wishing you a merry little christmas ~

I hope you get to spend it just the way you want,
that it will be heartwarming, relaxing, joyous, safe and loving,
filled with good (vegetarian) food and sweet treats,
laughter and good company.

Happy Christmas time
to all well-deserving souls out there ~



On Christmas Eve we turned 9 days old, we don't really know or care about the thing called Christmas, we just like to eat, sleep and so far have the occasional little snuggle. Because we are so irresistably adorable.

very moreish polkagris cookies

The day before Christmas - yes, the proper day to celebrate Christmas is of course on Christmas Eve, didn't you know? - I give you a fabulous cookie recipe. Made from the Swedish peppermint rock candy "polkagris" previously presented by its lookalikes Wartle and Hefflebaum - but I assure you that no bobbaloos were hurt in the making of these cookies!
 
I made one batch of vanilla cookies - with the original polkagris from Gränna, the really pretty ones in red-white - and a batch of chocolatey ones. I couldn't find any original Gränna-polkagris for those and had to settle with the poor, cheap supermarket version. The peppermint flavour is the same and the cookies turned out great in texture and flavour, however it was quite noticable that it was a cheaper kind of polkagris since it both melted and kind of formed craters amidst the chocolate dough while baking. They simply didn't turn out as pretty with splotches of red and white as the vanilla ones. They taste grand, they're just not grand looking. So if possible, do get the quality, original polkagris - or, I suppose, whatever peppermint rock candy you can find - for the cookies.

And as usual, the cookie scoop is worth its weight in gold here! Each batch makes about 40 fairly large cookies.

P o l k a g r i s   c o o k i e s  (vanilla or chocolate)

200 g butter/rapeseed oil
1,5 dl caster sugar
1,5 tbsp vanilla sugar
2 tbsp treacle
4 dl wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
ca 180 g polkagris (peppermint rock candy)

add 2-4 tbsp cocoa if you want to make chocolate cookies

Whip butter/oil and sugar until light and airy. Add vanilla sugar, treacle, flour and baking powder. Mix into a dough. Crush the candy and blend it into the dough. Use a smallish cookie scoop and place the cookies fairly far apart on a lined baking sheet. Flatten them slightly.

Bake in middle of oven at 175C ca 15 minutes until golden.

Edit: this recipe below is obsolete since I don't use eggs anymore and to be honest the recipe without egg above gives a much nicer texture to the cookies. Just add a few tablespoons cocoa to that and there you have some awesome chocolate polkagris cookies!

P o l k a g r i s   c o o k i e s  (chocolate)

200 g butter/rapeseed oil
1,5 dl caster sugar
5 dl wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
4 tbsp cocoa
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
1 free range organic egg
200 g polkagris (peppermint rock candy)

Whip egg and sugar until light and airy. Blend in butter/oil, add the rest of the ingredients and mix into a dough. Crush the candy and blend it into the dough. Use a smallish cookie scoop and place the cookies fairly far apart on a lined baking sheet. Flatten them slightly.

Bake in middle of oven at 175C ca 15 minutes.



Though beware before baking either version, they are very, very moreish and rather addictive...

on winter solstice

I hope you've had a lovely winter solstice - now things will only get brighter and tad lighter every day!

Me, I've spent it in the company of Gingerbob and Byno, the December boys.

Plus, of course, the teeny tiny ones, Z and Z, who are, if I'm correct, girls, the December girls. In the case of me being correct; meet Zigne and Ztina.

santa swirlings

I'm so pleased (touch wood) that after having noticed that the wee ones gained weight through suckle only yesterday I did sleep about seven hours in a row last night. De-lovely. In many ways. Thus I've actually managed to put in a bit of proper work today, my brain seems reasonable well back in order - even if I'm already very much looking forward to bedtime again - all the Christmas cards are written AND sent, I've finished a third pair of Lovikka mittens - but for the thumbs, they're boring - and I've even cooked a few meals.

Today is the darkest day of the year, surely things will only get better from now on. We hope.

And now, by winter candlelight, I will be enjoying another cup of that amazing Christmas tea Santa Swirl (Tomtesnurr) tea from the same company that's behind the Gingerbread tea - part of the tea giveaway - while contemplating (after getting some tragic news from a friend) the fragility of life. From one second to another the world as you know it may change. The littlest things can make you plummet into despair (or for that matter, walk on air).

