cottage food

spent last week at the cottage with mom and dad, and the heat. fortunately the lake provided an occasional breeze, but it certainly was warm enough upstairs where i slept.

sunday lunch was almost as easy as they come, sort of spanish omelette with potatoes and ham, except i didn't bake mine. mom had some cooked potatoes and ham in the fridge, it was hot and i felt lazy







minced the sliced ham roughly, quartered the potatoes and browned them a bit on low heat before adding the eggs. cooked for a few minutes on medium (controlling the heat is so easy on gas) (which i love to cook with) before turning the whole thing around with a plate to cook the other side as well. almost fooled my dad by telling i flipped it...

oh, the beans, or rather chichpeas, another easy-lazy side dish. rince a can of chickpeas, drain well, add chilli powder to taste and 1 tbsp of good olive oil and there you have it!







monday was pasta day, again the easy way out...my brother, little niece and nephew and one of my mom's brothers came to visit. or rather, the guys came to help dad to build a shed for firewood (more on that later). the little niece took my camera and lots of pictures.

i'll call this pasta sauce bolognese purely for the fact that there is minced beef in it, and tomatoes. here are approximately what went in:

800 gr minced beef
500 gr crushed tomatoes (mom forgot her glasses home and got some with chili in, any kind will do)
4 medium size carrots, grated
2 onions, minced quite finely
5 medium fresh tomatoes, roughly chopped (i didn't bother to peel them)
1 tbsp sugar
black pepper, flat-leaf parsley and basil to taste
oil for sauteeing onions, grated carrots and tomatoes







browned the beef in two batches, continued with onions...







...carrots and tomatoes...







poured everything into the pot, added the canned crushed tomatoes, spices and let cook on medium for approx 30 mins







my huge portion with grated parmesan on top. despite so many eaters, there was plenty left over. i liked the sauce cold on toast...with parmesan on top...







mom dug out this moose roast from the freezer (which we are glad to say, is finally starting to look empty). i tied it, rolled it in crushed black pepper and salt, browned all sides, laid it on bed of onions and cooked in 200C oven for 30 mins, until inside temp was 70C







as the gas stove is outdoors, i did what i had wanted to do for the longest time but could not because of the horrid onion smell afterwards, fried "some" onions, there's 5 bigs ones here







20 mins later, substantially diminished...







only this was left after 40 mins on low heat. i thought of doing some fancy stuff like balsamic vinegar but ate my portion as is, soooo good! i do have to mention that onions fried in butter (not much, but i did use butter) is something i so should not eat because of my acid reflux...







i had brought his micro-plane box-grater to cottage for mom. i have one like this at the shack and love it, and i hate box graters. the reason i needed the grater was waldorfish salad (as in almost waldorf salad). here's what went in:

300 gr celeriac, grated
4 stalks of celery, thinly sliced
2 green apples, peeld and diced (1cm dices)
1 small tin of crushed pineapple, drained well (mom drank the juice...)
10 or so walnuts
2 tbsp mayonese (so little you ask? well, that was what was left in the jar, and it turned out to be quite enough, and made the salad very light!)







i really don't like the taste of walnuts and almost never use them. this time i got them because the original recipe for waldorf salad uses walnuts and i figured there must be a reason for it. turns out there is, when crushed into smaller pieces and mixed into the salad, the walnuts taste almost disappears and mellows and mingles with the celeries







mom says that celeriac should be briefly cooked before adding to salad, but with the micro-plane grater you get a very thin result, and i figure more fiber and more nutrients when not cooked at all (ok, it's also the easier way...)







mom also says that there should be some cheese in the salad as well, hmm, i haven't seen a waldorf recipe with cheese in it. but hey, who says you can't grate some emmental on top!?

the meat turned out to be perfectly cooked and was nice cold on a sandwich as well







grilled eggplant, had mine with sour cream and chilli powder, learned that trick in a lebanese resturant in nyc a decade (gosh, how time flies!) ago

birds

i've been at the cottage all week and there has been many birdy moments, here are some of them.

these barn swallows had a nest on a lamp right above the balcony, loads of poop...the five babies were fun to watch, it's amazing how close i could get











these two seemed to kinda hang out together







this one then, had i put my hand thru the curtain, i could have touched it







the same one, it was looking around like it would like come in...







these three were a tight pack, just inches away from indoors







tried to capture mama feeding them, but i was too slow







this hungry baby is a blue tit (sinitiainen, parus caeruleus). i wonder why would a bird with so much yellow be called anything blue?







the babies were (well, still are) quite vocal for food







doesn't the mother look a bit tired for flying in all those insects?







mom and dad were sitting at the sauna yesterday evening when they called me to get my camera. this mama red-breasted merganser (tukkakoskelo, mergus serrator) had parked herself and two of her babies on the rocks right next to where we swim after sauna







the mama took off to swim around, leaving the babies on the rock to rest







i was 4 meters from it and shooting away with my camera, it didn't seem to mind







after about five minutes mama circled back to the babies, called for them...







...their descent from the rock was all but gracefull, water suits them so much better







they seem to have had a nest somewhere near as my parents have seen them around before. sadly, the mama bird had more babies then

flora & fauna

it seems that the peonies lasted only a week this year, could be the heat, could be how the stars were aligned. i took tons of pictures of them but i'll spare you and post only a few.

this, to me, is very close to a perfect color combination, LOVE the pink







or, maybe this pink is prettier?







all that ruffle about to burst







as beautiful as these are...







...they are no match for these budding beauties right after refreshing rain
















the same rain that refreshed the peonies soaked me and the dog. i like walking in pouring rain, i'm not entirely sure the dog was all too happy







despite the cradle i made for the peonies, the stems seem to tire under the weight of the flowers







this barn swallow and his/her mate have made a nest on a lamp (not used in the summer) in the carport at the shack. the nest and the pair of them flying around are harmless enough, but the poop that the baby-birds keep dropping on certain someone's car wasn't. it was either move the nest or move the car...certain someone now parks his car under the hot sun...

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!)