twas christmas 2020

So much to write, and time to do it if I focused I’m sure. But for now, here’s a little December and Christmas related little photo cavalcade (to which I can add text later) to wish you the best kind of warm, kind, vegan and loving holiday in the times of corona.

December has been a literally very dark month in Sweden this year, at least in the Stockholm area. We have had zero (!) hours of sun, until yesterday. You can imagine what that does to body and mind... Today it’s frosty and sunny, which comes as a very good Christmas gift I’d say.

Be as merry as can be!

 

 

bye september, hey october

September went fast. And basically being totally absorbed by the fact that mid September I suddenly got a part time temp job until December 31st. A long story, it was all very sudden and linked to my volunteer work revolving around plantbased food and the environment.

As I'm studying Sustainability Science on 25% part-time, it fits quite well with a 50% part-time job. As this year has been crazy for us all, and continue to be so, it actually takes a lot more energy to keep juggling all this than it usually would do. But all in all, I'm very grateful for the opportunity to keep on learning. 

My main job task is organizing the three last Vegoforum events for the year, all digital via Zoom. One the day before my birthday, one in mid November and one in early December. And yes, it's a bit overwhelming when you get thrown into it like this, even if the work per se isn't super heavy. Well life is pretty heavy right now, thus even things that would normally be just fun and a good energizing challenge get a bit much at times. And obviously I wan't to do a great job, so...

:: The lack of decent photo uploading on Blogger is still infuriating. So this is all you get today. The fact that the not so great at vegan pastries cafe now has opened a sourdough bakery too, is another great thing about September. Because the bread is awesome. Especially the rolls and the levain.

:: Little mum and I have taken the commuter train to the end station (two stops from here) twice, to do bank errands and visit my favourite coffee chain Espresso House. Since we get there and home between 9.30-1pm there are very few people on the train it feels pretty okay. And just the thing of enjoying a soy latte and some trustworthy vegan treats again have been a highlight.

:: I finished the second part of the philosophy class at the beginning of September. So it was a clean slate for the sustainability course. We've had four seminars so far, of which two have been great (Sustainable economics and Environmental ethics), but one quite annoying as the concept of ecosystem service is infuriating, specieism at its finest I'd say.

:: We've had some glorious Indian summer days, so autumn has just slowly arrived. And summer dresses have been quite appropriate. Even if the weirdness of the average Swede still is to dress as if it's a cold autumn in late August already. And, obviously black and drab and lots of clothes is the informal dress code. Which I loath. Obviously.

:: I've ordered another batch of those wonderful vegan, palmoil-free Scottish soaps. Bliss.

:: I've also ordered some more tea. And actually, more again the other day. It's Cinnamon Bun Day (vegan recipe for them here!)on Sunday, and they had a small batch of special Cinnamon Bun tea blend this week only. As there won't be any vegan cinnamon buns for me this year alas, I can at least have a whiff and a sip of cinnamon bun tea.

:: I've watched a lot of seminars, some poor, others pretty great. I've finished books, I've started reading new books. I haven't been able to finish any new ones lately, so I'm again 7 books behind on my 55 books reading challenge alas.

:: I've done another colour refresh, this time the colour was Autumn Red. It was visible, but a lighter, more orange red than suits me and it was practically washed away after four hair washes. I'm feeling in the mood for something darker now in October, like last year.

:: I won a big bad of new vegan fruit toffees, it was lovely. And I haven't won anything for years now (oh 2015-2016...), so it was a very welcome surprise. 

:: My recent favourite TV-crush is Zoe's Extraordinary Playlist - if you haven't seen it already, you really should! It's funny, sad (prepare to cry during every episode), moving, insightful and obviously full of music. Loved it, binge watched every episode over 2 days. Miss it. If you, like me, enjoyed Ally McBeal, Glee and Pitch Perfect, you won't be disappointed!

:: My short and sweet summary of a month that so far have been the best one, me thinks, of the last six ones. There's more bits and pieces, I could write about. But this will have to do for now. Not being able to simply add photos is a nuisance, and now I need my beauty sleep.

I want to thank you, September, I think you were a sweetheart, despite the overall current life circumstances. And your surprises were mostly of a positive, uplifting kind. I'm very grateful for having met you.

