Go big or go home + Chester is ten weeks old!

I can't write a blog post without writing about the baby, but we'll save his updates for last, so skip down to the bottom if you only care about the boy (and I don't blame you if that is the case).

So, apparently there is an option to get your groceries delivered directly to your door. And since I get stressed out trying to take the baby shopping (who always needs to eat right as I get into the checkout line), I started looking into this. For some reason I thought the shipping cost would be outrageous, which is why I never looked into it before. But it is actually comparable to the cost of a bus trip to the store and back. Or, if you order above a certain money value, you get free shipping. As soon as I read that I started adding items to my virtual shopping cart.

I think I had written about grocery shopping recently. In our new apartment we've had to be more deliberate about shopping, since there is not a store we can walk to in just two minutes. And being deliberate about shopping also meant we were saving quite a lot of money. It didn't seem like we should be buying more if we were doing shopping more frequently with less planning, but that was definitely the case. So anyhow. Now that we have a baby I haven't been doing any big shopping trips for a week's worth of food, because I just can't carry it all. I guess I could try to use my wheely bag and also push the pram, but that is just not a challenge I want to give myself right now.

I have so much to say about groceries!

But this is probably getting boring, so I should wrap up this train of thought. So I ordered groceries and they were delivered to my house the following day! I'm excited to have found a way to not need to carry home large packages of things like diapers and paper towels and boxes of cereal. And I'm excited to use outings with the baby for purposes other than shopping, like meeting friends or going to the library. This whole endeavor feels like such a smart decision. I wish I had gotten to this place sooner!

And the baby!



He is two months old already! Over two months, in fact!

He smiles and laughs and makes a lot of noise. He is particularly chatty in the morning when he first wakes up. He pretty much spends his days eating and sleeping, although his stretches of time when he is awake are increasing. So we read books and practice tummy time and make calls to grandparents in the US. We are trying to get accustomed to liking our pram, and/or liking being worn in the wrap, because either of these would make outings much more pleasant.



He gets his socks off all the time, but it was pretty crafty of him to get the sock off and have it end up near his left hand like that…

What does it mean?

Scene: A weekday evening. Greg has gotten home earlier than expected. Went food shopping. Meghan has gotten home later than expected. Stopped by the food shop on her way, thinking Greg wouldn't be home yet.

M: Hi Honey, I'm Home! (parts of this dialogue are re-created and did not actually happen) I didn't think you'd be home already.
G: Yup, I'm making dinner!
M: Oh good! I actually also just stopped at the store and bought dinner.
G: What did you buy?
M: Frozen pizza.
G: That's what I'm making! What kinds did you get?
M: Mozzarella and Gyros, you?
G: Mozzarella and Salami!
M: I see we also both bought bananas.
G: And did you also buy salad greens?
M: Yup.

In addition to buying three of the exact same items, the following purchases were made: fil (a swedish yoghurt-like food) by Greg and müsli by Meghan. Both also checked to see if the Peach-Jalapeño ice cream had been restocked.

Tuesday thoughts

I understand essentially everything my Swedish teacher says. Of course, she is speaking slowly and using simpler words, so it is not a huge brag for me to say so, but it is still a little bit of a brag. She still manages to use some words I don't know on occasion, but I can always hear what word she is saying and look it up. Hearing what word is being said makes all the difference. When normal people speak Swedish, I hear a new word and ask what does dayjorja mean? And the problem is that they were saying three simple words that I know and can use properly.

And here is a thing. The bathrooms in my school have some sort of weird feature where sound just travels between them (they are individual rooms, Sweden isn't really into a stall-system) incredibly well. The other day it sounded like a person was standing next to me talking on their phone. And today, just as I was about to flush the toilet I heard someone start chanting? I'm not sure what was happening, but I felt SO disrespectful to just flush a toilet in the middle of it.

Anyhow.

Today is another super hot day. I 'cooked' veggie wraps for dinner. Sometimes I start thinking about how there are days (maybe consecutive) where I just don't eat vegetables? I've been trying to avoid this by eating a carrot appetizer if there is not a vegetable included in my dinner choice. Today's veggie wraps had spinach, zucchini, cucumber, red pepper, red onion, avocado, and a pesto+mayo spread. Pretty delicious. Pretty friendly for a warm day.

Yesterday Greg started a trend of playing classical music while dinner is being prepared. I continued the trend today, because I like the idea of giving myself some musical education. Yesterday was a little Bach, today a little Vivaldi. Did you know that Vivaldi was a Catholic priest? And that Bach was influenced by Vivaldi's work (even though Vivaldi was only 7 years his senior)? The things you learn! Thank you wikipedia.

Did you know that rocket boots are a real thing? Leonardo DiCaprio knows it. Apparently a friend of a friend is 'rich and has fun toys' including a set of these things.

Enough topic changes without segues. Time to publish!

