Palm Sunday

Leave a reply

The spring weather here continues on today on this palm Sunday, the sun is shining bright and getting stronger by the day.  It really shows on the snow surface, it shrinking and evaporating each day as the sun bakes it down.

palm sunday

Reeds on the sea shore.

 

There are no palm trees here waving in the wind, bu there are lots of reeds standing tall in the snow. The reeds along the shore are usually broken down by the wind and the waves during a high tide during the late spring.  Then they start again with re growth once the weather and the water is sufficiently warm for the young shoots to grow.

There is an old custom that originated from karelia for the young people to participate on the Palm Sunday, it is called Virpominen. The children decorate with a colorful ribbons a small branch of a willow called the pussy willow. and they then bless their family and friends with the willow branch for good luck and good health. They wave the willow branch and tell a short rhyme, then hand over the willow branch to the person that they have “virponeet” (blessed) and then they are given lollies or a small token.

The origins of the Palm Sunday “virponta” goes back to the eastern orthodox church, the ritual was done to bring blessing of good health to the person and to drive away evil. From the ancient of times the willow branches has been a symbol of blessing.  They custom also forbid to bless strangers, only friends of the family.

There is also the darker side done on the palm Sunday, it is that of using witch costumes, it is said by the eastern orthodox that the witch customs originate from the western Finland witches history.

Happy palm Sunday.

Spring season with sunshine

Leave a reply

No doubt about it, the spring has arrived once again to the Nordic region, the first signs are the calm weather, blue clear skies and sunshine.

Then there are the signs from melting snow and ice, water drizzle down the path ways and the road side. The lakes and the sea gives way to clear ice-free water and then the migrating water birds flock to and float on the first ice-free waters of the new year, a another  breeding season begins for the migrating birds that are anticipating the summer already, it is in their genes, and they know it.

There could be occasional brief snow shower and maybe a shower of sleet, but it is expected that the clear weather persists which means cold sub-zero temperatures during the night-time.  The early morning frost will mostly abate by lunch time, at least here on the west coast and the south parts of Finland.

The month of February last year was still had the winter feel about it, that’s how much the season can vary from year to year? Sometimes there is a good 50-60 cm of snow on the ground in February, but this year on the west coast there is very little, maybe 10 cm at places. Fair to say, that this year was not a good year for the snow sports in the south.

On the positive note is that the bike tracks and roads will be clear of snow and ice soon, which means that the bike cycles will come out earlier than usual during the spring. That means a lot of people will get active riding a bike to work and leisure and not catching a bus or driving their car.  That is a win for all round for health & fitness and the environment.

Natural Nordic ingredients

Leave a reply

The Nordic region has it’s own unique environment and it’s own natural Nordic ingredients, the ingredients are the tell tale of the long arduous struggle of the ever changing ecosystems on the planet.

As ecosystems are defined by the network of interactions among organisms, and between organisms and their environment. The plants and berries that we enjoy today and that have been around for hundreds or thousands of years, it is to their glory as successful plants and species of the current time.

The Bilberry is part of several species of shrubs in the genus Vaccinium bearing edible berries.  In the Finnish language they are called Mustikka,it refers to the color of the berry as being black (musta).  The berries were also called black-hearts in 19th century south-western England.

Bilberries as a natural Nordic ingredients, are a great nutrition source, they can be enjoyed as fresh berries, also made into berry juice or jam as an concentrate, also included as a filling for many baked products.  Bilberry flavored milk shakes, ice cream or thick shakes or a smoothie.  The berries frozen and used as a garnish to decorate desserts or used as a condiment on breakfast cereal. Bilberries are a good source of flavonoids, which induce antioxidant activity.

Most people in Finland/Nordic countries gather Bilberries during the summer and store them in the freezer for the winter months, an amble supply of 20-30 liters can supply berries to the food table throughout the 6 month winter/spring time.

Music You Tube Video on the Importance of Balanced Nutrition.

Pori Baltic Herring festival Markets 2012

Leave a reply

The Pori Silakka Markkinat (Baltic herring festival markets), is on this week end, starting on Friday 31 August, and finishing on Sunday 2 September,  a three day event.

Pori Baltic Herring festival markets is annual event, it is a great place to discover some of the regional food products and some Finnish traditional foods and broader European flavors.  There are as well many local products, handcrafts and clothing stores.

