Korv Stroganoff

One of the best things about living here is that the kitchen is very spacious, cool, and well equipped.  It is in here that I feel comfortable enough to try out new recipes - recipes that I wouldn't have tried when I was back home.  Also, some of the ingredients are cheaper here. Dairy and wheat products, especially, are much cheaper so I usually have my pantry well stocked so that I could whip something up whenever I feel like it or whenever I come across good recipes.  Especially when the recipe comes with drool-inducing pictures.

I have been cooking a lot of different types of food here - Malay, Chinese, Indian, and of course Swedish. It's not too difficult to make the Swedish dishes halal since I can get halal meats easily here. A dish that Pete has been asking for quite often is korv stroganoff. Korv is the Swedish thick sausage that is usually made of pork. Here, there are many types of halal sausages sold so it was easy to just pick one out that is made of chicken, beef or turkey.

Although stroganoff is a Russian dish, it has become popular in Sweden for many years.  Here, the sausage is cut into smaller pieces and cooked in a creamy tomato sauce.  It's usually served with rice and salad.  Pete remembers eating the dish when he was in school.  Before I cooked it, I have never tasted it before since I couldn't find a halal version of it sold elsewhere.  One day, after repeated requests from Pete to cook him that dish, I googled a recipe and found a super simple one.  After trying it out, I didn't know why I didn't cook it earlier.  It really is simple and fast to cook.  I can imagine busy Swedish moms coming home after work and spending less than 30 mins in the kitchen to produce a simple, hearty supper for her family. 

So I will share the recipe here.  It might be difficult to find juicy, thick halal sausages back home, but any decent quality sausage should do the trick.  I found it a bit odd to eat cream-based gravy with rice at first. I'm so used to eating spicy gravy with rice, I guess, but in the end, I got used to eating creamy stroganoff or stews with rice.  But if you don't like that idea, you can also serve this with pasta. This recipe makes a tasty pasta sauce too.

Korv Stroganoff

1 big white onion, sliced

400g sausages, cut into strips (size of thick-cut fries)

2tbsp tomato purée 

400g can of crushed tomatoes

300ml cream

Pepper to taste

Sauté the onions. 

Once they're translucent, add the sausages and cook until they start to brown.

Add the tomato purée and cook for about 2mins.

Add the crushed tomatoes and mix well.

Lastly, add the cream and pepper to taste.   

Voila! It's done!

Sommartid

This morning when I got up, I lost a whole hour.  Literally.  Pete has moved all the clocks in the house one hour ahead while I was sleeping.  No, he hasn't gone mad.  It's just that now it's sommartid or literally translated, summer time.  It's daylight-savings time. 

These days, the sun comes up earlier and goes down later.  So we are getting more and more light.  In winter, it was the opposite.  Starting from the end of summer, it gets darker and darker.  In winter, we would get as little as 7 hours of light a day, so we would turn the clock back an hour. 

So now the time difference between here and Singapore is back to 6hours.  Singapore is 6 hours ahead.  I am glad for the time change.  It makes it easier remember what time it is back home.  But most importantly, it's a signal that warmer weather will be upon us soon.  It was snowing a bit yesterday so it might not be that soon.  One can hope, anyway. 

Easter buns

Pete's mum invited us to her place for Easter yesterday.  Like I've mentioned in my last post, the food served is the same as in Christmas, minus the Christmas ham.  Also, this time, his mum did all the cooking.  For Christmas, because there were a lot of people invited, we all chipped in to prepare the food.  Since I didn't have to cook anything, I decided to bring something with us.  I was originally thinking of bringing cupcakes or a layered cake, but I happened to watch The Great British Bake Off Easter Special and Paul Hollywood, the tougher and harsher one of the two judges, showed how to make hot cross buns.

I decided to bake those instead since it is Easter.  An Easter-themed dessert would be more appropriate, wouldn't it?  Pete has never heard or seen hot cross buns before, so I had to explain to him what they were.  I haven't seen them here so I don't think they are available.  I have seen those back home but I have never tried those.  I have never baked them before either, but I know there are raisins in them.  And cinnamon.  How can you go wrong with raisins and cinnamon in buns?

