Regardless
of the weather, the Finns escape to their summer cottages for Midsummer and tend
to repeat the same rituals every year. So did we. The weather was rainy and coldest
in 30 years, 8-11 degrees, but self-evidently Midsummer was to be spent in Kemiö.JD and I arrived on Wednesday evening to prepare the house for Midsummer, and the others, 11 members of our family, came on Thursday.
Rose brought six liters of local strawberries and a big bag of bread from Kimitö Bageri.
Butter didn't melt on a potato
On Friday,
Midsummer Eve, we started heating the beach sauna at noon. It takes many hours
to heat it, but once it’s done properly with birch logs the heat will last the
whole night. We set the dinner table outside, as always, knowing it will be too
cold. The Finnish flag was hoisted at 6 p.m. Then we sat down at the table,
sweaters and jackets on, and started the dinner with new potatoes, salmon and Baltic
herring. Butter didn’t melt on the potato, it was so cold…
After the first
course, the children and some of their parents went to the sauna. They
continued the bathing in the outside hot tub, while the other couples went to
the sauna in turns.
JD and I went last, we enjoyed the black smoky renovated
sauna and sat on the terrace watching the cool night, the sea and boats. I
plunged in the sea, too. On the opposite
shore there was a Midsummer fire, but no party noises.
Meat Eaters’
dinner
After some
hours of sauna and bathing, we set the dinner table inside to continue the
dinner with the main course. This was actually the first time ever to eat
inside at Midsummer! Close to midnight JD started grilling special rib-eye
steaks from wagyu beef. He had bought nearly
5 kgs of the meat. That seemed as plenty for 10 adults, but he knows his
family, they’re real meat eaters as soon as they get teeth.
The wagyu meet is said to be one of the most delicious meats in the world. It is very juicy due to intense marbling.
In Japan they even
massage the animals and add beer or sake to their food to make the cows happy and improve the meat’s
flavor. So we ate at midnight the best steaks anybody had ever tasted, the meat
melted in the mouth. Thanks JD! He spent several hours studying the cooking
techniques for this meat. This time he chose to cut the meat in large, half a
kilo steaks which were then cut to slices after grilling. As Emma (8 years)
said, “This meat wouldn’t have tasted so good if someone else than Grandpa had
made it.”
The kids could stay up as long as they wanted,
but the three smallest ones were deeply asleep at midnight. I and Hanna (12 yrs) made the desert.
Local strawberries with a cream of Mascarpone, lime, creme fraiche, vanilla and
whipped cream.
At 3 a.m.
the house became silent – but just for a couple of hours. Baby Vappu (1 yr)
woke up early.
Picking
mushrooms
Saturday
was cold, too. There was even a shower of hail. It was also boring to be
inside. Nelly and Mark went for a walk in the forest and came back with mushrooms. There were also tiny chanterelles popping up. This is supposed to be early
summer – not autumn!! Never before have I seen mushrooms at midsummer.
Twisted
ankle
In the
afternoon, one of the young men sprained his ankle and had to be taken to a
doctor. Salo hospital was the closest emergency room. JD drove him there and
the ankle was taped. It took several hours before they came back. Then we went,
of course, to the beach sauna. The flag was laid down at 10 p.m.
So we had,
once again, a very late dinner (the kids were fed earlier and put to bed). At
midnight we were sitting inside, eating sweet peppers and chicken breasts from
the grill. The discussion continued
until 3 a.m. again. Seems to be a standard here.
Vacation:)
Sunday
morning was windy and plus 10 degrees. Three cars were loaded up and headed
back to Helsinki. I was happy that we didn’t need to leave the island because I
have vacation – 3 weeks ahead without any plans! Well, some visitors coming…
and hopefully warm and sunshine!
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