The very stern-looking couple is my husband Bill’s grandparents from Finland.  Did anyone ever smile in those old photographs?  Grandma Vanni, then known as Josefiina Pitkaranta, came to America from Finland via Ellis Island, by herself, when she was only nineteen years old.  It sounds so young, yet Grandma Vanni was known to have been one tough cookie.  She eventually … Continue reading Rye Flour from Grandma Vanni – and our Newfound Relative