Simple pleasures
Usually the best ideas come from others, as is the case with this Arugula (rucola), roasted beet and goat cheese bagel. I received an email from a reader suggesting this combination. Last week I gave it a try and it was delicious in my opinion. Since it is hard to find quality bagels here in […]
I have chatted with my friend that often when women take off for the weekend, we have the longest list of things that need to be accomplished. A lined water-proof fall jacket for one, rubber boots for another, underwear for the whole family, indoor gym shoes for our oldest, socks for myself and the list […]
The city of Porvoo is just east of the Helsinki area. It is Finland’s second oldest city, established around 1380. Walking in the old city it is easy to take a make believe journey back to a time when salt, furs and tar were tranported by boat. On one side of the Porvoo river are […]
In Finland most people pick berries. If they don’t themselves, then most likely their parents, mother or father-in-law, an aunt or someone in the family does. When we were a newlywed couple, we would receive blueberries, lingonberries, red currants, juice made from black currants and apple sauce from our mother-in-law. They all went into our […]
This fruit salad works wonderfully as a dessert or share it with friends at a potluck. It is light and is a myriad of flavor, thanks to the combination of the variety of fruits, lemon and ginger. Our strawberry season is almost over, so when I went grocery shopping a few days ago I felt […]
As much as I love cooking and baking there are days when the sun is shining and the temperature is perfect for an outing in the park. On those days I pull out my trusty slow-cooker. Last week we had one of those days. We usually go to the traffic park at least once every […]
When I was in high school the cross country running team would always have a Carbo Load before a competition. It was a good reason to get together to eat carbohydrates, bond and relax together. It was a time when carbs were in and fat was out. Since then carbohydrates have gone out and fats, […]
Old houses contain many tales of the generations that have previously lived there. There may be many layers of paint on the wall or wallpaper to be uncovered and possibly a piece of furniture that no one has taken with them when they have moved away. We had the opportunity to visit friends that live […]
The woodland strawberry or metsämansikka in Finnish, is like nature’s candy, growing on roadsides and on the sides of ditches. This little berry has a bit of nostalgia. We filled and decorated our cake with them when we got engaged on St. John’s thirteen years ago. The perfect start for the day. Muesli, nuts, 1/2 […]
I went on a run one morning and decided to stop by at an old neighbor’s house. She is an elderly woman that our children have come to know quite well. We had coffee and enjoyed the summer weather. As I was leaving to go home she gave me a big bag of rhubarb. I […]
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