semiswede

Clockwise from top: strawberry-red currant, wild raspberry, cherry-rhubarb, gooseberry-elderflower, and black currant I have a friend with a truly amazing garden that I swear should be in ads for Miracle-Gro. There are cascades of red and black currants, a plethora of perfect cherries, gargantuan raspberries, and substantial globes of red and green gooseberries. It’s like […]

It’s black currant time in Sweden and I have eagerly been awaiting this moment. Last year I tried my hand at making crème de cassis (black currant liqueur) and it was so tasty I couldn’t wait for the next black currant season to arrive.

This is the time of year when I am faced with a challenge. Everything seems to be coming into season at the same time and with my berry picking addiction I can tend to go a little overboard. I have some wonderful friends and family who generously share the bounty of their gardens and in the […]

I recently had the opportunity to contribute a food-related article to http://www.thelocal.se/, which covers the Swedish news in English. My topic was ten Swedish foods I would miss if I moved. In general I tried to stick to things that would be difficult to get, or make, outside of Sweden with the exception of the kanelbullar […]

It’s been a bit of a weather rollercoaster in Malmö lately with some days feeling more like early fall than July. Yet another rainy day seemed to call for soup. Fisksoppa (fish soup) is common on menus in Sweden and I’ve ordered several tomato-based versions that are really lovely and I was anxious to try making one […]

It is really unwise of me to write this post when I’m hungry because it is all I can do to keep myself from running out the door and getting to Drumbar as quickly as possible. Formerly known as Czech Point, Drumbar morphed into a Scottish Pub this past spring and wisely kept the to-die-for Pork Knuckle […]

Due to the near-death experience of my laptop, this post is much later than I had anticipated. But thanks to my husband it has been resurrected and I have access to the images just in time to post about Midsummer today. So…..in a country with long, dark winters, the summer solstice on June 21st is […]

I confessed my berry picking addiction and love for strawberries in my last post on Swedish strawberry culture. My favorite way to enjoy fresh strawberries is with cream and a little bit of sugar. But my talented sister-in-law Margareta came up with this simple and refreshing recipe that highlights the flavors of fresh strawberries. She gave […]

It’s the height of the short Swedish strawberry season and the berries are out en masse. When the Lönnslätts Bär strawberry pods are plopped down around my city I know summer is officially here despite the fact it might only be 55°F (13°C) and raining. I love passing by my neighborhood pod where if the wind […]

Typically cookbook reviews are of the latest editions, but this recommendation is for a cookbook that has been around for nearly twenty-five years. I purchased my copy of  The Timberline Lodge Cookbook when we stayed at Timberline Lodge  in July of 2000 just after we got married. We were driving from Utah back to Oregon and decided to stop […]