Herring, the silver of the Sea.

Herring (Clupea harengus).

Herring fish have been caught around the world for many thousands of years. The most abundant species belong to the genus Clupea, there are about 200 species of various herring. They are found in the shallow, temperate waters of the North Pacific, also North Atlantic oceans, the Baltic Sea, and the west coast of South America.

In the Scandinavian and the Nordic region the Baltic Herrings were a very important food source along with the Herring and the sprats (Sprattus sprattus). Herring’s were salted in wooden drums for the coming winter, an oily fish similar to anchovies and sardines that could also be pickled, smoked and cooked as a casserole with potatoes, bacon and onions. Oily fish are a good source of vitamin A, D and the Omega 3. Oily fish and forage fish also can contain contaminants like mercury and dioxin.

Pickled herring also known as Bismarck herrings, it has been a delicacy in Europe for centuries.

The pickling of Baltic herrings is prepared usually in 3 stages: 1. Cleaning and gutting. 2. Soaked in salted pickle over night, drained and finally the third stage placing the herring filets into the final pickle that was briefly brought to boil containing vinegar with spices, onions, peppers and flavor giving vegetables.

The traditional preserving and cooking method of herring used basic ingredients at the time, salt for smoking with various wood types, e.g. apple tree or aspen.

For pickling the ingredients used were; white vinegar, onions, dill, peppers, spice, salt and maybe at better days red wine or sherry. As the food culture grew and experimented with ingredients from other cultures then spices, herbs and vegetables from other cultures got acceptance and became more widely used. The following recipe uses fennel, ginger and kafir lime for a broader flavor range. Enjoy.

Pickled spicy herring Recipe: Ginger, lime and fennel.
Ingredients:
Baltic herring.   1kg.
Red onion.       400g.
Fennel.            1.
Dill.               1 bunch.
Ginger.            25 gram.
Dill seeds.        1 tbsp.
Lime peel.        1 lime.
Kafir leaves.    4.
Schezuan pepper. 1 tbsp.

Stock A.
White wine vinegar.   200ml.
Water.                      100ml.
Salt.            1 tbsp.

Stock B.
White wine vinegar.    100ml.
Water.                        500ml.
Sugar.                        150g.
Salt.             4 tbsp.
Lime juice.   4 limes.

Method.

1. Clean the Baltic herrings from both ends.
2. Combine the ingredients for the first marinade, place the fish filets in a glass jar, pour the first marinade into the gloss jar over the fish, close and allow to marinade in the refrigerator for 6-12 hours, until the color of the fish has changed to white color.
3. Prepare the vegetables by cutting into fine slices or dice and the other flavor adding ingredients and the second marinade.
4. Drain the first marinade off the fish filets well in a strainer.
5. Add some flavor adding ingredients to the jar, followed by a layer of fish fillets, and keep alternating the fish filets with the flavor ingredients until the jar is full.
6. pour the second marinade into the jar over the fish.
7. Refrigerate for a couple of days, every now and then turn the jar upside down and shake to mix the vinegar with the flavor adding ingredients and to distribute the marinade well over the fish fillets.

Serve with crisp rye bread, butter, cheese and a suitable beverage.

Recipe source. SILLI & SILAKKA. Leif Mannerstrom. Atena.

Happy Spring season and many prosperous Farmers markets and fish market herring endeavors in the near future.

Nordic Art prints.

Here are many Nordic art prints available online.

These Nordic Art images are based in Europe, they can be ordered on line. View the image, and choose the frame you like. Pay the cost of the print, frame and the freight, then the framed picture will be sent to you asap.

Arctic blue. This Nordic Art image is a snow fence on top of a tundra mountain. The snow fence has a layer of snow ice over it, and the surrounding environment is lit up with the arctic mid winter hue.

Transparent ice. Picture image of a transparent slab of ice, with drifting white clouds and a blue sly in the background.

Natural Nordic Forest. This Nordic Art print is a summer picture that i took while foraging for berries and mushroom in 2011. There are Bilberries and Lingonberries and cep mushrooms (Boletus edulis).

Red Rose. A Berry season picture with a red rose.

Biodiversity. This image is a macro picture with a tree stump covered with moss, and different types of mushrooms growing on it.

There are many Nordic Art prints available from the four season, the natural environment of the Nordic region goes through extreme seasonal changes.

Nordic Art prints from many seasons; Autumn, winter, spring and summer.
ORDER YOUR NORDIC PRINTS HERE.

To view a You Tube Video of the some of the images available, click on the link below

YOU TUBE VIDEO.

The natural environment is made up of many dynamic living systems and fauna and flora, the Nordic Art prints has captured the many seasonal changes of the environment. Nordic Art prints support the respect and care that natural environments deserve. Do your share for the Nordic environment by sharing the life size pictures that can be seen from the natural Nordic environment.