Cultural research

Sweden has been unusually warm lately. Since it is not typically so warm, most homes do not have air conditioning. There is just no need. Except for the past two weeks there has sort of been a need. Our apartment is on the second level, and it has been getting unbearably warm in there. We are getting a nice routine down for keeping the apartment as not-warm as possible. No oven use. Minimal stove use. Keep the window shade drawn. Hang a white sheet over another window that lets in a lot of sun but doesn't have a shade. And by hang, I mean, pin it to the wall, because sometimes that is just how things are done in our household.

And then there is the increased ice cream consumption. Swedes seem to eat a ridiculous amount of ice cream. I base this on the number of ice cream stands located throughout the city. And since it has been so warm lately, I've also decided to just go ahead and eat a ridiculous amount of ice cream. Partly, it is a way for me to cool off, and partly, it is a way for me to experience more Swedish culture. I am not like the children of Sweden who grew up eating Piggelins.

I like to think of it as cultural research to try out all of the different options. And if it weren't for this mindset, then how would I have ever discovered how amazing the Hilda is?! This is strawberry ice cream, coated in a thin layer of white chocolate, and covered in sprinkles. The box has a picture of an anime character, Swedish style.

Aside from the fact that the real-life colors of the sprinkles are hardly as sparkly and aesthetically pleasing as the picture on the box, this was a super amazing treat. If it weren't for Greg and his reason, I'm sure the entire box would already be gone.

On a similar but different topic, there is a very similar type of ice cream treat which is made by a different company. As far as I could tell, the difference is that there are layers of white and pink ice cream in the center, and maybe the sprinkles are a nicer color. The other difference is that the name of the treat is Sitting Bull and it features a picture of a cartoon native person on the package. I feel like this is sort of a questionable thing, and I don't know if I want to be seen purchasing such an item. So, as much as I like to eat ice cream in the name of research, I think I might be sticking with the Hilda.

7QT: ginger, beer, swedish quizzes and introductions, & a banana

1. On Monday I had a low blood sugar moment, and I ate a banana. I haven't eaten a banana that wasn't disguised in a smoothie since I reached the age of reason. Bananas are the one food that I claim to despise. But on Monday I was desperate, and the banana was the only option. So I ate it, and it wasn't actually terrible. My mother is smiling the biggest smile in the world right now (am I right?).

2. I made progress in my goal to make my own ginger beer! I made a ginger simple syrup that can be added to bubbly water to simulate ginger beer. The ginger simple syrup was made by heating 1 dL water with 1 dL sugar (1 dL is about a half a cup) just until it started to bubble. Then I added ginger. I got about a 5 inch piece which I peeled (not perfectly) and sliced thinly. Once the mixture began to bubble again, I removed it from the heat and let it steep for about an hour. After filtering out the ginger pieces I was left with a super delicious concoction, which I intended to add to bubbly water except that I accidentally bought still water (language fail). But still. Tasty!

3. An advantage of going to the grocery store practically every day and only buying food for one or two meals is that you increase your chances of finding discounted, soon-to-expire foods. 30% off local thick-sliced bacon? YES Please! Change of plans honey, we are having three packages of bacon for dinner tonight!

4. In my Swedish class I got to participate in my first 'tipspromenad.' This is a thing that is maybe popular to do in Sweden? Or at least it is very popular with some Swedes. The tipspromenad, also called tipsrunda, is a quiz that involves going around to various questions which can be posted around a house or around a park outdoors even, and choosing the correct answer from the three choices. Sometimes it is competition style, involving prizes for the winners. I guess this is an activity you can do at parties. Which brings me to my next take!

5. I have this idea to include a tipsrunda the next time we have people over for brewing. It could involve all questions about beer/brewing. Yay or nay?

6. In Sweden, when meeting new people, you simple shake hands and state your name. No extra rambling or other words that would be the equivalent of "hi, I'm" or "hi, my name is" but just your name (super nice when you don't speak Swedish). Likewise, when answering your phone, it is typical to just state your name. Some people answer their phone by saying "hi, this is ____" and I'm not sure if one way is considered more polite than the other. What I do know is that answering a phone by saying "hello?" causes a lot of confusion. I won't claim that my way is better, because really, what do I even mean with that question? And why (in both cases) are we acting like it is unlikely either of us knows who the other will be without first stating it?

7. Have we talked about Penny In Your Pants?

Penny In Yo Pants from Johanna Holtan on Vimeo.

I was super fascinated when I first saw this video, and I filed the information away in the back of my head for future use. That use came on Wednesday. I wanted to wear a skirt, because it is super hot here (tropical, I believe (based on temperatures remaining above 20C throughout the night)), and because I was going to a dance in the evening. Normally I'll just put bike shorts under my skirt, which works well for both biking and for dancing. It can get warmer than necessary though, what with the extra layer of clothing and all. So I decided to try the penny trick, and I was pleased with the results. I actually just left my skirt 'buttoned' all day, because I didn't want to deal with the hassle of re-buttoning, and also because a really wrinkly spot on your skirt is inevitable and I didn't want to end up with multiple wrinkly spots. What I'm trying to say is that I spent the whole day wondering why culottes aren't a thing anymore!!

_____________

The End & The Link-Up!