Also for many  organic health food ingredients, some of them are:

  • Sea-buckthorn berry products (Tyrni), there are concentrated juices, including that the berry seeds are crushed, so that the omega 3, 6,and 9 are accessible to the consumer.
  • Wild honey from Lapland.  Many varieties of Lapland honey, some of the ones I tasted were; Raspberry and wild meadow. Bees feed on the flowers of various plants in their given environment, there can be a sugar difference in the honey they produce, e.g. honey rich in fructose, and honey rich in glucose, just to name a few. The visible difference is in the color of the honey.
  • Glow baked salmon (traditional method) cooked on the spot with an open fire place.
  • Fruit and vegetables, apples and variety of fresh and dried local mushrooms.

Pori Baltic herring festival 2012 is also the Autumn festival on the calendar, end of the summer season, the weather cools down, the tree leaves change color,  and eventually fall of the trees bright red or yellow color. Another cycle of the seasons completed, and the mother nature prepares to shut down for the long cold winter of hibernation.

That is another good reason for photography hobbies, to capture and record the bright highlights of summer, and the sparkling cold white winter landscapes, with surreal flow of the snow. To see some pictures from teh Nordic summers and winters gone by, visit the following picture gallery.

Here is a link to a picture gallery; Pori Baltic Herring Festival 2012.

Nutrition at the Pori Jazz festival 2012.

Leave a reply

I went out to the Jazz festival to see what types of activities were on, and what kind of food venues, food service and snacks was available for the public at the market streets.

As usual the Pori market square (Pori tori) had a vast supply of fresh fruit and vegetables available, for everyday nutritional needs, and fresh fish and cooked fish products.  Many fresh flower stalls, craft and art items, and household items and summer wear also.

I found a lot of a lot of information on government services and local business, as a trade show there was a lot of brochures, refreshments and information packs, ranging from the Custom services to the protected National parks and wild life.

At the jazz street, on the south bank of the Kokemaki River, there are many food stalls and services, one in particular has fine dried berries and fruits, large range of nuts.  Also marinated and stuffed olives, and many great flavor filled items to add to your summer salad ingredients, available from the Pori farmers market.  Natural candy cherries, candied cranberries, dried strawberries, mango, kiwi fruits, sour cherries and pineapples, is a great good health alternative to the common food additive and color lollies, natural fruit and berries dried for snack foods.

Fresh salad ingredients, and marinated ingredients, add them to your summer salad table daily. Tomato salad, with fresh basil, Feta cheese and vinaigrette dressing.  Boiled new potatoes, fresh mint, boiled eggs, dried apricot pieces, and mixture of almonds and hazelnuts, with a french dressing and a baguette.  Many other suggestions by adding fruit and nut ingredients to a fresh fruit salad.

Pori Jazz week offers many family activities and entertainment, free concerts at various stages during the day time,  As always at the same time pick up some fresh fruit and vegetables, fresh fish products and flowers at bargain prices from the Pori Tori. By doing this you are supporting the local farmers markets, local food producers and small business operators, all in the name of Traditional Culture, Health and Nutrition.

 

Pori Jazz 2012.

Leave a reply

Pori Jazz is on again from the 14 to 22 July 2012.

There is a lot of activity at the market place, fruit and vegetables stalls, food stalls and many types small business shop fronts, from local products, health care, souvenirs, clothing, craft and arts and Jazz music concerts.

My focus on day one was on the available food stalls that provided good quality nutrition, and i did find many places that provided good wholesome ingredients and ready made food items.

Top of the list like always was the Pori market square farmers markets, also known as the Pori Tori.  There is fresh supply of fresh fruit and vegetables as well as the many fresh fish shops with whole fresh fish and cooked, smoked, salt cured fish products.

Pori Jazz 2012 week has a lot of activities lined up for this week, including local and state political forums and debates.  Maukasmaku.com will visit Pori Jazz 2012, and post some pics and articles on some of the food and nutrition related items and topics that can be found at the markets streets of Pori Jazz 2012.

Strawberry plant

Leave a reply

Where is the origin of a strawberry plant, any ideas, would you like to guess, here is some information that i found out about a strawberry plant.

There are indigenous species of a strawberry plant, and also the other “commercial”, bigger, brighter, golf ball size ones that have been cultivated and crossed to maximize crop yield.

Not all strawberry plants are equal, neither are all strawberries equal, they look different, they taste different and they are different.

In the cultivation of a strawberry plant, similar to general fruit and vegetables there are two extremes, the opposite poles,  just like there are the two extreme ends of human personality traits.  The Considerate versus inconsiderate, active versus passive, diligent versus lazy, creative versus dull, fast versus slow etc.

Strawberry plant

Copy @ All Rights reserved 2012.