Order Nordic Art prints at the convenience of ordering online today. Bring Nature indoors home with you, as a reminder of Natures intrinsic beauty.

Saariselka Lapland a fine Travel destination

Saariselka is located at the far north-east of Finland, a busy hub of activities for visiting guests of Lapland.

Well suited for families, tour groups and romantic couples on their honeymoon, there is something to do for everyone at Saariselka. Most common activities during the winter season for the visiting guests are Nordic trail skiing, Snowmobile safaris, Alpine skiing, husky sleigh dogs, snowboarding, snow shoe safaris, health spa, honeymoons, sauna, rest and relaxation, dine & wine, shopping, cafes, socializing and beer in a pub.

Saariselka town has modern tourism infrastructure in place, with tour companies, hotels, motels, igloo village, restaurants, cafes, coach service, taxi service, grocery store, information center, clothing, souvenirs, health spa, gyms, jeweler and more. It is serviced by regular coaches from the two main airports with traffic from abroad, the airports are located at Ivalo and Rovaniemi.

There is also a very long toboggan hill at Saariselka, with a walking distance (10-15min), the length of the toboggan hill is approx 2km. Toboggans are available for hire at a reasonable hour rate, or it may be included in tour group activities. Ski lifts are also within walking distance (15-20 min), there is also a ski bus that runs every hour to the base and the summit of Kaunispää Tundra.

Kaunispää (pretty head) tundra summit.

At the summit of Kaunispää there is a cafe/restaurant and a souvenir shop, with everything from; post cards, key tags, coffee mugs, woolen socks, jewellery to warm clothing. Customer service is always friendly at Kaunispää summit.

Saariselka hub is a dynamic tourist activity town, that has a consistent international clientele touring the area mostly during the winter season; November-April.

Panorama Summit Cafe/Restaurant.

—-> Music video pictures of Saariselka.

—-> Music You Tube Video on the Importance of Balanced Nutrition.

Santa Hotel.

Nordic cuisine at Saariselka

Saariselka is a fine destination to sample the Nordic cuisine represented at the many Saariselka restaurants.

Saariselka at Lapland is located at 68° 25′ 15″ N, 27° 25′ 1.8″ E. It is at the far North East part of Finland.

The name Saariselka translated means “Island ridge”.

Iit is a description of the impression of the view from the tundra summit looking down to the lower areas when there is a mist covering the lower areas and only the high points of the ridge are visible above the mist, and therefore giving the impression that the mist is water and the higher points of the ridge are islands surrounded by water.

Island ridge of the Saariselka

The raw ingredients of the Nordic cuisine of Lapland are mostly traditional ingredients of the far north of Finland.

The proximity to the north cap has shaped the environment and the inhabitants to adapt to the extreme cold of the Nordic winters, and their unique cycles of summer growth and the winter dormant season. Summer season is lush with new growth, mushrooms and many types of berries. The mammals eat berries and mushrooms as the nature provides them to be consumed for fattening of their bodies for the long scarce winter season. Fine highly prized ingredients from the many water ways like; white fish, arctic char, salmon, perch and pike. The salmon from the Barents sea spawn in the river system of the Lapland. During the autumn spawning season the salmon don’t feed, they are very territorial and therefore take the fishermen lure to protect their spawning territory only, but not to feed.

Many of the traditional food items have culturally evolved into the Nordic Cuisine, from the early pioneers of Lapland/Finland over many hundreds/thousands of years.

Like any other region of the world when the pioneers ventured to the new territories they found naturally growing food ingredients in that new environment and also game animals and game birds. Most regions of the world have their unique environment, growing seasons and natural flavors, and the early pioneers utilized that which the nature provided. Combining Nordic game meat with natural tart berries of Lapland for example is an interesting combination of the regional Nordic ingredients and flavors, combination of wild game flavors and the red tart lingon berries of Lapland.

Visitors to Saariselka will quickly become familiar with the environment of this Arctic holiday destination town, there are many quality accommodation Hotels with services in the hub of the town and also units available for guests. It is a town with recreational skiing and Safari Activity programs available, guests visit Saariselka for the active Arctic holiday experience, and to be actively involved and interacting with the natural environment. Mother nature does not give hang overs, but diversions do, deviation from good sensible plans reap their rewards, there are no rewards for stupidity, only tax.

You Tube Video images from Saariselka.

Enjoy your holiday and the experience of Nature at Saariselka.

Nordic cuisine

Nordic cuisine, ingredients and flavors are in many ways a projection of the Nordic seasons, culture and tradition, environment and land.

The Lapland region of Finland and the Nordic cuisine has a strong tradition of using reindeer meat for peoples protein needs as well as the local fish from rivers, lakes and ponds. There are also many game meats in the Nordic cuisine, the most common one is moose, that becomes available during the autumn hunting season. Game birds like wood Grouse, willow Grouse, black Grouse and Hazel Grouse and Pheasants.