I first tried to jot down the recipe and instructions while I was watching the show.  It wasn't easy.  I think I missed some of the measurements for some ingredients and most importantly, I missed some of the tips for shaping the buns.  I always wanted to learn the proper way to shape bread dough.  I was a bit miffed at myself, especially when I only remembered that I could probably find the recipe online after the show.  I could have focused my attention on the program and not worry about writing down the recipe.

Anyway, I checked up on the recipe yesterday morning and luckily I decided to start on the dough an hour in advance.  Usually bread dough needs only two 1hr long proofing but this one needed three.  And the dough was very sticky and wet, especially with the addition of the chopped apples, not a typical ingredient in hot cross buns.  It was tedious since there's the extra proofing, adding the raisins and apples, making the paste to make the cross and a glaze to make the buns look lovely and shiny.  I was very tired after making them but they gave off such a delicious aroma while they were being baked.  And once I brushed on the glaze, they looked so yummy.

When I compared the recipe I hurriedly written with the one online, there were some differences.  In the show, Paul Hollywood didn't mention that the dough needed to proof three times.  That was a major difference.  If I hadn't checked the recipe earlier, I would have been an hour late.  But the good part about online recipes is that some websites allow comments from readers.  I always read through those first to see if the recipes are really any good.  The comments for this recipe were quite good.  Most of the readers were happy with the recipe.  However, they did say that the baking time was shorter than the 20 mins that was stated in the actual recipe.  I checked mine and they were done in 15 mins too.

Apart from that, the recipe is really good.  It's not too difficult, only a bit time consuming.  But that's how it is with bread dough.  Time is a very important ingredient for bread dough and this one produced a very soft bun.  It's still nice and soft even the day after.  I am chomping at one now as I type!  The only thing is that the very dry air here hardened the glaze and made the tops hard.  But with a couple of minutes in the oven, it's nice and soft again.  Oh, and Pete's family at yesterday's Easter lunch loved them as well. 

House & Home

Yesterday, I had another peek at the Swede's lifestyle.  Pete and I had tickets to House & Home expo, the biggest in Sweden.  It was held near the new mall, Emporia.  Pete's sister works in a tile company.  The company had a booth in the expo so she got free tickets for it.  The expo ran from Thursday to Sunday.  We played badminton on Friday so we decided to go yesterday instead.

We knew it was going to be crowded since it was the weekend so we went there early.  But, even though we were there at around 10, there was already a crowd at the entrance.  Masses of people were standing outside the revolving door.  The door wasn't exactly the most efficient in getting crowds of people inside.  Every so often, because there were too many people, someone would accidentally trigger the sensor and the door would stop for awhile.  After a few minutes, we were haven't managed to move even an inch forward.  I was so cold since it was very windy, but luckily, a side door opened for people with tickets.  That was us!

Inside, there was another long queue to buy tickets and at the coat room.  We were happy to skip both queues.  We headed straight into the exhibition halls.  It was huge.  Just like the Expo back home.  For a minute, I felt like I was back at home.  I used to go to a few with my friends and family but this one is very different.

The first section we saw had booths promoting hot tubs, jacuzzi and pools.  A quick glance next to this section were booths for tiles and roofing.  There were also booths for heaters and fireplace, flooring, stairs and windows.  Basically, you can find anything you need to build your own home.  All under one roof.

There are also stuff for areas outside your home.  There were many booths that sold seeds, bulbs and seedlings.  These booths had quite a lot of customers, indicating how popular gardening is here.  I also took the chance to buy a few packets of seeds for my garden.  I picked up some new seeds such as pumpkin and butternut squash.  I wanted to get some bulbs to plant flowers but I don't know which to get yet.  There were a lot of varieties that were sold there and they were so beautiful.  But Pete and I wanted to concentrate on planting stuff that we can eat.  So, we walked through without buying any.

I also saw some companies that design home gardens and I love their designs. They gave me some ideas for my own garden, if I have one in future, that is.  Some booths had furniture and accessories for the garden too.  Looking at them, I am reminded of my parents.  I know they would love the stuff there.  They spend a lot of time every day at their garden so I know they would go crazy if they were here.  There was also a small section where they sold kitchen gadgets and tools.  I bought a set of three reusable non-stick baking mats since I bake a lot.  I wouldn't need to buy the disposable paper ones any more.

