finland.suomi: A Cultured Kitchen

This past Wednesday after school, Tiina invited me over for dinner at her parent's house. Located less than five minutes down the road from me, it was so nice to spend the evening in a warm, cozy home. Below are a few snapshots from the evening.

Upon walking in the door, I was first met by Eemeli,
the family dog. Though he is ten years old, Eemeli still
has the energy and playfulness of a little puppy.

With dinner cooking in the oven, Tiina and I thought it best to start making dessert. Tiina prepared Finnish pancakes, while I made American pancakes. As you can see from the following pictures, the two versions have distinct differences.

Compared to American pancakes,
Finnish pancake batter is quite runny.

American pancakes are prepared individually
on the stove-top, while Finnish pancakes
are baked all at once in the oven.

Sporting a bright yellow apron,
I tried my best to keep the pancakes
in the pan when flipping.

Having finished the pancake preparations, it was time to break out the peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. Made with homemade strawberry jam, this was Tiina's first PB&J sandwich! Tiina's mum ate half, while Tiina had the rest. And the verdict? "Disturbingly delicious." As a random side note, I just read that a survey taken in 2002 found that an average American eats 1500 PB&J sandwiches before graduating from high school.

Tiina described this sweet and salty
concoction as "disturbingly delicious." J

After the peanut butter and jelly adventure, dinner was up next. Tiina's mum prepared a delicious assortment of Finnish dishes. Working our way from left to right in the picture below, you can see potatoes, Karelian pies, a vegetable dish, lingonberries and Karelian stew! And what to drink, you ask? A cold glass of piimä...buttermilk! All in all, it was an amazing blend of flavors and textures.