Tuesday, October 30, 2012

God Bless Brazil and Norway!

To conclude our trip to Brazil, Historian cooked the country's national dish , feijoada, for us. It consists of black beans and three kinds of meat. Four of the five of us loved it (one of us never likes anything with beans). Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of that meal. I did, however, capture the kids making an anaconda out of coat hangers, an old bed sheet, twine, paint, googly eyes and red felt. The anaconda can be found in the Amazon Rain Forest of Brazil.





Our anaconda has been found slithering in bushes, climbing in trees, hiding in MY bed sheets, lurking on porch steps and hovering over sleeping teenagers. Who knows where he will turn up next?

Today, we finished up our trip to Norway.

For lunch, Historian made smoked sausage and Norwegian pancakes (pannekaken) which are similar to crepes, served with butter, strawberries and powdered sugar. This meal was a huge hit. The brightly colored table decorations, made by the girls, were inspired by the traditional blue, yellow and red clothing (called "gakti") worn by the Lapps (Sami) people of northern parts of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia.

The kids added the Norwegian flag to the table as well as a "dragon," because the kids say Norway is famous for its dragon legends.  In the back, you might spy a rosemaled box.

Rosemaling is a traditional art of Norway. I thought that the word "rosemaling" had something to do with the rose flower, but it translates as "decorative painting." That explains why the flowers used in rosemaling aren't very good representations of roses. You can see another rosemaled box here.

For dinner, Historian made lefse, a Norwegian cross between potato bread and potato pancakes. All three kids liked these and Historian was requested to make them on a monthly basis.

After boiling the potatoes, Historian riced the potatoes. I think he enjoyed this.

We loved the spaghettified look of riced potatoes.
Tomorrow, we head to France! Au revoir!

Monday, October 8, 2012

God Bless Canada!

While it was a whirlwind trip to Canada, it was an enjoyable one. Here are the photos of our celebration of Canada.

Historian made pancakes for our luncheon celebration.

Once again, Nana joined us for our party. The table is decorated with a Canadian flag, a bear and a wolf, three library books about Canada, a fishing motif table runner, and a pair of cut-out maple leaves.

Historian decided that making pancakes is fun!

Historian's "Canadian Blueberry Baked Dessert" was actually made with Michigan blueberries. Regardless, it was as delicious as it looks.

Given that Canada is our friendly neighbor to the north, we felt it would be fitting to serve Canadian bacon (Historian says that Canadians call it "peameal" bacon) alongside American bacon.

Nana took this rare photo of all five of the Smiths.


Historian kindly delayed digging in while I took this photo of his plate.
As the temperatures drop, we are thankful to be headed to warmer parts of the world tomorrow, if only in our studies. Look out Brazil! Here we come!