Not big losers

Every time Pete and I watch The Biggest Loser on tv, we would both turn to each other and say,"That is not going to happen to us."  We have been eating more during the cold, dark winter days and have not been doing our long walks.  But I know that we would not allow ourselves to get too big and unhealthy.

Living here, it is not too tough to make healthy choices.  Yes, there are lots of sweet, creamy treats and fatty, salty stuff.  At the supermarkets, there are aisles upon aisles of cookies, biscuits, tarts, chips, chocolates and candies.  But there are lots of stuff that are good for us too.  Crispbreads, for instance, are packed full of whole grains.    There are many kinds to choose from too.  And it's great that we both love them.  We have them for fika instead of cakes or cookies.

Bread is also a staple in the supermarkets here.  There are rows and rows of them, both white and dark, wholegrain breads.  Some of them are also packed with nuts and grains.  I really, really love eyeing them since I love bread.  We do buy bread some times but most of the time I make them myself.  That way I could make them 100% wholewheat and I could add flax seeds and nuts to them.  Nothing taste as good as freshly baked bread, just out of the oven.  Wholewheat pasta is also widely available here.

I also love the cycling/jogging paths here.  They are mostly away from the roads and traffic and the scenery is wonderful, especially during summer when everything is flourishing.  They make our walks so enjoyable.  Also, the low population density of this city means that the paths are not too crowded.  However, saying that, we do often see other people walking their dogs or jogging.  It's great that the paths are fully utilised.  I guess that's why you don't often see very obese people here.  I must say that the people I see here are mostly healthy looking.  It is not hard to not be positively influenced by them.

We don't really enjoy going out in the cold, though, for now.  Hence we do what we can at home.  We are not aiming to lose so much weight too quickly.  So, for now, our workouts are not too intense.  Our aim is more for health than for vanity.  For now, it is enough for us to be active and healthy, even though we may not be such big losers.

Churros

One of the good things about living here is that flour is cheap.  It costs only half as much as it does back home.  Not only that, there are so many different types of flour - bread flour, rye, wholewheat, durum and even cake flour.  But at home, I usually would have plain flour, bread flour and wholewheat flour.  I make my own bread or bagels every week and some times I am inspired to try new baking recipes, so it's great to have them on hand.

And inspired I was, one day after watching a cooking program.  I watched churros being made and they looked so mouth-watering.  And it was easy.  The day was also cold and windy, so having something light, fluffy, crunchy and sweet would be perfect.  I found a good recipe online which was super easy and gave great results.  Pete and I had to pull ourselves away from the kitchen to stop us from devouring the whole batch in one go!

The dough only took about 5 minutes to prepare.  The rest of the time is spent putting the dough into a piping bag and frying them in the hot oil.  I had Pete to help me with this.  I piped out the dough into the oil and he cut them into lengths.  We experimented with different lengths.  We like those that are about 10cm long.  We  even got creative and tried making heart shaped ones.  We succeeded!  But whatever the length or shape, they were divine.  Try it!

Churros
1 cup water
2 1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp oil
1 cup flour mixed with 1/4 tsp baking powder

Coating
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder

Oil for deep frying (you can heat the oil before you start on the dough so that it's hot by the time the dough is ready)

In a small saucepan over medium heat, combine water, sugar, salt and oil.
Bring to the boil and remove from the heat.
Stir in the flour until the mixture forms a ball.
Carefully spoon the mixture into a piping bag with a star nozzle.  You can also simply use a ziplock bag and cut off the end instead.
Once the oil is hot, pipe strips of dough into the oil.  Be careful when you cut the strips from the piping bag.  The dough might make a splash as it falls into the oil so don't hold the piping bag too high from the oil.
Fry until golden brown and drain on kitchen towels.
Roll the churros into your cinnamon-sugar mixture.

 

Workouts in winter

One of the things I miss about being back home is the ease with which I could workout.  Whenever I reached home late from work, I could simply change into my workout clothes, lace up my shoes and off I went on a run or walk or bike ride.  I also used to go to the gym quite regularly after work.  It was again, a breeze, since I don't need too many clothes or shoes to change into.

