This Week: Food

Lately, I’ve been so interested in trying out new foods, to cook it myself that is, or with Peter’s help. I, who have never been a person that liked cook-books all that much or recipes found in magazines, now find myself looking at them all the time, drooling, and thinking; Man, that is something we should try to make. And then, since I am married to a man who loves to cook and try new things, we do end up trying to make (some of) the meals. To our luck it turns out good almost every time.
Over the weekend, Peter and I tried two new recipes, one for Bruschetta (super darn good, one of the best appetizers I have ever made) and another one for our main meal. We made a pasta al forno with béchamel sauce and prosciutto ham, very, very good! We then enjoyed it together with my visiting sister-in-law on the deck in the sunset. How very nice!
How come everything almost always tastes better outside?

Or, how come everything tastes better while at sea??? It is so funny! As soon as you board any vessel you just get SOOO hungry. It is like the restaurants on the ship are calling right away: Come and eat, come and eat!!
Maybe that is why you do get fat when you are on a cruise?
I’ve only been on one real cruise. That was a Disney Cruise back in 99. So much fun! And so much food, and so much hunger.
Also, as soon as you board the boat to Finland, as I do every year, you tend to get HUNGRIER than ever. The real boat-food on those boats, according to me, is: meatballs and mashed potatoes with lots of gravy and lingonberry sauce. Mmmm…
A lot of people would disagree and say that the best meal onboard those ships are the elaborate Smörgåsbordet!!! And, yes, it is good. On those boats, you can also find numerous other great eating places. I have had one of the best pepper steaks I have ever eaten in my life on board Viking Line’s Amorella.

Another place where food tastes really good is when we take our own little boat and go out to one of the islands near our summer house. We pack a picnic, bring a few beers, water, coffee, bread, cheese, ham and butter and most important of all: Sausages that we grill out on the island we are visiting!!! Oh, man does that taste good or WHAT???? We gather fire-wood and we’ll start a fire. All the kids help out by looking for good, dry wood that will burn fast. Then we sit around the fire and grill those sausages and when they are done we are sure to enjoy them with a beer…hand me the Lapin Kulta please!!! (famous Finnish beer)!!!
Enskärsbådan, Nämpnäs Skärgård, Närpes.
Oh, my friends, that is the life!!! Being out on Mellanbåda, Grytskär, Enskärsbåda or Märigrund on a perfect summer day! I love it so much I can taste it!!! The sun, the wind, the light, the water, the food, the kids, the company!!! SUMMER!!! I wish I could invite all of you!


Grilling on the island of Mellanbådan last year!


Mellanbådan
Another fabulous food memory is from when I was a twenty-something chick and biked around the island of Gotland out in the Baltic Sea. Gotland is almost like this magical island, a place that is taken straight out of a fairy tale. The old medieval city of Visby, the old churches that you’ll find everywhere on the island, white beaches…Oh, man…Gotland is not a place; it is a state of mind!!!
Gotland

As I said, many good food memories hail from Gotland. I am thinking of a tiny little place on the island of Fårö. We stopped by for some smoked flounders and a beer after a long day of biking. It is safe to say that it is one of the best meals I have ever had!
Another wonderful Gotland memory is when Peter and I visited the island some years ago together with our dear friends P and P and ended up at a restaurant in Hamra, on the southern part of the main island. That was one of the best meals, and one of the best Margarita’s I have ever had…AND, one of the coziest places I’ve ever visited as well.

So, many food memories…And so many more to come, I hope!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!!!