Brown bear meat is also available in the far north Finland as part of the Nordic cuisine experience for the tourist interested in trying out novel meat dishes in Lapland. Tourists all over the world like to try out novel food dishes, whether it is Crocodile or Emu dishes in Australia, or monkey meat dishes in the jungle of Amazon.

Nordic cuisine Starting plate from the Lapland region.

Nordic cuisine Tenderloin steak with smoked reindeer, redcurrant jelly and green beans.

Nordic cuisine style Red meat, pan jus and roast vegetables.

The Nordic cuisine items shown above were taken at the Sallan Tuvat, Kiela Restaurant kitchen at Salla Finland, (East Finland) where i was working in 2010.

Sallatunturi.com

Nordic cuisine.

Summer flowers, prime colors and Nutrition

Summer flowers are now blooming in all of the prime colors.

There are red, blue and yellow summer flowers, they are called Primary colors because all other colors derive from them, except black and white, which are not true “colors”.

Every week new types of summer flowers appear along foot paths and road sides, there are flowers on flower plants, and there are flowers on berry plants. Bilberries and Lingonberry plants have flowered, they are showing the small pips of the berries already.

Wild strawberry plants also seem to be more abundant than the previous years, it looks like a promising start to a good berry season. All that can very quickly change if there is subzero night temperature, it could diminish the early berries during the early summer season, it would not be the first time it has happened.

Abundant Prime colors during the summer season can also be translated food and Nutrition later on the season.

The prime colors of the summer flowers, as well as the symmetrical shapes and the perfume scent of the flowers attract insects, bees and birds to do their thing in the seasonal pollinating process of plants and flowers. The advertised message of “food available” in the plants for the insects, bees and the birds, makes the process complete and possible for plants to produce fruit and multiply.

Summer flowers and fruits are really interesting, they share many things in common, they have similar bright colors, they use colors to attract consumers, and they also have similar plant seeds. The color of the flowers may be different to the color of the fruit, e.g. the Bilberry flower is a light pink color, as the fruit is a dark blue color.

Nutrition is most abundant during summer and autumn season in the Nordic region.

Prime Colors and Prime Health.

As mentioned earlier summer flowers and fruits have many things in common, the above link has an alphabetical list of fruits and some related facts about each one.

Summer flowers, prime colors and Nutrition should be on your mind this summer, if you are in the Nordic region.

If you happen to be living elsewhere in the world and it may be a a winter season currently, even then you can have prime colors as a reminder of good healthy Nutrition on your mind, and there are pictures available of summer flowers. For more information on Nutrition follow links.

Nutrition.

Canon EOS 5D Mark 3

Summer is the best season to start using a Canon EOS 5D Mark 3 digital SLR Camera.

There are endless opportunities for taking pictures during the summer season, no matter what your age, gender or motivation energy levels are. Whether you start by taking pictures around your home, neighborhood, town, city or further a field, there are endless opportunities and subject matter to focus on. Light is also important in photography, and optimal light conditions are mostly early in the morning or at evening, at those times the light is softer and not so glaring harsh, summer rain and storm can also filter the natural daytime light to optimal levels. It also depends on the geographical location, the season and whether you are taking pictures indoors or outdoors.

Canon EOS 5D Mark 3 camera is a professional level camera, it does require competence from the user. Competence can be achieved through education and training

Whether you are planning to upgrade and step up in your hobby of photography, Canon EOS 5D Mark 3 a fine professional camera that goes a long way in delivering excellent photos.

Kindle DX

Kindle DX has many with many astounding features like access to a vast global library of books and publications, excellent navigation functions, easy scrolling , large range of text options, and self ebook publication ability.

The new Kindle DX has a large display screen, Kindle DX is also compatible with PDF, MP3 and TXT open formats, also a feature for huge information data holding capacity.

Kindle DX is the new modern gadget with a large screen, also the latest generation portable reader with many fine innovative features like the Kindle DX high contrast e-ink screen for visually clearer text and sharper images. Kindle DX is a serious hi-tech device for demanding work load of; study, research, editorial, freelance or contemplative reading of favorite books.

Kindle Fire

Kindle Fire truly a modern multimedia communication device, from Amazon.

Kindle Fire gives you a platform for multiple inbound channels of information, also access to reading sources from books and magazines. Kindle fire is also device that can be used to watch entertainment through TV channels and Movies. It is a modern multimedia communication device that requires good time management skills and selective will to optimize learning and to process digital information.

Why would you purchase a Kindle Fire communication device, for what purpose?

Movies
Games
Music
Downloading and for reading books and magazines
Amazon’s revolutionary, cloud-accelerated web browser

Kindle Fire has many practical applications, it can deliver information, when mobile and travelling, it is light and convenient.

