Brussels

 

Bad news as soon as I got out of bed. Terrorist attack in Brussels, Belgium this morning!?!? What do these terrorists think? Do they really think these kind of attacks are helping their cause? 
   This one hit a little too close to home. My cousin Maija is working for EU in Brussels. I knew that cell phones were not working in Brussels so I had to call her mom (my aunt) in Finland to find out that Maija was ok. She is fine, even though that Maelbeek subway station is near her apartment. 
   The attack brought back some memories. I have been to Brussels airport  a few times. The first time was 1989. I had  a fifteen hour layover there. Those steel benches in the terminal are really uncomfortable if you want to sleep. The second time was maybe a year later. I had another long layover. This time the police moved everyone to the other end of the terminal, because they had found a suspicious package. That situation was over pretty soon though, and I got to go back to my really uncomfortable bench. 

Snow day

The phone rang this morning around 5:30 am. School was canceled today because of snowy conditions. About twenty minutes later my wife received a similar call from her school. This was the first snow day of the year. We went back to sleep.  Today is February 5th, and that happens to be Runeberg's Day in Finland. Johan Ludvig Runeberg (1804 - 1877) is the national poet of Finland.
   Having a day off gave me an opportunity to commemorate Runeberg's Day by baking some Runeberg's Pastries (Runebergin Torttu). Luckily I had all the ingredients in the house. Mixing the ingredients took about half and hour. Traditionally Runeberg's Torttus are cylinder shaped, but I have always made them in a cupcake forms. 

 The torttus are in the oven.

Here is the first patch. I took some artistic liberties while decorating them. Mr. Runeberg was said to have a sweet tooth so I decided to celebrate his legacy by overdoing the raspberry jam and sugar.