The daily grind, our minor (in the big scheme) issues and hang-ups, they're just so silly and futile. It's so sad and unfortunate that we rarely see it that way, until tragedy strikes, whether directly or by proxy. Of course we can't live all our days as if they were the very last one, that would be exhausting and daft, but if we could just dare a bit more, challenge ourselves and treasure the good things. Wholeheartedly treasure. Here and now.

kitten update and other short stories

~ I had hoped every thing would be fine and dandy during the weekend, turned out that Siri apparently has a bit of a problem with her milk and the kittens have far from gained the weight they should have. Both mummy cat and the two kittens seem very content and happy with status quo - I am not. They really need to gain a reasonable amount of weight grams each day so we (ie mostly I) have been additional feeding them. Every second hour. The kitties aren't to happy about this more or less forced feeding. And if this new food for Siri doesn't improve matters, the next couple of weeks will be pretty... tough.

But of course, I wanted to have kittens, you have to expect everything and anything I suppose. Though honestly, after my 20 plus litters since the early 90ies, this one, so far, definitely top the list of strangeness. I am in no position to complain about the whole situation, I totally brought it on myself, but well, with very little sleep for a week now I feel knackered and whiny. Obviously.

Not exactly the way I had looked forward to rounding 2011 off - but well, things just have to get better from now on, right? Right. Including 2012.

~ By the end of last week I also got the information I had so looked forward to; my business has now finally an official registered name. Pia 1 - Bureaucracy 0. But with all the above things going on it felt rather matter-of-factish, anticlimactic. A piece of paper with my name, the company's name and number, no drums and trumpets, serpentines and balloons, nothing hoity-toity at all.

But of course I'm more than well pleased. Very, very, v e r y  much so. More of later.

A friend and I had booked a celebratory luxurious afternoon tea tomorrow. Something we've talked about for years, to celebrate when I got a new job. Now I have created my own job, being my own boss, what better to celebrate than that? But I've now cancelled the table reservation, kitten feeding comes first. Celebration will have to wait until January. Alas.

~ And then the snow fell. Pretty in fluffy white. But it also feels surreal, after a long, mild, dark autumn and winter so far. On December 19, suddenly the world is covered in white. Not sure how long it will last, it's wet snow and not very cold.

At this point, admittedly I don't really care. I just want the kittens to gain weight properly. And get many many hours of interrupted sleep for at least a few days in a row again.

~ I will now continue to write my Christmas cards. Due to kitten force majeure most of them will arrive a tad late though. I hope that won't put a serious dampen on any Christmas celebrations.

~ By all means, don't forget to enter the tea giveaway, for a chance to meet the brand New Year in sweet tea flavour style. Last day of entry, Dec 23.

siri and the kittens

The arrival of the kittens has been such an unusual, lenghty process, quite different from anything I've experienced as far as kitten births before. In different ways exhausting for us all. And honestly I'm not even sure it's completely over yet even. Siri is just a very brave and capable kitty mum - and me, I'm feeling more than a tad bit guilty to have put her through this labourious thing... And I worry, about this, that and then some, because that's who I am. The worrying kind.

So as I'm writing this on a Friday evening there have been two surviving kittens, the two first ones. The firstborn is quite a conondrum. S/he may look white but isn't (for that to happen one of the parents has to be white), but most probably a colourpoint (with time s/he will develop colour, exactly which colour is still unknow, on face, ears, paws and tail).

Which shouldn't be genetically possible with the father and mother in question. So ahrm, we have two options here and to be quite sure I think there has to be a paternity test involved (and a very thorough inspecting of the pedigrees fro possible hidden colour genes). Oh dear. I know I was looking forward to exciting colours, but this might be a bit too much excitement for me.

For now, after days of pretty much non-existing sleep and a lot of worry, I will just sum things up by saying the tiny ones are adorable and have seem quite content and harmonious right from start. Siri is a such a sweetheart with guts and heart. She has done a tremendous job and I now hope the weekend as well as weeks to come will only bring good sleeps and full enjoyment of two new, tiny members of the feline sort. For all of us.

Wishing you a meowy fourth Advent weekend ~

lussekatter on lucia

As the world according to me pretty much revolves around the waiting for proper lussekatter (it doesn't look as if it's going to happen today though, darn) and over the years I've already written about the Swedish celebration of Lucia a number of times - it's quite a lovely tradition, but for the religious undertones of course - I thought I'd simply share this year's batch of lussekatter (lusse cats, saffron buns) today. Authentic of course.