You also gave me this unexpected fun public toilet selfie moment; Professor Pia and the Mystery of the Haunted Toilet. And I have the Velma Dinkley haircut to prove I can solve it!

Hello, October, my dear birthday month. You have a lot to prove, and so do I. Let's make this a really great, productive and professional month together, with extra bells and whistles, m'kay?

vegan saffron scones

I made this vegan saffron scones last November. The turned out brilliantly. Simply swap out everything dairy (which is scary, unhealthy and cruel) in your favourite scones recipe, to plantbased milk (my favourite is oat milk) and dairy-free butter, add 0,5 gram saffron.  Shape the scones the way you like them, bake and enjoy.



Haven't baked scones since then. Which is a shame since it's such a lovely thing to have as breakfast or cream tea. It's simple comfort food.

So I baked a little batch this Caturday. They were snoopervised. Then I enjoyed them with a pot of tea as cream tea. Still warm from the oven with apricot marmalade. butter and vegan cheese plus raspberry jam and whipped oat cream (prefer whipped coconut or soy cream, but whatever's in the fridge will have to do). Accompanied by rain and Harry Potter # 7 on TV. Perfection Caturday evening, whether in a pandemic or not, according to me.

What does your purrfection 
of a Saturday look like?

vegan cinnamon buns

Delivering on my promise to share the recipe for the fabulous vegan cinnamon buns I baked for Kanelbullens Dag (Cinnamon Bun Day).

The recipe says it'll make for 40 buns, but I only got 25 and they weren't even that big. But really good just the same.

Plantbased kanelbullar

50 g fresh yeast
5 dl oat milk
150 g dairy free butter, room temperature
0,5 tsp salt
1 dl casting sugar
2 tsp grounded cinnamon (can be omitted, but why go there?)
~ 14 dl wheat flour

Filling:

0,5 - 1 dl icing sugar (found that 0,5 was perfect if you're like me, not too fond of very sweet buns)
2-3 tbsp grounded cinnamon
100 g dairy free butter

pearl sugar or almond/hazelnuts (chopped)

Melt the butter and milk in a pot to 37C. Crumble the yeast into the food processor bowl (or a big bowl if you plan on doing by hand) and pour some of the milk/butter to stir to dissolve the yeast. Add the rest of the liquid, cardamom, sugar and salt. Add almost all of the flour (you'll need some for the baking) and work it until dough is smooth and lovely.

Let the dough rise under a baking cloth in room temperature for about 30 minutes.

Then knead the dough a bit on a floured baking table. Roll the dough with a rolling pin so it is about 1 cm thick and rectangular-ish (you can also cut the dough in two pieces, might be easier to work if you don't have a big table).

Mix the ingredients for the filling and spread it over the rolled dough. Fold the dough into three layers (length wise). Then cut about 15 long shreds of dough (or 30ish if you have used up all the dough and not half). Spin and swirl the shreds (not my forte, but I kind of got how it should be done in the end) and tie them into a bun. Put them on baking sheets on baking paper.

Put the oven temperature on 225 - 250C.

Let the buns rise under a baking cloth for 30 minutes. Brush the buns with water and sprinkle pearl sugar (and/or chopped almond or hazelnuts if you prefer that).

Bake them in the middle of oven for 5-8 minutes.

Best enjoyed freshly baked. But will freeze well too.

And do let me know how your fabulous cinnamon buns turned out!

the holiday called christmas

I hope you have a lovely holiday season and get to spend it just the way you want it and not just in a way that's expected with a lot of musts and shoulds.

Needless to say mine isn't very happy as such, but I get by with the help of cat cuddles, books (and things can't be too bad when one actually manage to read instead of brooding), marathon watching of 'Location, Location, Location' and lots of cups of tea. 

The book heap above consists of 5 read (bottom) books and 5 currently reading (top). I would grade the read ones 2-4, perhaps I'll make a review one day. And I hope to finish the last 5 before December is over.

I'm also very grateful that the snow and ice have completely melted away. Hooray.

Hopefully I'll have the inspiration to blog a bit more before this awful year is over - I am so so looking forward to a fresh new year of inspiration, great work and happy days! - and I'd really like to write that/those post/s about Schwarzwald... But for now, have a lovely Christmas!

