Inspiring gingerbread cookies

I walked into the cafe of Ekenäs palace fair and there was an entire shelf along the wall with gingerbread houses. Here are some of the houses and gingerbread wich I found was most inspiring.

The top picture shows the silhouettes of the castle which I thought was really smart to make it that way as it is difficult to build a castle with 3 large towers.

The houses were decorated with crispbread squares. It looked like logs and small-miniroof and gravel paths. One door was built with cinnamon sticks.



The Builder named Rileyis an American living on the lot (I think).

Simple salad of apple and carrot

A salad that I do not get tired of is a simple apple and carrot salad. Grate an apple with the skin on and peel the carrot and grate as well. Both are grated on the rough part. Mix. Then, it is ready. Acid in the apple complements the sweetness in the carrot quite excellent. If you want to pick up carotene, a pre-A-vitmin found in the carrot, add a little oil to the salad. The A and D vitamins are fat-soluble vitamins. Vitamin A is also an antioxidant.

Recipe maker is Martha, my mom and she has filled us with knowledge about vitamins and other useful things over the years. =)

A mix from the Mediterranean Sea

It is my father-in-law who makes this says E and cutting up a piece of pastry to the drink. The mixture on top of the pastry is a mixture of black olives, capers, tomato puree and a few more things I do not remember. Maybe a small sardelle ... But just the idea to mix Mediterranean flavors is a great thing and you can always take a little of what you have at home.

Autumn food

Mashed turnips with BRISKET OF BEEF
Every time I go to a restaurant and this is on the menu, I'll have this dish. It is for me a delicatess which take a little time to make at home, but not so long. Now, I found the meat in at the grocerys and the opportunity to buy the vegetables to.

It is easy to do. If only a little time to cook the meat about 1 1/2 hour.

Mashed turnips (Rotmos) the way I like it
2-3 pers
approximately 250 g Swedish turnip
2 Average-sized potatoes
2 Average-sized carrots
ev broth from the meat to cook in
a hefty nod of butter
salt
white pepper

Peel all vegetables. Cut rough in cubes. Boil turnip pieces approximately 10-15 minutes. Use some of the broth from the meat to boin in. Add the potatoes and boil 10 minutes and then carrots and cook another 10 minutes. Pour the "water/liquid" into a bowl. Mix and add the hot water, a nod of butter. Season with salt and white pepper.

Fun cocktail snacks

A friend of ours who came to dinner had this fun snack with them directly from Hong Kong. We appreciated gesture, but not the taste. Small crabs with shells !!??! I would believe they were fried. The crashed between the teeth. Ha ha!

Mårten Goose

Today is the feast for Mårten Goose celebrated in Sweden or at least in the restaurants in the south of Sweden where this is a tradition.

At home we have not celebrated in particular even though we are half Scanes. Each year the The Scane Guild in the region Östergötland has gathered to eat the so called "gåsamiddag" on Frimis restaurant in Linköping. I think mom provided the restaurant with black soup (goose blood soup) for no one can fix it as she can. But unfortunately I have no memory of the soup which is supposed to be very tasty. It is spiced with allspice and raisins.

The courses are
Black soup
goose with read cabbage
applecake with vanilla sauce

Pumpkin soup

When we were in Austria we ate a wonderful pumpkin soup and I have been searching the web for anything that might resemble it. Found this recipe that I liked. A bit unexpected that it was flavored with ginger and chili as it comes from Austria.

This time I chose an orange round pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo). It was great in the soup as it it is a little bit mealy. However it did worked very well in the soup. I tried preserving a small piece of pumpkin left over but had to throw everything awa when it was both were mealy in texture and mawkish taste. To a preserve one should choose a so-called jam pumpkin, which is grown in Sweden.

Pumpkin oil, I found at the grocerys. Not quite as good as that of Styria in Austria but quite OK.




Pumpkin Soup
1 kg pumpkin
1 average large potato
1 bit of fresh ginger
1 chili fruit
40 g butter
1 liter of vegetable stock
1-2 teaspoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2 dl cream

Garnish
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp oil pumping

Peel the pumpkin and remove the kernels. Cut in rough pieces. Peel and cut potatoes and ginger. Remove the kernels from the chilli fruit. Cut into small pieces.
Melt the butter and let the pumpkin, potato, ginger and chilli fry briefly. Add vegetable broth and salt and cayenne pepper. Let all boil so that it becomes soft in about 15 minutes. Stir down the lemon juice and cream. Pure and taste of again.
Serve with pumpkin seeds and pumpkin oil.

Tarte Tatin of Apples

In my black oilcloth book, I wrote this of Tarte Tatin and in parentheses I added the "topsy-turvy French apple cake." From whome I got it, I do not know but suspect it may have been written on a package. It is written in the book about 1997 and I know that for next to it is a wonderful potato salad, which I got that year.