Here, the cold weather means that I have to be quite warmly bundled up in a few layers of clothes whenever I want to head outdoors.  That makes changing into workout clothes quite tiresome.  Not only do I have to peel off layers of clothes, I also have to change into indoor shoes before I can workout.  Then, after changing  into suitable gear, I have to lug my thick jacket and boots and bag out of the changing room and head to the badminton court.

Yeah.  Pete and I tried our hand at badminton on Friday.  There's a badminton hall just a couple of bus stops away so we decided to put that into our exercise regime.  And yeah, another thing I miss is the cheap booking fee for badminton courts and cheap shuttlecocks.  We paid SEK130 (about S$25) per hour during the off peak period.  The Yonex shuttlecocks cost about S$30 for six plastic ones.  The feather ones are much more expensive - more than S$50 for the big tub.  According to the salesperson at the sporting goods store, people usually use the feather ones for tournaments and matches.

But, having said that, I still love being here.  The cold weather means that we are very comfortable as we move around the court.  Not too sweaty and I feel so good as I moved.  And it wasn't like we were taking it easy.  We did some drills, exercises and played a singles game at the end.  We even jogged around the entire hall after the game.  And yet, my t-shirt wasn't drenched in sweat.  Back home, just a 5-minute jog would have me sweating from head to toe.

I just wish I can figure out how to dress properly for an outdoor jog in such cold weather.  I have seen people here running in the snow and cold.  Not as many as in summer or fall, but surprisingly more than I expected.  Maybe I have to invest in good warm, running gear.  But I don't really know where to start.  I'm worried about being either too warmly dressed or not warm enough.  This is when I miss being able to just head out and run whenever I want.

Ah well, this is an adjustment period for me.  I guess I have to really get used to the long, cold winters here first and then slowly find my groove.    

A semla, or three (semlor)

As I have fika with Pete, enjoying tea and semlor, I remember the first time I ate this very Swedish pastry.  I was at Ikea back home, a few years ago.  There were huge posters with pictures of these cute buns outside the store and my interest was piqued.  I remember thinking, "The Swedes eat this? Well, I'm in Ikea so let's do as the Swedes do!"

I bought one from the cafe and sat down for my first mouthful.  I didn't like it.  I thought it was dessert but the bun wasn't sweet, there was way too much whipped cream and I could taste cardamom and almond paste.  I couldn't find anything to like in it.

Fast forward to today.  Here I am, sitting next to a real Swede and enjoying the semla.  I am actually enjoying it.  Amazingly, I was the one to bug Pete to buy some for our fika.

February is the time for semlor.  If you are wondering why I go back and forth with the semla and the semlor, it's because semla is the singular form and semlor is the plural form.  That's Swedish grammar for you.  It's not just about adding '-s' to the end of the nouns but that's a topic for another post.

Doesn't this look cute?

Anyway, back to the semlor.  Traditionally, semlor is eaten in February, especially on the 12th. That is the day the Swedes call fettisdagen.  It is the last day before the the start of the Christian fasting period before Easter and it's when people used to eat semlor.  Oh, an interesting piece of trivia: On February 12 1771, King Adolf Federick, the Swedish king at that time, died after eating a huge meal of lobsters, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring and 14 (yes 14, not 4) hetvagg, which is the early form of semla served in a bowl of hot milk.  He died of digestive problems, which I think is not such a surprise.

These days, semlor are found in the bakeries even before Christmas day.  A semla is made from a bread bun flavoured with cardamom.  The top of the bun is cut off and the inside is scooped out.  It is then filled with almond paste and whipped cream.  The top is the put back and it's dusted with icing sugar.  I love how cute they look when they are arranged in rows in the display cabinets.  They really call out to you to grab one.  Which was what I did one day last December.

I don't know what made me change my mind about these cuties.  Maybe it was the cold outside that just makes me crave for something creamy.  Maybe I have gotten used to having the taste of cardamom in the bread rolls here.  Maybe I have gotten used to having almond paste in my desserts.  Or maybe it's simply peer pressure - I am surrounded by semla-loving people here.  But I do know that I do enjoy them very much now.

