I had Croissants for brunch yesterday after a run in the snow. It was well below zero outside so I thought it a good excuse to use the oven and eat something warm. I picked up the “ingredients” to make croissants a few weeks ago but had not got around to it yet.
It’s kind of an odd process, the sides of the can are cardboard, and when you rip it open the dough bursts out and expands to about 3 times the size of the can. You end up with a roll of dough, which is ready to be cut into triangles and individually rolled into croissants. After baking for ten to fifteen minutes they look quite good, (well the ones that I rolled up well anyway).
However they don’t have the finest taste. They were not bad, but not quite the texture a croissant should have. More like bread than pastry unfortunately. I think next time it might be better to start from scratch.
It’s been blowing a gale this afternoon and I hate to think what the wind chill would be. I went out to the harbour to see how far the ice extends. It’s completely frozen over at the sailing club, except for the edges which are broken free with the tide. I’d take a very un educated guess and say it was maybe 20mm thick. I walked out on the sailing club pontoon and could hear it cracking underneath the floats as I walked out.
I was in and out of the car a fare bit (with the heater on full) and hopefully got some good photos. I haven’t looked at them yet though. I have a feeling that the ones from yesterday are better.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Wine, Beer and Snow
I’ve just had quite a nice weekend. On Friday evening I went to a friends house for a wine tasting. There were four bottles of red wine, and we each got given a list of the wines and their characteristics. Colour, smell and taste were described in detail in Swedish, which made it a little harder for me. So we got a taste of each wine and had to guess which was which based on the descriptions. I got two out of the four right. Out of the six of us I believe that 4 got them all correct. After the wines were revealed we ate cheese (and drank more of the wine).
We also scored each wine so that we could see which one we liked best. According to my scores my favourite from the bunch was a 2005 Palandri Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Western Australia. This surprised me a bit, as I had thought it was one of the other wines (which I hadn’t liked). I was a bit doubtful of this scoring because I always find that the more wine I drink, the more I like it. So it didn’t surprise me that my favourite was also the last wine we tried.
On Saturday after getting up late, then going running followed by a nice lunch. I made dinner early before going to a house warming party a few doors down. The party kicked off at 1800 which I thought was a bit early. I’d picked up some beers in the afternoon and they hadn’t had long to cool in the fridge, so I was glad to find that at the party they had plenty of space. Although the fridge was full, the drinks just went outside on the balcony. This worked an absolute treat and did a better job of cooling the beers than the fridge would have anyway.
It had started snowing about 1700 yesterday and it didn’t seem to stop for some time. When we left the party to go into town we played in the snow for a while as we waited for the taxi. Just as we got in the taxi I realised that my glasses were no longer stuck to my face. Not to keep the taxi waiting I made sure I’d remember to look for them later. After a pleasant walk home from town in light snow later, I decided it best to look for the glasses with a touch in case it continued to snow overnight. The search was unsuccessful.
So when I got up this morning the first thing I did was go out to the car park and have another look. After a few minutes I found them laying behind my car, relatively intact. There is a deep scratch on one lens (quite annoyingly positioned) and the frames were a little bent but didn’t take too much to straighten out.
There was more intermittent snow falls today and because the snow looks so inviting, I went for a run again (although not quite as long as yesterday). I took my camera and stopped a few times in the forest and took some photos. I think I need to work on the camera settings for snow pictures.
We also scored each wine so that we could see which one we liked best. According to my scores my favourite from the bunch was a 2005 Palandri Estate Cabernet Sauvignon from Western Australia. This surprised me a bit, as I had thought it was one of the other wines (which I hadn’t liked). I was a bit doubtful of this scoring because I always find that the more wine I drink, the more I like it. So it didn’t surprise me that my favourite was also the last wine we tried.
On Saturday after getting up late, then going running followed by a nice lunch. I made dinner early before going to a house warming party a few doors down. The party kicked off at 1800 which I thought was a bit early. I’d picked up some beers in the afternoon and they hadn’t had long to cool in the fridge, so I was glad to find that at the party they had plenty of space. Although the fridge was full, the drinks just went outside on the balcony. This worked an absolute treat and did a better job of cooling the beers than the fridge would have anyway.
It had started snowing about 1700 yesterday and it didn’t seem to stop for some time. When we left the party to go into town we played in the snow for a while as we waited for the taxi. Just as we got in the taxi I realised that my glasses were no longer stuck to my face. Not to keep the taxi waiting I made sure I’d remember to look for them later. After a pleasant walk home from town in light snow later, I decided it best to look for the glasses with a touch in case it continued to snow overnight. The search was unsuccessful.
So when I got up this morning the first thing I did was go out to the car park and have another look. After a few minutes I found them laying behind my car, relatively intact. There is a deep scratch on one lens (quite annoyingly positioned) and the frames were a little bent but didn’t take too much to straighten out.
There was more intermittent snow falls today and because the snow looks so inviting, I went for a run again (although not quite as long as yesterday). I took my camera and stopped a few times in the forest and took some photos. I think I need to work on the camera settings for snow pictures.
Monday, November 10, 2008
Farewell to a Friend
Today a close friend of mine passed. We hadn’t known each other that long, and he was only young. But I felt over the past few months we’d become quite close, he’s even helped me cook dinner on a number of occasions.
