Olympics!

I just had an idea! I'm getting pretty excited about the Olympics. I left out my Christmas Lights after the holidays so that I could light them up during the Olympics as we Canadians are being asked to do! I'm also going to knit myself a pair of red mitts. The red mittens that are being sold by the Olympic committee here in Canada are lovely but lined with polyester which I'm allergic to. Then I came up with another brain storm to get involved and show support!

During the Olympics I'm going to make meals based on countries participating in the games. This idea dawned on me this morning when I had a passing urge for Swedish Meatballs. I was thinking how I never had them in Sweden when I used to travel there quite regularly even though it's touted as the national dish. I was thinking about the ground beef I bought yesterday for Greek inspired stuffed peppers. As I mentioned, once I got home I realized that I had some mild Italian sausage that would work in the stuffed peppers. So now I'm thinking I'll do the stuffed peppers with the sausage in honour of Greece's participation in the games and make Swedish Meatballs in honour of the Swede's participation in the games.

Here's a preliminary list of countries and meal ideas:
China - BBQ Pork Noodles soup
Hungary/Austria - Goulash (I have an authentic Austrian cookbook so I'll find something good in it)
Sweden - Swedish Meatball (I also have an authentic cookbook from Sweden!)
Greece- Stuffed Peppers
Japanese - still to be determined
Spain - I have Paella already made and in the freezer!
Jamaica - I'll do something Jerk!
Switzerland - I'm thinking a fondue/raclette meal
France - Perhaps a onion soup
Belgium - mussels and fries
Mexico - fish tacos
Poland -perogies and Kielbasa would be fun!
Germany -maybe spatzle and schnitzel

Some other countries I have to investigate and determine what I can make that represents their cuisine:
Russia
Denmark
Norway

If anyone has ideas or if there is a country I'm not including in my list and you know of a recipe I should try from that country - please let me know! This is going to be so much fun! Stay tuned, the blogging should be interesting....

And as per my usual flare - some of these meals will be make aheads. The Olympics run for 2 weeks and life will go on as usual for most of us. There won't always be time to cook every night so we'll get some meals in the freezer now so we can pull them out during the Olympics. I'm already planning!