All in all, I enjoyed myself there.  Although it was crowded, the most crowded place I gone to since I have been here, it was manageable.  We had room to walk without bumping into other people.  It's not too noisy even though there were a lot of people.  There was even a small stage next to the entrance where a live band was playing.  Pete said that there are other expos held here each year, even an erotic one.  That would certainly be an eye-opener for me, wouldn't it?       

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.

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.

Gone to the dogs

The Swedes love pets, mainly cats and dogs.  Everywhere I go, there's always someone walking his dog/dogs.  Even when I go to the centre of town, I see people walking their dogs, bringing them along on their shopping trips.  They would tie the leashes outside the stores as they shop inside.  Dogs are even allowed into buses and trains!

I don't mind at all since I love looking at the dogs.  I have seen many types of dogs here, from tiny puppies to the very huge Great Dane and Mastiff.  They are all very adorable.  And I think they are generally quite well-behaved.  Apart from some barking sometimes, the dogs followed their owners obediently everywhere.

Pete doesn't really like the dogs though.  Well, he doesn't like the dogs owners, mainly because they don't pick up after their dogs and they don't follow rules.  There are open spaces and fields around the city and where we live but some areas are supposed to be dog-free.  There are signs indicating that but some dog owners let their dogs roam there.  Also some dog owners allow their dogs to run unleashed.  All these makes Pete uptight about these dog owners.

I used to think that he was maybe a bit too cynical and harsh but after tonight's incident, I am beginning to think that he is right after all.  After supper, as we were settling down to watch a movie, we heard a commotion outside our door.  We tried to listen carefully and found that the loud noises were the barking of dogs and some shouting.  The noises got louder and we could hear footsteps running down the stairs.  Then we heard a lady screaming and crying. 

After a few more tense minutes of shouting, the noises stopped.  Whatever that was, I got chills when I heard the commotion, especially when I heard the lady's voice.  Pete later told me that it seemed like a small dog got attacked by a bigger one.  From the sounds of the lady, the small one got bitten and was probably seriously wounded.  It also seemed like the big dog wasn't leashed.  The owners of the small dog were heard demanding compensation from the owner of the attacking dog.

How sad.  Having had lost a few pets in the past myself, I could understand the lady's anguish.  I am glad, though, that I didn't witness the attack or see the wounded dog.  I can't stand looking at animals or people in pain.  Anyway, I hope these people would learn from this and at the very least, keep their dogs leashed.  I really don't want to witness another incident like this.   

As Swedish as sandwich cake

Pete and I had a craving for something very Swedish -smörgåstårta, the sandwich cake.  The first time I heard about it, I was not really in a hurry to give it a try.  I love cakes - the sweet, delicious ones.  This 'cake', in my mind, is NOT real cake.  This one is not made from flour, sugar and eggs.  And it's not garnished with buttercream, strawberries or chocolate.  This is a savoury cake.

From far, it might look like an ordinary cake but it's definitely not.  The cake is actually a huge sandwich with layers of bread and filling, covered with a creamy mixture of mayonnaise, cream cheese, sour cream and whipped cream.  On top of that, garnishes such as tiny prawns, slices of hard boiled eggs, cucumber, tomatoes, smoked salmon, cheese and roe or caviar are used to cover the cake.  These cakes can look quite pretty, actually.

Once I got used to the idea of a savoury cake, I was willing to try.  I can't remember now when I first tried it, but with that first bite, I got hooked.  I love sandwiches, so it was very easy to like it.  The whole thing was creamy but there lies the skill of the person making the cake.  The fillings in the layers should have a nice balance.  Here, the fillings are usually made up of egg salad, tuna salad, salmon and pate.  Some people put slices of lemon and kiwi and sprinkling of fresh herbs like parsley and dill to brighten up the taste.