Hunting and gathering, minus the hunting

Greg and I have always liked the idea of gathering food in the wild. This past week in my Swedish class, we talked about various rights and responsibilities with regard to nature in Sweden, and I think it gave new life to that interest.

So yesterday we went out for a hike in the woods, with a strong emphasis on keeping an eye out for berries or edible mushrooms (chanterelles, specifically). While it is still too early in the season for the mushrooms, we had really good luck with berries. Primarily this is because my husband has eagle eyes for spotting berries, apparently.

First he spotted the blueberries. And then we couldn't stop seeing them! There were loads of them, and they were incredibly delicious. We also spotted a few raspberry bushes, but those were not quite ripe (I think we each got one ripe berry). The best find of the day was when he paused and crouched down to verify that, yes indeed, he had found smultron! The Swedes go crazy over these wild strawberries, and I never understood the appeal. At least not until yesterday when I got my first taste of them. This must be one of the most delightful flavors of the world.

We stopped and sampled several on our outgoing portion of our hike. We decided to continue on, since we heard some people coming and didn't feel the need to let them in on the secret if they weren't keen enough to find them on their own (totally selfish, totally worth it). Plus there could easily have been more further down the trail. Unfortunately we didn't come across more. On our return trip, as we approached their location, we started to smell them before we could see them, which was a really lovely thing to experience.

7QT - mostly on food/beverage

1. Sometimes it is the perfect day for sushi, and you spend most of your day thinking about dinnertime, and then it is time to leave the office, and as you pull your bicycle up to the sushi place you realize things are looking a bit dark. The sushi place is closed for summer vacation! Why??

2. Then it took me an hour to decide egg salad sandwiches would be a suitable replacement. I almost never eat egg salad sandwiches, but I don't know why. I made this with hard-boiled eggs (I used to start the eggs in cold water… shameful), an avocado (makes the color questionable, if you care about that sort of thing), a scoop of mayo, a scoop of mustard, some shakes of hot sauce, salt, pepper, and paprika. On a sandwich with some cheap-o lettuce? Super tasty.

3. Speaking of mustard. I bought a new mustard the other day. I was trying to twist the lid off of the jar when I realized it was just a pop-off kind of lid. And then I realized that the 'jar' the mustard was in was eerily similar in size/shape to our drinking glasses. And I now I am 99% convinced that our drinking glasses originated as mustard jars.

4. Lemonade-Beer. I did a quick check to see if I had written about this gem of a beverage before and I was led to this post. I am definitely wearing the same exact shirt as I type this, but I am not located in France (no worries, I like Sweden better).

5. I have a small obsession with beer in cans. I just love been in cans, okay?! Sometimes I pretend like I am a beer snob, but really I think this makes me the opposite of a beer snob.

6. Yesterday I made the perfect dinner to accompany beer in cans - nachos! Greg thought I was not being serious when I suggested nachos as a meal, but I was as serious as a thing that is incredibly serious. I even made some nacho cheese, loosely following this recipe, which was super delicious!

7. I have just returned from a little city walk with my Swedish class. I had seen most of the sights that we stopped by, but I learned some new and interesting things. Plus it is a gorgeous day to be spending several hours out wandering around.

Mostly I guess that wasn't so interesting to write, but I felt the need to mention one non-food item this week(:

_________

The End & The Link-Up!

7QT - food, ballet, and needing new pants

1. Earlier this week I reached the epitome of Uppsala residency - I was about to put on a pair of pants when I realized the butt was nearly worn through from riding my bicycle. I'm a little sad that I can't wear the pants anymore because I really liked them, but I feel proud of myself too, like I earned a badge.

Then I spent some time reading about commuter pants, which are specially designed to look like normal pants you can wear at work, but are built with reinforced fabric in the bike-seat-regions. (The really cool ones also have some reflective material that is on the inside of the legs, so that it shows when you cuff your pants!) Unfortunately, most of the available commuter pants are made for men only. I don't know what is up with that. I'd like some commuter pants please. Although I'd probably have better luck getting the men's pants to fit than any option they could come up with for women…

2. I've gotten so much better about not letting myself get needlessly stressed out about work since my days as a PhD student. This week I had some things that absolutely had to get done by the end of the week, and I was not entirely convinced they would get done. Luckily they are done, and now that I am past this I realise that I was more than a little stressed about them.

Now I'm just basking in the post-task completion (and trying not to think too much about how this all sort of has to be repeated once I get more data). My current activities include things like cleaning my computer screen and installing updates on my computer, both of which I had been putting off for far too long. Having a fresh computer makes me feel so fresh by proxy(:

3. Even if I already said this, it is worth saying again. For Easter I made homemade Reese's eggs following this recipe from Natalie. The recipe was such a completely perfect match. Just so much deliciousness. I can't even make sentences about them. I also sprinkled a tiny bit of sea salt on the top, so I have to say, these were even More amazing than the original.

4. On my last day of my third decade I get to go to the ballet! Ballet fascinates and amazes me, and I'm really excited to see something other than The Nutcracker (which I love, don't get my wrong, especially the Swedish interpretation).