Now where's that saffron bun that's calling my name...

vegan hallongrottor cookies

These simple cookies are a classic Swedish bake which is originally called 'hallongrottor' (ie 'raspberry caves'), and not thumbprint cookies as they are commonly known as abroad. To be honest I've never been a great fan, they're a bit granny-ish, not very exciting and difficult to get just right in texture if you (like me) prefer them a bit chewy.

However, after discovering there is now a liquid dairy free butter available that doesn't contain palm-oil (!) I felt I had to try a bit of baking with it. And simple cookies with few ingredients would be the perfect choice. So I made these. And I was surprised at how easy they was to make and how adorable they turned out. Not chewy alas, but still quite nice with a cup of tea and a good book.

The original flavour is vanilla, but I tried making them in a chocolate version too. But I have to say that the usual match made in heaven combo of chocolate and raspberries wasn't a hit.

Hallongrottor
~30 cookies

200 g dairy-free liquid butter (I used the one from Coop)
1 dl caster sugar
2 tsp vanilla sugar
4,5 dl white flour
raspberry jam (I love the jam from ICA, so much raspberry flavour)

(if you want to make them in chocolate add 1 tbsp cacao)

Set the oven to 175C.

Whisk the butter, sugar and vanilla sugar (and cacao) together. Then add the flour and gently whisk together into a smooth dough. 

Roll them into ~30 small balls on a baking-plate with baking sheet. Use your thumb to imprint a small 'cave' and fill them with a dollop of raspberry jam (about 0,5 tsp per cookie).

Bake them for around 12 minutes. Let them cool on sheet. Enjoy! Freeze well too.

happy fat tuesday 2016

My promise not to eat any more bought semlor after the first one in January has worked pretty well until this last week when several have been consumed (most of them really very good). 

But today, on Fat Tuesday - when it's estimated that Swedes will eat around 5 millions semlor - I've finally baked and made my own from scratch. Like last year.

From buns to the best ever almond paste. And the turned out not too shabby. Not too shabby at all.

Happy Fat Tuesday, 

or as we say, Fettisdag!

first batch of lussekatter 2015

The first batch of the classic Swedish saffron buns (lussebullar or lussekatter) I usually bake for Lucia on December 13. But I decided to be a bit early this year. And tried out a new recipe which claimed to be "the best lussekatter ever".

It was not.

The buns turned out rather dry. And very tasteless. The latter could be due to that the saffron was crap, but that has never happened to me before, so who knows.

The recipe was vegan, but since it's impossible to find dairy-free butter in Sweden without palmoil I can unfortunately never go fully vegan when I bake recipes that calls for butter, so I used my usual liquid blend of butter/oil. And that can certainly not have been the reason for the buns turning out so dry. Most Lucia bun-recipes are pretty much alike, with only small variations.

As I shy away from dairy products as much as possible nowadays I don't use quark in the buns anymore - this is the old trustworthy recipe for lussekatter with quark, if you want to try it out - but that wasn't an issue last year, when I omitted that and used oat milk. The buns were flavourful and moist anyway. I don't think there's a vegan substitute for quark and oat milk usually makes bread extra moist.

I will bake a second batch next week and fingers crossed they'll turn out much better than this first one. Pretty ain't everything, but flavour and consistency is.

Read all about it: 
Previous years lussebulle-baking posts

scones kind of saturday

I haven't baked scones for well over a year, but I finally did today and had them for lunch. It was so lovely, moreish and perfect that I wonder what kept me so long.

Are you a regular scones baker?

goodbye april, hello may

I know, I still haven't written that a year in 12 pictures post for 2014, and somehow it seems doubtful I ever will. Although I think it's a lovely thing to do, a way to keep track of progress, ups and downs, happiness and sorrow. And it's nice to sum up each month in one picture only. Plus a few sentences.

But I'll do a short summary of this past month of April instead, since it's been a rather full and fun month. And surprising.

:: I started a new longterm assignment. Which so far has been a blend of exciting, fun, interesting with a not unsubstantial part confusing and babel of tongues. I've used my knowledge and I've learnt new stuff. Including how very different Swedish corporate structures and hierarchies are compared to other countries. A how uncomplicated and smooth things could be if other countries and corporate structures were more like the Swedish. That's certainly an interesting firsthand insight. Things will of course improve and communication run smoother the better we get to know eachother. But after a month, the first month or many more, this is my impression.

