Last night our literature club came over to our house. We get together once a month on a Friday evening after 8 pm. The reason for the late hour is that most of the children have settled down for the evening and the hustle and bustle of the work week has come to an end […]
Tag: dessert
Laskiaispulla
Laskiainen or Shrove Tuesday is the day before the beginning of Lent. In Finland it is traditional for children and adults to head to the sledding hills. Winter is starting to be at its best with sun shining more and more each day. The traditional meal after an afternoon of sledding is split-pea soup with […]
Kaija’s Carrot Cake (Vegan)
I have an architect sister who lives in Detroit. She has a really interesting job and I am always very curious to hear about her projects. Detroit has experienced hard times and many people have moved due to loss in jobs. But as usual, a situation that seems hopeless may actually offer an opportunity to […]
The calm after the excitement
After the hustle and bustle of preparing for Christmas it was time to just sit down and enjoy watching the children, sampling a few holiday goodies both with the kids and a few after the house is quiet and they have gone to sleep. I even had a chance to start a book on the […]
A holiday dessert
Today was a bit busy! A few errands in the morning and gift wrapping and the last bunch of cards and packages made it to the post office. Our school girls had “evening school” which is a tradition at their school on the day they have their Christmas program. They also have a bake sale […]
The texture of snow and little gifts
The winters in Finland are dark but on the days the sun comes out it turns into a winter wonderland. Today the sun came out and when I noticed how everything was glistening I was in a hurry to make it outside before the sun would sink behind the trees. But with the little ones, […]
Salted Caramel Brownies
Over the past few months I have kept running into different versions of the salted caramel brownie and salted caramel ice cream on the internet. Since I like a rich brownie and the thought of having a caramel flavored with sea salt to compliment the sweetness of the brownie sounded delicious and balanced, I decided […]
Banana Bread and Saturdays
Dear readers I apologize for the long break between posts. Sometimes in life too many things happen at once and one is forced to leave some things for later. I had one of those situations. I have been itching to post and am so happy to finally be able to. Below is the story of […]
Grampa’s Almond Braid
A couple of weeks ago I posted about Tikkupulla or pulla baked over a bonfire. In Finland there are many different versions of the traditional pulla. Pulla basically is a sweet bread that has yeast in it and is most often flavored with cardamom. They can be filled with cinnamon, sugar and butter or simply […]
Birthdays are only once a year
Fortunately we have a large family. We get to celebrate seven birthdays every year. And each birthday happens to be in a different month. It’s a day that the kids wait for all year long. I let them choose a theme for the cake and then try my best to fulfill the wish. They plan […]
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