Happy New Year

It's one hour till the new year.  We haven't planned anything special for tonight, which on hindsight is probably best since I am in no condition to go out or have people over.  We only had our steak dinner as planned.  A simple indulgence, which suits us both.  This is our first new year's together, and we spent the night at home. 

This simple meal means so much more to me.  Neither of us are of the overly-indulgent types and we both love our cosy home.  It's more meaningful for the both of us to work together to prepare the meal, relax and enjoy the food and then clean up the table and kitchen.  And as I was doing the finishing touches to the food, Pete even laid the table nicely and lit some candles.  He even agreed to watch Sleepless in Seattle as we ate!  He's not the most romantic guy I've met but he does get some things right, some times.  

And having a quiet night in on the last day of this year is, I feel, very apt.  2012 has been a whirlwind of a year.  We had to do the paperwork to migrate to Sweden.  We had to plan our weddings both in March and in June.  I had to settle stuff like resigning from my job that I've held for 16 years.  I had to say goodbye to my family and friends.  Then when I got here, I had to adapt to the life here.  We had lots of paperwork to do to get me registered as a citizen here.  Then there's school and on top of that we are trying to start our business.

Phew.  What a list!  So, it's no surprise that all we want to do is to just spend time together, just the two of us.  We know that if we are really serious about starting our business, we have lots of work to do next year.  We are getting closer to our dream and I hope that 2013 will be just as exciting and fulfilling.  It won't be easy but I hope we both will be strong enough to see through it.

And with that, I would like to wish all of you a wonderful 2013.  May your year be filled with joy, good health and love.

Red Velvet Cake

The new year is just around the corner and I'm sure there will be new year's eve parties all over the world soon.  Pete and I have decided to just spend the time together with a slightly more luxurious dinner.  No guests.  Just the two of us.  And with me feeling the way I am now, it's probably good.  I am not well enough to cook up a storm.

I was looking at the supermarket specials and one item that is sold almost everywhere now is lobster.  Maybe this is the time for people here to indulge in this seafood but I am not sure I want to spend all that money on something that I can only eat like 30% of.  Most probably we would buy a nice piece of steak each and I'll make gravy, mashed potatoes and Yorkshire pudding.  If I were to feel better I would definitely make a cake.  A celebration cake. 

That's what this post is about.  For me, a great cake to bake for a celebration is Red Velvet Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting.  It's not exactly Pete's favourite but I love it.  I LOVE it.  I  first made it when Pete's sister and brother-in-law came to visit and I love it.  The cake it soft and spongy with a mild chocolate flavour.  It goes very well with a creamy frosting that is not too tangy like how most cream cheese frostings tend to be.  I love this frosting since it has some mascarpone and whipped cream added to it.  Also, unlike other frostings, this one uses just a small amount of icing sugar so it's not overly sweet.

I made the cake after pouring through countless recipes online.   I combine two separate recipes - the cake recipe is from Bakerella and the frosting recipe is from Joy of Baking.  Looking at the recipes, I was quite sure that these recipes won't disappoint and they didn't.  Making the cake was quite simple since it was made with oil, so it's basically a matter of mixing wet ingredients with the dry.  The frosting is simple too. You only need to combine the cheeses with sugar and then folding in some whipped cream.  Be warned though, that if my friends from the warm, tropical climates were to make the frosting, you need to work quickly when whipping the cream and folding it in.  Also, keep the frosted cake in the fridge because of that.

The reason I said that it's a great celebration cake is that it looks stunning after it's frosted.  I decorated mine by sprinkling grated coconut all over the cake.  The coconut flakes look like snow and it was so suitable for Christmas.  But I am sure it would look as good for a New Year's eve party too.  And when you cut the cake, the contrast between the white frosting and the reddish cake is really beautiful.  Just try to use a high quality red food colouring.  The one I used was not so good.  Instead of turning it bright red, the colour was more of a dull, brownish red, prompting Pete to name it Maroon 5 cake instead. 

But whatever the colour your cake will turn out, I am sure it will taste good.  Just try it.  It is not difficult and the result will be worth it. 

