Finland in an RV

Tonight was the night for Finland. It was the perfect day, in my opinion, for a Finnish dinner, grey, dreary, rainy. On the menu: Bacon & Sausage Hash, Sienisalaatti, Finnish Cucumber Salad and Finnish Butter Cookies.It has been the perfect day to just relax and watch movies for Bob and the dogs...I think Sasha was more intent on watching me to see if I would drop her a tasty morsel on the floor. She got a few!
And I concentrated on my Facebook group.

Finland is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the west, Norway to the north, Russia to the east and south across the Gulf of Finland, it borders Estonia. The population is around 5.5 million with the majority of the population residing in the southern region of the country. The capital and largest city is Helsinki.

Finland has many thousands of lakes, with 187,888 that are larger than 0.12 acre. The largest lake, Saimaa, is also the fourth largest lake in Europe.

There are 179,584 islands in Finland.

Finland's landscape is mostly flat with a few hills and even fewer mountains. The highest mountain is Ridnitsohkka at 4218 feet. The highest point is the Halti at 4344 feet. Ridnitsohkka is adjacent to the Halti.

Around 86% of Finland is covered by forests and it is the largest forested area in Europe. The forests consist mainly of pine, spruce, birch and larch. About 1/4 of Finland lies within the Arctic Circle.

Turnips, potatoes, dark rye bread and fermented dairy products were heavily relied upon in earlier times due to the harsh climate of the country.

I chose the menu because it was easy to imagine being snowed in a small house, with a fireplace...close your eyes and imagine....
This is the start of the cucumber salad. We all really enjoyed this dish, but I don't think I've ever run across a cucumber recipe that I didn't like. I can't say that cukes are my favorite vegetable because they aren't...but I really like them for the fact that a cuke is pretty cheap and they will last for about a week in the fridge. I like these vinegar based recipes because we will have the leftovers tomorrow and the cukes will have a chance to soak up all of that dilly marinade that they are sitting in.
Cucumbers, dill, vinegar...what's not to like about that?
Very refreshing along side a heavier main dish.
This is where I tossed the hot mushrooms into the dressing for the Sienisalaatti recipe. There were mixed reviews on this dish. I didn't mind it at all. Bob said he would eat it once in a while, but not all the time and Ralph did not like it. I can dig that. Basically, you curdle some heavy cream with red wine vinegar, so I can see where some wouldn't like it.
But I like how the dressing coated the mushrooms...
I did not even have my dessert recipe until this morning. I had not one iota of a clue as to what I was going to prepare. I found the recipe for these butter cookies on allrecipes.com and it was an AHA moment. I really like butter cookies. They are one of my favorites, but I have to confess that I have never made them before.
I received that cookie cutter from a contest on Allrecipes, so it was fitting that I use it for the first time on a recipe that I found on Allrecipes. LOL.
I did omit one thing. The recipe calls for some ground almonds to be sprinkled on top. I left these off as I am dealing with a sore mouth. I have overdone it on the citrus once more and I should know better because I have an allergy to it. I don't care. I eat it anyway and I pay for it, too.
I was really excited to prepare this main dish of Bacon & Sausage Hash. I've actually been doing this for years and had no idea that it was a Finnish recipe. I usually just do the bacon or just the sausage. I don't put both of them together. Well, when cooking Finnish, do as the Finnish do...use both!
Super simple!
Super delicious...I know, for a fact, that I'll be making this dish again...I've been making it for years already...LOL!
It's so tasty that I posted 2 pictures of it!
And this was dinner tonight...
complete with dessert!

Groceries for tonight's dinner ran me $18.22, which left $1.78 to go into the Beach Bag. The week 21 total is $124.00.

You all voted...a new record number of voters, I might add!...and majority rules. By pretty much a landslide, you want to see Aruba next week. Well, we shall go from the cold of Finland to the warm tropical island of Aruba! I'm all for it!

Please make sure to vote for Week 23 by scrolling up ^^^ and over to the right --->>> and vote!

I wanted to let you all know that I'm running a short contest on my private Facebook page for some kitchen wall decor. Whoever can post me a great Aruban menu will not only have that menu featured in next week's blog, but will win some pretty cool wall decor for their kitchen. The contest ends on Sunday and you must keep in mind that I have a $20 budget and we don't like lamb, zucchini or eggplant. Other than those things, I'm pretty open to suggestions. If you're interested, send me a friend request on Facebook and ask me to add you into the group. We are close to 200 members and going strong.

So until we meet up in Aruba next week...Peace!