off to italy...

finally, we're going to italy. there's been talk of it for many years, but other destinations have won, mostly croatia. i might be able to post something while away, meanwhile, here's something from the garden.

how did that thing get up on the stalk?







these poor little violets are fighting for some sun.







i hope the peonies will wait for me, the buds are getting bigger...

fish, fish, onion tart.oh, ice anyone?

now that the lake has been free of ice for some weeks, my parents are back to fishing. water temperature is at refreshing 6 degrees C. there has been a lot of fish, (european) perch here, keeping themselves fresh in a fish-trap (katiska in finnish).







the other day we talked about my mummi (dad's grandmother) and a perch dish that she used to make eons ago. i don't remember ever eating that particular dish, but i took my parents word for the dish being very good. we had plenty of the fish, some bacon and butter and that's all what's needed.

i started by layering the fish, bacon and butter in a small dutch oven...







...topping everything with bacon, and some more butter. somehow i think that the amount of butter i used wasn't even close to what mummi would have used.

placed the pot on hot stove until everything started heating up, approx 10 mins. then put the lid on and placed the pot in the oven (approx 200C, hard to be sure on wood-burning stoves) for 4 hrs.







this certainly isn't a looker, but it was so tasty and actually better once it cooled to room temperature. dad said it needed salt, i hadn't added any while preparing thinking that there'd be salt in the bacon. this was so good on slightly dried rye bread, with some more butter!

the bones and what-not had melted into mush and though you can see the tiny fish bones, they were so tender that i didn't bother picking anything off, just spread it over the bread.







this big boy (a zander) got caught tuesday...







...and we had it for lunch yesterday, with warm german potato salad. some of my aunts and uncles were visiting at the cottage on tuesday, i made burgers with caramellized onions, the potato salad and crepe suzettes for dessert. and flambeed for the first time ever! and no one took any pictures of it! i was surprised as to how good the crepes actually are, i might have to make them again, soon...with pics.







there were plenty of left-over onions (picky eaters...), i decided to make an onion tart of them. i had caramellized a full kilo of thinly sliced yellow onions over low heat in "some" butter for an hour. as the filling was going to be smooth and soft (added some chanterelles and cream cheese to the onions) i wanted the crust to be little hardier.

i ended up using 6 dl all-purpose flour, 1 dl rye flour, 1 dl rolled oats (long cooking ones), 220 gr butter and one egg. first mixed the dry ingredients and butter, ideally that should be done with pastry blender but as there was none (and no machine) i used my fingers, and mixed in the egg. placed the dough in the fridge for an hour before rolling it, the placed the rolled dough in the fridge for another hour before blind-baking it for 20 mins in 200C oven. spread the filling (approx 4 dl in total) and baked for another 20 mins, for the last 5 mins oven turned off. could this be my own, very first pie crust recipe? i'm tempted to try adding more rye flour for a more robust flavor...







with green salad and tomatoes the tart made a nice late dinner.







the weather was acting up all day yesterday, rain and shine, rain and shine. around 6 pm it started raining again, heay, the rain got icy really fast, and i thought why this shower of hail didn't come on tuesday, we could have had ice in our drinks!







15 mins later all was quite and sunny again.

shy frog, and others

at the cottage, i took a walk yesterday morning with my mom, who almost stepped on this creature, poor thing, trying to hide behind tiny fingers...







a woodpecker was making noise up on a barren tree







these probably aren't edible like fiddleheads, but interesting shapes nevertheless.







on monday night, fog came pretty...







...fast, there's 15 mins between these pics.







over the weekend, the dog enjoying a brushing session...

finally, last pics of switzerland

these pictures have been on hold for a few weeks now, and as there isn't much else going on in the kitchen or in the garden, here they are.

first, diessenhofen CH, the bridge is one of the border crossings between switzerland and germany







the bridge was built between 1816-1816







clear waters of the rhein







a twike crossing the border







a rhein resident







an architectural accent, or time doing its thing?







rheinfalls











plenty of carp, and ducks, live in the still waters of the falls











now, we're in stein am rhein







up on the hill, burg hohenklingen







then, easter was around the corner...







sunset at my friend's house

fish patties & apology

week ago friday i drove to my brother's with the intention to bake (a lot) for little niece's birthday, felt a little chilly when getting into bed friday night. saturday i had the house all to myself as my brother and nephew went to help my dad at the cottage and my sister in law took the nieces to an orienteering event in tampere. here is all i have to show for...







i baked pulla (coconut and cinnamon fillings), dorie greenspan's party cake in wilton dancing daisies pan, martha's coconut macaroons and made marchmallow's (a first!) with a recipe from delicious. i was having a flow so i forgot to take pics while preparing everything.

i had the intention of making buttercream frosting in pink and pale green to decorate the cake, etc, when, on saturday afternoon, i started feeling little woozy and had to lie down. first, on the sofa and later in bed with a bucket beside me, i will spare you the details. i ended up staying in bed for 3 days, fever and all. sister in law and older niece were left to make do with what i had started and some more to bake...i'm sorry i missed yet another little niece's birthday, and i was so close to making it this year! and you missed a grand post with my latest baking accomplishments, so sorry about that, too.

i stayed at mom and dad's apartment while sick and on tuesday afternoon, after carefully considering whether a 2½ hour drive could be accomplished, i drove home. i ended up staying horizontal most of wednesday, my stomach wasn't quite settled yet.

but eventually one needs to eat something...dad had caught some small pikes and knew that certain someone and i would appriciate them. there is one kilo of pike filees in there...certain someone got one fried in butter but the rest went into fish patties...







i made fish patties for first time a year ago, almost to a date. i used more or less the same recipe (who am i kidding? there was no recipe...), i did browse thru some recipes for inspiration, like one from maku magazine.







i ended up using:

1 kg pike filees
3 dl cream
2 eggs, separated, whites whipped
4 pieces of rye crisp bread, minced
1 dl bread crumbs (white bread)
10 cm piece of white part of leek, minced
salt, pepper, chili powder, peel of one lemon, fresh parsley and dill minced

first mixed together all of the dry ingredients.







then minced the pike filees in the food processor. (let the machine run long enough, you don't want tiny fish bones in your patties!) then, the machine running added the cream (mixed with the dry ingredients), leeks and yolks, mixed well. at this point i felt the machine might be getting over its capasity (a slight odor...), i mixed the whipped egg whites in a large bowl.







then shaped the batter into patties with wet hands, rolled the patties in rye breadcumbs and fried in butter on medium for 4 minutes per side.







perfectly done







served it simply with boiled jacket potatoes, butter and lemon juice