He’s been looking a bit tired and limp for the past week or so. He’s not from around here so I think that the lack of light and cold finally got to him. I spent the evening tonight saying goodbye.
He was the little guy sitting in the corner. He didn’t stand out greatly and was a bit shy, but he shared himself generously and had great taste. He will be remembered.
At least until I finish the last of the pasta sauce we made tonight.
Goodbye Basil.
He’s been looking a bit tired and limp for the past week or so. He’s not from around here so I think that the lack of light and cold finally got to him. I spent the evening tonight saying goodbye.
He was the little guy sitting in the corner. He didn’t stand out greatly and was a bit shy, but he shared himself generously and had great taste. He will be remembered.
At least until I finish the last of the pasta sauce we made tonight.
Goodbye Basil.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Some More On Finnish Food
I picked this up at the super market the other day. It’s marinated Herring. It doesn’t look that great, but it tastes ok. I’m not sure what it’s marinated in, but seems to be almost a sort of balsamic vinaigrette. It’s obviously been in there for a while as it falls apart pretty easily. I’m not sure exactly how it’s suppose to be eaten. I think it would possibly go well in small pieces on dry biscuits, or perhaps even in a sandwich.
The food I’ve been getting at Baltic for lunch is generally quite good, sometimes a little odd and once or twice I’ve not finished. There is always a Soup on offer, and generally a potato based meal and a more meaty dish. Then there is a big basket of Finnish bread and a salad so if I’m really not impressed I still have something that is reliable, even if not that interesting.
Problem is that I have to order what I want at the start of each day, and as my Finnish and Swedish is not very good, this can be difficult. So it’s a bit of a lucky dip sometimes. I have a much better feeling now for what I’m going to get, and at bare minimum can expect to know what sort of animal I’m consuming (although one day I wasn’t sure, and wasn’t pleased). The menu for the week appears on Monday morning, so on Monday morning I usually decide for the whole week. If I’m not happy with my selection of food for the week, I have at least one reliable choice. Every Thursday the same Pea Soup appears, it’s a thick green soup with a variety of split peas and minced beef. It’s quite good although can create some excess gas and may become a regrettable choice latter in the day. The sweat on Thursdays is always Finnish Pancake which is very good, and no unpleasant side effects that I’m aware of.
For this reason I searched the web on Sunday and after finding a number of different recipes I tried to make my own Finnish Pancake. It’s pretty easy to make with a very similarly recipe what I would consider normal. However it is baked not fried and it becomes sort of half way between light fluffy cake and custard. I claimed it successful. It didn’t come out exactly like the Baltic version, but it was pretty close and I think probably mostly due to having to significantly reduce the quantity’s such that I didn’t waste any and also so it would fit in my meagre cooking utensils.
The food I’ve been getting at Baltic for lunch is generally quite good, sometimes a little odd and once or twice I’ve not finished. There is always a Soup on offer, and generally a potato based meal and a more meaty dish. Then there is a big basket of Finnish bread and a salad so if I’m really not impressed I still have something that is reliable, even if not that interesting.
Problem is that I have to order what I want at the start of each day, and as my Finnish and Swedish is not very good, this can be difficult. So it’s a bit of a lucky dip sometimes. I have a much better feeling now for what I’m going to get, and at bare minimum can expect to know what sort of animal I’m consuming (although one day I wasn’t sure, and wasn’t pleased). The menu for the week appears on Monday morning, so on Monday morning I usually decide for the whole week. If I’m not happy with my selection of food for the week, I have at least one reliable choice. Every Thursday the same Pea Soup appears, it’s a thick green soup with a variety of split peas and minced beef. It’s quite good although can create some excess gas and may become a regrettable choice latter in the day. The sweat on Thursdays is always Finnish Pancake which is very good, and no unpleasant side effects that I’m aware of.
For this reason I searched the web on Sunday and after finding a number of different recipes I tried to make my own Finnish Pancake. It’s pretty easy to make with a very similarly recipe what I would consider normal. However it is baked not fried and it becomes sort of half way between light fluffy cake and custard. I claimed it successful. It didn’t come out exactly like the Baltic version, but it was pretty close and I think probably mostly due to having to significantly reduce the quantity’s such that I didn’t waste any and also so it would fit in my meagre cooking utensils.
Not Quite Melted
First snow of the year fell on Friday. It started late in the morning with rain that gradually turned more solid. It was pretty windy and by the time I left work on Friday evening the windshield and the drivers side windows were completely covered with a thin layer of snow. After getting in I found the windscreen wipers cleared the screen well, but couldn’t see out the window. I foolishly wound down the window, which did a great job to remove the snow, but it all piled up on the door an when the window bottomed out the snow fell into the car (rookie mistake). As I drove home it continued to fall, and as I turned from the main road (about 1km from home) I noticed that there was actually snow piled up at the edges of the road.
It would seem that the snow had been much better in Jakobstad than in Bosund. Not much, maybe 50mm in spots. It was enough to have some fun in after a Halloween party. It still hasn’t completely melted, and the forecast has a bit more this weekend. Slowly everything will turn white.
It would seem that the snow had been much better in Jakobstad than in Bosund. Not much, maybe 50mm in spots. It was enough to have some fun in after a Halloween party. It still hasn’t completely melted, and the forecast has a bit more this weekend. Slowly everything will turn white.
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