Glogg

Do you remember the log song from Ren and Stimpy?

"It's log, it's log, it's big, it's heavy it's wood. It's log, it's log, it's better than bad it's good!"

Anyway, this post isn't about log. It's about glogg. Glogg is a Scandinavian mulled wine...and was the center of a party thrown by our good friend, Jonathan!

Jonathan themed his party around traditional Scandinavian fare. He is Finnish and had lots of great recipes to share. I love how he labeled the treats for us!

Of course I had some glogg and tried all of the vegetarian options. I think the Karjalanpiirakka was my favorite. Or maybe the Pulla (a sweet bread with cardamom - yum!)

Katie ate a cracker bigger than her head.

(just kidding)

Jonathan also incorporated some other fun ideas, like ice lanterns!

And birch scented oils to replicate the aroma of a sauna. Apparently lightly beating oneself with birch branches has a relaxing or massaging effect in traditional Finnish sauna.

And a yule log.

He also planned out 2 Finnish fortune-telling games. One where everyday household items represented your fate. We drew a card that had a picture of an item on it and then used a key to tell us what to expect. Kate's slice of bread and my red button both represented happiness and wealth (boo-yah!)

The second way to tell our fortunes was by casting tin. You melt a small tin horseshoe until it is liquid and then quickly dump it into a bucket of cold water. The tin solidifies in unusual shapes, and using it's shadow you're able to tell what your future holds.

I think mine looked like a dragon or piece you'd find on a pewter, Medieval-themed chess board.

But when we held it to the light, it's shadow looked like either the UK or Cambodia, depending on how you turned it. I took this to mean that there will be traveling in my future - score!

Jonathan has traveled all over the world, and has such interesting treasures decorating his house. Once someone discovered his didgeridoo from Australia, an international jam session broke out! We also found a Scandinavian drum, maracas and a turtle flute from Costa Rica, a Chinese hand drum, and 2 wooden frog instruments from Thailand!

And to prove it was a really fun night, we later discovered how the speakers make a sweet Zack Morris phone!

What do you think?

(source)

Thanks, Jonathan, for a great evening!