5. This reminds me that there is a new ballet documentary that is out or soon to be out called Ballet 422. I really really need to not forget to see this when I figure out if/when it is released.

6. All week I've been really lazy about cooking (a result of #2, being stressed about not having enough time to finish work tasks). Last night I decided I better eat something more healthy than frozen pizza. I had some salad greens already, so I decided I'd make some hummus to put on top, plus add some chopped carrots and tomatoes, and call it a meal.

However, when I got home I started to dread the amount of time it would take to actually make the hummus properly with the immersion blender. This is when I realized that I could just dump the chickpeas on my salad, and make a dressing from tahini + olive oil + lemon juice. Same ingredients as hummus, just a different presentation. It wasn't as tasty as hummus, but it was a passable substitute. Most importantly, I didn't feel like I was wasting any time with food prep. Some days are just not for prepping food.

7. This final take is made possible because I just started cooking dinner and decided to go ahead and let my onions and garlic rest after chopping and before cooking. I read about this on Kate's blog, and normally I'd enjoy doing more reading on the topic instead of blindly trusting, buuuutttt…. what have I got to lose? So my onions are resting!

__________________________

The End & The Link-Up!

Recipes from blogs

I'm normally a girl who takes recipes from tried and true sources. But then again, I'm also a girl who will search endlessly for a recipe that matches the ingredients available in the house, sooo…

Anyhow.

What I mean to say today is that I have been finding really delicious recipes on blogs, so then I just need to try them because they look amazing, and then they do end up being SO amazing.

On Sunday morning I made a dutch baby for breakfast after reading about it here (although I used this recipe instead because I only had two eggs, plus it actually called for vanilla sugar instead of vanilla extract).

And the same day I made this delicious salad for lunch! I switched it up a little and skipped the strawberries, and used a grapefruit instead of a blood orange. I had never sectioned a citrus before, so that was fun. I collected the juices while I was slicing and made a grapefruit + olive oil dressing.

On using recipes and my invented Spinappom Salad.

I have this idea in my head that baking requires a recipe, but cooking does not. I guess it is easy enough to make passably okay food without using a recipe, but I find that foods I make following a recipe are vastly more delicious. I might not yet have the skill of cooking incredibly delicious foods without a recipe, but I do have a fairly good eye for finding recipes we really enjoy. And that is a good start.

I also sometimes know exactly which food elements I'd like to combine, and then go searching for a recipe. If the internet fails to deliver, then I might do my best to make something up based on a few different recipes I saw. Here is one such example: SpinApPom Salad. I wanted to make a salad with pomegranate, apple, and spinach. A lot of the search results had feta, which normally I really like, but wasn't really wanting that in this salad. I managed to find one recipe that was nearly what I want, but you know what they did? They mixed a third of a cup of sugar into their dressing! Plus honey! Whaaaa? I always thought the idea of an unhealthy salad was laughable, but now I know!

So here is what I did:
pile of spinach
one chopped apple (I used a pink lady, because I like her.)
seeds from about a quarter of a pomegranate

topped with a dressing made from:
2 T balsamic vinegar
2 T olive oil
a bit of honey
a dash of salt

And it was so tasty! This was more than enough dressing for two salads, in case anyone is keeping track.

Thinking about food

For the past few days I have spent a lot of time thinking about food. The foods I typically eat had been getting really monotonous, and that along with many other small factors, led me to start making some changes.

For example, every day for lunch I eat a sandwich. It is completely boring, and I don't do it because I just love boring sandwiches so much. That was my lunch because it was fast and didn't require further thought than: do we have bread? cheese? mustard? maybe some lunch meat? Perfect.

Most of the meals and foods I eat (had been eating) were chosen for ease and simplicity, which I think is the completely wrong way to choose foods. Obviously I'm eating enough food to survive and have energy to do normal things. However, I think there has been a big lack of proper nourishment.

This weekend I made a plan to cook some delicious foods, filled with variety and nutrients. In general, my plan is to eat fewer grains, and to make sure that the grains I do eat are varied. Somehow, despite knowing that the food pyramid I grew up with is no longer the current food pyramid, grains were still the largest percentage of foods I ate. Cheap and filling has a lot of sway with me.

My biggest obstacle is finding the time to cook proper food. Normally I don't feel enough dedication to take the time to plan and prepare extra foods in advance. Hopefully this time I can stay dedicated. I think I can at least last for one week, since I have food to last through Tuesday lunch, and then I'll have time to cook on Tuesday evening.

Here are some of the things I cooked this weekend (all of which were completely delicious):

Vegetable Moussaka

A roasted chicken (loosely like this recipe) plus I boiled the carcass for broth

Two recipes from this Moosewood Restaurant's cookbook:
Apple and Celeriac Slaw
Green Beans with garlic and ginger

Cashew Cookie Lara Bars

The day buffalo sauce came to Sweden

It was a Tuesday morning. We were on our way to the office and I needed to stop in the grocery store to pick up some food for later. We walked in, and there, glimmering before our eyes, was a giant display featuring buffalo flavored items. There was no hesitation in grabbing a bottle of the straight buffalo sauce. We lingered for a few more moments, taking in all the buffalo items to be had, but we had what we needed.