Red Velvet Cake
Cake (recipe adapted from www.bakerella.com)
2 1/2 cups flour
1 3/4 cups sugar
1 tbsp cocoa
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups oil
1 cup buttermilk (or pour 1 tbsp vinegar into a measuring cup, fill it with milk and let stand for a couple of minutes)
1 tbsp white vinegar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp red food colouring

Preheat the over to 180C.
Grease two 8 inch cake pans.
Sift all dry ingredients into a big bowl and mix until well combined.
Pour all wet ingredients into another bowl and mix well.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and whisk well.  If using a cake mixer, mix on medium speed for about a minute.
Pour the mixture into the two cake pans. 
Drop the pans on the table top a few times to release any air bubbles. You don't want holes in your cake.
Bake until done, for about 30 mins.
Remove from the oven and let it cool in the pans for 10 mins.
Remove the cake from the pans and let it cool completely on a wire rack.  You can also cool it in the fridge to make frosting easier.
Once it's completely cooled, frost the cake.

Cream Cheese Frosting (recipe adapted from www.joyofbaking.com)
250g cream cheese, room temperature
250g mascarpone cheese, room temperature
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup (120g) icing sugar, sifted
1 1/2 cup whipping cream, whipped until stiff peaks

Beat the two types of cheeses until smooth.
Add the vanilla and icing sugar and beat well.
Fold the whipped cream into the cheese mixture.
Mix until you get a nice spreading consistency.  You might need to add a bit more icing sugar or cream.

 

The good in the bad

Luckily this is a written blog, not one of those video blogs you find on YouTube.  And thank goodness for laptops and iPads or else the last two days would have been more awful than what it's been so far.  Thanks to the chocolates and other stuff I've been wolfing down, I am now without a voice. 

I woke up on Saturday morning sounding like I have swallowed a boulder and my joints were aching.  I might have caught a bug.  It feels much better not to talk and to stay in bed or the wonderfully comfy couch. Today, I got no better.  With barely three hours of sleep, that's no surprise.  My throat ached every time I swallow and I could only whisper.

Well, I won't bore you with the details but suffice to say that I haven't been having such a great weekend.  But having said that, I have been feeling nice and warm inside.  The minute Pete saw that I was unwell, he has been taking great care of me.  He brought me warm honey water, food, iPad and whatever else I needed or wanted.  Granted, the soup he brought me was of the instant kind, but it's the husband-ly thought that counts.  Also, with this throat, I can't really taste much.

It's wonderful that in life, there's good to be found in the bad.  I am not exactly feeling well and dandy these couple of days but knowing that I have a very loving and caring husband by my side makes me feel so lucky.   
 

Family, food, fun

Christmas is over and I can finally rest.  And rest was what I was having the last two days.  I just felt like slouching on the couch and watch Christmas movies the whole day long.  I also wanted to eat something Asian or Malay so I cooked chicken curry.  The great thing about curry is that it's great the next day as well so I didn't have to cook the next day.  I also made Roti Boyan, this Malay dish of crispy pancake stuffed with mashed potatoes and egg.  It goes well with the curry as well.

Anyway, talking about food, I guess I should have written about how I spent Christmas here.  As I wrote earlier, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th. That morning, I cooked meatballs, mini sausages and shepherd's pie to bring to his mum's for lunch.  There were going to be 16 of us there so I had quite a lot to cook.  Pete was great.  He helped me with the cooking and cleaning up.  With his help, I got the food done quite quickly.

We also had to get the gifts ready.  Luckily I already wrapped them in advance.  I only needed to make the labels and to write on them.  The kids basically got toys, clothes or craft material.  I wanted to make truffles for the adults but that morning, I realised that the chocolate mixture wasn't right.  I think the proportion of chocolate to the cream was off and it was way too hard to roll into balls.  Adding more cream didn't help and in the end I decided to make the Swedish chocolate balls instead.  Pete helped me as I packed and labelled them nicely in jars.

When we reached her place, we were the last to get there.  Everyone was busy putting gifts under the Christmas tree or helping out with the food in the kitchen or taking care of the baby or watching TV.  It was quite cramped there but it was cosy.  We started with the cold foods - four different types of pickled herring or sill, lax or smoked salmon, eggs, cheese, three different types of bread and Janssons frestelse or Jansson's Temptation which is a casserole made of potatoes, onions, herring and cream.

