Birds, Santa and goodwill to all
Rachel your rhyme: One for sorrow, two for joy... is a familiar one to me and it reminded me of:
Sing a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye;
Four and twenty blackbirds,
Baked in a pie.
When the pie was opened,
The birds began to sing;
Was not that a dainty dish,
To set before the king?
The king was in his counting-house,
Counting out his money;
The queen was in the parlour,
Eating bread and honey.
The maid was in the garden,
Hanging out the clothes,
There came a little blackbird,
And snapped off her nose.
You were also asking about the Finnish literature and Rachel I didn´t in my last post reply to you about legends from Finland. I thought that as I had mentioned the very best Finnish legend, Kalevala, you would have remembered that. But when I was looking back to my post, I realized that I had mentioned the issue in passing. I have now added a couple of links that you may want to have a look.
A piece of taste:
Ilmatar (the Virgin of the Air) descends to the waters. A pochard lays its eggs on her knee. The eggs break and the world is formed from their pieces. The mother of the water then gives birth to Väinämöinen. Sampsa Pellervoinen sows the forest trees. One of the trees, an oak, grows so large that it blots out both the sun and the moon. A tiny man rises from the sea and chops down the giant oak. The sun and moon can shine once again.
I also have added a link about the education in Finland. I think that the very first page descries quite well the school system we have in Finland. Kirsti, as you said the Finns do well with PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) survey.
Ana Paula yes I do know the Ponsse company, they are making heavy machinery as you mentioned, in particular they are well known for forest machines.
Naheed, we don´t make Christmas pudding as such, although I am very fond of the British Christmas pudding and we are able to buy them here as well. The traditional Christmas dinner in Finland is eaten on the Christmas Eve, December 24th.
Oven-baked ham, root vegetable casseroles, mixed beetroot salad, liver casserole and different pates, smoked salmon, fish roe and herring dishes form the basis of the traditional Finnish Christmas dinner.
The following salad is perfect for the Christmas table; mixed salted mushrooms or fresh cultivated champignons > finely chopped onion to taste > smetana, crème fraîche or whipped cream and pepper. If you have collected the mushrooms yourself and stored them with a aid of salt, soak the salted mushrooms overnight in plenty of cold water to get rid of the excess salt. Change the water every now and then. Be careful not to remove all of the salt, so keep tasting the mushrooms every now and then while soaking, until the taste is suitable. Drain the mushrooms carefully, squeezing them as dry as possible, and cut them into small pieces. If using fresh champignons, clean them before cutting them into small pieces and briefly cook them in boiling water (about 5 minutes). Drain and squeeze them dry as well.
Mix the mushrooms, the chopped onion and some smetana to get a potato salad-like consistency and season with pepper. Add also salt, when using fresh champignons. Store the salad covered in refrigerator before serving.
Once you have eaten it is good to sit down and wait for Santa to come. Anastasia Santa has a wife and his helpers carry a name elf or brownie (tonttu). Helpers are great friends of all the animals, I believe elves visit also Katri´s Brown Beaty and give Touho a ginger bread biscuit.
One more thing before I go tonight; we had our company´s 10th year celebration on Saturday night, and as my turn is almost at the end, I would like to share a photo of myself, taken during the evening. The picture was taken by my husband Pekka.
Talk to you soon
Comments
Hello Leila! Oh you look so beautiful :-)! Have you and your husband enjoyed night? By the way, a really liked your rhyme and the legend as well. Oh... a big storm is coming I have to turn the computer off. See you soon, Ana Paula.
Leila, you didn't mention the X-mas rice porridge. I hate rice porridge but it's a little more edible with lots of sugar and cinnamon. - What has changed since I went to school is the system with courses pupils from 16 to 19 have. I had for instance three hours English a week, every school week. As far as I have understood it, but I am not sure, pupils now read in periods: let's say a lot of English during one period and then during the other periods no English. Could you explain a little more this period-system? I suppose Kati had such a learning system.
Hi Leila, how elegant you look in that party dress. Your Christmas traditions are different to ours, mainly because we have Christmas in summer, without snow, etc. But we also eat things that have a lot of calories as if it were winter. The important thing is to be able to gather with the family and have a peaceful time.
Leila, you are such a beautiful lady, and your eyes are full of kindness. Thank you for the lovely picture...
Hi,Leila. Thanks for your brog. Your posts never fail to stimulate my imagination. You look so nice with the very matching jacket. I would like to express my sincere compliment to you as you have taken all of us to such a wonderful place, online Finland. I wish you and your family have a peaceful Christmas! Hallelujah!
Hello Liela, Thank you so much for replying to my question! And I liked it very much to read about how you Celebrate Christmas. I always find it very interesting to learn about Santa and his gifts. And I have seen that children love him very much. Leila, you look graceful in the photo. We are nearing the end of November, time really flies, and I would say that it's been a great time with you. With this, best wishes to you and all, Naheed
Hi Leila! I usually have a large meal on Christmas’s Day .We eat lentils on New Year’s Eve because they bring luck. I like leek too. I usually eat it with rice. As for our diplomatic relations, Italy has a love-hate relationship with France whereas we “get on well” with Spain. Good day!
Hi Leila ! thank you about the link of the education in Finland. It is very interesting.About a meal on Christmas’s Day, I usually stay with my family and we have a abundant meal! The cook is my mom!!!She is very good at cooking,years ago she has also won a cosine race.Usually New Year's, we eat lentils, why they bring luck!!! Have a nice day!Mariangela
Terve Leila, I usually do not read legends. But yours has lighted a kind of itch for more. In Spain X-mas lunch is tasteful and in general heaviest than yours. The main problem is not the meal, if taken alone in consideration. The problem is that in three days we can put some kilos on. When I go to Spain for Christmas I am invited by my sisters, then we invite them and so on. In less than two weeks I put always two kilos on that I lose by the end of January. It is an everlasting issue. Read you soon. Antonio
Dear Leila, thank you for yet another informative post. I don't think I will venture on the recipe of a Finish salad you have posted here, though. I am not a culinary wiz, you see. And all the manipulations with mushrooms sound complicated to me. Oh, I am hopeless! By the way, do you in Finland call sour cream smetana?! I ask, because in Russia we do call it so. This word is probably one of those borrowings that come in to our native language with the names of different things, products etc from all over the world. Have you started racking your brains trying to think of presents for everybody yet? I am. Presents-wise do you have any ideas in your head? Even if you do, would you risk sharing them with us knowing that all the people you love will see it here? Probably, you wouldn't. Fair enough :) I might go window-shopping to help me decide... And where do you normally look for inspiration, Leila? Sincerely, Ana
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