Allow me to get slightly off track with a little story here. My dad and stepmom came to visit in the autumn of 2012, and the items we requested they bring for us that we had not found in Sweden were slippers and Frank's Red Hot. I've seen slippers since then, but for some reason autumn of 2012 produced no slippers for me in Sweden. Well, they delivered, and let me just tell you that we have still not run out of Frank's Red Hot. However! We are now on our last bottle, and it is getting to the end. So pretty much this is the perfect time for Sweden to magically give us buffalo sauce.

I can't say I would have called buffalo sauce Tex-Mex, but that won't stop me from buying this stuff. The American West… Buffalo, NY… it is basically all the same, right?

Of course, I didn't want to be biased in my opinion of this buffalo sauce, so I suggested to Greg that we do some taste testing. The plan was to do two tests. First was the triangle test, where you have three samples, two of one type and one of the other, and you simply have to say which two are the same. This is not always as easy as people assume. For our test we tasted our samples on a piece of cheese.

I set up the test for Greg and not only did he know which two were the same, he also knew that he had two buffalos and one red hot. Greg then set it up for me, and I was able to tell which two were the same, but I could not say which was which. We both agreed that if we had been comparing the new stuff to Frank's Buffalo Sauce that we would not have been able to tell the difference. (This is really impressive, considering we once found a box of mac & cheese here, so we bought it, but could not even finish it because it was really disgusting (and I am not one who is too picky about foods with cheese.))

As for which sauce got our votes as the overall best? I chose Frank's Red Hot and Greg chose the Buffalo Sauce. Although I think we would both rate both sauces very highly. And now it is time for us to head back to that store and buy more before it disappears!

Malory visits Sweden

This year we had a visitor over the holidays, so we spent our vacation doing all sorts of adventurous and touristy Swedish things.

We prepared a (mostly) traditional Swedish Julbord for Christmas Eve (which we ate again on Christmas day) consisting of the following things: a Christmas ham, Christmas porridge, cheese, herring, crackers and bread, brussels sprouts, mashed sweet potatoes, beet salad, and a tomato salad.

On Christmas day we also baked gingerbread cookies, shaped as ninjas, satellites, Christmas-themed things, and animals.

We visited Stockholm a few times, which consisted of twelve hours of walking every time we went there. Here are some of the things we saw.

Those last two are of the Stockholm Opera House.
That's right.
If we leaned waaaaaaay forward we could see almost 58% of the stage! The right half of The Nutcracker Ballet was phenomenal. The mice were particular favorites, and also there was a sleepwalking dance which I found delightful. That was also the first ballet I've seen with men on pointe.

And train snacks, as seen below, became our tradition.

Another day we had a really lovely afternoon tea in Uppsala.

And yet another day we took the obligatory trip to gamla Uppsala. I really enjoyed how these photos taken during the early afternoon sunset turned out.

Thank you for coming to visit Malory! We had such a wonderful time exploring more of Sweden with you!

7QT: language learning, dancing, and the existence of mint-fig ice cream!

1. Long live flashcards! I had been thinking a lot about how a key element to learning a language is learning vocabulary. And in high school when I was taking Spanish classes, the only way I passed my vocabulary tests was to study using flashcards. So then I was thinking that there must be a new 'modern' way of doing this, and that surely a flashcard program (or 'ap' (or is it app) as the cool kids say) must exist. Well well well. Much to my luck I had a couple to choose between. I was immediately sold on Anki when I saw a youtube video demonstration, which showed that decks are shareable. This means I can go to the Anki webpage and search Swedish/Svenska, and immediately have a deck of flashcards (more than one actually) ready to go. Amazing! Even more amazing is that someone has shared a deck of the vocabulary list from the textbook I am using in my class. Bonus!

2. Greg and I have two beers fermenting right now. The first is our Christmas beer, which is now in a secondary with vanilla and cinnamon, and I have such high hopes that those flavors will really be present in the end product. The second is a pale ale, which is our first hoppy beer and also our first beer that we designed (as opposed to following a recipe). I have some brewing photos to share as well, so at some point in the future I might write a post dedicated to the topic.

3. Tonight and tomorrow are full of Swedish folk dance! I am really super excited, especially since the concert/dance tonight is free. Even though I go to our regular dance session every Wednesday, I feel like it has been awhile since I've gone to a proper dance event. On Wednesdays we usually focus on learning a new dance, or trying to improve a particular aspect of a dance, or things like that. So while there is plenty of dancing, it is geared toward instruction and learning. The dance events are more like a party where you just go and dance all the different dances!

I really have to work on making my words about folk dance sound as enthusiastic as I feel about folk dance. Just adding an exclamation point doesn't really help much.

