Saturday, June 29, 2013
Friday, June 28, 2013
Finn Fest 2013
A much anticipated vacation this year was a journey by car to Hancock,MI to attend the annual Finnish 4 day festival. As we meandered by car through a town called Toivola and finally into the upper peninsula and into the copper country of northern Michigan. Stopping at a grocery store, I discovered Finnish food such as fresh warm pasties and rhubarb yogurt. We checked into our dorm room at Finlandia University and dined in the Finlandia Cafe downstairs and had Finnish cuisine as Pork Chops with stuffed green peppers.
The Festival takes place in many places and there is a shuttle bus that drops you off at any location. Many of the classes that I took were at Michigan Technological University across the bridge in Houghton, Mi. On Thursday I attended a lecture with Lauri Anderson on Writing Memoirs. He is an author of eight books, His first book, Hunting Hemingway's Trout, is the one that I bought in the Tori {marketplace}
The next destination was a lecture of Finnish Midsummer desserts from a Finnish chef, Sirpa Welch. Sirpa serves as an executive chef at the Finnish Consulate in Los Angeles since 1997. Her Rhubarb dessert was a huge hit. But she also added that black licorice ice cream is a food trend {Finland has there own brand, Panda black licorice, that is soft and favorable.
Visiting the Student Development Center was next and I saw museum displays on the Kalevala, Finland's national epic poem, crazy quilt demonstrations, rag rug loom weaving, and authentic Laplander mittens. Nordic knitter named Laura Ricketts stashmuffinsloosethreads.com, had lots to display and she used traditional patterns Her mittens were done in colors of red, white, navy, with traditional Sami patterns. Upstairs was a small War museum on display with clothing, guns, knives, helmets, and military posters, books, and war related articles.
Next was a lecture named, What Everyone Should Know About the Kalevala by Borje Vahamaki, University Of Toronto. The Kalevala is a tradition that was sung orally from person to person, and is consisted of 50 Ruins {50 sections}. The national harp, the Kantala, originally had 5 strings because of the 5 notes of music used in the singing of the Kalevala. The Kalevala has many layers of texture. Myths, Magic, Shaman, Adventure,and Christian poetry.
Next Lecture, Titanic: The Unintended Arrival by Gregory Isola explained the history of the ship builder and that there were 8 second class Finnish passengers on board the Titanic, and 58 3rd class passengers.
There were many more lecture I went to all informative and professional. Because there is a large variety of lectures, music, dance, and film events, everyone's ethnic Finn experience will be different. I also attended an old time lumberjack harmonic music session and a Sami painter documentary ,Solveig: The Life and Artwork of Solveig Arneng Johnson . In the evening it was time to sample the areas beer craft while learning to do a scottish folk dance at the Finnish American Heritage Center, which included Finnish theme museum art work www.finlandia.edu/FAHC. Shopping in the marketplace was fun and I found books, tshirts, and a reindeer crafted necklace.www.crystalcollectreindeer.com
The Festival takes place in many places and there is a shuttle bus that drops you off at any location. Many of the classes that I took were at Michigan Technological University across the bridge in Houghton, Mi. On Thursday I attended a lecture with Lauri Anderson on Writing Memoirs. He is an author of eight books, His first book, Hunting Hemingway's Trout, is the one that I bought in the Tori {marketplace}
The next destination was a lecture of Finnish Midsummer desserts from a Finnish chef, Sirpa Welch. Sirpa serves as an executive chef at the Finnish Consulate in Los Angeles since 1997. Her Rhubarb dessert was a huge hit. But she also added that black licorice ice cream is a food trend {Finland has there own brand, Panda black licorice, that is soft and favorable.
Visiting the Student Development Center was next and I saw museum displays on the Kalevala, Finland's national epic poem, crazy quilt demonstrations, rag rug loom weaving, and authentic Laplander mittens. Nordic knitter named Laura Ricketts stashmuffinsloosethreads.com, had lots to display and she used traditional patterns Her mittens were done in colors of red, white, navy, with traditional Sami patterns. Upstairs was a small War museum on display with clothing, guns, knives, helmets, and military posters, books, and war related articles.
Next was a lecture named, What Everyone Should Know About the Kalevala by Borje Vahamaki, University Of Toronto. The Kalevala is a tradition that was sung orally from person to person, and is consisted of 50 Ruins {50 sections}. The national harp, the Kantala, originally had 5 strings because of the 5 notes of music used in the singing of the Kalevala. The Kalevala has many layers of texture. Myths, Magic, Shaman, Adventure,and Christian poetry.
Next Lecture, Titanic: The Unintended Arrival by Gregory Isola explained the history of the ship builder and that there were 8 second class Finnish passengers on board the Titanic, and 58 3rd class passengers.