We took our time to eat and chat.  By the time we were done, the cartoons are being shown.  It's tradition here in Sweden that every year on Christmas, at 3pm, Chrismas themed Disney cartoons are shown.  Every year, the same classic ones are shown except the last part where they would show snippets of new Disney movies. There's the one with the chipmunks in the Christmas tree Mickey was decorating, Donald Duck trying to take pictures of birds but his shots were always ruined by an annoying bird and the classic one with Mickey, Donald and Goofy in their caravan. 

I find it interesting that the same cartoons are shown every year and no one gets tired of it.  Pete and his sister even remembers some of the lines in the cartoons!  But I do understand the appeal.  The cartoons never gets old.  I have seen all of the cartoons before, when I was much younger, but I still love them and laugh at the same parts. 

Oh, this year, there was some controversy over the cartoons.  Disney wanted to remove some scenes which they think could be offensive to some races.  One of them is of a black doll parading in front of Santa and another one is of a man doing the Cossack dance which could be perceived as offensive to Jews.  It brought about lots of discussions all over the country about what's racist and what's not.  We were talking about it as well and we all thought that the scenes had nothing racist about them.  I think it's just some people who were trying to be overly cautious, to the point of being ridiculous.

Anyway, after the cartoons, there was a surprise for the kids - Santa showed up bearing a sack of gifts.  He handed out presents to all of us and the kids took photos with him as well.  Then all the other gifts were given out.  The huge pile of presents under the tree was quickly gone and the kids went wild as they opened their presents.  They even started playing with their toys.

The best moment was when Pete's mum opened her gift.  We all chipped in to get her something that she has been wanting for the longest time - a mannequin for tailoring.  She loves to sew her own clothes and with the mannequin it would make her work so much easier. She was so happy and touched by the gift that she shed some happy tears.  I don't know about the others, but that made my day.  She has been a wonderful mum and she more than deserved the gift.

After the opening of the gifts, we had more food.  This time it's the warm foods.  I had my fill of the meatballs, sausages, shepherd's pie and more bread and cheese.  By this time, the dining table wasn't as full.  The kids were busy playing with their toys.  So, we had more room at the table.

Then the next part was fun.  We played a Christmas game.  We each brought simple gifts that cost no more than 50kr each.  We again gathered around the table, the kids included.  We took turns to roll a dice.  This one had colours on it and it was decided that if we were to roll the white or black, we could take any one of the packages on the table.  Once all packages have been taken, we had a timer for seven minutes.  In that time, when we roll the white or black, we could take any package from any one.  That was the fun bit.  As usual, there would always be one package, usually the biggest, that would be highly sought after.  After the timer went off, we all opened the packages.  There were lots of chocolates, candy, even some cute kitchen tools and stationery. 

Another tradition here is to eat rice pudding with a warm sauce.  Pete's mum made some.  I really love it but I couldn't eat anymore.  My tummy was just bloated.  I needed to walk.  But Pete's sister and her family gave us a ride home.  That was probably the best since the night was cold and windy.  The walk home would have been near freezing temperatures.

So that was Christmas Eve.  That's how Pete's family, my family now too, celebrates Christmas.  It was a day for family, food and fun.  The kids had lots of fun since they got most of the presents.  But like I said earlier, it was great to see his mum so happy.  How should we top this gift next year?  Well, we have one whole year to think about it. 

It's beginning to smell like Christmas

I've been away from the blog for a couple of days now.  Christmas is coming and we have been busy getting things done these couple of days.  Christmas is quite big here and widely celebrated.  This is a time for the people here to gather with their families, have meals and give gifts.  Here, Christmas is celebrated on the 24th.  Some families might have a Christmas dinner on the 23rd.  But by the 24th, all the presents would have been opened.

This year, we would be having a Christmas lunch at his mum's place together with some of his sisters and their families.  Pete's sister and brother-in-law have traveled from Norway to join us.  Another sister and her kids, who are living in a town about an hour's drive away will also be there.  It's nice to have everyone together at this time.  The place is going to be crowded but it'll be great to catch up with each other.