The sandwich cake is usually served during special occasions here.  You can make them yourself or simply order it from a bakery.  There are speciality bakeries that sell these but they are expensive.  It could cost about 750kr (SGD 150) for a cake that serves 10 people.  You could also buy them from some supermarkets.

Pete and I decided to make one ourselves yesterday.  He has made them before but it was my first attempt.  The first thing we had to do was to get the ingredients.  They are all easy to find except for the bread.  They have a special type of bread for this.  Instead of slicing the bread cross-wise, the bread is cut length-wise.  The longer slices mean that you can build a bigger cake more easily.  We went to two supermarkets and two smaller stores and they all were out.  It made me wonder if Saturday is the day that people here like to make their sandwich cakes.

Anyway, in the end we bought bread that is semi-circular.  That is a much better option than the usual sandwich bread since it's more stable.  Using this bread, we would get a circular cake but it's fine.  I made egg salad and creamy chicken for the fillings.  The frosting was made with simply whipped cream and mayonnaise.  We decorated our cake with strips of cucumber, tomato and cucumber slices, prawns, salmon, lemon slices and roe.

Although it looks simple, we really love the look of it.  The bright red cherry tomatoes and the green cucumber make the cake look so beautiful and fresh.  The lemon slices also make it look nice, but most of all, the tangy juice lifts the dish.  When we cut into it, it didn't fall apart.  Best of all, it tastes good.  And as a bonus, since the cake ended up to be a huge one, we have leftovers to eat more of today! That means one or even two fewer meals to cook today.

(note: At the time of posting, I couldn't upload pictures of the sandwich cake but you can view them at my facebook page)

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

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!

Lovely Yumms

In a previous blog post, I wrote about some Swedish desserts that uses coconut and also about their love of coffee.  I wrote about a delicious cake that I love very much called 'karleks mums' (pronounced as share-lakes mooms).  Translated into English, it means 'lovely yums'.  Strangely enough, that's how I would describe it.  It's a simple and yummy cake.  To describe it further, it is a light sponge cake with a hint of chocolate topped with a mocha flavoured frosting and sprinkles of grated coconut.  I love how the sponge cake is so soft and light and it's delicious when paired with the mocha frosting.  I like to eat it when it's slightly chilled in the fridge.  Paired with hot tea or coffee, it'll make a delicious and yet light dessert.

The great thing about the cake is that it's very simple to make.  You don't need to cream the butter and sugar like in a butter cakes.  The only whisking you need to do is just with eggs and sugar and you simply add the rest of the ingredients before baking for just 12 to 15 minutes.  While the cake is baking, you can make the frosting in a saucepan and it's ready by the time the cake comes out of the oven.  Easy peasy.  No need to wait for the butter to soften.  No messy cake mixers.  And you only need your measuring cup and spoons, a bowl, a sieve, a saucepan and a baking pan.

If you are in a hurry to get a cake ready, do try this recipe.  It's really easy and quick and most of all, it's delicious.

Karleks Mums

Sponge

2 eggs

1 1/4 cups sugar

3/4 cup milk

2 tsp vanilla essence

2 1/4 cups plain flour

3 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp cocoa powder

150g butter, melted (you can melt it in the saucepan)

Frosting

100g butter

200g icing sugar

2 tbsp cocoa powder

3 tbsp cold strong coffee

1 tsp vanilla essence

about 1/2 cup grated coconut to sprinkle on top

Heat the oven to 225C and prepare a 9 x 13 or similar pan by lining with baking paper.
Whisk the eggs and sugar until fluffy.  This should take about 3 minutes if using the cake mixer.
Add the milk and vanilla essence.
Put a sieve over the bowl and sift in all the dry ingredients.  Remove the sieve and stir until just mixed.
Add the melted butter and mix well.  Do not overmix.
Pour into the baking pan and bake in the oven for 12 - 15 minutes.
As the cake is baking, make the frosting.
Put the butter in a saucepan over low heat.  Let the butter melt completely and then add the rest of the ingredients (except for the coconut, of course).
Stir well and cook until it thickens to the consistency of custard.  This will take only 2 or 3 minutes. 
Take it off the heat but don't let it cool too much before spreading on the cake - it will harden.
Once the cake is cooked, leave it to cool in the pan for a few minutes before spreading the frosting over the entire cake.
While the frosting is still warm, sprinkle the coconut over the entire cake.
Finish cooling the cake in the pan.  You can also leave it in the fridge to chill.
Cut into squares and serve.

