“Mom, this is the best Christmas ever”

Villa Petsved has calmed down for Christmas. Jussi Eskola

First there were carrots, beets and pumpkins from our own vegetable garden. Then the apples in the garden were made into cider and the deer forest became prey. Almost unnoticed, Sorainen’s Christmas table was full of self-cultivated, hunted, baked and prepared food.

– A year ago we had our first Christmas here in Porvoo, and the first Christmas our family spent in their own home, says Blue Sorainen.

Just before corona, the Sorais bought an early 20th century log villa in the countryside of Porvoo. Gradually, the renovation and restoration work has been completed.

The family has a home in the center of Helsinki, but during their free time they are almost always at Villa Petsvedi – and of course at Christmas, the atmosphere of which the whole family of three loves.

Up until now, the family has spent Christmas in a suitcase at their in-laws’ or siblings’ house.

There is the peace of Christmas in your own log house. A ten year old Elsa– the daughter’s words whispered to her mother the night before say it all:

– Mother, this is the best Christmas ever.

Pumpkin marmalade was made from the harvest from our own vegetable garden and lemon curd was made from zucchini already in early autumn, and tomatoes were also jammed then.

– The tomatoes didn’t have time to ripen outside, so I took them inside. Suddenly I had 30 kilos of ripe tomatoes, Sini laughs.

He used the tomatoes to make sauce bases and jams. Sini put jam sugar, vinegar, cinnamon and star anise into the jam.

– It’s great in mushroom risotto, over pasta or with meats.

The Sorais did most of the food preparations on the eve. Boxes, breads and buns were baked in the oven.

All of the Sorais that were served on the Christmas table were made by themselves. Only the cheeses and dessert came from Sin’s parents and sister.

Sini had prepared and frozen a large amount of gingerbread dough, of which a suitable amount was fried in the airfryer at once (the electric oven was not heated due to a few gingerbread cookies). The house was filled with the delicious smell of gingerbread throughout Christmas.

Christmas in Porvoon was just as peaceful and atmospheric as the Sorais had dreamed: they picked a Christmas tree from their own forest, on the eve we went for a long run in the forest with the dogs, heated mulled wine, went to the sauna and ate well.

At Christmas, two sourdough breads, two island breads and two bun wreaths were baked in the oven, then the boxes and finally the meat.

– The baking oven worked perfectly, although you had to be careful with the bun crown so that the bottom didn’t burn, Sini praises.

The Sorai are almost self-sufficient in meat, thank you Samuel’s. Last year, the Christmas table featured deer fillet shot in Nummi-Pusula.

When the membranes were removed from the meat, a mixture of dry spices was rubbed on its surface.

– The surfaces of the meat were fried in a hot pan, and the final cooking was done in the oven. To prevent the meat from overcooking, a meat thermometer is important, advises Samuel.

Six apple trees grow around Sorainen’s house, from which apple juice was pressed in the village’s juice factory. The idea was to test whether my own cider would be successful. It succeeded.

You had to be quick with the cider. We had to quickly get cider yeast into the fresh apple juice, so the fermentation vessel was ready at home, waiting for the juice. The dish was taken to the cellar for a couple of months to ferment. When the bubbling stopped, the cider was clarified and bottled.

– The cider was so good that I already started planning that maybe we should plant a couple of real cider apple trees, Sini plans.

By chance, my own apple juice also got into the island bread. Sini had forgotten buttermilk from the shopping list, so she had to come up with something else instead. Because of one buttermilk, it was not worth going on a shopping trip of tens of kilometers.

– In some recipes, orange juice was added, but since we didn’t have it, I added my own apple juice. The bread turned out surprisingly juicy.

This year, Villa Petsvedi has prepared for the Sorainen family’s second Christmas in Porvoo. For Christmas, the pumpkins, apples and beets have already been preserved and the roast goose is waiting in the cold. Other game has been caught from the forest.