We have all split up the tasks for the lunch.  I will be cooking the meatballs and prins korv, a kind of mini sausages.  These are the traditionally served at the julbordet, or Christmas table.  We will also be bringing the julost, the Christmas cheese.  The one we bought is a cute little ball of Edam, festively wrapped up in red.

On top of the shopping for ingredients, we have also been shopping for gifts for the kids.  Luckily I have time off school.  We would head out in the morning so that we would get done by lunch, when the majority of the people start their shopping.  The malls and supermarkets are more crowded than usual but it's still manageable.  I've seen worse crowds back home, so it hasn't been overwhelming at all.

On one of the shopping trips, we went to Emporia, the mall I wrote about.  We went into Hemley's, a toy store for kids.  It was really fun.  They had some toys for you to try and the atmosphere in there was so joyful.  I'm sure the kids would love to spend the whole day there - I would!

Besides shopping, we have also been busy cleaning the apartment.  It's a spring cleaning of sorts.  I have been putting off cleaning the balcony but I decided that this is the perfect time to get it done - Pete's sister and brother-in-law were going to travel all the way from Norway to visit.  So the two of us have been scrubbing, dusting and vacuuming the whole apartment to get it in tip-top condition.

We don't have any Christmas decoration in the house but I wanted to make the place look cosy and Christmassy, so we made our own decorations by sticking some cloves into oranges.  Instantly the apartment smelled of Christmas.  It reminds me of glögg, the Swedish mulled wine, either with or without alcohol, that's drunk during this time.  We arranged the oranges and an assortment of nuts in their shell around some candles and viola! That is our bit of Christmas on the table.  We added some iced gingerbread cookies later on to add more Christmas flavour to it.

We also bought some hyacinth that is also found in homes at this time of year.  After wrapping all the presents, we arranged everything at a corner of the living room.  We also put out some candies or godis, as they are called here.  Again, these are part of the tradition here during Christmas.  When the candles were lit when our guests arrived, it made the apartment look cosy.

If the decorations didn't put us in a Christmassy mood,  the snow that appeared so suddenly in the afternoon instantly did. Perfect! With the glow of the candles, the scent of the oranges and cloves, great company and flowing conversation, it turned out to be a great lead-up to Christmas.

With that, the two of us would like to wish everyone who are celebrating Christmas, God Jul!  Merry Christmas!

Pepparkakor

In an earlier post, I promised to post the recipe for gingerbread cookies.  This recipe is actually a mix of two of the many recipes I found online.  I have made a second batch to test it out again and it didn't disappoint.  This time, I made royal icing to decorate the cookies.  They were going to be gifts for my classmates and teacher. 

I made the dough one day ahead and chilled it in the fridge.  When I was ready to bake, I took them out and used some cute cookie cutters I borrowed from Pete's mum.  I iced them the next day and let the icing dry for a few hours before packing them.  I spread out the work over several days since I have been busy to do everything at once.

the iced cookies

I recommend you to try this recipe.  The cookies have a nice balance of 'butteriness' and spice.  The spices don't knock you over but it's nice and mellow.  If you don't want it to be spicy, use less of the spices.  You can even leave out the cloves if you don't have any.  I tell you, the kitchen smells so good when the cookies are baking.  You really should try this!

Pepparkakor (Gingerbread Cookies)
Cookies
2 3/4 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp ground ginger
1 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves
125gm soft butter
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 large egg
1/2 cup molasses or golden syrup
2 tsp vanilla

Sift and mix the first 7 ingredients together in a medium bowl.
In a big bowl, cream the butter and sugar until combined.
Add the egg until well incorporated.
Add the molasses and vanilla. Mix well.
Slowly add the dry ingredients.  I use the mixer at first and when it starts getting stiff, I just use my fingers to gather the ingredients together into a dough.  This shouldn't take more than 2 minutes.
Roll the dough into a sausage shape and wrap with clingfilm.
Rest the dough in the for at least two hours to let the flavours develop.  You can leave it in the fridge for up to 4 hours.
When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 180C.
Take the dough out and roll out to your desired thickness.  Roll the dough between two sheets of baking paper or clingfilm so it doesn't stick to the work surface and use a cookie cutter to cut out your favourite shapes. 
Arrange the cookies on a baking sheet with a bit of space in between.
Bake for 7-10 minutes.
Let the cookies cool thoroughly before icing them if you want.

all wrapped up and ready to be given away

Last week with the classmates

We had a surprise test in class last Friday.  There were some comprehension questions to answer, a mock-form to fill and we had to write a message and a letter - all without using Google translate or other dictionaries.

