Easter lamb

I didn’t spend Easter with Satu and Riikka because I set of to Mäntyharju again to spend Easter with my family at our cottage. We traditionally spend Easter as a family because it’s a longer holiday/weekend and my dad can get off work and come visit. And it’s the perfect excuse to get together and cook a good meal.

This Easter came so late that most of the snow had melted and the weather was so nice

My dad brought us gifts in the form of food again. He brought lamb for Easter, a whole cooked beef tongue, a whole smoked eel, smoked halibut and a smoked and cured slab of BACON <3

The slab of bacon was devoured the first evening. It was great on bread and even better just on its own with a beer. Yummy!

For our Easter meal we fired up the grill and cooked some lamb and asparagus. Grilling is always a joint effort in our family Sam or my dad sets up the grill and my brother and I concentrate on the cooking whilst my mum makes the salad.

My dad brought some gorgeous New Zeland lamb chops which I marinated in olive oil, pepper, salt and loads of garlic.

My mum made a salad out of new spring cabbage. She topped it off with a generous heap of olives, feta cheese and toasted sunflower seeds.

Dad also brought a bottle of wine which made the meal complete.

Sam’s mother made some pasha ice cream which was served with mango sauce and grapes.

Going back home means catching up with all of Sam’s family too. His cousin’s children had their birthday party on Saturday and it was a fun affair. Both of Sam’s cousins have two girls plus Sam’s brother just got a little girl so birthday parties are always very pink and girly!

There were pink sugar cookies, cake, pie and lots of candy. Luckily for me there was also some savory treats like crisps and my favorite, an assortment of cheeses!

A little off topic, but I just had to put this picture of my godchild, Aino. Isn’t she adorable <3

Grandparents and doughnuts

Last week my mum came to Tampere and we visited my grandparents.  Visiting me grandparents always means being fed in excess. My grandmother loves baking and my grandfather is excellent at making good old hearty stews

We had a light lunch of Karelian pastries, smoked lamb and salad.

Of course we had to have coffee and cake too! I’m not really a fan of cake or sweet things but this cake really hit the spot.

My grandmother was eager to give me the recipe

After lunch we decided to take my grandparents to Pyyniki’s observation tower & cafe since it was such nice weather. It’s a popular destination for tourists and locals alike. The cafe is known for their excellent sugared doughnuts and views over Tampere. A highly recommended destination if you’re in town.

The cafe is small and was totally packed but luckily we found a seat! Even though they were packed the staff had it under control and were very kind I had a doughnut and a traditional apple soda from a nostalgic glass bottle.

My grandparent’s cat, the king of the house.

Easter dinner

Satu cooked an Easter dinner for some friends on Saturday. She made us feta salad, some sort of lamb meatloaf with rosemary and garlic and oven baked vegetables. They were all really nice. I also made some meatballs with sun dried tomatos, since I new people were going to eat a lot. For dessert Satu had baked some traditional buns with quark filling! Maybe she will share the recipes with you soon..

I accidentally made this really good summery drink. I didn’t measure the ingredients, but this could be quite close:

4 cl good vodka
6 cl cranberry juice
10 cl rasperry flavoured mineral water

I didn’t have any lime, but a slice in the drink would’ve worked! Anyway, the drink was really tasty and refreshing.

Cooking in the dark

I watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding last night and it got me thinking about lamb again. Kind of wished my family roasted a whole lamb on a spit every Sunday! To be honest lately lamb has been on my mind a lot with spring and Easter on the way. I don’t usually get to eat lamb since it’s not a meat readily available in most markets here in Finland (at least not fresh) and according to Sam it tastes like sucking on woolen socks. But with my craving getting stronger by the day and Sam visiting his parents this weekend I decided that it was finally time to defrost and devour the rack of lamb my dad gifted me a while back

I decided to try out something new whilst making tonight’s dinner. As some of you may know it was WWF Earth Hour from 20:30 to 21:30 so I decided that I would have a nice candlelight dinner with Bobby. Then after some thought I decided that it would be fun/funny to try to cook by candlelight too. So tonight’s lamb was cooked in the light of a couple of candles

I seasoned the lamb with salt, pepper and some piri-piri seasoning and then pan fried it in olive oil and a generous teaspoon of bacon fat with garlic cloves. The pan was on high heat and I fried it up quickly so the lamb was medium rare just the way I like it

Cooking in the dark (or candlelight) turned out to be quite fun but I’ll probably not make a habit out of it. Eating by candlelight on the other hand is something I might get used to