:: I've discovered a fabulous grapefruit body butter, lemon and thyme bread plus a vanilla bun to swoon over (to be written about later).

:: I've baked some amazing pineapple pies. Droolworthy. Really.

:: I've had a wonderful pedicure. I think it has been at least 10 months since the last, my feet needed that. Because there's only so much an express pedi gadget can do.

:: I helped a poor butterfly with broken wings to a peaceful last few hours. It was the obvious and right thing to do. Perhaps there was good karma.

:: I discovered colouring books for grown ups and pencils, oh pencils...

:: I made an adorable (if I may say so) amigurumi donut.

:: And then I and the donut attended a lovely sustainability conference with such a nice and isnpiring ambiance and loads of good, likeminded people from mainly the travel, hotel and tourism-industry. Made great new contacts, some of which I hope to collaborate with in the future.

:: There have been two birthdays celebrated (M and my mum's) and I had such fun preparing their respective gifts.

:: I got more happy lights. Because you can't have too many of those.

:: There have been plenty of gorgeous cherry blossoms - although sadly I never got the chance to experience the Kungsträdgården ones when they were in full bloom. I'm quite disappointed that things turned out that unfortunate way.

:: I attended a big healing and seance. Yes really. Thanks to a quirky and inspiring friend of mine. Overall it was a huge disappointment, the thoughts on healing was interesting and I don't doubt this medium and others have certain features and abilities of communication that set them apart from most of us. But seriously, this is something that shouldn't take place in a large setting like that but on a more personal and intimate level with only a few attendees. This setting is clearly more hawking than caring. I'm also fascinated and surprised that there were obviously so many adoring hangarounds who attend this guy's every event. My friend knows his work well and has all his books, me I hadn't heard of him. And after that evening I'm admittedly not interested to learn more.

:: I bought a fantastic new zebra scarf.

:: I had great meetings, on both a personal and professional level.

:: The pug named Malte will make an international paw print.

:: Spring has most certainly arrived. There has been lots of sunshine, budding and blooming flowers. Chilly winds and warmer days. And on one of those warmer days I tried my first rice icecream and it was heavenly.

:: I gave you the chance to sign up for a lovely novella subscription with a decent discount - use it before May 10!

:: I said bye to a former favourite photo app and rekindled with an old one.

:: I'm now preparing for and putting the finishing touches to a fun inspirational breakfast talk on social media marketing for creative sole traders I'm doing on Wednesday. Such fun that will be I'm sure!

I'm looking forward to May, 
there's excitement in the air, 
possibilities unknown and 
there will be the lilacs time of the year ~

sticky lemon cake

I baked this very simple sticky lemon cake for M's birthday yesterday. Sadly it didn't turn out the least bit sticky though. The recipe said 'bake for 35 minutes', since I know my oven gets a bit warmer I baked it for 25 minutes, but even that was too long. If you want it sticky.



If you just want a really lovely, simple lemon flavoured cake that goes great with a dollop or two of whipped soy cream, well then the 25 minutes are fine.


(not so) sticky lemon cake

175 g liquid butter-oil
2,5 dl caster sugar
2 organic kind eggs - I'm sure you can veganise it
1 organic lemon, peel and juice
2 dl white flour

Grease a baking tin of 22 cm and line with bread crumbs. Set the oven on 180C.

Whizz the liquid butter-oil with the sugar. Mix it with the eggs, lemon peel and juice. Add the flour and mix it to a smooth batter. Pour the batter into tin and bake for 20-25 minutes (or possibly 35 minutes depending on your oven.

Let it cool in tin before serving on a plate, icing sugar on top, decorations of choice and whipped soy cream.



I'm pretty certain there's a rule that says you don't have to tell the birthday person that the quality inspector got a bit fresh with the cake.

little pineapple pies

Finishing the Easter weekend off - which sadly hasn't been such a gloriously lazy and sunny holiday that I usually treasure it for. Simply a longer than normal weekend with work thrown in. Ie overall not a very memorable one - with the baking of little pineapple pies.

Just like the saffron cake and other treats the recipe comes from the Söta kakor-bake book and it turned out brilliantly well. Getting not only thumbs but paws up (obviously). Not too sweet, a bit tart and creamy with the vegan iMat fraiche. A delightful little pie indeed!

