Members and guests had a fabulous time exploring the Puustelli® Kitchen Showroom and cooking with “Chef Anna” on Wednesday, June 12th!
Bjorn Freudenthal, co-founder of the Minneapolis showroom, kicked off the evening with an introduction to Puustelli which has been in business for 100 years. The cabinets and designs have been the favorite for kitchens in Finland for over 30 years. The showroom is set-up with a variety of functioning kitchen areas so the consumer can have a “real” experience shopping for their design preferences. Many options can be viewed for kitchen, bath and bar cabinet layout and options, finishes, countertops, and hardware. If anyone is looking to update their kitchen with sleek, modern, eco-friendly lines then Puustelli is a must stop and shop to see all the possibilities.
The food fest kicked off with a glass of prosecco wine and appetizers. Chef Anna spoke a bit about her cooking philosophy which is essentially recipes are merely a starting point! The group then broke up between five cooking stations to work together to prepare our Nordic inspired meal for the evening. The five recipes included; Nordic Summer Vegetable Soup, Lohikeitto (Finnish Salmon Soup), Vispipuuro (Whipped Cranberry Porridge), Karjalanpiirakka – Karelian Pasty and a variety of juicing beverages. The group was also offered a Raspberry Gin beverage and wine throughout the evening. Chef Anna floated among the groups to talk about the recipes and lend a helping hand. People could also move between groups to experience all the different tasks. The conversation was loud and lively!
Once all the recipes were prepared the group served themselves from each station and enjoyed more conversation until good-byes were said.
Here is the refreshing Raspberry Gin recipe for summer enjoyment.
Ingredients:
½ cup fresh raspberries, divided
2 ¾ oz. gin (or vodka)
2 ¾ oz. limoncello
Juice of 1 fresh squeezed lime (lemon juice will work too)
¾ cup sparkling water
Sugar
Ice
Puree half the raspberries in a food processor or blender. Place smashed raspberries into a shaker with ice. Add gin, limoncello and fresh squeezed lime juice. Shake to blend.
Dip rim of serving glass in water and then in sugar (if desired). Pour raspberry mixture into prepared glass, garnish with a whole raspberry and top with sparkling water.
**Thank you to Debra Zwiefelhofer for providing the program recap****