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October 27, 2011 | 3 Comments

Crawfish pasta (kräftor pasta)

Whole crawfish are a big part of Swedish culture with the kräftskiva celebration that takes place in August. But year round you can find crawfish tails in a dill brine in the supermarket. They are tasty little morsels that are infinitely easier to use than dealing with a whole crawfish.

October 9, 2011 | 35 Comments

Swedish apple cake with vanilla sauce (äppelkaka med vaniljsås)

There is a saying “as American as apple pie,” but I think you could just as easily say “as Swedish as apple cake.” It’s everywhere and I certainly see it on menus here much more than I ever see apple pie on a menu in the U.S.

October 3, 2011 | 50 Comments

Spooky skull votive giveaway – contest has ended

Designed by Ludvig Lofgren – photo from Kosta Boda I love Halloween and shiny things so to celebrate the upcoming holiday I’m giving away a Kosta Boda Still Life Votive (the clear glass, as pictured). Whether you are into Halloween, pirates, or human anatomy, this votive is pretty great.

September 30, 2011 | 14 Comments

Applesauce with lingonberries (äpplemos med lingon)

Here is a bit of a Scandinavian twist on good ‘ol applesauce. My in-laws have a fantastic apple tree that lost a lot of apples in a wind storm. We gathered two bags full of apples just from what had fallen and there are still loads of them on the tree.

September 21, 2011 | 75 Comments

Princess cake demystified (prinsesstårta)

On my first trip to Sweden in 1998 I fell in love with prinsesstårta (PRIN-sess-TOHR-tuh). The spongy layers of cake alternating with jam, vanilla custard and whipped cream topped with a thin layer of bright green marzipan had me hooked from the first bite. But it wasn’t until recently that I really started to wonder about […]

September 20, 2011 | 4 Comments

Roasted chicken with rose hip glaze, herbs, apples, and shallots

In the recent rose hip jelly post I promised a rose hip glazed chicken recipe. This is inspired by Hank Shaw. His blog is absolutely fascinating with a wealth of information about foraging and hunting and how to cook up the bounty.

September 16, 2011 | 0 Comments

Rose hip jelly (nypongelée)

One of the easiest, and most gratifying foraging finds in Sweden are wild rose hips, particularly the large rosa rugosa. From beaches to front yards the bright vermillion-red hips are generally ripe from August to October. There are masses of them to be found at Lomma Beach on the southwestern Swedish coast. In just […]

September 12, 2011 | 5 Comments

Havtorn (Sea Buckthorn)

I can’t remember how I first heard about havtorn (sea buckthorn), but it was definitely within the last year because I couldn’t wait for September to arrive so I could find some. Everything I read said they were extremely laborious to pick but for an admitted berry-picking addict I thought it couldn’t be that bad. I was […]

September 2, 2011 | 8 Comments

Plum tuckered out

What do you do when you have picked 30 pounds (13.5kg) of plums at your friend’s place? You leave 15 pounds for her to deal with and take the rest home to begin on chutney, jam, cakes, jam, liqueur, jam, and then you consider force feeding the rest to your family. Anything to use them up fast.

August 27, 2011 | 2 Comments

Svenska Siffror (Swedish Counting)

I have been coveting this book for a year and for some reason never got around to buying it until now. I recently purchased two copies, one for my own children and one as a gift.

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