tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-92378402024-03-07T10:24:16.053+01:00Clivia´s cuisineEveryone has to eat, and why not make it the big event of each day? Welcome to my very own food blog named after my favourite flower, with my favourite recipes and a thought or two on food.Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.comBlogger229125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-58174114070677794112009-04-04T21:40:00.003+02:002009-04-04T22:49:41.365+02:00Giving Denmark credit<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxkw-nU1ZIN8rxQ8jOeHbnCX4hXUrYfspL0YNFSjooNj7OTGXrJtkDnDCo3gClNZY9keMqxMiUh2TuJ7HDN9qtiei_E_Wzsz6XJ60iZCP9DySUaJcZ4HLlX0pOdT0quza3uad/s1600-h/PB300124.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5320940487156104130" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipxkw-nU1ZIN8rxQ8jOeHbnCX4hXUrYfspL0YNFSjooNj7OTGXrJtkDnDCo3gClNZY9keMqxMiUh2TuJ7HDN9qtiei_E_Wzsz6XJ60iZCP9DySUaJcZ4HLlX0pOdT0quza3uad/s320/PB300124.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I really feel I have to give Denmark some credit, now when I am since long home again and recovered from the yellow onion shock! We returned home for Christmas, spent at my parent´s in southern Sweden and then A got back to Aarhus on January 6th to continue his admission. D and I stayed home for another ten days, me writing job applications and D hanging out with his little friends, re-learning how to sleep and also fine-tuning his crawling technique, getting up on his hands and knees for gaining further speed.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">When we came flying back to Aarhus in mid-January I was in much better mood than the last time. We would stay for only two weeks, and also in a better place: instead of a smoke-infused appartment we lived in a really small 1800th century cottage in a cosy cobblestoned street. And the kitchen felt like a <em>kitchen</em>, in a real home, with lots of odd pots and pans and bowls instead of a starting box from IKEA. And no longer a dish washer, but that didn´t matter when I could do the washing-up looking out into a little garden behind the house. </span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">In that tiny kitchen I cooked a lot of good food, even if the Swedish crown was even weaker this time and we still found the prices crazy. I also treated myself to more coffees and good things than before Christmas, wanting to make the most out of my long, lonely days. A was away from 7 to 7 most of the time and a baby is very lovely and we had a lot of fun - but the possibilities for stimulating conversations are limited...</span><br /><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">All that said I now have a set of culinary recommendations for mothers with young children or indeed others who are spending some time in Aarhus, Denmark!</span><br /><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">The café/restaurant at department store Salling is a nice place for a cup of coffee - light, airy, lots of room for the pram and the coffee is good and the price OK. From the large windows you have a great view over the city.</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Danish lenten buns was a nice surprise - normally I refuse to eat lenten buns before mid-February but now I was abroad, having "treat time". Firstly, the bun was <em>Danish</em> - buttery, flaky, melting! Under the lid was not only cream, but also custard and raspberry jam, and the last touch: a dollop of chocolate icing on the top of the lid! This was a little pricey, but on the other hand very filling.</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Child-friendly </span><a href="http://cafeslabberas.dk/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Café Slabberas </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">on Frederiksgade was a water-hole for me during both stays, I went there at least once a week to give D a chance to be around other kids. Very nice setting, nice staff, good food (try their brunch plate) and after your coffee you can shop for children´s clothes in the basement while your offspring is playing happily in a crate.</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Nursing rooms - here Sweden is waaaay behind. At Åhléns, the large department store in Stockholm there is a teeny tiny nursing room in the children´s department with two grubby sofas, only one place for nappy-changing and a single toilet which costs 10 SEK to enter (and that is expensive in Sweden!). Lousy. Then I experienced the nursing rooms at Salling and Magasin, the large stores in Aarhus. In Salling there was two large, stylish leather sofas where you could sit and nurse your baby, and a large nappy-changing room with at least five beds, bright and fresh and <em>free</em>. There was also a free toilet, and a microwave oven. The changing facilities at Magasin was a little less comfy, but still working, and there was a really large room with both sofas and chairs, a nice view, microwave and lots of Brio wooden toys. It was nice to go there after a few hours shopping, feed D some fruit and milk and then set him loose on the floor to play and stretch out.</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">For me as a dairy-junkie Denmark was paradise, so much to choose from! While many of you remain indifferent in front of a dairy counter in the supermarket I really enjoy being able to choose from umpteen different fat rates and kinds of buttermilk, and even cow´s breeds! How about some Jersey cow buttermilk from a small dairy company somewhere in Denmark? That I had to stick to the cheapest all the time is a completely other thing...</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Honningbombe (photo above) was a cookie I found before Christmas, but not after. It was a large disc with delicious soft spicy honey sponge cake in the bottom, then custard, then honey cake again and then a chocolate coating. Delicious! I someone has a recipe for Danish honey cake I am more than happy to get it. I also really enjoyed the flaky, crunchy and really large "French waffles"</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Last but not least I discovered aebleskiver, round and comforting and cardamom-scented - </span><a href="http://www.acatinthekitchen.com/?p=231"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Dagmar has already written all about them!