to see what he will get to read next.

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I've Had The Time of My Life....

Yesterday I have had one of the best experiences ever! Myself and best friend Kimberley went to see  Dirty Dancing at The Grand in Leeds. I've seen shows before but Dirty Dancing blows the rest out of the water.

As a huge fan of the film, I told Matthew that I had to go to see the show and couldn't wait to order tickets when they went on sale. He said it really wasn't his thing and said I could only go if I took someone other than him. It didn't take me long to find his substitute. As it was Kimberley's birthday Wednesday I decided to take her as her present - one of the best presents ever according to her.

If your a fan of the film you will know the story well, Daddy's girl "Baby" Houseman is on holiday with her family in the summer of 1963. Whilst on holiday Baby learns some important lessons in life about love, responsibility and of course dancing from Johnny Castle. From here Baby's life changes forever and she realises that somethings in life aren't so straightforward.

Dirty Dancing is one of those films you wish never ends (well i certainly do anyway) and the show is no different. The cast are amazing and deliver an excellent performance which was faultless all the way through. 'Paul-Michael Jones and Emily Holt sizzle in the lead roles... utterly perfect' - Daily Echo, I couldn't agree more it was as if the roles were made for them, they were amazing as Johnny and Baby and worked extremely well together. The audience waited on tender hooks to hear the lines - "I carried a watermelon" and "nobody puts baby in a corner", the cast didn't disappoint in delivering them and they were cheered and applauded by everyone. You only have to read some of the reviews for the theaters the show has already performed in to see that this is definitely a show that everyone loves. The original film was a huge success and the show is heading the same way.

I loved the show and I'm hoping to go see it again maybe in Liverpool towards the end of this year. I highly recommend any Dirty Dancing fan goes to see it as the show is just as good, if not better than the film. I would rate the show with an amazing 10/10. I haven't stopped talking about it since we left The Grand last night, it will be a night that I remember for the rest of my life, as I said "I had the time of my life"....

You can find out more information regarding the show and tour dates from the Dirty Dancing On Tour website.

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7-year itch? Nami-Nami food blog anniversary post and a recipe for a Swedish shrimp salad (Räksallad)

Nami-Nami foodblog is now seven years old. On June 15, 2005, I wrote my first English-language blog post. Back then I was seven years younger. I had just finished my PhD in Sociology of Nationalism at the University of Edinburgh in bonnie Scotland, and about to start my first post-doctoral fellowship at the same university. I hadn't yet met my dear K, who seduced me back to Estonia in October following year (I met in him on November 1, 2005, four and half months after starting blogging, at a reception in Edinburgh), and I definitely didn't have any gorgeous kids back then (and, consequently, I had much more time for blogging :))

Those seven years have been fun - it's been fun meeting other foodbloggers from all over the world, it's been fun taking part in various foodblogging events. It's been educating and entertaining thinking more about what, how, and why we eat, being more reflexive about our dietary choices, eating habits and the food culture in general.

And nope, there's definitely no seven-year itch in my relationship to Nami-Nami foodblog. We're still going strong, and I have no intention of quitting just yet. Furthermore, there are some extremely interesting blogging-related trips and meet-ups lined up for the near future, so stay with me and Nami-Nami :)

For today's recipe, I'll give you this Swedish shrimp salad, something that was offer on the recent Swedish buffet. Although I do cook and blog about dishes from all over the world, then I do feel most happy and confident when blogging about Estonian, other Nordic and possibly also Eastern European dishes. This is a very Nordic salad flavour-wise - fresh, herbal, light and very summery. You can serve it as a simple salad or perhaps on top of some buttered toast.


Swedish shrimp salad
Serves six (can be easily multiplied)

400-500 g hand-peeled cooked shrimps*
100 ml (7 level Tbsp) of good-quality mayonnaise
100 ml finely chopped fresh dill
juice of half a lemon
1 tsp mild paprika powder
0.25 tsp freshly ground pepper (preferably white pepper)

* I prefer the ones in a light marinade or brine to the frozen ones, but both will do. Just make sure the netto weight after defrosting and draining is about 400 g.