Since I got the last batch of the kind eggs I have been baking quite a lot. And while it has been fun with old and new recipes I'm rather tired of cakes, cookies and pies right now. Things you never thought you'd say... Five more eggs to go, then I'm baked out for a while. Truly.



pineapple pies
makes for 6 small ones

150 g liquid butter-oil
1 dl caster sugar
3 dl white flour
2 tsp vanilla sugar

1 tin pineapples with no suggar added
1 organic kind egg
2 dl (one jar) Oatly iFraiche
1 tbsp vanilla sugar

Set the oven on 175C. Grease the little pie tins. Stir the butter-oil and sugar until well blended. Add the rest of the ingredients and work the dough together. Line the pie tins with the dough.

Chop the pineapples coarsely. Whip the egg, iFraiche and vanilla sugar together, add the pineapples. Pour into pie tins. Bake in the middle of oven for 20-30 minutes until light golden.

Serve with whipped soy cream.

from breakfast to fika at prosit

The income status may not be as steady and predictable as for a regular employee. Yet. And dealing with the financial paper work may not be hooray how fun-worthy.

But pretty much everything else with running your own business, the FREEDOM and independence, the opportunities and the no limits, that is truly priceless. And I'm so deeply grateful I am where I am in my life.

Of course you still have to deal with (to put it mildly) idiots. That's life. But perhaps not in quite the same way as before. And it's easier to chose your battles. And avoid people and situations who and which only drain your energy. And seek the company and situations that give you energy and inspiration.

Gratitude.



Also I have the best staff lunch room ever. With only furry happy colleagues - who keep me healthier, happier and more productive. And slightly hairier.

And when I pause from work and stretch my legs I can do a bit of laundry, washing up or bake something for the afternoon fika break.

I make my own hours, I can have a lie in or work at night and I practically never ever have to deal with rush hour commute. When on the very odd occasion I have to, I'm so immensely grateful it's simply an exception to my general work day rule of working in the loveliest of home offices.

And when it's time for fika I don't have to bother with "profiling myself in the fika room" (to quote the famous words of a less than sane ex-boss) I can just be who I am. In the company of awesome, unpretentious, clever, fun-loving colleagues.

Lucky lucky me.

time to bake a semla

Time for the promised semla recipe. The semla bun, which is a moist cardamom wheat bun, to be filled with whipped (soy) cream and the (homemade) almond paste.

This recipe makes 18 small semla buns

25 g fresh yeast
3 dl oats, almond or soy milk
1 dl caster sugar
2 tbsp freshly ground cardamom
150 g butter (ideally I would like to use dairy free butter, but since that's not available palmoil-free in Sweden I use liquid butter/oil instead, EDIT 2017: there's now at least one dairyfree liquid butter/oil available in Sweden so it's now easy to make these buns completely plantbased if you skip the egg brushing of course)
9-10 dl wheat flour
(1 organic, free range egg for brushing)

1. Crumble the yeat into your food processor bowl. Warm the milk to 37 degrees C and pour a small amount of it over the yeast. Stir until dissolved. Then pour the rest of the milk in.

2. Add sugar, fresh cardamom and butter. Then add the flour little by little while the machine works until you have a good, firm dough. It takes about five minutes. Let the dough rise under a towel for 1 hour.

3. Pour the dough onto a floured work table. Cut it into 18 pieces. Shape the pieces into round buns with your hands. Put them on a baking sheet lined with oven paper. Let them rise for 30 minutes.

4. Set the oven on 225 degrees C. If you don't want to brush the buns with the whisked egg you can skip that part, it's not essential. Bake the buns in the middle of the oven for about 10 minutes until golden. Let them cool on a rack.



How to assemble the buns into a semla (sing.), semlor (plur.)

1. Make your own almond paste, because it's so simple and so worth it!

2. Whip the soy cream until very firm.

3. Cut the lid of the buns. Put a generous dollop of the almond paste on the bottom buns and then an even more generous amount of whipped cream on top of that (you can pipe it for a more aesthetic look). Then put the bun lid on top. Sprinkle with icing sugar for the final touch of a proper Swedish semla.

Now stuff you face full of this Swedish lenten delight!


Heavenly almond paste