Wanted mail

Every Saturday and Monday, there will be a stack of mail that's dropped through the mail slot on the door.  These are flyers from different supermarkets and stores.  Some times you do find a lot of good offers for groceries and other household stuff.  Pete and I would go through them together and figure out which supermarket offers the best deal for our weekly shopping.

I like to look at prices of cheeses and fruits.  Some times, a kilo of Gouda or Edam can cost as little as SD$10.  Last week, 4 golden kiwi went for SD$2.  Sodas such as Sprite and Coke can also be very cheap.  This week, you can buy five 1.5l bottles for SD$8 and two huge loaves of bread (and I'm not talking about the tasteless white bread) cost SD$3.

We also get flyers from a store called Bauhaus.  They sell everything you need to build and furnish a house, including gardening stuff.  I love looking at their patio furniture and the potted plants they sell.  Of course, living in an apartment means that I don't have a need for outdoor furniture.  But they are so beautiful that I just have to look and admire them every time I get the flyers. 

Some of these flyers also have recipes and ideas for meals.  They look simple but tasty.  The only problem is that all of the flyers are written in Swedish, but I can always ask Pete to translate.  Also, after looking through these flyers several times a week, one good thing came out of it - I've picked up some Swedish!  I guess these flyers work better than flashcards.

Swedish chocolate balls

If you haven't already heard, Swedes love coffee.  And they love having their fika - that lovely tradition of having coffee or tea with freshly baked pastries such as cinammon rolls, biscuits and other sweet treats.  Having a sweet tooth (or two) myself, I had no trouble embracing this tradition.  The best part is, fika is enjoyed at any time - after breakfast, after lunch, before or after dinner.

Another thing that I've learnt is that they are very bold in using spices in their pastries.  In their quintessential pastry, the cinnamon roll, ground cardamom is used together with cinnamon.  And they do use it aggressively, almost.  The first time I bit into a roll, the distinct heat of the spice almost gave me a rude shock.  I mean, it is called 'cinnamon roll' not 'cardamom roll' so I was totally unprepared for the taste of the spice, which is not exactly my favourite ingredient.  Another pastry that is usually found during Christmas, called lusse katt or saffransbröd, uses saffron.

Another common ingredient in the pastries is grated coconut.  The flakes are used to top squares of chocolate sponge cake called kärlek mums, one of my favourite Swedish pastries.  Pete's mum made some for our wedding and I couldn't stop eating them.  Another popular pastry using grated coconut is chokladbollar or chocolate balls.

I love them.  The first time I had them was on my first visit to Sweden last June.  I found a box of these among other sweet treats in a welcome basket from Pete.  With that first bite, I fell in love - with the balls, not Pete (well, I was already in love with him by then).  The balls are moist and had a winning combination of chocolate and coffee.

Since then, I would buy a box whenever I had a craving.  There are many brands selling the balls but we only buy Delicato balls which is the yummiest, according to Pete.  And it's available everywhere.  Every time we go to the supermarkets, I would always eye the blue boxes and start to drool.  But I don't always buy them.  What I wanted to do was to make my own.

In fact, Swedish kids would make them at home with their mum since it's a simple recipe and there's no baking involved.  I have come across recipes for these balls but they are not anything like the Delicato balls.  These recipes would call for rolled oats, the main ingredient, but if you bite into the Delicato balls, you don't get the grainy oats.

Finally, after researching countless recipes, I put together my own recipe and with the first bite of my homemade chokladbollar, I was very happy with it.  The balls are very close to the taste and texture of the Delicato balls.  Yes!  Now I could make them any time I want.