The teacher told us after the test that our lessons would be different starting from next year.  After looking at our results, she would plan an individualised curriculum for each of us depending on our abilities.  That means from next year, we all would have different sets of work to do in class.  There would also be two other teachers to be in the class.  They are fluent in Arabic and Romanian.  That way, the Arabic and Eastern Europeans students would get help too.  We were also given a new schedule for next year.  It didn't look as fun.  There's morning class on Mondays and afternoon class on Fridays.

Today, when I got to class, I got another piece of news.  I have been bumped up to a different class next year.  Based on the results of the test, five of us would be joining another group.  Basically we are going to make way for ten new students who would join our existing class next year.  The group that I would be in is going to be taught at a faster rate.  Also, there would be another teacher to teach us in conjunction with the one who is currently teaching us. But the best part is that I have a new schedule that's looking better.  I have afternoon classes on Mondays and morning classes on Fridays.  Longer weekends, yay!

But the sad part is that I would be in a different class from my friends.  Only one of them will be joining me, so that's not too bad.  I have become quite fond of my classmates.  They are always sharing food with me and they look out for me.  We also enjoy chatting with each, especially about having to adjust to the life here.  It's nice to know that other people understand what you are also going through.  That's not to say that the new class I'll be in won't be as understanding, but I don't know if I would be able to fit in as easily as I have with this class.

I won't think about it yet.  After Thursday, we will be having a short Christmas break.  Classes will resume on 7 January so I'll have a lot of time to relax.  Or study.  If this new class I'll be joining is more advanced, I need a lot more practice.  I don't want to lag behind everyone else.  Time for me to buck up and get more serious about my studies.      

A green Christmas?

People here talk about the weather a lot, my teacher said last week.  That's because you get all the four seasons here and more than that, the weather for each season differs from year to year.  I've been here since May and I have experienced hot, dry days in July where I would sweat just walking from the kitchen to the living room.  I've also experienced the cool, chilly autumn days and freezing cold winter nights.

It's winter now and I was so excited when it started snowing two weeks ago.  After two wonderful snowy weeks, it stopped snowing a few days back.  The temperature started rising and today it's 4C.  The snow that has been piling up is slowly melting away.  The rain today didn't help at all.  It washed away all the snow and now there are hardly any traces of snow on the ground.

Bummer.  The timing couldn't have been worse.  Christmas is just round the corner and it would be nice to have snow to make it feel more Christmassy.  Last year, we didn't get much snow at this time of the year.  When I joined Pete's family for Christmas lunch last year, the sun was out and there was not a trace of snow anywhere.  Looking out the window that day, it seemed more like summer than winter.

This year, when it started snowing, I was hoping that it would snow all the way, until after Christmas, at least.  But after just two days of above 0C and some rain, the snow is disappearing.  There also isn't any snowy days ahead forecasted.  Looks like it's going to be another green Christmas again.

Lucia

Every year on the 13th of December, Lucia is celebrated all over Sweden.  It is a popular celebration here, but it's not an official holiday.  It is usually marked by a procession headed by a girl who is chosen to be the Lucia.  She would be dressed in a white robe with a red sash and a crown of candles on her head.  Behind her, there would be other girls, also in white robes, holding a candle each.  Boys are also in the procession.  They would be dressed in other traditional symbols of Christmas such as the Christmas elf or gingerbread men.  As they walk, they would sing the traditional Santa Lucia song.  After that, they would sing other Christmas songs.  This usually takes place in schools and teachers are assigned to be in charge of the event (ring any bells, my friends from MOE?)

This morning, my SFI-classmates and I were lucky to be able to witness this ceremony.  Our classes are held in a high school, so we were able to watch the kids perform.  Our teacher brought us to the school hall where we joined the other kids.  I guess there were about 300 kids there.  Walking into the hall and seeing the basketball hoops, futsal goal posts and benches arranged for the kids and teachers to sit on brought lots of memories for me.  Just a few months ago, I would be teaching PE to my kids in a hall such as this. 