4. In two weeks Greg and I are spending a weekend in Denmark. For a dance weekend of course:) A Contra Dance Weekend! Basically Sweden has no contra dancing, but Denmark has quite a lot. So we will travel there for the weekend. Contra dancing has been in Denmark for 25 years now, which also means that the group of people who enjoy the dance have aged by about that much. It is often said that the popularity of contra dance sort of goes in waves, and sometimes it gets really popular with younger people and sometimes it sort of fades away. I guess in Denmark right now there is a big lack of young people, so we'll be bringing down the average age of attendees. If people only understood that they were missing one of the greatest contra dance bands and two of the greatest contra dance callers, they would regret not going. And for the record, I have no familiarity with the other band, so I can't claim that they are a favorite.

5. They make mint-fig ice cream here. Mint-fig! I found this out the way I find out about a lot of good things you can buy in Sweden - someone was reusing the container for their lunch yesterday. And clearly I have not been paying enough attention to the ice cream section of the grocery store, because if I had seen this I just would not have been able to pass it up. I cannot even imagine what this would taste like. My new goal in life is to find this ice cream.

6. Shall we talk about the weather then? It got below 0°C a couple days ago. The outside temperature likes to surprise me, although it is not too difficult to do so. Our apartment is always very warm now that the heat is on, and it never occurs to me that I should be expecting the outdoor weather to have changed drastically in just one day. I'm bored of talking about the weather now.

7. I found this really nice flickr photo stream called Beautiful Uppsala. Such a nice reminder that I really live in such a beautiful place. This also makes me want to take my camera out more. Plus I love seeing this city in all the different seasons. Here is a particular favorite (note this is not my photo, but clicking it will take you to the photo stream).

_______________

As always, that is all from me for Friday Quick Takes; thanks for reading!

7QT - tiny cup photo, reading, dancing, and food (and working all night long)

- 1 -

Oh yeah.

Stylish Bruins players who must be thinking 'why is my cup so tiny?'

- 2 -

Alternatively, in the above photo, you might have noticed that nice outdoor wooden dance floor. I certainly did.

- 3 -

I'm not really proud to admit it, but right now I am reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Two years ago I tried to read these books, only I messed it up and accidentally read the second book thinking it was the first. As I was reading I figured out my mistake after realizing that the author was writing as though the characters had already been introduced to me. So then after reading book #2, I basically already knew what happened in book #1 and figured it wouldn't be as exciting, so I just went on to #3.

So now, two years later, I figured that since I couldn't even remember what happened in the books I did read, hopefully that would mean I had forgotten any spoilers to the first book. This way I could essentially start over. Except that once I started reading I sort of remembered at least one big outcome. Although I don't know how the outcome comes to be, and that almost seems to make it more thrilling? I don't know. Either way, I hate being so engaged by a book that is sort of a cheap thrill, but engaged I am.

Oh! My favorite part is that living in Sweden for a year has taught me some cultural context which I never would have picked up on before. For example, when the guy goes to live in a cabin that is not very well equipped, the author writes that there was not even a cheese slicer with the kitchen appliances. The essentiality of the cheese slicer to Swedes is a thing worth knowing.

- 4 -

Here are some thoughts on dancing, because a week wouldn't be complete without it. (Except for last week, because I had to miss dance to go to my first Swedish lesson.)

At the weekly dance sessions, I would classify several regulars as extremely good dancers. It is really nice to be able to dance well with someone, and it is interesting to see how certain dances work better with different people. When I first started dancing I was told that the best dancers will make you feel like you are doing everything right without any help from them. So when I end up dancing with certain people (ahem, like perhaps the person doing the instruction for the dance) I automatically know that if things aren't working out, it is really most likely to be my fault. Sometimes it is easy to start thinking that I've got the hang of a thing, and then we rotate and I start stepping all over the next person. Plus, even before the dance starts, just knowing that my partner is far better than I am makes me nervous, which causes me to be less good than I ought to be.

So, that is an interesting thing that I like to think about.

- 5 -

Have you ever bought a vanilla bean? I just bought the first vanilla bean of my life. Technically I got a pack of two. I should take a photo maybe, because they came in this long skinny tube. I feel like I just joined an elite club. The vanilla bean buyers. You should seriously try it.

- 6 -

Today is the Swedish National Cinnamon Bun day - kanelbullens dag. While still a fairly young holiday (introduced in 1999), it is certainly much loved by the people.

- 7 -

I'm running out of topics here, so let's talk about work. I am finally one of those physicists who uses a computer program that takes hours upon hours to run, so I can set it running, and just walk away (or go to sleep or whatever) and then I can brag about how I worked All Night Long! Seriously. 6pm last night until 6am this morning were incredibly productive.

- The End and The Linkup -

7QT - food things

- 1 -

Apparently grape seed oil is a new popular thing? I've read about it in at least two places in just the past week, after never hearing about it before. That is, after never hearing about it in English before. You see, here in Sweden, when I wanted to buy something like vegetable oil or canola oil, I ended up with rapseed oil. I didn't even know what it was when I was buying it, but this was when I used the method of buying the item that was available in the largest quantity, because that meant it was reasonable to think many people used said item. This technique worked particularly well when I wanted to buy flour, just plain regular white flour, and I encountered at least a dozen different options.

