Sitting cozy in a green turtle neck and grey skinny jeans
It was a rainy Christmas this year in the south of Sweden, which was somewhat alright for me since the patter of the rain on the glass windows reminded me of a tropical Christmas. The temperatures outside are just about 1 deg. C very far from tropical temperatures. Indoors, an open fireplace keeps us all warm.
Continue reading “Green turtle neck to rain”
The Christmas Julbord buffét at the Sjömagasinet restaurant, Göteborg, Sweden
As the Christmas season rolls in, most restaurants in Sweden begin to offer a smörgåsbord of delights, known as the Julbord or the Christmas table. This line of buffet consists of traditional Swedish Christmas foods such as herring preserved in a variety of marinades, the marinades of which are as inventive as the chefs are themselves. Last year, we tried herring marinated in Coca-cola, by a chef called Mikael Sande, as one of the more unusual / eccentric dishes to the Christmas buffet.
Continue reading “Swedish Christmas Julbord Buffét 2007”
The crowd along the Haga Christmas market
Christmas is always a rush of activities, the whole city of Gothenburg is abuzz with festive activities and warm friendly people.
There are several Christmas markets going on through December, around the city of Gothenburg and these are pictures from the Haga Christmas market.
Continue reading “The Haga Christmas market”
Prada’s perfect pair of the modern Audrey Hepburn skimmers!
To me fashion is always about exploration, finding your own style and daring to try something new.
Just two years ago, I would never have considered wearing a pair of pointed skimmers, let alone patent leather pointed skimmers. Continue reading “Slipping into pointed skimmers”
Our batch of Lussekatter or saffron bread this year, for Lucia
I’ve asked some Swedish friends of mine, the significance of the festival of St. Lucia in Sweden. And few knew its actual significance, except that it arrived from Italy, back when Sweden was still Catholic (today it is more Lutheran), before 1700s.
Traditionally, Lussekatter are baked without raisins in them, but as you can see from our batch above in the picture, we cheated some with adding raisins in the dough. The bread is extremely fragrant, with the smell of saffron. It does tend to dry out quickly, also because of the saffron but we hope that with the raisins in the dough, it’d stay moist just slightly longer. The saffron bread, as with most breads, tastes best fresh out of the oven. But if left for the next day, it helps with heating the bread in the oven or in the microwave oven before eating. Enjoy with a warm glass of milk!
I found a fuller account of the festival of St. Lucia via a quick search on the internet. The information below is from the website of New Sweden
Continue reading “13th December: the festival of St. Lucia with Lussekatter”
Gingerbread cookies laid out on a festive red place mat
Pepparkakans dag or gingerbread cookies day, falls on the 9th of December in Sweden, which happens to be today!
While the gingerbread cookie is most often associated with Christmas in Sweden, it is in fact eaten all year round. But then again, I’ve personally observed that it is during the Christmas season that all fantastic creations of gingerbread dough occurs! You can most often see these delicious architecture of cookie dough displayed at bakeries and candy stores in towering miniature houses replete with Santa and reindeer. Continue reading “Gingerbread cookies day”
My own ‘Tiffany Yellow’
Just a few moments ago I listened to Candy Pratts Price on Candycast, on the feeling of parties. She’s the Executive Fashion Director of STYLE.COM, the online home of Vogue and W magazines; a popular fashion analyst and trend spotter, who in her latest commentary of parties mentioned Breakfast at Tiffany’s (1961) with Audrey Hepburn as one of the ultimate party movies of all times.
Continue reading “A different fire to brighten up the winter darkness”
Skyline in Stockholm on a Sunday, a grey winter’s day, November 2007
We were in Stockholm over the weekend and there was variation in weather. A bright and clear blue Saturday and a grey wintry Sunday. Temperatures were around -1 deg C with rain and snow at the same time. Just the day before, the picture below of the same waterway was taken, with clear blue skies.
A clear blue sky on a Saturday in Stockholm, November 2007
