summer chore & grilled chicken, 2 salads

i'm not sure if this summer chore of washing rugs is widely done outside scandinavia, or maybe it's just a finnish thing.

on friday it was time to haul the kitchen rugs out to be washed (long over due...with the dog shedding and me spilling "stuff" on them). the traditional way would have been to haul the rugs to a lake front and wash them there. but who bothers to carry water with a bucket when you can use a garden hose, i don't!







i didn't mention i would be doing the washing, did i? this was a perfect opportunity to make use of certain someone. make him scrubb...







...make him jump up...







...down...







while hosing water (light enough job for me) i killed several of these blood-hungry beasts. i did check the dictionary for what they are called (paarma in finnish), it said gadfly or horse-fly.

i now know more about these monsters than i ever cared for, about their larvae and where they might lay it. and it takes quite a whack to finish one off! just for the record, i hate these buzzers, as i hate those other flies that bother moose in the fall, those ones that after landing on you, drop off their wings and start crawling towards the softer parts of your skin to lay their eggs, ew!!!







now that i've taken a few deep breaths to calm down myself, we'll go to friday's very late lunch, sweet-chili grilled chicken. just toss the chicken pieces (i used cutlets) into a plastic bag or a dish, pour in sweet-chili sauce, mix well and place in the fridge for a couple of hours (up to 12).

when grilling, try to get rid of most of the sauce and place on a hot grill for a couple of minutes per side (if using cutlets)







easiest tomato salad ever, slice (as thickly or thinly as you like) very ripe tomatoes and onions. i like to serve mine like this, but you might opt for layering them differently. maldon salt, crushed black pepper and olive oil on top, or any herb that you might have







as i might have mentioned, i'm going thru a phase with avocados...for this salad (greens, cukes and avocado with lime vinaigrette) i scored the avocado, poured some lime juice and sprinkled some chilli powder on them. lime juice prevents browning in the avocado and the chilli gives a nice kick to the salad







as it's season for new potatoes we had them as well







for friday evening i sat on the deck reading my cookbooks and listening to certain someone and the drummer rehearse for their gig next saturday, the semi-acustic duo sounded quite catchy. in fact, i liked it better than their regular trio with a bass player and a more electric sound (sorry!)