The time was right. The airlines had a sale. Off I went to visit a long-time friend in Finland for nearly a week. I forgot to mention it was November, in other words, the start of winter. Yes, it was colder than Miami Beach. We had gray days, rainy days, a bit of snow, and bright, crystal clear sunshine-filled days. It was a relaxing week filled with museum visits, tourism, shopping, and food adventures.

Karelian pastries. The first time I ventured north to visit this friend some years ago she introduced me to Karelian pastries, karjalanpiirakka, a kind of savory hand pie. Funny story, in the many intervening years, another Finnish individual attended an international museum conference that I was part of. Oh, I shared with her that I really liked Karelian pastries. She brought me a bag full, freshly baked along with real Finnish butter. So delicious.

Karelian pastries are made of a rye dough filled with rice porridge and topped with chopped, hard boiled eggs mixed with butter. It might be an acquired taste to non-Finnish people, but I found it delicious – crunchy and soft and a bit salty. Many recipes are found on line if your curiosity is piqued.

My friend organized our first day as a baking day, among the best ways to spend a gray, cloudy day. The next day filled with rain and a bit of wind was designated “museum day.”

The night before she made the rice porridge filling, simply short grain rice slowly cooked down with milk.

We started the morning with boiling a few eggs for the topping.

Next was assembling the simply dough using rye and wheat flour. And rolling out each little pastry shell. Each was filled with a good spoonful of porridge, then the edges crimped to make the proper form and into the oven for the allotted time.

As our pastries baked, my friend assembled the “egg butter,” chopped up boiled eggs mixed thoroughly with butter.

I think Karelian pastries are delicious. Something very different from our daily fare here in South Florida, though the largest Finnish-American community outside of Europe is found about a 2  hour drive north!

Finnish blueberry tart. Later in my Finland week, my friend introduced me to Finnish blueberry tart, baked by one of her sisters. She gave me her mother-in-law’s recipe* and on the return home, I gave it a try using blueberries from the depths of the deep freeze. They were the little wild berries like in Finland, not the large berries most Americans prefer. I’ll admit, my result needs work, just not as beautiful as the one I enjoyed in Finland! Yes, it’s way too brown around the edges. Nevertheless, Constant Companion enjoyed a taste of Finland. I’m sorry that I forgot to snap pictures of the beautiful tart her sister baked for me.

*If you search Finnish blueberry tart on-line most recipes you’ll find include cream. My friend is adamant that Granny’s pie uses no cream.

Granny’s Blueberry Pie. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees, 200 degrees C. For the crust, mix well 10 tbsp. of butter or margarine with ½ cup of sugar. Add and mix in 1 egg. Next add and mix in 1 ¼ cup of wheat flour, and 1 tsp. of baking powder. Spread into a tart pan. Fill with 1 2/3 cups of blueberries with a little bit of sugar added. Bake for 30 minutes.

Blueberry Pie with Graham Cracker Crust. In the meantime, as images and tastes of Finland fade into delightful memories, I got several boxes of American large blueberries. My family does not enjoy pies, so I rarely bake them. But there were so many berries that I thought I’d give it a try. I had a graham cracker crust on-hand thinking to bake my special pecan pie (see 11-27-21 post) and decided to us it for this pie.

Start by making the filling. In a large saucepan, combine the ¾ cup sugar (I used one ½ cup and it was still really sweet), 1/3 cup cornstarch, and ¼ tsp. salt. Gradually add enough water to dissolve the sugar, cornstarch, and salt; stir until smooth, then add 2 cups of fresh blueberries. Bring the mixture to a boil and cook, stirring occasionally, until thickened, one to two minutes. Remove from the heat and cool to room temperature.

Once the filling has cooled, stir the remaining 4 cups of blueberries and some lemon juice into the mixture. Spoon the blueberry filling into the crust, then cover and refrigerate the pie until chilled, one to two hours. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Some recipes include adding a few pats of butter to the filling. I skipped this ingredient.

Note from the recipe. Allow the filling to cool completely before filling the pie. If warm, emitted steam from the filling will get trapped and condense, leading to a soggy crust.

I am fortunate to have been able to enjoy different types of food when I travel. I think this is one of the necessary components of visiting other parts. My versions of some of the dishes I’ve tried become integrated into my kitchen repertoire, much to the enjoyment of my family.