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April 20, 2012 | 11 Comments

Vår i Skåne – spring in southern Sweden

Snödroppar (snow drops), the first sign of spring. We are mid-spring in southern Sweden. I can’t speak for the folks farther north, but I assume they are 3-8 weeks behind us depending on their latitude. Spring in Skåne (SKOH-nuh), the southernmost region of Sweden, begins as early as late February when the first snow drops […]

April 10, 2012 | 11 Comments

Nässelsoppa – nettle soup

I hadn’t heard of anything edible being made from prickly, stinging nettles until my first spring in Sweden. My mother-in-law served nettle soup for lunch one day and I loved it. Now I look forward to it every spring and this year I asked her to show me how to make it so I could […]

April 7, 2012 | 18 Comments

Glad påsk – Happy Easter

In southern Sweden Easter is a welcoming of spring whereas in northern Sweden it’s still winter. But throughout Sweden Påsk (pohsk) means even more time off than at Christmas since the Friday preceding Easter Sunday and the Monday after are both official holidays. In addition, many people only work a half day on Thursday so for […]

March 30, 2012 | 12 Comments

Forget s’mores – crisp coconut cookies with toasted marshmallows and nutella

I’m a huge fan of toasted marshmallows. When I was a kid my impatience to eat them meant a perfectly molten middle surrounded by an evenly golden, crisp exterior always escaped me. I usually ended up scorching my marshmallow on at least one side trying to speed up the process by getting it too close […]

March 25, 2012 | 8 Comments

Waffles + The Annunciation = Waffle Day

March 25th is Waffle Day in Sweden and it coincides with Marie bebådelsedag, or the day of The Annunciation. Why? Largely because of variations in the Swedish dialect.

March 19, 2012 | 9 Comments

Semlor/fastlagsbullar/hetvägg

A friend of mine once described the post-semlor feeling as “pleasantly nauseous.” That’s pretty spot on. These monsters are the exception to the typically reasonably sized Swedish pastries. Tied to the fasting tradition of Lent, these cardamom-scented-cream-and-almond-paste-filled-buns-of-excess are most commonly available from the official end of the Christmas season (tjugondag Knut on January 13th) and […]

March 10, 2012 | 11 Comments

Apple salad with balsamic vinaigrette

This is a salad that surprises me. I love it even though it incorporates ingredients I’m typically not a fan of (raisins and raw celery). I first tried this salad back in graduate school. We had great potlucks and even though money was tight for most of us, people always brought something interesting to try. Like […]

March 6, 2012 | 13 Comments

Almond meringues with buttercream filling

I’m not allowed to make these anymore. Not for a while at least because I am incapable of restraining myself. My mother-in-law brought me a batch which I promptly ate within a few days. Then the batch I made disappeared just as quickly. My efforts to thwart my addiction by putting them in the freezer […]

February 27, 2012 | 11 Comments

Blood orange and lavender sorbet

Blood oranges were on special in my local market the other day and I got a great deal on some of the particularly colorful Moro variety. The vibrant juice makes a stunning vermillion-colored sorbet. In thinking about what to pair with the blood oranges I remembered the lavender that has been burning a hole in […]

February 17, 2012 | 171 Comments

Spettkaka (spit cake)

I’m a big fan of the spectacular Swedish spettkaka. Ribbons of batter piped onto a conical form make-up the unique confection sometimes called a pyramid cake in English, probably because the literal translation of spettkaka is spit cake. That’s a bit unfortunate, but makes sense when you learn the cake is baked on a rotating […]

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