I was curious if anyone had recipes of Tarte Tatin with tomatoes and if you make a search there are several hits, among others by Krokofanten with dried tomatoes and tomatoes in different colors. Then I found a French recipe with figs and port wine. Feels a bit expensive when you do not have your own fresh figs, but I will plant a fig-tree sometime in the future and will surely have my own figs. The French blog has wonderful recipes if you can read it.

Tarte tatin
500 g apples
1 1/2 -2 dl sugar
2-3 tbsp butter

Pieshell
2 1/2 dl wheat flour
125 g butter
2 tbsp sugar
2-3 tbsp cold water

Make the piedough in food processor, let rest at least 1 hour. PUt 2-3 tbsp water into a round shaped pan about 24 cm in diameter. Sprinkle over 1 dl sugar. The whole bottom will be covered. Melt and let the the sugar turn brown in the oven at 225°C. Allow to cool.
Peel, core and slice apples. Cover the bottom of the mold with the slices. Sprinkle over the rest of the sugar and click on the butter. Roll out the pieshell to about 1/2 cm in thickness and place it on top. Press the edges (like press down on sides). Bake at 250°C for about 30 minutes. Turn up side down. Serve with ice cream or cream.

Vine and taste of tomato

As nice as it knocks on your door and a delivery of wine arrives. Vinet, ett Shiraz är tillverkat av Wyndham Estates, Australien. The wine, a Shiraz is made of Wyndham Estate, Australia.

Already in 1830 where the first shiraz rank by George Wyndham. He was somewhat of a pioneer and followed his own paths. As emigrant, he came to Australia in 1827 and settled near Branxton. He operated the experimental farm in several places including a property called Dalwood. Among the things he mentioned grown corn, hemp, mustard, tobacco, and that he started with his vines and the grapes were mainly Hermitage, Cabernet and Shiraz. Dalwoods wines became famous and won among other prizes at the World Exhibition in Paris in 1867. At George Wyndham's death in 1870 sold his property Dalwood to Penfold Wines Ltd, which owns the land than today.

The wine then you wonder... Well, the launch of the wine in Sweden is done right now. Since it is recommended to be eaten with tomato-based dishes, pasta, etc., we made a whole pizza with homemade tomato sauce, red onion, which had a lovely sweetness and top with rucola.

The wine itself was a nice beginning for a character with black currant tones and dark red berries. With food it got body and soul, and grew. We note that we are not good enough to assess and taste buds are trimmed on stronger wines .... but it is well-suited to the small encourage riga taste in ruccolan. The tomato and onion sweetness were picked up by the wine.

Black pudding and a good salad

"You can not mix cabbage and lingonberry. It's like in school." I tend to agree with my partner, Fredrik. I did not like that mixture either. Did not like cabbage at all in school when I think about it, but understand why the served it. It contains much lime and is one of our cheapest vitamin C sources.

In several days, however, I have thought about making Winter Salads or Weightwatchers sallad that it actually named. I have just renamed it, for I think it deserves a good title when it is so good.

Winter Salad
(8-10 servings)
800-900 g white cabbage
2 large carrots
1 leek
1 large cucumber

Marinade
1 dl cider vinegar
½ dl cooking oil
1 dl sugar or 10 ml of liquid suckett (myself do I use plain sugar)
½ teaspoon salt

Cabbage and leek is shreded, carrots and gurkan is roughly grated.Everything is mixed. Boil all the ingredients to the Marinade and pour over the warm salad. Flavor with fresh or dried herbs. NOTE: It becomes very salad of this batch.

Shrove tuesday

Have a look at Annes food to discover our swedish tradition to eat fat things 40 days before easter.

Semlor - cream buns with marzipan

Today february the 5th and 40 days to easter (from tomorrow) we eat semlor in Sweden. It is an old tradition from way back some hundreds of years.

Baking-board and baking

During Christmas-holiday I have had at least five enquiries about where to buy a baking-board. I found mine at Hus-modern and it is one of my best purchases ever. I, as you might know, bake quite a bit. I have made my own baking-book. I mormors berså (In grand-mas bower). At the moment only in swedish.

A favourite Blogg about baking is Pain de Martin. Martin presents here nine breads which are possible to bake (blog in Swedish). Fun to follow the different experiments with a lot of water in the dough and different sorts of flour.

Tips for Expatriate Swedes and others

To allay someones yearn when he or she lives abroad and has a long way to IKEA could be to visit Willma on the net. An E-shop where Swedish things suddenly are easy to get hold of. Me, I remember how long the orders where when Swedes visited and my friend in England always wants Arvid Nordqvists French roasted coffee when I pay a visit. Liquorice and Kalles Kaviar were other things which used to water my mouth. Willma has a cosy newsletter where you are told a little bit of general Swedish cultural stuff as new books, films and CDs as well as about up-coming traditions. Recommend it to all who are homesick or love swedish lifestyle.