midsummer came and went...i had managed to get the midsummer eve (friday) free from work. originally we had planned to drive to the cottage already on thursday evening to beat the traffic. however, a storm started to develop on thursday afternoon and we decided to postpone and leave early on friday morning. although, on principle, i'm agaist waking up early on a day-off. we were on the road by 6.30 am. (yawn)
almost as soon as we arrived, dad and certain someone started to heat up the pit for the roast. pit roast / bandit roast is somewhat of a summer tradition at the cottage. if we can get everyone there for midsummer, we make the roast then, if not, my older niece's birthday in another option. pics from earlier roasts
here and
here.
the dog got to come along. his table manners need a bit of adjusting...
as the roast would happen only on saturday, i grilled some chicken (martinated in teriyaki and red chilli sauce). as you can see, not exactly a warm summer day...
back to the roast...the pit needed attention, here placing some stones on the fire to heat them real good...
as it was raining, and not so warm, we placed a huge lid on the fire to keep all the heat in the pit...
...meanwhile, certain someone was heating the sauna.
midsummer eve, at 11pm. long are gone the days that i stayed awake until the sun came up...
the sky had a weird pinkish color.
on midsummer day, saturday, we once again made a fire in the pit, and started preparing the parcels that would be buried in the pit...we had a moose roast (drunk from soaking in red wine for 2 days), pork roast (just with salt&pepper) and chicked (stuffed with lemon, parsley and garlic)
first the roasts were wrapped in parchment paper, then foil, then foil (5 layers of foil) and finally, tightly in wet newspaper.
the dog played boss...
dad emptying the pit of stones and embers.
digging a hole just big enough...
...for the three parcels to fit in.
the stones and embers were placed on top of the parcels...
...and another fire was started on top.
some three hrs later, once it had started smelling like something was cooking, we started digging out the parcels.
looking good...
the parcels were extremely hot...
the fat on top of the pork roast had become a little charred, but we hadn't planned on eating it anyway, the meat was tender and juicy.
the chicken was falling off the bones.
the moose...little weird color because of the red wine but tasted perfect. i'm still quite not sure if this roast was better warm or cold...
we made three salads to go with the roasts, from left: my tabbouleh (tomatoes, red onions, parsley, avocado, black pepper, olive oil, lime juice, and couscous), cole slaw (cabbage, carrots, celery, chives, mayo, sour cream, white vinegar, salt, white pepper) and a pasta salad (whole wheat pasta, corn, peas, swiss cheese,
meetwursti (salami type finnish sausage) black pepper, white balsamico and olive oil.
for the dessert i made a peach galette with vanilla flavoured whipped cream. where's the picture? well, i had already licked my plate before i realized that i should have taken some... with 10 people around, one forgets such trivial things.
lately, it seems that i don't have as much free time as i used to. as of june 1st our schedule at worked changed so that we go to work 2 to 4 hrs earlier than before and our shifts end that much earlier. in case you don't already know, i am so not a morning person. for me, going to work at noon is like going to work in the morning, i'm barely awake and functioning. now, i don't have time to make coffee before work, let alone blog! they also shortened the shifts on sundays (money, money...) and that neads longer days on weekdays...
oh, how i long for the night shifts! i had all the time in the world, i could even squeeze in some knitting during the night, as long as there wasn't anything else to be done at work. i always felt that when i worked later in the evenings and in the night, the more i got done in my free time. i don't know, hopefully i'll get adjusted to this new schedule, eventually...
