November 27, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

I know its a couple days late but that doesn't matter. We should always be giving thanks for what we have, right? Anyways, I just finished cooking and eating a whole Thanksgiving Day traditional  feast. Delicious homemade rolls, moist and juicy turkey, crisp green beans and crunchy corn, homemade stuffing, turkey gravy, and lingonberry sauce, oh and of course, pumpkin pie!

Let's just say I was quite busy from 9:30 a.m. until dinner time at 4:30 p.m. But it sure was worth it. I think everyone went up for seconds, some even fourths!

                                      10:00 a.m. already made a mess.

                                                   Working on some pumpkin pie!

                                                 Boil pumpkin boil!

                                                    Is it done yet!?

                                                  First turkey-cooking experience.

                                   We should put some salt inside right? ...Why not!

                                             Lots and lots of seasoning!

  Ready for the oven. Stuffed with carrots, onions, orange, and celery. Covered in butter, salt, pepper, and thyme.

Cooking turkey!

Boiling potatoes!

                            Homemade rolls! Mom you would be proud, they tasted EXACTLY like yours!

                           Emma was my helper. But I think I would instead just call her my taste tester.

                                                Finished product!

                                                    Ingredients ready to be mixed for stuffing!

                                                         All this cooking made me crazy!

                                                                 First pumpkin pie!

 But that wasn't good enough so I made some whipped cream and sprinkled with some cinnamon!

                                                          Ready for our quests to arrive!

                Jaana setting the table for dinner. "Why so many wine glasses Jaana?"

                                                                      Turkey is done!

                                                                  Oh I am so proud!

                                               Such a historical moment cutting the turkey is!

                                                          Emma and I with the feast!

 The end product. Mashed potatoes, rolls, green beans, gravy, lingonberry sauce, corn, turkey, and stuffing!

                                        All the guests with the head chef and her assistant!

                                                      All smiles, must be Thanksgiving!

                                              So happy everything is done. No more pressure!

                                                                    Eating the feast!

                          My plate of Thanksgiving food! Everything was so good, or so they told me!

 What is that, fourths, fifths, or sixths? Oh it doesn't matter just keep eating! (Laura's boyfriend Erkka).

          Veera's fiance Brian going up for more too! That's a good sign. Even Jaana went up for seconds!

                                                   Finishing off with my delicious pumpkin pie.

Everything was delicious! They thought the pumpkin pie was very exotic but delicious as well. It was almost like being home for Thanksgiving. Hope Thanksgiving was great for all of you as well.

Next post will be on Lapland so stay tuned!

Love Karlee!

November 22, 2011

Moikka!

It's almost Thanksgiving! I'm sad I will be missing it this year but that's okay because I will be preparing my own Thanksgiving feast for my host family on Sunday. Hopefully it will turn out okay I have never made a whole dinner before, let alone a feast! Other than that I bring you some photos from my latest adventure. We finally had a sort of "district meeting" last weekend and it was nice to see all the other exchange students again. We went to a camp site in a small town called Laitila and spent the evening together saunaing, grilling sausage (makkara), and  playing ping-pong. Then we discussed another exciting trip that's coming up, Lapland! We will be leaving on December 3rd and will come home on the 8th. We will mostly spend our time skiing and snowboarding but we also might take a trip to "Santa's house" (even though everyone but the Finns know he lives in the North Pole. They refuse to accept this fact.). Hopefully we will have snow by then! Today its only 36 degrees outside! Anyways, I don't have many pictures from the Laitila camp but I have a few you may look at.

 Exchange students walking out onto the dock. In the background is the sauna house.

 Picture from end of dock.

 Eating dinner. They always have delicious food at these camps!

 Us exchange students. From left to right; France, Mexico, Australia, Australia, Taiwan, Japan, and Oregon.

 Lake that some people swam in after sauna. It was freezing!

Ehm... This was our midnight snack. Every flavor of Finland's most favorite chocolate brand, Fazer. Mint, pear, almond, lemon, original, dark, etc. Best chocolate EVER.

Kiitos! That was the Laitla camp in a nutshell. It was fun and I can't wait to see everyone again in Lapland. However, I'm not looking forward to the 20 hour bus ride to get there. I hope my Thanksgiving feast is a success so I can show everyone how it ended up. If not you'll have to accept photos of burnt food and starving faces. Ha! Okay I'm not that bad of a cook...

Have a WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING. Eat lots and enjoy each others company, I miss it already.

Love and Happy Thanksgiving,

Karlee

August 29, 2011 (2)

Hey so I was looking through my pictures (I have so many!) and I found some from Helsinki which I think are pretty cool and I left out of my other Helsinki post. Take a peek!

 One of many trolleys that run through the entangled streets of Helsinki.

 Man from island near Helsinki come to sell his potatoes in the market.

 Uspensky Russian Orthodox Church. Largest Orthodox Church in Western Europe.

 Adorned with thirteen golden cupolas.

 Inside the church. The people are not tourists, the are quests and participants of a traditional Greek wedding. I don't know why it wasn't private but anyone was allowed in. Just told to keep quiet.

 Part of church ceiling.

 Helsinki Evangelical Lutheran Catheral.  

 Built in 1830-52. Church is still in regular use.

 Statue of Alexander II of Russia.

 I'm not sure what you call these people, but they dress up in different costumes and stand out all day waiting for people to put money in their jars and pots.

 Another costume guy. Neat-o!

 This monument represents the old historical and national 19th century epic poem of Elias Lonnrot called The Kalevala.

 Helsinki from the top of one of Helsinki's oldest hotels.

 Looks like something from Harry Potter.

 Speaking of which I still haven't received my "Hogwart's School of Witchcraft and Wizardry" invitation letter. Should I cry now or wait still? Tee-he-he...

 Best seafood soup ever! Just thought I would share.

And the soups' equally as delicious bread accompaniment.

The end! I hope you enjoyed this "Helsinki part 2" section of my blog. Stay tuned...