The semla-craze has also gotten to the supermarkets.  Although you can buy ready made semlor everywhere, even at 7-11, you can also bake them at home.  There are lots of recipes online for you to make from scratch.  There are even semla-kits that you can buy from the supermarkets.  They sell ready made buns and almond paste.  You can buy these separately and assemble them at home.

This year, I have eaten the ready made semla thrice.  I like the semlor we bought.  They are not too sweet and the cardamom is not to over-powering in the bun.  But next year I think I would make my own. For now, now more semla for me.  I have had my fill.

On the other side of the table

This morning, I waited outside the door to the classroom exactly at 8, together with two other classmates.  Before long, more and more classmates showed up but still no sign of the teacher.  We, including some women in their late 50s or even 60s and a pregnant lady, waited for half an hour and yet he didn't turn up.  People started complaining about having to wait all the time and I have to agree with them.  This was not the first time the teacher has been late.  Anyway, after 40 minutes, we all decided to leave.  It's really not nice of him to make us wait.

But apart from this incident, school has been quite good.  After my last post about SFI, things have gotten better in school.  The teacher has taught us a lot more and there were more text passages for us to read and understand.  I feel like I have made progress in class.  I'm also sitting next to a woman from Iraq and we speak Swedish to each other.  While our conversations are not at all fluent or in proper Swedish, we do try our best to understand each other.

I started off speaking quite haltingly with her but I am beginning to be more fluent and our conversations are now longer and more detailed.  This is very important since it forces me to speak more Swedish.  I find that I am quite good at reading.  I am an avid reader and I read everything around me, even though I might not understand.  I am attracted to words, I guess.  So, I am quite confident of my reading skills.  However, I am still not good with listening and speaking.  And this is very evident when I had to sit for a test a few days ago.

That day, a few of us got called out of the class.  The team leader and our teacher explained that we were doing Course C now.  Some of the other people in the class are also doing the same course while others are doing the B course.  Some are going on to course D after this, while some will stop at the end of course C.  This depends on the educational level we have attained back in our countries.  For me, I am doing course C and D.

Then, we were given a test to see how far we've gotten.  I was quite surprised to be tested so soon, especially when it's supposed to determine if we are at the halfway point of our course.  I have only been in school for 11 weeks.  Isn't that too early to see if I am halfway through the course?  I felt like I still have so much more to learn.  But I sat for the test anyway.

The test was so tough!  Much, much tougher than what we usually tackle in class.  I had to read three different text types - a diagram, an information sheet and a newspaper article.  There were so many words I didn't understand and have never seen but I managed to make sense out of what I read.  Then, I had to answer some questions based on the texts.  I managed to get almost everything correct -I got two questions wrong.

Once done, the teachers looked at my results and we discussed my progress.  Actually they were talking to me and each other while I just nod or shook my head.  They are satisfied that my reading and writing skills are there but when I was asked to answer some questions, much like the Oral Examinations I used to administer to my students when I was teaching back home (my, how the tables have turned), I wasn't able to speak so fluently.  Many times I had to use English to put my thoughts across.  Not good, and I knew it myself.  So I have been given another date for me to show my progress in speaking - 21 Feb.  I guess I have to step up my efforts and make sure I am more fluent and confident when I speak.    

Poppy seeds

I remember many years ago, back home, when I bought a slice of lemon poppy seed cake from a cafe.  I have seen cakes with poppy seeds on food shows and magazines but rarely could I find those being sold in the bakeries or cafes.  So when I saw that cake, I had to try it.

The cake was nice and moist and lemony, just like a usual cake.  But the tiny blue seeds (which at first I thought was black) gave an interesting crunch to the cake.  I loved that texture so I tried to look for poppy seeds to make my own cake.  It wasn't easy to find but I did manage to buy a small packet from one of the gourmet supermarkets in Singapore, Tierney's, if I'm not mistaken.  I think I added them to my lemon cake too.

But after that one time, I could not find it any more.  And I didn't see any poppy seeds being used by bakeries or cafes either.  Perhaps they were banned.  Singapore is strict that way.  I wasn't sure so I did some reading on it.