If using frozen shrimps, then thoroughly defrost them (I take them from the freezer and put into the fridge on the previous night). Drain thoroughly, then squeeze gently to remove as much water as possible. If using shrimps in a brine/marinade, then simply drain them.
Put couple of shrimps on the side, if you want to use them for garnish.
In a large bowl, mix mayonnaise and dill, season with lemon juice, paprika powder and pepper. Add the shrimps and stir gently, until combined.
Transfer the salad into a serving bowl, garnish with some shrimps and dill.

Serve at once, or cover with clingfilm and place into the fridge for an hour or two.

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Pixum Photo Book Review

A couple of months ago I was asked if I'd like to review a photo book from Pixum. I agreed and off I went to the website to have a look around. The site is well set out and easy to navigate around. Pixum offer a wide range of photo products from prints, mugs, calendars to photo books and greetings cards.

It is really simple to create a Pixum photo book. The hardest bit for me was deciding which photos I wanted and where to put them as I have so many lovely pictures of the boys. The first thing I did was choose the title of the book and choose the pictures and layout that I wanted for the front and back covers.

I love how easy it is to upload the pictures you want to use in the photo book, you can manually drag and drop them on to the pages so that you can decide where you want your pictures or you can simply add them all to a side bar and the software will make the album for you and decide which pictures will go where. You can decide how many pictures per page you'd like and the layout of the photos.  I chose pictures of all 3 boys, but I wanted them in order of each child from birth to now and then at the back a few of them all together, so I decided to add the pictures individually to each page, this was a little time consuming as I had to find the photos I wanted, but the making of the photo book itself was quite easy to do. You can choose the background colour for the pages inside too, but I decided to leave the page backgrounds blank in my book.

My book was created with minimal effort and was easy to order. The book I ordered was £24.99 and is made up of 26 pages, however prices start from as little as £5.99 and you can choose how many pages your book will be made up of. My order was processed relatively quickly and sent to me soon after.

I am extremely impressed with the quality of the photo book, the pages look great and are made from good quality photo paper. I would highly recommend Pixum and intend to use them again in the future.

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Rug Doctor Urine Eliminator

Having a potty training toddler and house training puppy in our house has had us run off our feet these last few weeks, We are preparing James for starting nursery in September so we have been very busy with the potty training, and with potty training comes lots of accidents on the wee front. The same can be said for a 12 week old puppy, although Penny is getting better with holding herself she still has the odd accident and when her and Sheldon first started to walk they weed everywhere they could.

Luckily for me and my floors we were asked by Rug Doctor to try their Urine Eliminator. Believe me it couldn't have arrived at a better time.

Urine Eliminator is simple to use: Here are the steps needed for most stains such as urine, blood, faeces, vomit and perspiration to be removed, 

1. Remove any solids or excess liquids.

2. Turn nozzle and generously spray area. If using for urine or other penetrating types of stains, be sure to thoroughly wet area allowing product to reach backing and pad. Do not blot or wipe - enzymes need moisture to work.
3. Place a damp colour-safe towel over the treated area and let dry naturally. In most cases it's best to allow area to remain moist for 24-hours. Highly contaminated areas may require a second application.
4. Once dry, if discolouration remains, simply dampen with water and blot.

Prior to use it is important that you  Apply a small amount of Rug Doctor Urine Eliminator to the affected area. After one minute you should blot using a white, absorbent cloth and check for colour transfer, this is to make sure the surface is colour-safe - after all no one wants to ruin their carpet. 

Here is a before and after shot of my hallway carpet from one of Penny's accidents. As you can see the wee stain has been removed completely and the black mark (which i believe is just a stain due to everyone walking on the carpet over and over) has also been reduced.

 Rug Doctor Urine Eliminator is available to buy from many places or online directly from Rug Doctor priced at £4.99. We highly recommend this product and will certainly be keeping it close to hand for the next few months. We give it a 5/5 rating.

