Thanksgiving
Happy Thanksgiving to all those in the USA. 
And for the rest of us, it’s nice to reflect on the things we’re grateful for. These flowers are from Swallows Nest Farm in Tasmania, where Grace makes the most beautiful bouquets and arrangements out of Australian native flowers and foliage. And gum nuts. You can see them on her Instagram page.
Last week I had lunch with some author friends, and one of them, Beverley Eikli, brought this Swedish sandwich fish cake dish. It was delicious. It’s called smorgastarta and I looked it up. It’s made with slices of bread, plus sour cream and cream cheese and various kinds of fish (smoked salmon anyone?) and seafood, but you can add in cucumber, avocado, eggs — whatever you like, really. I saw a German one on-line and it was all pickles, sliced sausage, cheese and egg salad.
It’s then assembled into a cake shape — oblong or round — and iced all over with a creamy mix of sour cream and cream cheese — and then decorated. You can go tasteful, as Beverley did here, with herbs and prawns and slices of lemon, or over-the-top, as some I saw on line.
I did a google image search for smorgastarta and wow, some of the decorations really are OTT. One site called it “the Liberace of cakes,” and it’s true. So it’s my kind of cake — savory, delicious and with silly decorations. I’m going to try it out next time I’m asked to “bring a plate” for a summer gathering.
The flowers are beautiful! And I think I might like that sammie thing. I like most seafood so that would be at least interesting to try.
While you don’t really celebrate Thanksgiving like we do, I’ll say Happy Belated Thanksgiving anyway because giving thanks for what we have should never depend on the calendar. :)
Thanks, Theo, and while being thankful should happen all year round, we often need that nudge to remind us.