- 2 -

Come to think of it, I find that things in Sweden work like that most of the time. There is very little variety of items due to personal preference it seems. Usually there is just one of a thing available. I think that says something about Swedes being practical maybe? So like, here is a baking soda, it is the best one, everyone knows that, everyone buys the same one, so places only sell the one option. Also, for example, the same candle holder lantern thingy that is a decoration in my apartment was also a decoration at the little snack shop in the airport. True story.

- 3 -

And you can easily figure out where Swedes have strong and differing opinions based on what items come with a lot of variety. Knäckebröd (a sort of cracker thing) and cheese in tubes fall into this category.

- 4 -

Two weeks ago was Culture Night in Uppsala. Culture Night is a full day of activities showcasing culture all throughout the town. Tons of people roam the streets and there is street food. Greg and I saw an a capella group consisting of four young men who sang a medley of Backstreet Boys songs. It was spectacular.

- 5 -

A little while ago Greg made a comment about earl grey tea smelling like fruit loops. I thought it was madness, but well, it really sort of does. Now when I have a cup of the earl, my entire tea-drinking experience is something different and a bit strange.

- 6 -

We tried our beer and it is yummy! It is still a bit 'green' as in, not quite at its prime, flavor-wise. The banana flavor is mellowing out, which I appreciate. I think I wrote before that when we bottled it, we tasted it and the overwhelming flavor was banana.

We were going to start our next batch tomorrow, but we didn't order ingredients/supplies in time, so it will have to wait a week. It is time to brew a Christmas beer! I found this recipe for an award-winner called Bad Santa that is made with cherries and vanilla and cinnamon!

- 7 -

And since I wouldn't want any 'quick take' to exclude the topic of food, we found a cooking pumpkin! In a grocery store near our apartment! Last year we had a really hard time finding pumpkin, which is a big deal since you can't buy canned pumpkin. Or at least, it was a big deal last year when we thought we could not buy canned pumpkin. But we found this cafe that is run by an American and he sells poptarts and canned pumpkin.

- The End and The Linkup -

7 Quick Takes: bicycles, beer, and dancing with Bill Nye version

- 1 -

I saw a game of Segway Polo in action the other day. That's right. Who needs a horse when you've got a segway. And if you were thinking, 'What other crazy things do people do with segways?' here is a short list.

- 2 -

Did you know there was such a thing as dining in the dark? I was just told about a restaurant in Paris where all of the waiters are blind, and the dining room is completely dark. Apparently one of these restaurants exists in San Francisco also, and I laughed so hard reading about a review that said a person lost a piece of food on the table and had to spend a really long time finding it.

- 3 -

Our bicycles are in working order as of writing this! Last weekend Greg and I decided it was time to fix those bicycles right up. We each worked on our own, and we managed to fully change a tire each in about one hour. (I am really happy about that time, plus it was the first time I fully changed a tire on my own with no help.) My tire wasn't technically flat, but it had this hole where the tube was bubbling up and sort of pushing through. So I decided preventative action was necessary, and I changed the tire so that I would be able to save the tube.

- 4 -

I love it so much that Bill Nye is on Dancing with the Stars. So much! It bothers me that there doesn't seem to be a clear explanation of what percentage of the final standings is due to the judges and what is due to the peoples' votes, but I just had to vote anyway.

What a great person though. I think at one point he says something like, "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn sometimes." That it does, Bill.

- 5 -

The evening after writing number 3 up there I had my handlebars come loose while rounding a turn on my bicycle. I've always had issues with my handlebars being a bit wobbly or turned crooked, so I am often tightening and adjusting. Well I didn't do a very good job I guess. Somehow I managed to get enough control of my front wheel to not slam right into the curb at a speed at which one would not want to be slamming into a curb. Kind of terrifying.

- 6 -

Maybe I've written about Humans of New York before. I really like it a lot. Maybe I've even linked to this exact post before, but I just like it so much. Such incredibly practical advice.

- 7 -

Greg has been in Belgium this past week. He returns home this evening, and I'm pretty sure the first taste test of our beer is going to happen. Hopefully it is delicious. When we were bottling it, I thought it had a very strong banana flavor and considering I do not really like bananas, I did not consider this to be a good thing. So here's to hoping that flavor mellowed out.

- The End and The Linkup -

7QT - less solitude, more påskmust

- 1 -

I think I had a race up the stairs with a stranger. I think I've always thought it would be so hilarious if a stranger ran up the stairs past me with the look of victory upon reaching the top first. The thing is, I didn't know it was happening at the time. I thought I was being mistaken for another person this man knew, and by the time I realized we might have just had a race up the stairs, it was too late for me to even laugh about it.

- 2 -

There is this thing called the Rule of Friendship, which a friend of mine invented. In Hanover, it means that if you are walking through town, you must walk on Main St. and not the back roads, even if those back roads might be more direct or faster. If a friend is also walking in Hanover and abiding by the Rule of Friendship, then you will cross paths and it will be so friendly!

On Monday, I applied the Rule of Friendship to Uppsala. The concept is still the same, although deciding which road is the equivalent of Hanover's Main St. is not always so obvious. There is a pedestrian road in town, where all the shops are, so I'm going to go ahead and say this is the number one road for the Rule of Friendship. Next would probably be to walk along the river, but that is beside the point.

