perjantai 2. heinäkuuta 2010

Unashamedly postcard-pretty snapshots from Midsummer party last weekend

The title says it all. The favorite Finnish holiday for many, people abandoning cities for at least few days in the country and summer cottages.

In the evening it's time for Midsummer sauna, preferably by a water feature of some sorts. Ours was on the west coast.

on the way to sauna...

...still going...

(notice how I have a thing for photographing hedges?)

...have some patience...

Nearly there!

My Midsummer scarf.

What this huu-haa was all about. The Sauna. And, yes you are supposed to take your Midsummer scarf and the rest of it off.

The view.

The view at midnight. It's called the Midnight Sun.

Ok, so not very traditional Finnish food. We did do that too, new potatoes, smoked fish and pickled herrings, but I was too hungry to take photos. My brother was responsible for these, here's the recipe, (more detailed version you can read from Farang's new cookbook):

big tiger shrimps
fish sauce
vegetable oil
lime
salt and pepper

Clean the shrimp, cut the shell open from one side and open the shrimp as in the photo. Remove the bowel and rinse the shrimp. Marinate in the fish sauce for few minutes and oil the cut surface. Barbecue in a medium grill first the meat side and then the shell side. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. You could serve this with nahm jim and a salad of spring onions, ginger, lemon grass, chili and thai basil, but we sprinkled them with lime and dipped in sweet chili sauce. Good stuff.

2 kommenttia:

  1. These photos are gorgeous! If I were there, I'd definitely want to celebrate mid-summer with you :). I've been looking more into the Nigel Slater books and it made me think of you! Hope you are well!

    VastaaPoista
  2. Hi Tricia! Thanks! And your welcome anytime! We're back at work, but busy working with the autumn collection. I'm loving Slater "Tender" at the moment, though I won't be making his recipes for kale, as I was hoping. Something else has been eating my kale this summer, and there's not much left for cooking. But I have taken the plunge and started baking cakes...

    VastaaPoista