Lussekatt

 December 13th

Santa Lucia & My Morfar's Birthday

Morfar, Mormor, Mom - Summer 2007

It's coming up...

In honor of Santa Lucia...

I baked these...

With this wonderful lady...

heather "pensling" the lussekatt

and they were tasty...

I'm always afraid my Lucia buns won't rise, that I'll mess up the yeast.

But they did, and they nice, tasty and fluffy...

delicious with hot chocolate, or for breakfast or dessert or a snack... :)

 for those of you wondering WHY they're special: they are made w/a saffron, an expensive, but delightful spice that makes the buns a golden color. maybe i'll tranlsate the recipe from swedish some day and post it on the blog, until then, the pictures will have to suffice

{note: heather, i'll get you the recipe even if it doesn't end up on the blog, thanks for baking w/me}

 miss you morfar... thanks for teaching me the art of baking... you would be proud

Lucia buns fresh out of the oven

saft: a swedish adventure in the states

earlier in the week i posted about saft

now, i'll detail a little about making it...

first of all - saft is a DEEEEELICIOUS drink you can buy in sweden, and at ikea, but not online, only in the ikea store...

anyway, my mormor is awesome and she makes it from scratch - raspberry, strawberry, black currant, etc

one day i went to russell orchards and decided to pick strawberries... mmm... they were so yummy. i had so many strawberries on hand, i decided to eat some, freeze some and make saft out of some.

google translate says saft = juice - but it's so much more...

basically you use the juice from berries, boil it with sugar to make a concentrated liquid and store it. then when you're ready to drink, you pour a little saft into a glass and mix with water... voila, delicious, refreshing drink :)

here's a photo montage of my attempt. it turned out OK, but it's best to mix berries (strawberries and blueberries, or raspberries, etc) and i added TOO MUCH sugar (who would have thought?)

{first, pick berries and decide which ones you want to use}

 i separated mine into eat this week now, freeze and make into saft ;)

{weigh your strawberries}

this is necessary to ensure you have the right amount of other ingredients

{wash your strawberries}

{slice off the green part}

 

 

{weigh the strawberries again, just in case}

{add water}

{boil strawberries in the water, stirring occasionally - approx 10 min}

{use the spoon to crush the strawberries on the edge of the pot to get all the juiciness out}

{i put a strainer in a bowl for this next part}

{put a cheesecloth in the strainer - this is for straining the berries from the liquid}

{pour the boiled berries into the cheesecloth and let the liquid drain into the bowl}

{let it sit for a 30 minutes to ensure all liquid is in the bowl and not in the cheesecloth}

{pour into a measuring container - i used a glass pyrex one - woo hoo! 500ml}

{pour the liquid BACK into the pot on the stove}

{add the sugar - this is what makes it tasty, stir until the sugar has dissolved}

{cook until it comes to a boil}

{towards the end, this is what you should see}

{there's "skumm" - swedish for foam - you don't want it - so take it off with a spoon}

{it's yummy though - strawberry sugary - mmm}

{i set mine on a plate - and then ate it} :)

{pour non skumm liquid into a container so you can pour into bottles; it's easier w/a funnel which i did not have}

{clean the bottles you're using - i baked mine in the oven, but you can also boil them}

{pour liquid into WARM clean bottles, put on the cap and let cool}

 

 

 

 

saft should be stored at a cool temperature (fridge, basement, etc)

{image}

when you're ready to drink, pour some saft into a glass and add water to taste. i don't know how what the saft to water ratio is... i just go by what tastes good...

for those of you who want to try it, here's the recipe i used:

Strawberry Saft

(500 ml of saft or approx 2 cups):

500 grams strawberries

2 deciliters water (a little more than 3/4 cup or 200 ml)

3 deciliters sugar (1 1/4 cup or 300 ml)

note: it should be consumed within a few weeks, if not, some type of preservative should be added - i don't mess with that, i just drink it!

a swedish adventure in ipswich

here's a preview of what's to come...


sweet strawberries



made into...

this

saft
google it...
i'll be posting more about my adventure in the kitchen
complete with photos

a few more vacation images...

skating adventures
one morning we woke up and decided to go ice-skating on Lake Siljan in Dalarna, Sweden. we bundled up, grabbed our skates and headed out to the lake.
"long färd skridskor" is popular in sweden - directly translated it would be "long distance" skating. you put long ice-skate blades onto specially designed boots. i've tried it in the past, but i don't own a pair. i had regular hockey skates, but almost everyone else had the long-distance skates.


my mom and jakob - he has the long-distance skates, and special poles, they both have ice-pick thingies around their necks; in the event they fall through the ice, they dig the ice-pick in the ice and don't drown... good to keep around :)

we skated alongside the shoreline... probably a total of 6 miles.
it was such a fun time and good exercise! we kept warm despite the chilly weather...


my amazing mom and me: ice-skating on a cold winter morning



beautiful views of a frozen dock from our ice-skating trip




close-up shot: my brother phil and me

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gallivanting in stockholm


walking the streets of downtown stockholm in the winter...


