A day for Fathers

The Birthplace

Here further up the mountain slope
Than there was every any hope,
My father built, enclosed a spring,
Strung chains of wall round everything,
Subdued the growth of earth to grass,
And brought our various lives to pass.
A dozen girls and boys we were.
The mountain seemed to like the stir,
And made of us a little while-
With always something in her smile.
Today she wouldn’t know our name.
(No girl’s, of course, has stayed the same.)
The mountain pushed us off her knees.
And now her lap is full of trees

-Robert Frost

Today in Finland we celebrate Father’s day. We celebrated the night before because our Dad had to work today. The weather has been really rainy but in the evening when darkness descends and the candles are lit, the grayness disappears and a soft light and coziness comes into the home.

I just had to share this card made by our Marian. It was her Father’s day card and she had put so much effort into the detail, giving everyone their own expression and hair style that match real life.

The other week I attended a course for making ice cream at the dairy institue in Hämeenlinna. For four days we made ice cream, sorbet and sherbets. My absolute favorites were the classic, creamy ice creams and tangy sorbets vibrant with the flavors of the berries and fruits. Sherbets were a bit too sweet for me. I guess I prefer clear flavors.

One of the ice creams that I made during the course was a rich vanilla ice cream with a tahini honey sauce. It was the perfect combination of sweet and savory, and the tahini brought a lovely nutty flavor to the ice cream. Inspiration for this recipe I found from Katie’s Butterlust blog. I tried her version of tahini ice cream at home and it was lovely. But since tahini is made with sesame seeds which is an allergen for some we were not allowed to make the ice cream at the course but I was able to mix in the tahini honey sauce after the ice cream was made. And so I had to become a bit creative and change the sauce recipe a bit to fit the purpose. The original recipe you may find here, and my version is below.

Tahini Honey Ice Cream Sauce

1.75 dl/ 3/4 c honey
1/2 dl / 1/4 c heavy cream
1/2 dl/ 1/4 c tahini paste (Make sure to stir the tahini before measuring as the oil often separates during storage)
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
generous pinch of salt flakes to give little bursts of saltiness

Place the honey, heavy cream and tahini into a small, heavy bottomed pot. Cook until everything has melded together and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the butter, vanilla extract and salt.

The the intention of the original recipe was that it would be a rich caramel that hardens a bit after cooling. This recipe is intended to have a thinner consistency so that it can be poured (once cooled) directly on the fresh ice cream and then frozen. It should remain somewhat soft even after it is frozen. That is why the cook time has been drastically reduced.

And since it is Father’s day, I thought it would be appropriate to return back a few weeks when we had 300,000 geese all gathered in Elimäki, about thirty minute drive from our place. My father-in-law is an avid nature photographer and he drove down for the day. I’m a complete novice when comparing experience and gear. But I think the experience was mutual. It felt like a natural wonder to have so many birds in one location. Like my father-in-law commented, the barnacle geese are partial to group hysterics. If one of them takes off, pretty soon the rest follow. The din was absolutely magnificent.

But now they are all gone as we have had a bit of snow and then rain again. It is the time of year to light candles. Happy Father’s day to all of you special dads!