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Birthday Flowers :-)

Just an excuse to share pictures of flowers, really. You must understand, though, that I’d never received a real gift bouquet (because do graduation carnations count? I think not) until I met T five-ish years ago. Goes with the not-dating-much territory, I suppose. And I was far too cautious a child to ever end up in the hospital. I mean, sure, I bought myself a sprig of dendrobium or freesia every so often because I’d walk by the most amazing florist on the way home from classes at UCLA and sometimes couldn’t resist. But there’s something different about being surprised with a full blown bouquet, y’know? So I take copious photos whenever I get one, to make them last longer.

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2011 Summer Garden Review

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Balcony and Kitchen Garden Updates, July 2011.

Did some much needed work on the plants in the apartment this past week. The two backyard gardens thrive on benign neglect, since they have access to plenty of sun and rain, but the ones here need a bit more attention to be at their best.

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The Garden – July 2011

Just finished updating my folia account with the latest happenings in my backyard gardens and thought I’d share the photos here as well since I like to look through these galleries during the cold months :-)

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Berry season!

Apologies for the silence this last month — have been in the midst of wedding planning madness. I took a brief pause yesterday afternoon, however, to wander the forests with a friend and take advantage of the bounteous harvest this year’s warm, wet summer has brought.

My first batch of hand-picked wild Finnish bilberries! They were exceptionally plump and less than a ten minute walk from our apartment! Will definitely be going back in the coming weeks to get more for immediate baking and freezer storage. I’ve always been an opportunistic forager so finding a place to do it so close to home is very exciting. We also came across some nice patches of mushrooms, but I’ve never been a big fungi fan, so gladly let my friend take those all back with her.

Lessons I learned from yesterday?

1. My poor knees are obviously not used to extensive exercise — they are still a bit sore from all the crouching involved. This will happily fix itself with repeated use, however.

2. Mosquitos can still get you through thick tights. Will have to switch to jeggings next time and hope that they break their beaks on denim.

3. You can never use too much bug spray, especially when it’s warm and humid and you’re sweating buckets.

Hope everybody out there is enjoying their July as well!

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The Garden: June in Finland

Just a quick pictorial update of what’s been going on in the VK garden. June is the first month here when it’s warm enough to work outside daily and leave seedlings in the ground with no fear of frost. So, this past week and this coming week will pretty much be a gardening frenzy as I try to make up for a late start.

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Random Photos of Foodish Stuff — Savory Edition

Continued from my last set of food diary pictures, a week ago.

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Random Photos of Foodish Stuff — Sweet Edition

Is it weird that I like taking random pictures of food? Because I totally do. Partly to share with T but also so I can remember whether nor not I should get something again at a later date. And sometimes just because it’s an item that makes me happy… or sad… or scared.

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Lobsteriffic!

Anybody who has been around me for the past several months has probably heard me bemoan at some point or another the scarcity of shellfish in our vicinity. There’s nothing fresh and alive, most certainly — which has made it difficult to continue with my “Food That Moves” column for the foreseeable future. However, more frozen options have been appearing over the past few years, so we’re not entirely high and dry. The frozen mussels are pretty decent, frozen squid is readily available for calamari-makers, and lately there have been beautiful raw frozen tiger shrimp showing up that have made me very happy. And in fall of last year, I even started seeing these guys popping up:

Wee frozen cooked lobsters from Canada! Given, they are what I call “buffet sized” — meaning they’re the sort that you typically find at seafood buffets that advertise lobster. You know, the ones where they give you a ticket and everybody’s only allowed to claim one lobster dish, which is comprised of a teeny tiny tail and loads of sauce? Still, it’s an improvement over no lobster! At 8€ ($11.64, currently) a pop for 10.6oz. of lobster, it’s not something that we’ll probably get on a regular basis. Remember the live 7-pounder I got at the Asian store for about $30? Oh, Cali. For a special treat, however, it’s perfectly adequate.

Popping the bug out of the bag to defrost in the sink. It looks so sad, all bricked up in ice like something found on an archaeological dig.

Mr. Lobster, defrosted and rinsed. I’ve had jumbo prawns bigger than this little baby, back at home. I didn’t even need any heavy tools to open him up. Just bare hands, a fork, and a pair of kitchen scissors.

Wee bits of meat —  tail and two claws only, since the legs were too tiny to get in. Heated them up with a bit of butter, then chopped up the pieces and put them into a sushi roll with some avocado. There was just enough meat to make one fat roll, sliced thinly to serve two. Pictures next time, when my rolls don’t look quite as messy :-) The meat actually held up very well! It tasted sweet and lobstery, didn’t really suffer from the trip over at all. Good freezing technology on fishing boats these days!

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Mystery Meat: Secret’s in the sås.

Here is another canned delight from Sweden that brought I back from our trip this past December. Given, this one came straight from the grocery store’s prepared foods aisle and not from a gourmet food boutique. The first picture is slightly misleading, since I mixed a bowl of rice into the can o’ stuff. That disk-shaped lump of white matter on the spoon should be a clue, though.

If it helps, here’s what the stuff looks like in the can, prior to being served. Any clearer?

Alright, then. If you’re still stumped, click to go behind the cut…

Continue reading Mystery Meat: Secret’s in the sås.

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