No baking in this residence goes without the diligent overseeing by bobbaloos. Jojo, Wartle and Hefflebaum did a splendid job.

The task of outdoors posing went to Kismet, Leonard and Gourdette - I know it's tricky, but can you spot which units are lusse buns, which are bobbaloos? 

Hope you've had, is having, will have -
depending on your latitude, longitude -
a fine Lucia day and that you hopefully will
get warm Lucia buns (recipe here),
today, tomorrow, soon ~

two perky socks

Five pair of socks have been amongst my knitting projects lately, behold two of the perkiest ones.

The pastel pair to the left I've made for myself (because I'm worrrrth it), a slightly thicker, softer yarn, perhaps not quite as magic as my usual yarn, but very cosy and pretty just the same (and bobbaloo approved). Not sure when the opportunity to wear them will come though, with the now worryingly indistinctive mild winter weather we're having, but I'm pleased with their looks just the same. Thinking of adding a little rim of my grandmother's old lace (like on the extralong green socks) to sweet-spice things up.

The other pair will be a Christmas gift to my mother (despite us having decided not to give eachother Christmas presents within the family for many years now I do enjoy giving a little something handmade anyway...). She has for a long time now been dropping hints of the fact that I haven't made her a pair of magic socks yet, I thought it would be nice to surprise her with a finished pair.

I've used some left over yarn of various colours for this pair. She loves orange and red so I've tried to incorporate as much as possible of that, but as it is magic who makes the end result you never really now what colours will appear. Which is, I suppose, a major part of the knitted sock appeal. I think she'll enjoy her perky pair.

third advent sunday tea giveaway

On this third advent Sunday the time has come to have another tea giveaway, this time a slightly more seasonal one as one of the teas is the lovely Christmassy gingerbread tea I was most fortunate to make the aquaintance with a year ago.

The other tea is a special Stockholm tea blend - equally lovely in flavour, but more of an all the year round tea - made by the Tea Centre of Stockholm since 1979, called Söderblandning (South blend, the name deriving from one of the districts in Stockholm, where the Tea Centre also is situated). It smells heavenly and is flavoured with tropical fruits and flowers.

One winner will get the gingerbread tea, the other the Söderblandning tea.

All you have to do to take part in the giveaway is to leave a comment telling me what your favourite beverage this time of the year is (and if you happen to have a favourite winter tea, please do tell too). Last day of entry will be December 23 - winners will be announced shortly thereafter and I'm planning to have the respective teas on their way soon so they should be arriving as a little, warm welcome to the new year 2012.

As usual the little tykes called bobbaloos have communicated that they think 'the more the merrier' is a dandy and fun thing, they want lots of name tickets to carefully chose two winners from.

a nobel day ~

"Att läsa är att resa - To read is to travel"

December 10th is not only the Nobel Day but also Animal Rights Day as well Humans Rights Day. Last year I was not in a good mood about this day, my mood du jour is granted better this year, but as usual a sad little has really happened to make this world a better place for those who can't speak and defend for themselves.

The only two Nobel prizes that interest me are the ones in the categories peace and literature. This year's winner is of course the Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer, I know many people think he should have won years ago and he's generally lauded for his work -

well not by that illiterate, small-minded American critic who wrote a completely spiteful article about the whole concept of the Nobel prize in general and Tranströmer in particular. I know I saved the link to that article, but I can't seem to find it right now. It was such a both sad and laughable piece, easy applicable in any situation where small-minded people feel left out of the party and need to raise their voice. I really need to find that link... -

and even if granted poetry is in general not a literary genre that has ever appealed to me, and I have yet to read anything of Tranströmer, he just seems like a very, very likeable man from what I've seen and heard of him.

So befitting of the day I got a book of his collected poems (samlade dikter 1954-1996) from my mother today. I will definitely have a go at it, a wee poem here, a wee poem there, I'm sure that can't hurt. And look, Miffwinkle was might impressed by the book from the time I unwrapped it. I even think she has begun reading.



Have you read anything by Tomas Tranströmer?
If so, what did you think?
Do you enjoy the poetry genre?
Any recommendations to someone who isn't overly enthusiastic about it?