The performance started after the lights were turned off.  Then when the curtain was lifted, the kids were standing in a semi-circle holding candles in their hands.  The girl who was chosen to beLucia, with the candles in her hair, was standing in front of the semi-circle.  I couldn't really see her face though.  It was too dark.

They started by singing the traditional Lucia song.  Then the Lucia, started singing solo.  Her voice was really nice and soothing.  Then the others joined in and they sang other Christmas songs.  They even sang Wham's Last Christmas.  After a few more songs, the event ended and we walked back to our class.  Our teacher said that it wasn't very traditional and the songs they sang were quite new - not hard to guess since one of the songs was a rap.  But nonetheless, I felt lucky to be able to watch it.  If I weren't in this class, I don't think I would be able to be part of it - something that every Swedish kid would experience as they were growing up.

As someone new to the country, I am eager to learn more about it.  It's useful to me since I want to not only experience the Swedish culture, but most importantly to fit in.  Not to mention, it would make me understand Pete better.  Sometimes we do have misunderstandings which are purely the result of our different upbringing and cultures, but that's another story altogether.

Hot food. Cold days

For a country that is cold most days of the year, I'm quite surprised that the Swedes don't eat more warm soups.  I would think that hot bowls of soups would warm them ,especially after coming in from the cold during the autumn and winter months.  For me, I would always have cravings for hot soups or even better, hot noodle soups.  I also have been craving spicy foods - curries and sambals that would warm me up even more.

Pete and I had some errands to run on Monday.  We headed out even though it was snowing, windy and cold.  It was almost lunch time when I started to get hungry.  We went to a place that sells baguette sandwiches.  Along the way, I could see quite a number of people walking out of the place with sandwiches and salads.  I guess they were buying them for their lunch.  Pete and I also got one sandwich each.

When we got home, we were quite frozen actually.  And hungry.  The cold sandwiches filled us up - it's bread topped with generous fillings of sliced cucumbers, tomatoes and shrimp in mayonnaise.  Although it was good and filled us up, I felt like the food left my mouth cold. I think soupy noodles or something spicy would warm me up properly.

That's why I want to start my food business.  I want to give the people here more choices in food.  The usual food available here are the kebab, falafel, pizza, hot dog and Thai/Chinese which are not at all like those we have back home.  These foods are everywhere but they are so boring.  I want to let them try new foods, new tastes.  I want to sell curry puffs, chicken curry with rice, roti john, mee soto, chicken rice and roti prata.  I want the people here to try authentic foods from my home.  I want my food to warm and nourish them.

I wonder, though, what their reaction to the food would be.  Would they give it a try or avoid it since it's alien to them?  I don't know yet.  But that would not stop me from trying.   

Gingerbread house

It was snowing heavily today, windy and very cold.  It was the perfect weather outdoors to be indoors, as Pete would say.  So we stayed nice and warm indoors.  Having lots of time today, we decided to work on a project - build a gingerbread house. 

The gingerbread house is also a typical Christmas decoration here.  Many stores here sell boxes of ready made walls and roof made of gingerbread dough, all neatly flat-packed ala Ikea (minus the L-key, of course).  All you need to do is make the icing and caramel to assemble the pieces and decorate it.

some of  the pieces inside the box

We bought one a few weeks ago and decided to assemble it today.  When we opened the box, we found that some of the pieces had cracked but it wasn't bad enough to make assembly impossible.  We started by melting some sugar to make caramel.  We dipped the edges of the walls and held them together.  It was easy to stick the walls together since the melted sugar harden quite quickly but working with caramel is really messy.  We got melted sugar everywhere.  The spoons that we used were also coated with the hardened sugar.

Luckily Pete has some experience with it.  He had made those when he was young.  He even helped to clean up the pan which we used to melt the sugar.  The remaining caramel hardened at the bottom of the pan and looked impossible to clean.  But he managed to clean the whole hardened mess by adding lots of water into the pan and heating it up until all the sugar dissolved.

