Kalla fötter

Efter endast tre månaders äktenskap har Weslie börjat få kalla fötter...Inte bra! Lyckligtvis fann han en ganska enkel lösning på problemet - mammas sockor!

Green Card

Idag har jag äntligen fått mitt green card, så nu är jag officiellt och lagligt bosatt i USA. Skönt att den långa processen är över - åtminstone för några år. Kortet ska förnyas om två år, men det behöver inte tänka på nu. Tack gode Gud!!

I finally got my green card today. We are so excited!! Thanks to everyone who has been praying for us.

Livet i övrigt

Förutom matlagning och bakning sker inte så mycket här att rapportera om. Jag väntar fortfarande på mitt "green card". Jag har börjat söka lite jobb i olika affärer, men har inte fått något ännu. Det gör dock inte så mycket, eftersom Weslie ska på konferens till Ocean City i New Jersey om några veckor och då tänkte vi samtidigt ta några dagar semester för att besöka några av Weslies vänner i Washington DC. Det ser vi fram emot. Nya uppdateringar kommer snart...

Finskt rågbröd - Finnish sourdough ryebread

Det går förstås inte att köpa rågbröd i butiken här, så vi har försökt hitta recept på rågbröd som inte är alltför komplicerat. Det här blev ganska bra, om än inte helt likt Fazers.

It's impossible to buy Finnish rye bread in the stores here, so I had to try to bake it myself. It turned out pretty good.

Surdegen, en blandning av surmjölk och rågmjöl. Denna skulle stå i rumsvärme i fyra dagar, omskakas 1-2 gånger om dagen, och sedan utgöra basen för själva degen.

This is the starter - buttermilk and rye flour.

Brödet blev dock inte så vackert - nästan helt platt, men smaken var det inget fel på. Jag kommer nog sägert att baka det igen.

Ms Raybon's bisquits

My dear husband wanted to make bisquits, which I was happy with - I love bisquits. And these turned out great. He can make them again whenever he wants.

Weslie bakar en slags "frukostmuffins", typisk för amerikanska södern. Man äter den med en slags vitsås eller med korv och ägg. Jättegott (dock inte alternativet med såsen)!

Pound cake

So I wanted to try to bake a pound cake. The result wasn't perfect but it tasted pretty good. Maybe next time...

Weslies mamma Sylvia och farmor Rosa Lee gör jättegoda "pound cake", en typisk sockerkaka från södern. Jag ville prova baka den jag också. Resultatet blev inte så vackert, men den smakade nästan som mammas...

Side project

Kristina and I have started another blog (it won't replace this one!), which we'll use to post our current translation projects. Check it out!

Theologia Nordica

For Butch and Leah

We finally broke out the knife sharpener a few weeks ago. It's awesome!! Thanks for a great gift!

Sausage making - round IV

Stuffer loaded with casings and ready to go!

Here we go! Not too bad, not too bad!

The finished product before linking. Yes, I'm leaning back for emphasis!

Twist every four to five inches...

Finito! This was really great fun! We think we'll move onto a dry-cured sausage in a "Sacisson Sec"...These will be grilled this weekend!

Sausage making - round III (real intestines!)

The only way to go when stuffing sausages is all-natural pork (or sheep) casings. This means small intestine! You can see the look on my face for a reaction. The casings have to be cleaned by running water through them.

Small knot in my stomach!

Finally got them opened up and the water flowing.

"This is not gross, this is not gross, this is not gross..."

Casings finally loaded onto the stuffer attachement.

Sausage making - round II

The next step is to measure all of the seasoning and spices.

On the left are the spices for the breakfast sausage (brown sugar, cayanne pepper, pepper flakes, sage, rosemary, thyme) and on the right is the mix for the Italian sausage (white wine, pepper flakes, fennel seeds, fresh garlic).

Yum!

Here it is all in, ready to be mixed.

After mixing and before stuffing, it's recommended to make little patties and fry them up to taste the seasonings. They were pretty good!

Sausage making

One of our major purchases with our Amazon.com money was the meat grinder attachement for our Cuisinart mixer so I could try my hands at a challenging new hobby - sausage making.

Meat grinder attached and as the pork meets it's doom.

Step one is to cut the pork into 1 inch stripes so that it will fit in the grinder.

Done! Yes, I decided to grind some bacon into some of the pork. I decided to make two very simple kinds of sausages in order to become familiar with the hardware and process. On the left is the meat and fat for Italian sausage, on the bottom right is meat for a "Southern" breakfast sausage, and on the top right is meat for an stuffed cabbage dish I made that night.

Now to the grind!

Finished!

Knife update!

You may not have noticed, but the "Save the Knife" donate button has been taken down. Thanks to all who donated or chose to make it a wedding gift! We collected enough money to purchase one knife:

It's oh so nice and oh so sharp!

One more reason...

I love my wife. Amazing salmon soup and homemade carrot bread:

Pittsburg day trip II

After a wonderful lunch with Rev. Eric Andrae (pastor, scholar, fluent Swedish), we were invited to take a look at his church, First Trinity Evangelical Lutheran:

And see the parsonage!

A very beautiful church:

Day trip - Pittsburgh

Last Monday, Kristina and I decided to take a day trip to Pittsburgh to check out some of the city's neighborhoods and try and find some inexpensive spices we can't get in Butler.

We parked just down from the Heinz museum (very nice, clean bathrooms).

Our main goal was to see "The Strip", which is a large multi-ethnic neighborhood. We couldn't resist the Pennsylvania Macaroni Company (est. 1902). They had a huge, huge cheese and meat selection...however, no money equals no purchase! Just drooling.

Next, we went into a big chocolate and candy store. Kristina zeroed in on this authentic Finnish licorice. Ugh...

Here is the rest of the store, which I was much more interested in.

On our way to see First Trinity Evangelical Lutheran, we happened upon Finland St.!

Personnummer

Äntligen har jag fått mitt personnummer (social security number)! Nu kan jag söka jobb, skaffa körkort, bibliotekskort, och mycket annat. Förhoppningsvis hittar jag något att syssla med.