Falling leaves and snow

-10 and sunny. Beautiful morning by the lake!

3 yellow chanterelles, a bag of winter chanterelles and a few
layers of black horn-of-plenty to fill the drier

So autumn has basically come and gone. Well, not officially, but it has been feeling downright wintery until...yesterday? We had 10cm of snow and -10 to -15 for a week so I was pretty convinced (and optimistic) that winter and ski season were fast approaching.  However, we set our clocks back an hour on Sunday and pretty much as soon as we lost summer time, the summer weather returned. irony. Now it is +8 and sunny, making it warmer than it was on midsummer day (June 21) this year. It snowed then.  Just before the snow came I managed to get the very last mushrooms of the season...little frozen chunks of winter chanterelles, yellow chanterelles and black ones










Last weekend we headed up to Rautavaara where Aku is a member in a hunting club to try our luck on the last weekend that bird hunting season is open. The targeted game birds are like grouse, metsäkanalinnut "forest chicken birds" in finnish, but can be much larger than the Canadian grouse I am used to. For example black grouse, or teeri, are over 3lbs/1.4kg and capercaillie, or metso, can be up to 15lbs/6.7kgs. Well...we saw both, and some hares, which are also in season. However the only thing we got at the end of the day was cold. There was enough snow that mushrooms and frozen berries were out of the question.  Both Saturday and Sunday temperatures hovered around 1 degree with freezing rain coating the trees and shrubs. It wasn't terribly pleasant for anything except a good sauna afterwards.  We tried something new in the sauna: katajavasta (juniper vasta), a first for both Aku and I.  I believe that I have previously mentioned that Finns like to make bundles of birch branche, vasta, for beating themselves (and others) in the sauna. Ok, sounds weird, but it is surprisingly pleasant.  Instead, how about beating yourself with bundles of juniper (Juniperus communis) branches? Yeah, seriously. We thought that was just a cruel rumour to get some poor drunk/foreign fool to inflict pain on themselves.  BUT, we tried it and it just so happens that it can be pleasant feeling and pleasantly fragrant.  It should be noted that these branches need to first be softened by searing/steaming them on the sauna stove and a much gentler touch is required. Strange but true...and effective!

We had to drill a hole in the 10cm-thick ice to get water for the sauna.  This was about the maximum visibility that we had the whole weekend. and no...this photo was not taken in black-and-white!

Freezing rain. Enough said.

One of the great things about the wintery feeling was that I felt totally justified and excited to tuck into comfort food.  I made a thanksgiving dinner for my Finnish family (no turkey, but pumpkin pie and cobbler!), lots of stews, mashed potatoes, root vegetables and the oh-so-traditional Finnish casseroles. Since Aku participated in a fairly successful moose hunt this year, we have a healthy supply of local wild moose meat in the freezer. Mmmm...the possibilities! (and cost-savings!) Meat is so terribly expensive here...and I am particularly cheap since I am unemployed.  So, I have started to get into traditional Finnish game food recipes. Yesss...that is truly comfort food! Take käristys for example (the following bit is a recipe, skip it if you're not into cooking generally or eating meat)....

Käristys is traditionally from lapland for cooking reindeer, but has been popularly adapted for moose.  I guess reindeer can be a bit chewy and given the fact that everything in Lapland is frozen most of the year, here is the (delicious) result:

- Start with a whole roast or large tougher cut frozen.  Not all the sinewy bit have to be trimmed off, but the worst bits should be. Defrost it slightly at room temperature.  It should not be melted, just not totally solid anymore
- Use a sharp knife to shave/slice thin leaves of meat off the end of the roast (across the "grain"). They should be thin enough that some light comes through them.





- heat up a large heavy-bottomed pan and add a generous quantity of butter (or oil, but I like butter).  Leaner meats require more cooking fat, fattier meats less.
- add a few pieces of meat at a time and brown them quickly. when they are browned, push them to the side and add a few more. continue until all the meat has been browned.










- dice an onion and mince a couple cloves of garlic (ok, this bit may not be traditionally lappish, but it is delicious). Keeping the browned meat to one side, add the onions and garlic to the pan. You may need to add more butter ;)

- Once onions are softened mix them in with the meat. Season with salt. add a bit (maybe 1cm in bottom of the pot) of water (or beer or more butter :) ) and cover with the lid.

- Aku's family really likes to add a few drops of sesame oil for flavouring or liquid smoke.
- simmer covered for about an hour.
- serve on mashed potatoes with lingonberry sauce. Cranberry may also be a good substitute. Some people like to have salt cucumbers (like pickles) on the side.

- Vegetables?? naah...this is Finnish food!

Ok, the recipe is over :) 

... and so is the posting