</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> We had them at cafés and at home before Christmas and after Christmas all foodstores had them on sale for just a few nickles. Apparently a typical Christmas cake but we enjoyed having them in January too!</span></li></ul><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Enjoy Denmark and Aarhus! I am sure you will find your own little pearls in this nice city (but next time I think I will go there in summer)</span></p>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-90252500565063523382008-12-05T01:27:00.002+01:002008-12-05T01:51:43.105+01:00It´s all Denmarks fault<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">You must think I am crazy or something, a hiatus again. But this time I have a better excuse than just lacking inspiration; just a few weeks ago A came home from work (a certain Swedish telecom company) and said that they wanted him to work in Denmark for a while. Then we heard almost nothing for a week, and then it happened all at once. The Danes wanted them (there are two more of his colleagues) to start in late November, so could we just leave in five days? Ummm - yes...?</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">So a lot of quick packing and preparing and looking up the best way to get to Denmark with a 8 months old baby - last Sunday we were on our way in the car. We drove to Varberg on the west coast and the baby slept almost the whole time(!) and then after meeting a dear friend and spending the night at a very nice hotel we took the ferry over to Grenå, Jutland, Denmark on Monday morning and then drove down to Aarhus where D and I now is spending our time in best possible ways until daddy comes home from work. Our kitchen is tiny with almost no kitchen utensils and food prices are insane so the most exciting thing I have made the last week is potato soup (I decided after much pondering to buy a bag of onions so I could add one to it - it was really too expensive. I mean. Onions. Yellow onions! And they are so expensive!) Nothing to blog about, in other words! </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Now don´t think I am complaining too much, or that I don´t like Denmark because I do! I like the city Aarhus and the nice people and the language (oh yeah, really) and I might even blog occasionally - but well, I am not sure. We go back to Sweden for Christmas and then I hope to get going again.</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-73090919876179523392008-11-12T21:47:00.000+01:002008-11-12T21:47:09.507+01:00Japanese surprises from San Fransisco!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPlW0c-h0leEy3fo84iynBH13kEjGduCy3ajS0yJwoduW1c4dHChRJzaw7gz38NR3G623dAPU4rHWRXVG7f6nv3gZ0YzAmPsltk5tJb7_KrdPckOMZIr_OVpAwuIthnuYOQ83/s1600-h/PB060017.JPG"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5267873972829489138" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYPlW0c-h0leEy3fo84iynBH13kEjGduCy3ajS0yJwoduW1c4dHChRJzaw7gz38NR3G623dAPU4rHWRXVG7f6nv3gZ0YzAmPsltk5tJb7_KrdPckOMZIr_OVpAwuIthnuYOQ83/s320/PB060017.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">It was such a long time since I participated in a BBM exchange, almost two years! And I almost missed this one too - if not the lovely </span><a href="http://thehappysorceress.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Stephanie</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> had let me in at the last minute...what a stroke of luck!<br />Anyway, on Mondays I am out with the other mums taking a walk with our little ones and when I got back to the house there was a message from Federal Express that they had been there with no luck but they would try again "automatically" three times and also they left a warrant to post on the door that I allowed them to leave the package on the doorstep if I wasn´t at home. So far so good. On Tuesdays we go to a baby singsong thing where the kids have fun and get tired and the mums can have coffee afterwards, very nice. And I got home to - nothing. OK so maybe on Wednesday. No. So I called them, and it turned out that to get that second "automatic" delivery you would have to call them. So this Thursday, finally!!! I got my longed-for package from </span><a href="http://kumquatconnection.typepad.com/kumquat_connection/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Bonnie of Kumquat connection </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">who very thoughtfully had put a large box toegther for me, filled with her own favourites. And mine, as it turned out! "Japanese I wrote in the title for this - it wasn´t all Japanese but lots of it. And I happen to looooove Japanese food, and I happen to not buy Japanese things very often because all the shops are in Stockholm and it is quite expensive and you don´t know how to use everything (Thanks to my friend Maiko I know some at least, after a guided tour at JFK, Japan Food and Kitchen a couple of years ago. Ocha-zuke, ocha-zuke!).<br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Well, Bonnie also has got me addicted to Trader Joe´s "Everything" Pretzels which probably are impossible to get hold of here - very inconvenient. I will have to get a wishlist here on the blog like Anne does, in hope for nice people over there to send me a new bag now and then. Sigh.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Enough said: here are the full contents of my package!</span></div><ul><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Large bags of Pretzels like I told you, incredibly tasty!