There were many more lecture I went to all informative and professional. Because there is a large variety of lectures, music, dance, and film events, everyone's ethnic Finn experience will be different. I also attended an old time lumberjack harmonic music session and a Sami painter documentary ,Solveig: The Life and Artwork of Solveig Arneng Johnson . In the evening it was time to sample the areas beer craft while learning to do a scottish folk dance at the Finnish American Heritage Center, which included Finnish theme museum art work www.finlandia.edu/FAHC. Shopping in the marketplace was fun and I found books, tshirts, and a reindeer crafted necklace.www.crystalcollectreindeer.com
Thursday, June 27, 2013
Dakota Bread
As a baker of bread, I have been on a quest to make a healthy, crunchy, but not too dense loaf of bread.
I came across this recipe years ago, tweaked it and came up with my version. This one has a lot of ingredients, but each one adds to the flavor profile of the bread. It makes one loaf, or I divide it into 3 small mini loaves.
Dakota Bread
1 package of active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup greek yogurt or cottage cheese
1/4 c. honey
2T. powdered milk
1 egg
2 T. oil
1 tsp. salt
21/4 c. bread flour, divided
1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
1/4 c. wheat germ, toasted
1/4 c. rye flour
1/4 c. long-cooking oats, uncooked
2 T. cornmeal
1 egg white, beaten
2 T. sunflower kernels
Combine yeast and lukewarm water in a bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup of bread flour, stir, and let this sit for 30 minutes. In a separate bowl, blend together yogurt or cottage cheese, honey, egg, oil and salt. Add this to the yeast mixture, blend, then add bread flour, whole wheat flour,wheat germ, rye flour, oatmeal, and powdered milk. This should yield a soft dough, if not add more or less flour or liquid. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl; cover and let rise for one hour or until double in bulk. Punch dough down. Shape into one round loaf and place in a pie pan coated with non-stick vegetable spray and sprinkle with cornmeal. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let dough rise again until double in bulk. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sunflower kernels. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. makes 6 to 8 servings.
I came across this recipe years ago, tweaked it and came up with my version. This one has a lot of ingredients, but each one adds to the flavor profile of the bread. It makes one loaf, or I divide it into 3 small mini loaves.
Dakota Bread
1 package of active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water
1/2 cup greek yogurt or cottage cheese
1/4 c. honey
2T. powdered milk
1 egg
2 T. oil
1 tsp. salt
21/4 c. bread flour, divided
1/2 c. whole-wheat flour
1/4 c. wheat germ, toasted
1/4 c. rye flour
1/4 c. long-cooking oats, uncooked
2 T. cornmeal
1 egg white, beaten
2 T. sunflower kernels
Combine yeast and lukewarm water in a bowl. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Then add 1/2 cup of bread flour, stir, and let this sit for 30 minutes. In a separate bowl, blend together yogurt or cottage cheese, honey, egg, oil and salt. Add this to the yeast mixture, blend, then add bread flour, whole wheat flour,wheat germ, rye flour, oatmeal, and powdered milk. This should yield a soft dough, if not add more or less flour or liquid. Knead on a lightly floured surface until smooth and elastic. Place in a greased bowl; cover and let rise for one hour or until double in bulk. Punch dough down. Shape into one round loaf and place in a pie pan coated with non-stick vegetable spray and sprinkle with cornmeal. Cover with greased plastic wrap and let dough rise again until double in bulk. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sunflower kernels. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack. makes 6 to 8 servings.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Martha Bag
The Martha Bag
As a small child, I would stand in fascination of the wooden Finnish loom in the basement of my childhood home. So many warp and weft strings, the tall wooden frame, and the colorful balls of recycled clothing cut into strips, stitched together forming a colorful mix of colors. The balls would revel a chuck of red or yellow child's dress, a threadbare blue apron, or a worn out pair of denim farm pants. Everything was re-purposed and up cycled into a new and useful articles. Finnish homes had wood floors, and a hand made quality loom rug would be the center piece of the area.
When I found this free pattern on www.knitty.com under the heading bags and titled Unbiased. I knew that I had to make it, but this time, using my ever growing stash of leftover yarn from other projects. I did add 3 inches to the length of the bag, and then added a bottom so the bag would sit upright. I used a size 8 needle using 2 strands of yarn, just tying one snippet of thread with a square knot.. I lined the bag in a black fabric to give it some stability. Then I place black webbing under the strap for strength. The colors are so bright that they reminded me of those Finnish cotton loom rugs and the design also reminded me of my favorite aunt Martha that was thrifty and a creative designer in fashion.
As a small child, I would stand in fascination of the wooden Finnish loom in the basement of my childhood home. So many warp and weft strings, the tall wooden frame, and the colorful balls of recycled clothing cut into strips, stitched together forming a colorful mix of colors. The balls would revel a chuck of red or yellow child's dress, a threadbare blue apron, or a worn out pair of denim farm pants. Everything was re-purposed and up cycled into a new and useful articles. Finnish homes had wood floors, and a hand made quality loom rug would be the center piece of the area.
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