MINI VACATION

Today I'm back to work and oh so bored, but last weekend me and my significant other, lets call him kulta, enjoyed a mini vacation and were not bored at all. It is amazing what few kilometers can do to ones spirits.

Our destination of choise was a place called Vanajan Linna which lies about 100km or 62mi from our house. To those of whom are not familiar with our fine nations (meaning Finland ofcourse) sites Vanajan Linna is a small resort type arrangement with a historical hotel, spa and an epg touring, rolex golfcourse, which i've been told means that its really good.

On friday we were a bit late because, I didn't realise the time and put the washing machine on...classic. When we finally arrived at the hotel we went almost straight (girls need some time to prepare) to the restaurant. The food in Vanajan Linna is known to be really good so my expectations were rather high and I must say that on this particular evening they were not met. With the taste of the food I had no complaints but with the consistency I was not happy with. But then again I'm exeptionally particular with the consistency of everything I eat and The Cheff was off duty. That said the service was exceptional and really made up with what the food lacked. Here is our waiter for both evenings,

a true professional.

New day and new adventures, Sunday was gorgeous. The sun was shining, which hasn't happened in a while. The light was just perfect for taking photos and the surroundings of the hotel were pictoresque. I was overly exited and playing with my new camera and here are some results from that day.

                         Self portrait

The summer is sooo not here yet

Oh did I mention that it was also really cold.

The last evening of our mini vacation and we started with sauna and wine. There is something decadently gorgeous about drinking sparkling wine in sauna. Upon arrival at the restaurant we found out that The Cheff had chosen a menu for us (he is a friend of kulta). Foie Gras for appetizer, Salmon for maincourse and cake for dessert. The Foie Gras was really wonderfull, even kulta liked it and he is not a fan of any kind of liver. Salmon is something I would not choose myself since, it can easily be quite boring, but these guys pulled it off. The fish was served with a tiny splurt of sweetpotato puree and the combination and more importantly the ratio was spot on. The wine was also chosen with, to my taste, great care.

Then to the dessert and the dessert drink which was tasty although, I have no clue what it was. At that point with all the wine (in the hotel room and with the food) I was slightly emotional, as I like to put it. Well it tasted and also looked good.

Due to the previously given reason, I do not remember the name of the dessert either but it looked delicious,

and tasted even more so.

All I have to say about that evening is great thanks to The Cheff. Oh and ofcourse here is a picture with The Cheff and me. As you can see I was a bit "emotional" by the time of this picture.

wishing for summer

I just spent half an hour writing all tehese horrible things about the weather now and the light in the summer... and then my computer got tired and all the text and pictures vanished. PUFF just like that, so now I'm just gona show you the pictures and minimize the text.

These pictures were taken three summers ago when I was working in a country manor hotel in England, near Bath. They are tecnically very good but the point in them are the light and the athmosphere.

In the hotels garden there was this fishpond which looked more like a huge well where your parents would tell you to be carefull not to fall into. In this particular picture i like the contrast between the beautifull flower and the dead bugs. Beauty and decay, classic.

There were plenty of flowers in the garden but I chose these because they looked so regall and so upperclass english. One doesn't see many of those in finnish gardens.

This was my window. Perfect for eavesdropping, nobody can see you but you can see everybody.

This rundown conservatory is beautiful when observed from faraway and just dirty close up. Dirty or not the light filtering through the glass is gorgeous.

On this patio I enjoyed my firts afternoon tea.

Time is up gotta go.

First time

Allright here we go, my first blog entry. One more virginity lost. The reason for begining to write this blog are my issues with food and wanting to share my progress with like minded people.

Ever since I can remember eating has been somewhat of a struggle for me. I remember thinking: why cant mum just make good food, meaning the kind I liked, why is she making soups or putting tomato into spaghetti bolognese??? In retrospect I understand her reasons, how boring would it be for the rest of the family if the weeks menu consisted of potatoes with bolognese (without tomato)sause and hotdogs or meatballs with pasta? Going away to visit friends or family was always shadowed by my disgust of most normal foods like soup, mushrooms, sauces, onions, stews, cooked vegetables... Regardles I have always enjoyed travelling near or far alone or with company, if there was a possibility to go I was in. When I started to broaden my horizon, I came face to face with my super pickiness when it came to food. How could I travel to say, China if i couldn't eat anything? So I decided to learn to eat a variety of things without instant gaging reflex.

Ive come a long way and learned to enjoy eating. As a child I couldn't understand the saying: my mouth would eat but my stomack cant take anymore (translation of a finnish saying), unfortunately now I do. However I am not totally cured, I still cant eat SOUP! There is just something fishy about soup, there is nothing to bite into. I like to drink my beverage from a glass and eat my food from a plate... not eat my beverage from a plate. Mental I KNOW. So you won't find any soup recipes from these pages.

As I still am learning how to cook, I am trying out other's creations and making them work for me and hopefully some day i'll be able to create something on my own. But untill then ill learn from my idols Jamie Oliver, Sugarlaws, Nigella and many others.