 

We all know there are two stereo types of business people, on one side there is the one with passion for the product, takes into consideration the growing conditions of the plant, and the quality of the product for the customer.  On the other side there is the other stereo type that is in it just for the money, and does not care about the product, nor about the growing conditions or the quality of the product that the customer gets.  You know the one, we have all met both types specially being employed for someone else over the years.  The latter does not give a hoot whether what/when/amount of chemicals and fertilizers are being used.  They are the type of people that should not be in agriculture or in any food industry, they should be in a another appropriate industry. A debate about the above issue would go something like this; Bigger the strawberries grow, bigger the business profit, sold by weight of the product, not quality, and that the customers want to buy products as cheap as possible, they drive the markets.  Also that it’s not only the strawberry plant that has been cross bred to perform, but also almost every other fruit and vegetables that are being farmed and cultivated.  So it seems that the business viability assessment and the profit margins is what determines what the fruit and vegetables are being fed.

Here is a citation from a web page.

Indigenous species of strawberries have been found in most of the world’s arable landmasses, with notable exceptions including Australia; South America east of the Andes Mountains; the Middle East; and Africa (theFragraria vesca strawberry species has been grown in the Middle East and northern Africa for a very long time and may also be native to those areas.  Strawberries for strawberry lovers.com

The wild strawberry of the Nordic region is fairly tiny small berry , compared to the cultivated type that is being sold at the supermarkets.

Just one cultivated strawberry weighs about the same as 5-6 wild strawberries.  The worst flavor with strawberry is the one with no flavor, just bland water, cells and fiber.  Strawberries that have being grown super fast lack flavor, they look bright and beautiful, but they have very little or no flavor.

Nordic Nutrition-Strawberry plant.

“However, the “garden” variety of strawberry plant with which most of us are familiar today are known as Fragaria ananassa. “Ananassa” is Latin for “ananas-like”; Ananas comosus is the botanical name for the pineapple plant; and the strawberry plant was so named because of the supposed resemblance of the “berry” to a pineapple plant in shape, smell and taste. The F. ananassahybrid is a cross between Fragaria chiloensis (the “Chilean strawberry”) andFragaria virginiana (the “Virginian strawberry”).”

strawberry plant

Pineapple look alike. Copy @ All Rights Reserved 2012.

 

Whether it is the Fragaria ananassa variety or not, the growing procedure and the season determines the outcome of the fruit not only with the strawberry plant.  There is a lot being said about the growing of grapes, and how it affects the flavor of wine, and how little being said about the growing of strawberries.

“Among those that received a living F. chiloensis plant from Frézier was theRoyal Medicinal Garden in Paris, France. Consequently, it has long been speculated that the first F. ananassa strawberries may have grown in this royal garden. Whether this is correct or not, it is certain that the first “garden” strawberry cultivars did sprout somewhere in the southern England-northern France-Benelux region of western Europe.”

“Nevertheless, the first cultivated crossings of F. virginiana x F. chiloensisoccurred in Europe sometime within the roughly half century span from 1714 to 1766.”

Where did the strawberry plant originate?  It is still a mystery to me, we know that there are indigenous strawberry plant species in North America, and the south America, also strawberries grow in the Pacific islands e.g. Hawaii.  Maybe after more study and reading i can update this post with more details later on.

For more pictures of Wild Nordic strawberry plant. Nordic cuisine focus.

8 health benefits of a Strawberry plant, 1 cup full of nutrition from strawberries. For more pictures of a wild strawberry plant click on this hyperlink.

Health Diaries.com

 

strawberry plant

White flower pedals of a strawberry plant. Copy @ Rights Reserved 2012.

 

 

Kielo

Leave a reply

Kielo name day is on the 14 June in Finland, Kielo is also the National flower of Finland, since 1967.

Lily of the valley flower in English, is called the Kielo kukka, in the Finnish language.

Convallaria majalis, commonly known as the Lily of the Valley, is a poisonous woodland flowering plant native throughout the cool temperate Northern Hemisphere in Asia, Europe and in the southern Appalachian Mountains in the United States. -Wikipedia.

Legends and tradition.

The flower is also known as Our Lady’s tears or Mary’s tears from Christian legends that it sprang from the weeping of the Virgin Mary during the crucifixion of Jesus. . Other etiologies its coming into being from Eve’s tears after she was driven with Adam from the Garden of Eden.  –Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lily_of_the_Valley

Other names include May lily, May bells, lily constancy, ladder-to-heaven, male lily, and muguet (French). In Bulgarian and Macedonian it’s called момина сълза /momina.səlza/ and момина солза respectively, meaning “lass’s tear”. -Wikipedia.