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Swedish afternoon

Have you been to Stockholm, the capital of Sweden? I have, many times, most recently during the first weekend of June. The weekend trip was organised by The Flavours of Estonia, and we were 10 Estonian foodbloggers and food journalists in total. We had plenty of good food and met some very nice people, but in general I don't have much to write about the trip, as I didn't bring my camera and the horrid weather conditions (a meagre 5 degrees Celsius, heavy non-stop rain and strong Nordic winds) kind of kept me from really enjoying that beautiful Athens of the North this time.

But Stockholm - and Swedish food - are lovely, so we invited some K's friends and colleagues over this Sunday afternoon for a Swedish summer party. We were 17 adults and 6 kids (and 4 chickens and a beautiful Alaskan Malamute), all gathered around our brand new patio table. We spent the first part of the afternoon party outside - it was beautiful and sunny, but then some threatening clouds overcast the sun, so we moved the food inside after a while. Luckily, we were saved the downpour, and most of us ventured outside again soon. Good time was had by all, if I can say so as a hostess :)

I thought you might want to see what we served at this Swedish party, no? Here are the photos with links to recipes, where appropriate.Our daughter has seated herself smartly next to the trio of Swedish cheese and helped herself very generously:


The cheeseboard showcased Präst, Greve and Svecia, as recommended by a charming Swedish food writer Jens Linder whom I met in Stockholm. Of course, there as also Västerbotten (not pictured). We had some top-notch Swedish crispbread to go with the cheese, a gift from Ami Hofstadius of Visit Sweden. My gorgeous new serviettes were sewn by Arteljee. On the top left corner you can see a whole hot-smoked trout and the creamy caviar dressing that I wrote about just a few weeks ago here: 
 

Here's a better close-up of the table. You can see some new season's Estonian potatoes, a box of strawberries (imported, unfortunately, as the local ones are still few and prohibitively expensive), small round canapes with smoked Baltic herring and pickle cream (böcklingröra), dark rye bread triangles with salted herring and egg salad (gubbröra), Västerbottens cheese pie, a big bowl of tomato salad:
 

Gubbröra or herring and egg spread on crispy rye bread triangles:
Böcklingröra on roasted bread:
 
Västerbottens cheese pie. We actually had two - one baked by yours truly, the other by Tallinn-based Swede Lars-Olof (pictured, the pie, not the guy):
 

Again, that tomato salad that tasted already like a summer tomato salad should taste:

A very nice räksallad or shrimp/prawn salad that I'll be definitely making again soon:

For dessert, I baked two cakes - a large kärleksmums or Swedish cocoa cake, and a simple spiced rhubarb cake (very Estonian, not Swedish at all). The guests brought along lots of strawberries, which were all eaten very quickly as well.

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Some pictures from Nami-Nami garden, May 2012

I'm off to my high-school reunion today (20 years?!?!? How did that happen??), so instead of writing about food I quickly share some photos of our beautiful garden taken during the last few weeks.
Whereas I'm bossing around the kitchen these days, my dear K. is in charge of the garden. We have a very young garden - only established in 2009-2010. Last year K. submitted the garden to a major gardening competition, organised by the biggest selling monthly, Kodu & Aed. And we won the coveted main title :) Mind you, K. submitted the garden to the "Young Garden" competition category - most of the planting was done just a year or two earlier, so it's nowhere near the fully established garden. However, the jury liked the design and the ideas, the neat vegetable garden and the cool Coolaroo sun-shade and the chicken in an urban backyard and the fact that everything was designed to be enjoyed by the family (especially the children) and/or used for cooking purposes. And decided to give us the main price :)

Anyway, here are some pictures from May 2012, starting with the most recent ones:

 
Decorative apple "Liset" (31 May 2012)

 
Lilac "Catherine Havemeyer" (31 May 2012)

 
A gorgeous flowering quince that bears wonderful edible fruits (see here and here; do not confuse with "regular" quince, which also grows in our garden; 31 May 2012).


Spiraea cinerea (31 May 2012)

 
(20 May 2012)

 
Cushion Spurge (20 May 2012)

 
(20 May 2012)

 
Umbrella plant aka Indian rhubarb (20 May 2012)

 
 
Bergenias (20 May 2012)

 
(14 May 2012)

 
 Forsythia (14 May 2012)

 
(2 May 2012)

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