Pizza!

If you come to Finland - you'll be able to find many  pizza shops and kebab houses (shops).
Well, there's one nearby called Sebastian and we were told from some pretty reliable sources that their pizza was HUGE and amazing.

Lately neither my husband or I have been getting a lot of sleep - so we thought we'd go and get a pizza from Sebastian's and I was excited! (I normally do the cooking...so a night "off" was a great thing!)

When ordering a pizza there - there are two sizes.  "Normal" or "Family".  We opted for a larger size and got a "Sebastian Special Pizza".  It cost 17� and had the following toppings:  Bacon, salami, ham, minced meat, kebab meat and house mayonaise.

You read correctly - MAYONAISE on a pizza!!!
Finns seem to like to take a walk on the wild side with pizza here...

Some other ingredient options?

• Reindeer (usually smoked and crumbly like ground beef)
• Peaches
• Eggs
• Curry mayonaise or garlic flavoured
• Blue cheese
• Sour cream
• Leek
• Capers
• Taco sauce
• Asparagus
• Olives
• Banana

And of course there are the regular toppings like: pepperoni, bacon (real pieces of cooked bacon), mushrooms (usually canned unless you order from Rosso's - a chain located downtown), bell pepper etc.

So what did our pizza look like?

It was folded to fit into the box...yup.

And it was pretty tasty - although we skipped the mayonaise....and there were plenty of left-overs afterward too!

The staff are pretty nice there - especially the fellow with the bald head and HUGE smile...he also speaks English (most of their staff do).

I also got a "pizza" card - so every time we buy a pizza we get a stamp.  Family sized ones get 2 stamps...buy 9 get the 10th one free (normal size I assume).

Restaurant Day!

Something that is relatively new in Finland is something called "Restaurant Day".

I have never participated or heard about such a thing until this morning, when I checked my email at about 630am.... a friend sent it over and suggested I participate and set up shop next time Finland has a Restaurant Day.

What is Restaurant Day?  Well, based on this link my friend sent me, in English, it's a day that is organized online, and people can set up a little "cafe or restaurant" on that specific day without any regulations to sell food they have baked or cooked.  (Think like a bake-sale!)

This is a great way to try new food and to educate others about your country, especially if the food is not of the Finnish variety.
(And also a fabulous way to make some cash under the table!)

You have to go to the above link to register your Restaurant name and location and when the day arrives - you set up shop!  It can be anywhere!  There was such a wide variety of food too!!!

Some examples of what people did were:

• Serving outside
• Serving from their kitchen window (bottom floors)
• Serving from upper floors via basket and pulley system
• Serving inside their home or bringing the food to yours
• Serving smoked BBQ ribs
• Serving "greasy American food" (perfect for the Finnish hang over)
• Serving soups, baked goods, Finnish food, food from Japan...
• One Restaurant donated 1� from each meal towards breast cancer research!

I am interested in trying out this and setting up shop somewhere (since my Finnish friends seem to really enjoy the baking and cooking coming from our kitchen) - so perhaps I will sell in Jyv�skyl� some day!
And there is also a Facebook Page too!  Just look up "Restaurant Day"!

(Did anybody sell in Jyv�skyl� or know of anyone who participated in Restaurant Day here??)