Over 20’000 000 movies, and TV shows
Thousands of popular applications, e.g. Netflix, Hulu Plus, Pandora, +
Amazon Silky-blitz-fast web browser, built-in Wi-Fi
Free cloud storage for all your Amazon content
Vibrant color touchscreen with extra-wide viewing angle
Fast, powerful dual-core processor
Favorite children’s books and graphic novels

Amazon Kindle reading device does come in various models.

Kindle DX is the largest of them. Size (in inches): 10.4″ x 7.2″ x 0.38″. With a screen that is 9,7 inches diagonal. With a larger screen there is less page turning with documents, also the PDF files remain as on a larger computer screen. Font size can be adjusted much larger when reading documents or books. If you are a professional person with a lot of travel time required, then Kindle DX may be the solution for travelling light and still have access to all the documents that you require. Kindle DX travels well with a protective carry case that easily fits into a shoulder bag.

Share meaningful passages, and say Hello to Kindle DX.

High Contrast E Ink Pearl Screen: Our graphite Kindle DX display uses the latest generation E Ink Pearl technology with 50% better contrast for the clearest text and sharpest images
Beautiful Large Display: The 9.7″ diagonal E Ink screen is ideal for a broad range of reading material, including graphic-rich books, PDFs, newspapers, magazines, and blogs
Read in Sunlight with No Glare: Unlike backlit computer or LCD screens, Kindle DX’s display looks and reads like real paper, with no glare. Read as easily in bright sunlight as in your living room
Slim: Just over 1/3 of an inch, as thin as most magazines
Books In Under 60 Seconds: Get books delivered wirelessly in less than 60 seconds; no PC required
Free 3G Wireless: No monthly payments, no annual contracts. Download books anywhere, anytime
Long Battery Life: Read for up to 1 week on a single charge with wireless on. Turn wireless off and read for two to three weeks.
Carry Your Library: Holds up to 3,500 books, periodicals, and documents
Buy Once, Read Everywhere: Kindle books can be read on all your devices. Our Whispersync technology saves and synchronizes your Kindle library and last page read across your Kindle(s), PC, iPhone, Mac, iPad, Android device, and BlackBerry device
Share Meaningful Passages: Share your passion for reading with friends and family by posting meaningful passages to Twitter and Facebook directly from your Kindle
Global Coverage: Enjoy wireless coverage at home or abroad in over 100 countries. See details. Check wireless coverage map.
Built-In PDF Reader: Carry and read all of your personal and professional documents on the go. Now with Zoom capability to easily view small print and detailed tables or graphics
Auto-Rotating Screen: Display auto-rotates from portrait to landscape as you turn the device so you can view full-width maps, graphs, tables, and Web pages
Read-to-Me: With the text-to-speech feature, Kindle DX can read newspapers, magazines, blogs, and books out loud to you, unless the book’s rights holder made the feature unavailable
Large Selection: Over one million books and the largest selection of the most popular books people want to read, including New York Times® Best Sellers, plus U.S. and international newspapers, magazines, and blogs. For non-U.S. customers, content availability and pricing will vary.
Out-of-Copyright, Pre-1923 Books: Over 1.8 million free, out-of-copyright, pre-1923 books are available to read on Kindle, including titles such as The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, Pride and Prejudice, and Treasure Island. Learn more
Low Book Prices: New York Times Best Sellers and New Releases from $9.99.
Free Book Samples: Download and read first chapters for free before you decide to buy

Kindle touch 3G.

Kindle touch.

Kindle.

Kindle application to home computer or other mobile device.

Kindle Fire Multimedia Communication device is at the top of the Kindle communication and a reading device series from Amazon. Depending on your family entertainment need, focus of interest, study courses or communication, application, there are several models to choose from. Whether your ideal choice is a Multimedia/reading device is Kindle Fire, Kindle DX, Kindle 3G, Kindle touch or the basic basic model of the Amazon Kindle range, it is a truly dynamic reading and storing device, with a capacity to hold more books that you and other ten people will ever have time to read, Kindle is more like a large library than a large book shelf.

Mothers day flowers

Mothers day flowers on the Sunday 13 May 2012, it is the official mothers day this year here in the Nordic region.

Mothers day flowers ready for the next time around, now is the high time to get organized and download some Mothers day flowers, pictures and create something meaningful, e.g. a card, a collage poster or picture email.

Mothers day flowers are available until the Monday 14 May, Sunday is the official Mothers day here in Finland.

The Mothers day flowers and celebrations on the second Sunday of May since 1927, and in 1947 it became an official flag raising day.

Mothers day flowers may not be available fresh, so a flower picture email or a card can be a useful substitute on that Mothers day.

There are many other gift ideas for creative thinking and a primer may be by seeing what is available at other craft gift sites, visit this web site that is Uncommon goods.com.

Uncommon goods.com