Snow and Smörgåstårta

More snow, which means SLEDDING!!!!!!!

Rosie absolutely loves this weather!

We also went to our friends house (Nina and Magnus) for a traditional smörgåstårta with their family.

According to Wikipedia:

Smörgåstårta (English: "sandwich-cake" or "sandwich gateau") is a Scandinavian cuisine dish that is popular in Sweden, Estonia (as "võileivatort") and Finland (as "voileipäkakku"). This savory cake is compositionally similar to a sandwich, but it has such a large amount of filling that it more resembles a layered cream cake with garnished top.

The smörgåstårta is normally made up of several layers of white or light rye bread with creamy fillings in between. The fillings and toppings vary, but egg and mayonnaise are often the base, additional filling may vary greatly but often includes one or more of the following: liver pâté, olives, shrimp, ham, various cold cuts, caviar, tomato, cucumber, grapes, lemonslices, cheese and smoked salmon. For the best result, assemble the cake the day before consumption and let it rest in the refrigerator overnight. Decorate the cake on the day of consumption.

Smörgåstårta is served cold and sliced like a dessert cake. The types of sandwich cakes vary from meat, fish, combinations of cheeses and meats to vegan. The smörgåstårta top decor often reflects the ingredients used as a filling. Voileipäkakku (in Finnish) is part of family gathering dishes from birthday parties, weddings or funerals in Finland.

And it looks beautiful!  Such time spent!

Now, I'll be the first to admit that I'm no fan of liver pate, shrimp or caviar, and this night was no exception.  The beauty of this thing is that it's in layers, and you can really eat only the layers that you want, so the part I ate was delicious!  Joacim confirmed that the liver pate part was too :)

This is Joacim's newest buddy, Noa.  He's Nina and Magnus' youngest son, and he ADORES Joacim.

We had a lovely evening eating, hanging out and watching a movie.  They have one of those big leather recliner sofas that completely suck you in.  I'll admit it....I loved it!

Mall of America....again :)

No visit with friends/family is complete without a trip to the Mall of America.  Whenever we go there with Izzy, we make sure to get the rids out of the way right away, otherwise there'll be a LOT of grumbling.

My little psycho knows exactly where I'm standing so she can make this crazy face :)

We got some tickets for this from a friend of ours.  I was only too happy to sit this one out with Izzy :)

She entertained herself by pretending she was holding on to a rope ;)

Last day at the cabin

Not too much to say about this day.  I'm happy that we got a picture of all of us together...look how good the dogs are!!!

Cabin vacation - Day 4

Our 4th day at the cabin happened to be Father's Day, so Izzy gave Joacim his gift right away, and a big hug.  Pretty nice way to start the day, don't you think?  :)

more attempts at fishing

It was a warm day, and eventually I succumbed to the heat and headed into the water.

Izzy had fun collecting rocks

Another nap

And a little rainshower during dinner helped to cool things off a bit

We had another fire this night...Joacim whittled a point on a stick so we could roast some marshmallows

Our friends....

I just needed to display the most perfect toasted marshmallow....ever.

and after we were done roasting marshmallows, Izzy decided to be a sword-fighter

and we had a little toad friend

Cabin vacation - Day 3

I realize that I've only shown a few photos of the cottage itself.  Upstairs, there was a double bed, as well as 4 extra-long bunk beds built into the wall...very Scandinavian style...

Izzy....curled up in a little ball sleeping

cute kitchen

 bright and early in the morning they were out fishing

and I was enjoying my delicious breakfast

Joacim....still fishing

but he finally caught one...a carp no less, but it's still a fish

I love that she's not afraid, and was ready to take out the hook

Izzy was doing some rock throwing, enjoying the sounds and splashes

gawd...she's so damn cute

and so is this little guy

a man...and his grill

we had to make fun of Joacim because he's ALWAYS harping on Izzy to wash her hands before dinner...looks like he could stand a dose of his own advice :)

AAAAAND more fishing (I think he's getting desperate at this point)

We finally built our first fire this night

The fire didn't last too long though, because I remembered that we had these lanterns.  I had bought these for Izzy for her birthday (very "Tangled"-ish), and this particular night was the calmest (wind-wise) that we had.

can I just mention that these things are nearly impossible to light in an easy manner????

but they sure do look pretty floating away....

Izzy was very happy, and ate a granola bar to celebrate (I'm pretty sure she had at least 20 of these over the 5 days we were there)

and Rosie enjoyed a little snuggle....

and I enjoyed some cankles..... :(