While he was cleaning the pan, I made the icing by whipping up one egg white till fluffy and adding icing sugar to it.  It was quite easy to do and didn't take too long.  The problem was only that I didn't have an icing bag.  I had to make do with a freezer bag which wasn't flat like a ziplock bag.  There were folds at the corners and I had to be very careful to cut the tip of just one of the folded corners.

Because of that, it was not easy to do the piping but I tried as best I could.  I used the white icing to cover as much of the hardened caramel that dripped down the walls and off the corners.  I also used the icing to stick some colourful chocolate buttons.  It was fun to do, especially when Pete put the whole thing on our Lazy Susan.  It worked like a turn-table and it made piping work much easier.

Pete's work

my work - the decoration

I really enjoyed piping the lines and decorating the house.  It's a pity the makeshift piping bag wasn't that good.  Next time I would use greaseproof paper to make the bag instead.  And I do plan to make another one next time.  The stores also sell templates for walls and roofs.  It would be quite easy to make one from scratch.  For those who don't want to make the dough, there are also frozen, ready-made gingerbread dough too.

I also loved the recipe for the icing.  It was easy to make and flowed easily.  I would make different coloured icing next time too.  I already know what my next project is going to be - gingerbread men.  If it works out, I will post the recipes too.

Jultradition in Sweden

Christmas, or Jul is quite a big part of Sweden's tradition.  The closer you get to December, the more you notice Christmas decorations in the stores.  Red and white seem to be the colours of the month and tomten, the Swedish Santa, is everywhere.  Stores also start selling Christmas related wares - decorations, household stuff, toys and Christmas gift baskets.  God Jul, which is the traditional Christmas greeting, is printed on anything from mugs and plates to napkins and cushions.

Households here also begin to decorate their homes with everything red and white and Christmassy.  Two of the more popular decoration items for the window are the elljusstake which is a 7-candle candelabra and the julstjärna which is a 7-pointed star lantern.  Since it gets dark very early in winter, the lights from these decorations make the homes look so cosy.  I love looking out my window to look at my neighbours' windows.  In the dark, the glow from the candles and lanterns make the evening look friendly, homely and cosy.

The first of December marks the start of the Christmas countdowns.  These are marked by Advent candles which come in a set of four.  Each candle signifies a week and the four candles mark the four weeks before Christmas.  You light one candle at the start of Advent, which is calculated to be four weeks before Christmas.  You let it burn down a little.  Then you light this and the second candle on the second Advent and so on.

There is also another popular countdown item called the Julcalendar.  These come in many forms.  The most popular one is the chocolate calendar.  The chocolates are hidden behind windows that are numbered between 1 and 24.  You open one window a day, starting from 1 December.  Other similar calendars could be made up of a set of 24 tiny packages containing items such as candy or stickers.  So the children get to open one small present a day. 

We don't celebrate Christmas but it's hard not to be swept by the Christmas mood here.  Our home is bare of any decoration but looking at how nice the lights and candles look, perhaps next time I will get nice candles to light up during the dark winter days. 

Anyway, we bought a chocolate julcalendar for ourselves.  This calendar is also fun as there are messages on the windows as well.  The messages are reminders for tasks to be done before Christmas.  For fun, we decided to follow what was written on ours if we could. As a result of that, I made pepparkakor, or gingerbread cookies yesterday for the first time.  I loved it. The dough was easy to make and bake.  And most importantly, they taste good. I will do another batch soon but this time I will make gingerbread men.  If that works, I'll post the recipe too.  Now, I'm going to munch on more of the cookies!

Substitute teachers

The usual teacher in my Swedish class has been at home sick for the last three days.  While she was away, we had two substitute teachers.  The first one was the teacher for another class just before ours.  He offered to take over our class since she came down ill while preparing for our lesson.  He didn't teach us the next two days since he has his own classes to teach.  We got a part-time teacher for the rest of the days.

The two teachers had the same idea when it came to teaching us - speak Swedish.  All their explanations and instructions were given in Swedish with no effort to translate into any other language at all.  Our usual teacher would speak in Swedish first and then in English, since most of us understand it.  I find it very helpful.  I could learn and remember the words used and since the instructions and explanations were in English, I would learn more.  I could write down notes in my book and go home to learn them.