Poppy seeds do come from the opium poppy and eating foods that contain poppy seeds can result in false positive for opiates in drug tests.  However, the opiates levels are much too low to produce narcotic effects. Also, their production is monitored to keep a check on their narcotic value.  New cultivators are also being introduced to make poppy seeds more conducive for consumption.

Poppy seeds do have nutritional value.  They are an excellent source of minerals such as magnesium, zinc and calcium.  They also contain linoleic acid, which help to protect the heart from diseases, and oliec acid, which help in prevention of breast cancer.  Poppy seeds are also less allergenic than many other seeds and nuts.  How interesting!

So why the sudden interest in poppy seeds?  Well, I came across packets of poppy seeds being sold here.  Besides the blue seeds, I also found white ones.  After seeing those, I decided to buy a packet and bake a cake with them.  I had lots of oranges at home so I decided to bake an orange poppy seed cake.  It was very good.  The cake recipe came with a syrup that you pour immediately after the cake comes out of the oven and it made the cake super moist and orangey.

Actually, I bought the poppy seeds to sprinkle on top of my bagels.  Pete was the one to suggest it after the first time I baked bagels.  He thought that it would be more interesting to have the bagels topped with sesame seeds or poppy seeds.  So the next time I baked the bagels, that was what I did.  While the sesame seeds gave the bagels a nice, nutty flavour, the poppy seeds gave it lots of crunch.

With the successful tries using the poppy seeds, I would definitely use them more in my baking.  There are some bread recipes that use poppy seed paste so I might try that one day.  I am very sure they will taste great.    

Flat as a pannkakor

Last night, Pete told me that I had to use up all the milk since it was getting near to the expiry date.  "You have to bake a cake," he said.  But there was still about a liter of milk left so I decided on a recipe that uses lots of milk - pancakes.  Specifically Swedish pancakes or pannkakor.

I used to make the fluffy American version of the pancake back home.  My mum or my sis would, from time to time, ask me to make some for tea of breakfast. Those were good and easy to make.  Those were what I had in mind when Pete first asked me to make pancakes.  But he was not referring to those.  Apparently, when he was in school, every Thursday was pancake day.  Pancakes were served on Thursdays in schools all over Sweden.  That is the day they have pea soup too.  That's another Swedish tradition.

Swedish pancakes are flat and thin, almost like crepes.  They are a bit thicker, softer and more elastic than crepes.  They are eaten with jam, cream, ice cream and other yummy stuff.  I have never eaten any before I moved here but I have seen them being sold here.

I found a few recipes online and stuck to one that I thought looked good.  And it was.  The recipe was easy to follow and I managed to crank up good pancakes every time.  I made a batch just now and used up all the batter.  I found that it's easier to store the cooked pancakes than the batter.  You can also freeze the pancakes and then thaw and reheat them on your pan or skillet when you want to eat them.  Of course here, the pancakes don't stand a chance.  They have a habit of disappearing so I never had to store them.

When I first made these, I used a stand or hand-held electric mixer to make the batter.  The third time I made them, I didn't feel like taking the machine out so I whisked the eggs by hand.  It turned out fine so that is the method I go by now.  Apart from the crazy whisking for a minute or two at the start, the rest of the batter came through quite easily.  There WILL be some tiny lumps and the batter will NOT look nice and smooth.  That's the way it is.  Don't worry about it.  The pancakes would still be yummy.  The only thing you will worry about is whether you have made enough.

Swedish Pancakes
3 eggs
2 cups (about 450ml) milk (full fat is best)
2 tbsp melted butter
2 or 3 tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1.5 cups plain flour, sifted

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until very fluffy.
Add the milk and melted butter and mix well.
Add the dry ingredients and combine until you get a runny batter.
Cook the pancakes over medium heat.
I use a ladle which holds about 3 tbsp of the batter and it gives me quite a flat pancake with my pan.
Turn the pancakes over when the edges start to turn light brown.
I cook mine for one minute on one side and then another 30sec for the other side.

I piped some lightly sweetened whipped cream in the middle and rolled it.

It's yummy with a dollop of apricot marmalade on top.