Chokladbollar or Swedish chocolate balls

100g butter, soft

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup caster sugar

2 - 3 tbsp cocoa powder

2 tbsp vanilla sugar (or 1 tsp vanilla essence)

1 tbsp strong coffee, cooled

50g dark chocolate, melted

1 1/4 cup rolled oats, chopped 

1/2 cup grated coconut to coat

Mix all the ingredients except the oats and coconut.  Add the oats and mix well.  The texture should be of wet sand.  Chill in the fridge for about 30mins.  Form balls and roll in the coconut.  The balls can be served cold or at room temperature.

You can omit the coffee if you want.  Or for coffee lovers, you can also add 1 tsp of instant coffee powder.  Instead of coconut flakes, you can roll the balls in chopped nuts or colourful sprinkles to make it more attractive for kids.  If you use sprinkles, reduce the amount of sugar slightly.   

Waterproof Swedes

Of course they are not really waterproof, but the way they brave the rain and cold looks to me like they are.  This morning was cloudy, the way it usually is for the last two weeks.  We were on our way to check out a possible location of our future business when ten minutes into our walk, it started to rain.

It started out as a light drizzle but got heavier by the minute.  Pete doesn't like to carry an umbrella and I am too lazy, so both of us had to walk in the pouring rain.  My hair that was washed and dried before I left home got drenched.  Luckily I was wearing a long coat that kept most of the rain off of my clothes.  And I was wearing my waterproof boots, so my feet are nice and dry and warm.  Except for the wet hair and the cold, I felt quite ok actually even when we had to walk for quite a bit, since we were a bit lost while looking for the location.

Looking around as I walked, which was quite difficult since the rain was getting into my eyes all the time, I could see that a lot of other people were also without umbrellas.  It was really very rare to see someone with a brolly even when it rained so heavily.  Even parents with babies in their prams didn't carry any.  The prams had a sort of waterproof cover and it was enough to keep them dry inside.

This is so different from back home.  With the slightest drizzle, or sunshine, out comes the umbrella.  In fact, umbrella sales are very brisk and there are so many types that are sold in many different designs, so much so that there are even stores or carts that sell only umbrellas.  Here, there aren't many places that sell them and even then, it's just the standard types with simple designs and colours.  But I guess waterproof jackets and coats are more popular. 

I also see teachers leading their pupils as they walk in the rain.  The kids, ranging from pre-schoolers to ten year olds, wear their raincoats and walk cheerfully with their friends and teachers.  Again, this is so different from back home where the kids are over-protected and excursions in the rain will never go down well with their parents.  I guess that's how the kids here grow up to be such tough adults.  Just like the waterproof Swedes.

Smells like Sweden

When the weather gets cold and wet, the baker gets baking.  This morning was cloudy, windy and cold.  Perfect for staying indoors and for me, that means baking something to warm the body and soul.

I have been here for almost a month and I can't believe I haven't baked cinnamon rolls yet.  I can smell it everywhere every time I go shopping.  The cafes, supermarkets and even small convenience stores sells them.  I love it.  I love that smell.  It's so comforting, so warm, so...Swedish. 

So today was perfect for that, especially since I have all the ingredients I need.  I even have the pearl sugar to sprinkle on top before baking.  I love the sugar.  They make the rolls and cupcakes and other baked stuff  look so pretty.

The dough was quite easy to make and does not require too much kneading.  I think I only took less than 5 minutes to make the dough nice and smooth.  But it did take a bit of muscle power to beat the flour with the warm milk, egg and butter before it was ready for kneading.  The recipe I followed said to allow 2 hours for the dough to rise but mine only needed one and a half hours.

Once it has risen enough, I rolled it out into a huge rectangle, brushed it with melted butter and sprinkled evenly with sugar and ground cinnamon.  I rolled it and cut it and for half of the rolls, I sprinkled the pearl sugar.  The other half I left bare since Pete prefers it that way.  I also set aside some dough to make cheese braids using a chunk of gouda cheese that I grated.

Once the rolls were done, we took a quick walk since the sun was finally coming out from behind the clouds.  I thought the weather has finally turned, but I was wrong.  The walk became a brisk one since we wanted to get out of the wind.  It was very windy and very cold.  Once we got through the door, Pete said, "It smells of cinnamon rolls in here."

And yes, after being out in the cold wind, the hot tea and rolls were just the thing to warm us up.