In the “language of flowers“, the lily of the valley signifies the return of happiness. Legend tells of the affection of a lily of the valley for a nightingale that did not come back to the woods until the flower bloomed in May.

All parts of the plant are highly poisonous, including the red berries which may be attractive to children.[13][14] If ingested—even in small amounts—the plant can cause abdominal pain, vomiting, and a reduced heart rate. -Wikipedia.

Here are some scientific terms for the Kielo flower plant.

Kielo (lilly of the valley flower.

Scientific classification:

Kingdom: Plantae

Clade: Angiosperms

clade: Monocots

Order:  Asparagales

Family:  Asparagaceae

Subfamily: Nolinoideae

Genus: Convallaria

Species:  C.majalis

 

Nutrition

Leave a reply

Nutrition is vital to good health and the six main classes of nutrients are the essential building blocks to a healthy human body.

The Nutritional structure as a whole, in six essential building blocks.

It is beneficial for a balanced healthy diet, that the individual blocks of nutrition is obtained from a healthy food types.  Carbohydrates can be obtained mostly from vegetables,  variety of fresh vegetables are much more beneficial to your health than eating a lot of refined white flour products like pastry products, white bread, pasta, white rice and so forth.

Vegetables come naturally in the full spectrum of bright colors that say; pick me, take me, eat me, buy me, cook me.  The world is full of bright colors, colors make the world more attractive and beautiful, and generally,  eating more vegetables will make people’s health more beautiful on the inside.

1) Carbohydrates,
2) Fats,
3) Minerals,
4) Protein,
5) Vitamins, a
6) Water.

To learn and read more about Nutrition click on this link Choice Books.

Nutrition in fish oil products.

The Nutritional benefits that fish and sea food provide is grouped into two categories; the Proteins and the rich Omega-3 acids.  For more information click on this link Fish Oil Products.

Nutrition as a Scientific research reveals there are two specific groups of nutrients; one of them consumed in large quantities; the Macro-nutrients, and those needed in smaller quantities; are the Micro nutrients.

The macro-nutrients contain carbohydrates (including fiber), fats, protein, and water.
The micronutrients are minerals and vitamins.

 

Skiing and snowboarding.

Leave a reply

Skiing and snowboarding in Lapland is great.

The proximity of Lapland to the Arctic region ensures that the winter snow season is long and enjoyable, with lots of snow and sub-zero conditions for great Skiing and snowboarding.

Skiing and snowboarding in this Spring season has arrived also most of the winter snow in the south has melted and run off down the waterways and to the sea.  Zillions of snow flakes floated down from the clouds in the sky and settled on the ground for a season, and eventually during the spring they compress into dense ice and transform shape and state into liquid water.  In the south Skiing and snowboarding will wait for about 8 months until the next winter and snow.

Skiing and snowboarding this spring 2012 still on in Lapland.

With plenty of snow on the ground and the slopes well-groomed the spring Skiing and snowboarding is happening at many locations including Ylläs Tundra. Ylläs Tundra is a mountain that stands at 719 metres tall, that is a very high altitude in the Nordic region of Finland, most Tundra mountains/hills are approx 500 meters elevation.

Skiing and snowboarding launch from all sides of the Ylläs Tundra.

There is a small township  called Ylläsjärvi (Ylläs lake) on the east side base of the of the Tundra mountain.  Further up the slope is a ski resort village called the Iso Ylläs (Big Ylläs).  On the north side is a township called Äkäslompolo and the Äkäslompolo lake.  Further up the north slope is a ski center called Y1.  There are several restaurants/food outlets, professional instructors, equipment advise and equipment hire services and sales.

Skiing and snowboarding from Ylläs Summit.

For Skiing and snowboarding there are many slope options to choose from, depending on the level of competency and experience. There are slopes on the east face of the Tundra mountain as well as the north and west side.  Also there is also Off Piste options especially after fresh snow falls and when the conditions allow it is very popular among the Skiing and snowboarding fans.  A gondola ride to the summit gives a sweeping 360 degree view of the Nordic Lapland of north Finland.  During the winter and the spring the view restricted by a cloud cover and forceful winds, but there are early mornings when the view is open with a clear blue sky and small puffs of the arctic wind.

Skiing and snowboarding in April 2012 is possible because of the deep snow cover over the slopes of the Tundra. Spring season is the favorite season by most alpine and x-country skiers and snowboarders.  The sky is blue, sun is warm and bright, snow conditions vary from day-to-day, usually icy early in the morning and softening as the day grows and warms up.  Skiing and snowboarding holiday is what you make of if, and in the spring the weather is more predictable warm and friendly.

 Skiing and Snowboarding.