Lately I've started to feel friendly again. For awhile, I was feeling not-so-friendly, and if I needed to go into town for something, I was sure to take the most direct route possible and walk really fast and avoid eye contact with everyone.

- 3 -

There was a little stand set up on the pedestrian road. As I walked by I saw this t-shirt being sold:

DOUBLE TACOS

WHAT DOES IT MEAN

Strange for sure, but also intriguing. Where does this t-shirt come from?

- 4 -

Last week I braved Ikea, and my reward was two of the cheapest bread pans ever. I think they were even cheaper than a thrift store would have marked them. Maybe. The thrift store was on summer holiday all of last month, so I can't be sure. So before Greg arrived I made zucchini bread, because I thought it would be a good treat for him. I followed the Smitten Kitchen recipe, because it is the best ever (no chocolate chips for me, thank you). I even managed to eat one full loaf before Greg even had any. Oops.

(smitten kitchen image)

- 5 -

Wednesday was the last summer evening folk dance. I really wanted to go and take Greg so that he could experience the joy that is the summer evening folk dance. And the waffles. The weather forecast was not on our side for the entire day, but in the evening it wasn't raining, so we decided to just ride our bikes out there and see if it was happening. And it was! We danced a little. Ate waffles. Then it started to rain so we took cover in a barn. Then it stopped raining, so we danced a little more. And then we headed home.

- 6 -

Now that I am no longer living the bachelor life and am sharing the apartment with my husband (novel concept), I find that I am talking about 100 times more than I had been talking for the past six months. I always manage to have an awful lot to say when there is just always another person there, eager to listen!

- 7 -

I was asking Greg if there was anything he wanted me to pick up from the grocery store before he arrived. His response was that he wished he could have Julmust, but he knew he'd have to wait until Christmas for it. Julmust is a sort of spiced cola type beverage that is consumed in large quantities around Christmas time. Well, since Greg had left at the end of December, he didn't even know that there is also a special spiced cola type beverage for Easter called Påskmust. So I bought a bottle and kept it a secret for MONTHS, which is a huge accomplishment for me.

P.S. Yes that image is a baby riding a rooster pulling some more babies riding an egg with wheels.

- The End and The Link-up -

On running errands

I love that it is easy and completely unnecessary to have a car here. I really really love it. All of my traveling needs can be accomplished by walking, bicycling, or taking a bus or train. And quite easily and efficiently, at that.

This is a photo from last fall, because who wouldn't want their photo taken when they return from the grocery store with a baguette in their bicycle basket.

Pretty much the only time I think about how it would be really nice to have a car is when I am running errands. The whole concept of driving to a store, buying stuff, putting stuff in car where it will stay while you go into a second nearby store, is a pretty nice thing. As it is, when I run errands I can pretty much only manage to go to one store at a time, even if there are two together that I'd like to go to. Then I have to consider if the things I am buying can be transported by bicycle or if I'd be better off taking the bus. Then travel routes or bus timetables need to be consulted. Getting lost while driving isn't really so bad. Getting lost on a bicycle can really tire you out.

I do my grocery shopping one bag at a time, or two if I'm feeling ambitious. Stocking up at the liquor store means 8 beers maximum, because any more than that is just too heavy. Often I decide to pay more for an item at a convenient store, rather than going across town to get a better deal. Tracking down specific foods here can take a couple days if I don't find the item at the store where I am shopping. (Kale can be incredibly elusive here.)

All that said, I have gotten pretty comfortable with the system. Usually it is not a concern because I can keep up on errand-running one item at a time. But at times when I've let myself get behind and realize it is going to take several nights to get caught up, it is then that I start thinking about how this could be finished in just an hour if I had a car. But alas, it is a sacrifice I am willing to pay! Because look at me! No car!

Food in tubes!

Swedes are so practical. Part of this practicality comes in the form of putting foods in tubes (like how toothpaste is in a tube, only not the toothpaste part). For example, tomato paste comes in a tube. So practical! I always hated those tiny tin cans.

Then there are the more interesting foods that come in tubes. Such as this:

And this:

The top photo being ham-cheese/crayfish-cheese and the bottom being caviar, of course. (I guess sometimes when I link photos from around the web they don't always show up in posts for everyone? I don't know how to fix the problem or even properly diagnose it, but I apologize if you can't see the photos I'm referring to (because they are super good)).

Anyhow.

I was feeling inspired to buy some cheese in a tube after seeing it being eaten by several people I respect. Also, I feel like I need to have more Swedish experiences. 

One cheese tube was called Chevre-ost, and that sounded pretty good to me. I had been thinking that these cheese tubes would resemble EZ-Cheeze, but in fact, the ingredient list seems to be all real foods. My little store didn't have the chèvre, so I just got the classic mild cheese. And I put it on my knäckebröd, because that is how it is done.

It tasted quite good too, although while I was eating it, I had to really focus on not thinking about how it looked like mayonnaise and looked like I was eating mayo by the spoonful, no less.