Mushroom soup into coconut milk

Another recipe I tried and loved! I think I'll make it again. I love trying new recipes and especially finding ones that are good. These last few New Year's I've (jokingly) made it my New Year resolution to "try new recipes". It's one resolution I've never failed and I have tons of fun with it all year long.

Enjoy the recipe and check out my remarks below.

Mushroom soup into coconut milk / Sienikeitto kookosmaitoon
2 boxes of mushrooms (aprox. 200-250g each)
1 small onion
1 tablespoon oil
1 can of coconut milk
2 teaspoons lemon juice
3 teaspoons brown sugar
3 tablespoons lightly salted soy sauce
chives



Clean and slice the mushrooms. Peel and finely chop the onion. Saute the mushrooms and onion in the pan with a bit of oil on medium heat for about 5 minutes.


Add the coconut milk and simmer another 5 minutes.


Add the spices and taste the flavoring. You can puree the soup, especially if you serve it as a starter. Sprinkle some chopped herbs on the top.

And here's the finished product with some lightly toasted and buttered rye bread.


I made a couple of changes to the recipe, but I don't think they effected the taste much.
First off, I had way more mushrooms than what the recipe called for. But how can that be bad? It is mushroom soup after all!
Secondly, I didn't have any lemon juice or lemons, so I used lime.

Next time I make this I think I'll make some rice to put the soup over. It'll make it stretch a bit further and give it an added texture.
I also think I'll only use 2 tablespoons of soy sauce (unless I have the less salty version).

All in all, I'm quite pleased with the taste. It is a bit different than other mushroom soups I have tried in the past, but very yummy.

This recipe came from Kikkoman.

Voting

With the presidential elections upon us in the USA soon (Nov. 4th), I thought I'd say a little bit about it and some of the differences here in Finland.

First off, I've never voted in the USA. That's because I'm not even registered to vote. for one reason or another, mainly laziness, I just never went and registered myself to vote. At least until now. I did a google search on how to register to vote when you don't live in the USA anymore and I came across the Overseas Vote Foundation. The website was easily set up to walk me through the steps and questions I needed to fill out for my home state and then I could print out the application, sign it and send it off. So, I just sent off my voter's registration form today in the mail. I should be registered and get my absentee ballot to vote in the upcoming elections.

As in the USA, the age limit for voting in national and local elections is 18 years or older.
Although, as a foreign national (not a citizen, but residing here a long time) I am allowed to vote only in local government elections, but not national elections (such as for the president). I need to become a citizen first.
(I've also never voted in any munincipal elections in Finland...maybe I should experience it some day.)

The right to vote in Finland is universal and equal.
Here in Finland, people are automatically "signed up" to vote. A person does not need to do anything special in order to vote. In fact, a notification card will be sent to each person a few weeks before an election letting them know where the nearest voting station is.

Presidential elections are held once every 6 years in Finland. We just had our last election in 2006 where Tarja Halonen (Finland's first female president) was re-elected. A person may serve as president for a maximum of two consecutive terms, same as in the USA. The president is voted for directly, each vote counts towards the candidate themselves and not any sort of electoral vote.
Election day is the third Sunday of January.

Municipal elections take place every 4 years and are at a different time of the year than presidential elections. The next municipal elections shall be held on 26 October 2008.

Finland has a multi-party system, with three strong parties, in which no one party often has a chance of gaining power alone, and parties must work with each other to form coalition governments. (Wikipedia)

I know there is much more to this topic, but I just wanted to touch on a few things. For a better scope of information, check out The Minestry of Justice Finland - Vaalit website.