But the substitute teachers would have none of that.  When my classmates asked for translations in English, they refused, saying that we were there to learn Swedish, not English.  As a result, I didn't learn much these last three days.  When I got home, I would ask Pete to teach me.  I should have just stayed home and ask Pete to be my tutor.  I am very sure I could have learnt much more then.  Three days wasted, just like that...sigh... 

Snowy Day

It was a nice day to be out yesterday.  We had a lot of snowfall and the ground was thick with snow.  Although it was still snowing lightly, the sun was out and the sky was blue.  Pete and I decided to take a walk.  We planned to walk to our garden and then back home.  I was curious to know how the garden looks like in winter.

When we stepped outdoors, it was lovely!  Everything was covered with snow.  I don't know why, but it feels so romantic when things around you are blanketed with snow.  The whole landscape looks so amazing and beautiful.  The air was crisp and fresh.  Luckily there wasn't much wind.  Although the temperature was low, it was not too cold.  Very comfortable.

Other people were happy with the snow too.  We could see and hear lots of children playing in the snow.  Some were dragging their sleds with them.  Their parents walked along beside them.  They looked excited too.  Pete says we don't get much snow here in the south.  I guess that's why the people here are excited whenever it snows.

It was fun walking in the snow.  My boots made lots of crunching sounds when I step on the snow.  Pete, ever the careful one, gave me a lecture about the dangers of walking in the snow.  He told me to step carefully and look where I step.  He had seen a woman slip and fall when she stepped on slippery ice and broke her leg.  It was so serious that her bone protruded out of the wound!

The walk to the garden was nice.  The cold made it seem effortless.  Along the way, I admired the beautiful scenery.  Snow really makes everything look so gorgeous.  When we got to the garden, it was no surprise to see our plants and weeds covered with snow.  Most looked like they were dying or dead.  My lavender are still alive though.  They can withstand the cold.

Just beside the garden, there are some hills and I know they would be perfect for sledding.  True enough, we could hear children's laughter when we were at the garden.  We walked over there and saw the kids and their dads sledding down.  It looked so fun!  I want one for next year.

Pete and I raced up the hill and I tell you, it's not easy running up slope in the snow.  We had a snowball fight since we didn't have a sled to play with.  Just a few minutes of that made us breathe heavily.   Our workout for the day.  When it started snowing heavily again, we headed home.  My face was the only part of me that was exposed and it was so cold that my cheeks turned red.  Once home, I made us a hot mug of Milo.  The perfect drink to warm us up on a perfect snowy day.  

see how deep the snow is

our snowy garden

this hill is perfect for sledding

the dads pull their kids home in the sled

First snowfall

It is snowing!  The first real snowfall for winter here.  I woke up early in the morning, all bleary eyed, to go to the bathroom and before I could shuffle back to bed, Pete called me to the balcony.  The sight woke me up.  It was beautiful.  The landscape was white and everything on the ground was covered in snow.  But it wasn't snowing then so I thought the snow wouldn't last and would melt in a couple of hours.

When I woke up again at 8, I went to the window again.  It was snowing!  Pete said it doesn't snow that much here so he's excited as well.  He checked the temperature.  It's -2C!  I tried to take photos with my iPad and camera.  Pete opened the windows to make it easier to take photos.  When the snowflakes fell on my hand, I could feel the cold.  Some snowflakes were big and would take longer to melt.  But when the wind blew through the open window, it was time to close it and take refuge in the warmth of the apartment.

Now, after my shower and morning tea, the snowfall has lightened up a little.  With the gentle sun in the sky, it's looking like a nice day.  Maybe we would go for a walk later.  Hopefully there's enough snow to make a snowman!

I'm excited about the snow since I don't experience it often.  I've had encountered snow before, but that's different because I was a tourist.  Here, I am a resident.  Having snow in a place I live is new to me.  I'm sure there are lots of things I need to learn, such as wearing the right shoes and clothes for walking about in the snow.  Maybe in time, I would be blase about it or worse, think it's a hassle and grow to hate it.  I don't know.  But for now, I'm going to enjoy it.  It really makes everything look so beautiful.