peonies, etc

remember the entry with nettles? here is how bad the peony-bed was before weeding





there are more nettles than there are peonies!





this is what i learned from martha. it's not that i'm jealous of her peonies but i do wish i had more!





i got 4 new ones, 2 white and 2 pink. i don't think they will bloom this year, maybe not even next year, but one day...





this sage has been in the same spot for 4 years, it seems to like it there. almost took it out after the first summer (little did i know of sage) but was pleasantly surprised next spring when it started shooting greens





i so wished i would have had a proper veggie and herb garden this year, snif. that didn't happen so i thought of using these big planters to plant spinach, peas and carrots, here's the spinach. the peas will do nicely in the planter and since the planters are quite deep, i figured that carrots just might have enough soil to grow at least 15 to 20 cm long. that remains to be seen...

salad and deer

time flies when you're having fun, that's why i don't remember if this was lunch on friday, or saturday. i sometimes get a craving for a greek salad and when i make some it disappoints me. this time i bought genuine greek feta, which seemed to make all the difference. i added some tuna to make it more of a meal, otherwise used cherry tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and ice-salad, just a tiny splash of white wine vinegar, salt and pepper, and the oil from the tuna







certain someone hunts, like you might remember from previous posts. few weeks ago he got up way before the sun and met with his friend and they got a tiny deer. it's legal to hunt buck deers this time of year in finland, but just the bucks. both the back legs were taken to be smoked, we got ours on friday. i've tasted a fair amount of smoked meats, this one is soooo good






there was plenty of meat, so i cut the leg to smaller pieces, some went to freezer, some for consumption right away







the bones went to freezer as well, they'll make a nice pea soup in autumn

harley

certain someone has a bike, sorry, the bike of bikes, a harley davidson. it's his third, or fourth, i've lost count... i fail to understand the constant need to "upgrade" the machinery, like men do. i used to own a bike, i won't mention which one because it wasn't the right kind, also, how long ago it was. when i sold it i made a promise to myself, if i ever got another bike, it would be a harley. well, it's not that i couldn't afford it, it's not that i wouldn't enjoy riding it, right now i feel it would just be another thing to worry about, simple as that. anyone who knows anything about bikes, knows that they need fixing, always. i feel that i've got better things to do with my time than fix bikes, like baking! here are some snap-shots of his harley











when i was taking this one, i got a comment "the other side looks better"







so here is the other side. we took a ride yesterday to nummela for pizza. the weather was quite warm, an amazing 26C, just hoping it wasn't the last hot day of summer. oh, the pizza was great. i don't eat pizza that much, this pizzeria has a nice crust, crisp but chewy. my sin is to eat pepperoni pizza, so there was plenty of fat... my excuse was the aftermath of a migraine headache which feels like a killer hangover. those who get migraines know what i'm talking about, those of you who don't, well, you should feel blessed.

zander baked in salt crust

dad fishes a lot, and mom rows equal amount. they got this off a net just by the cottage. normally, this would have ended up fileed and fried in butter, which is very, very nice. however, we have been talking about baking zander in salt crust for a while now. i think dad saw an article in a newspaper, or one of his friends mentioned it, not sure anymore. i decided to try the salt crust method this time







there were a number of recipes for zander in salt crust (kuhaa suolakuoressa). i adapted one recipe that called for 3 egg whites and 1 kg coarse sea salt. my fish was so big i ended up using 2 kg of salt. i made a sort of paste with salt and egg whites, spread some of that on baking dish (biggest i have, orinigally bought for roasting turkey!), placed lemon slices and dill on that. next the fish, which was stuffed with leek, lemon slice and some more dill. added some lemon and dill on top as well







best way to get the fish covered was the old-fashioned "get your hands dirty"







50 mins in 200C oven







the crust was quite hard on the surface but soft and moist inside







tail part being dug out







probably the best tasting fish i've ever had in my life. certain someone seemed think the same. his only complaint was the lack of well chilled, crisp rose or white wine, i'll agree on the rose part. the fish itself was just perfect, breaking into big flakes, but not one bit dry. but the 2 kg salt, the fish must have been super salty, right? not at all, the crust kept all the moisture inside, you could taste hints of lemon and dill without them overpowering the taste of fish. naturally there were bits of salt on the fish, but because it was coarse it was easy to remove. the salad was just some greens with lemon vinaigrette.

sauna, among other things

i'm at the cottage since i have a week off from work. went for a walk with mom yesterday and this little viper was minding its own in the middle of the road. must have been nice and warm on the road, i'm sure. there is something about snakes that... well, i just plain don't like them. this one got away alive








mom spotted this on the side of path in the woods, korvasieni, gyromitra esculenta. possibly deadly if not prepared properly, divine mushroom when cooked right







blueberries in bloom







picking young birch twigs, for sauna, naturally







this is vihta . the link pretty much tells how to make one and how to use it in the sauna. i've tried to take pics in sauna, the lens fogs up. besides, you do not wear anything in sauna, ever, so i think the lens fogging up isn't such a bad thing







if the previous was a "before" shot, this is the "after" shot. whipping yourself with vihta is supposed to be the cure-all for every ache, pain and mental distress







the deck by the lakeside is getting a new cover. i've taken dozens of pictures of the deck over many years. my next task is to get them all together and post the pictures, which show what time and the ever changing weather does to untreated wood







this lovely black, smelly and gooey stuff is tar







tar is put under new planks where they meet support beams to avoid rotting







dad just told that these old planks will become firewood, after 13 yrs of service. i love their texture, would love to use them to build something, if just for decoration







we so need to start emptying the freezers for fresh berries, this is made of last year's blueberries







emptying continues, this is a chanterelle pie on sunnuntai rye pie dough