drottninggatan, stockholm
it's a "people only, no cars" street in stockholm that stretches for about 1 mile
there are fabulous stores on both sides of the street


drottninggatan, stockholm
i love the christmas chandeliers - so festive



my friends: emma, henke and petra


petra and emma goofing off in the street


henke...
it was soo chilly out...
i had a hard time taking pictures...
my fingers were FREEZING!


close-up: emma, petra, sara


goofy shot: emma, petra, sara

we met during my sophomore year in sweden. it's great that we still keep in touch.
emma, if you're reading this, i'm still sending you the converse :) xo

emma, petra and henke all live in stockholm, so it's great to be able to catch up w/all of them at once.

we spend the afternoon at a café - "fika" is what the swedes call it - basically taking time to drink coffee, tea or hot chocolate, eat a sandwich or yummy bum and catch up with friends. such a good word, wish it existed in english :)

we walked around stockholm while they helped me pick out a few wedding presents for friends in the states. then we decided to grab some dinner.
we went to a fabulous italian restaurant, that i can't remember the name of... henke, petra, emma, do you guys remember?
anyway, you walk into the restaurant and you are given a plastic card. you find a table, order your food, eat, spend time w/friends. when you're ready to leave, you bring your plastic card to the hostess. she checks you out and you pay. it's great for friends getting together - no one has to worry about splitting up the check. you each pay for what you eat.
the downside... you lose the card, you pay $100...

so there's another peek into my vacation that i WISH hadn't ended...

beauty

i finally uploaded my pictures FROM my camera TO my computer from my trip to sweden.

here are a few images i captured that i wanted to post.

a christmas wreath on a woodshop door



a woodshop with frosted windows



a typical christmas chandelier
i want to have something similar someday...
i love the elegant simplicity :)



the sunrise from my mormors house around 9am



-------------------------------------------------

now if only we could get loads of snow the weatherman is predicting...

Sven Jansson

today i was thinking about my morfar...



so i wanted to write a post in memory of him...

Sven Jansson, my morfar is my mother's father - well, he passed away, but he will always be my mom's dad.

morfar = mother's father (direct translation from swedish to english)

where was i?

oh yes...

the memories i have of my morfar...

him teaching me how to drive his stick shift 1990 Volvo on a frozen Lake Siljan days after i turned 16
gardening with him; his favorite part of the garden were his potatoes
him driving me to and from Granberget daily to ski & snowboard
him driving me to the first day of school at Leksands Gymnasium because i was too nervous to take the bus
learning how to bake bread from scratch in an old-fashioned oven - my brothers and i called it pizza bread - it was only recently i learned it's called "mjukbulla" or "softbun"

learning how to bake many things delicious
building sandcastles on martha's vineyard on one of his visits to America
bodysurfing at Chapoquoit Beach, Marconi Beach and many other beaches...
always having candy in his glove compartment of his 1990 Volvo
my brother Peter stating Bompa Gigi = translation morfar candy b/c he knew morfar kept candy in the glove compartment oif his volvo
orienteering with my morfar
telling morfar about Jesus
spending as much time as possible with my mormor and morfar during summer 2007 because i had a feeling it may be his last visit to America
i was right, he passed away May 2008
morfar meeting caleb during the summer of 2007; so glad this happened
going into the woods early in the morning to pick blueberries for me and my brothers to have for breakfast in 2006 on our first morning in sweden; when he came in he said "ja, man börjar att känna man är gammal" (yes, i'm beginning to feel old)
celebrating santa lucia with morfar in 2003 with my family and friend Mary Beth because it was his birthday
him surprising me with a season pass to Granberget for my christmas present from him and mormor December 1998
him and mormor driving me to Karlstad Universitet where i spent a semester of college in Karlstad, Sweden
wishing he could have seen the picture of Caleb proposing on Granberget June 2008
wishing he could have accompanied my mormor to my wedding October 2008
knowing he would have been so happy that Caleb proposed in Sweden; that we had a candy bar at our wedding; that the wedding ceremony was so personal; he would have danced with me; and he would have laughed
wishing he would have been able to meet my kids... (no, i don't have any children yet; they're in the someday plans for now)
oh how i miss his laugh, i wish i had recorded it, he was such a wonderful person
he was kind, friendly, non-judgmental, athletic, outdoorsy, helpful, a team player, a caring father, a loving husband, a wonderful brother, an unforgettable Morfar.
morfar, you are missed.
my trip to sweden wasn't the same without you.
my previous trip to sweden for your funeral was strange.
i know you're in heaven; i look forward to seeing you when the time comes; i hope you're having fun orienteering, picking blueberries, growing potatoes, swimming and building sand castles. i'm sure you're having a grand old time. make sure you save a spot for mormor. she misses you.
don't worry though, i'm going to keep her company as often as i can.
we spent time together for my birthday this year. i'll never forget it.
you married an incredible woman.
i miss you.
i love you.
your barnbarn sara linnéa

[ps-this will be edited with pictures once i can compile a few; just wanted my thoughts to the keyboard before i forgot]