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Box of Bonnie´s favourite crackers, Ak Mak´s - similar to Swedish hardbread and also very nice, my man has already finished most of it</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Bag of candy corn, seasonal this time of year. Bonnie said people tend to love or hate it, she loves it and I do too, this bag exists no more</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Small bar of chocolate with bacon, intriguing! Bonnie said that this probably was the craziest thing in the box but actually I had already heard of it. I am a big fan of chocolate with salt so also this one exists no more</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Jar of grilled bell peppers from Trader Joe´s, looking very tasty. Grilled peppers are a staple also at my house so I really appreciated this! I love to use it for example in a feta cheese spread.</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Udon noodles, which I have wanted to try for a very long time but never got round to, but with Bonnie´s guidance they exist no more. I made a delicious soup on that very evening!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Noodle soup base with that fantastic Japanese umami taste that makes you want more and more - I hope to find something similar when this bottle is finished</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Japanese chili spice, also for the soup. A little smoky, a little sweet and very hot!</span></li><li><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Rice spice mix with wasabi and seaweed and other things, to sprinkle over rice</span></li><li><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">And finally that delicious tea I always drink at sushi restaurants but have not found - it is hard to know which is which at a Japanese shop with no Swedish or English instructions! Bonnie included neat little unfilled teabags, like a small pillowcase to fold in a little of the tea and soak in hot water.</span></li></ul><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Thank you so much for all this Bonnie - and above all the small tips you gave on how to use everything. Now I feel inspired to use also the soba noodles I have in the cupboard, and I will certainly approach the shelves at JFK next time I am in Stockholm. A special thank you also to Stephanie, who arranged this event and very kindly let me participate although I was one day late...</span></p>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-38106723419764593822008-11-07T21:30:00.009+01:002008-11-07T22:20:07.642+01:00My first bread pudding<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEJpolPirklDQ5jav6r2iotbYcw-oBn-156rbxNicGG4nG7QubStbnSEq7eYj8s-mUBgef3NMXLNG0Bz_Nn9lgaKHK8B5mKddklq8oMIFYMZ3X6oE9bpwlpTkOFFx0FT1FpB-/s1600-h/PB070022.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5266027104202359938" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEEJpolPirklDQ5jav6r2iotbYcw-oBn-156rbxNicGG4nG7QubStbnSEq7eYj8s-mUBgef3NMXLNG0Bz_Nn9lgaKHK8B5mKddklq8oMIFYMZ3X6oE9bpwlpTkOFFx0FT1FpB-/s320/PB070022.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Bread pudding seems to be quite common to serve in for example UK but here in Sweden you seldom hear of it. Since I had some </span><a href="http://clivias.blogspot.com/2008/05/back-again.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">bread</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> going stale today and planned on the not so very filling dish baked potato with prawns for dinner I decided that it was time to try it - all recipes I have seen sounds so good. But now when I was in a hurry I couldn´t find a single one of course, except one in Nigella´s <em>Feast </em>which just this time seemed a little wrong with lots of eggs and stuff. None of my basic Swedish cookbooks could provide me with what I wanted and my last hope was the very old cookbook from 1925 I bought at a flea market last year. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Bingo! Apparently even Swedes made bread puddings back then. I altered the recipe just a little, soaking the raisins in a little rhum inspired by Nigella and replacing kidney suet (something I can say with perfect confidence that I will never ever buy. Eww.) with some butter. We had it with vanilla custard and I knew from the first bite that I will so make this again. Stale Lucia buns would be very nice for this I think! The result was perfect: warm and comforting, soft with crunch on top and a subtle taste from the raisins. A real carbohydrate schock too, I could feel my eylids getting heavier....and heavier...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">There you see what can happen when you for once open a cookbook from 1925!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"><strong>Bread pudding<br /></strong>Serves 4</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Stale bread, I used about 3-4 rolls<br />100 ml of milk<br />about 100 ml raisins soaked in a little rhum for about 10 minutes<br />25 grams cold butter, diced<br />3 tbsp sugar<br />zest from one orange, the original recipe called for candied peel which would be nice<br />1 egg<br />225 ml milk<br />pinch of nutmeg</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Peel off the bread crust with a sharp knife and dice the bread. Soak in a little milk for a couple of minutes (the original recipe recommended 30 minutes and then to stir the bread to a mush - I wanted a little crust and decided to keep it diced!) When the bread has absorbed the milk add in the raisins, sugar, butter. orange peel and nutmeg. Stir carefully and then add in the milk and the egg. Mix again and pour into a dish lined with melted butter and breadcrumbs. Bake in 180C for about 45 minutes and serve with custard.<br /></span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-12264515615413664962008-11-05T23:13:00.008+01:002008-11-05T23:24:48.397+01:00A broken promise<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirffXEDqdYccXHUgcr2zPIqk9X7ItcTXkpvesVkbJJxCbxJTxOp4KSerWtz4Xy0lrlFFi2aaNdUIwCXEXYkSi168kP80SbkTQN5y4_m6Xh2oramtdcq25NNT6LRKd4BZ3-xxlu/s1600-h/P9020252.JPG"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5265301405872656946" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 320px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 240px" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirffXEDqdYccXHUgcr2zPIqk9X7ItcTXkpvesVkbJJxCbxJTxOp4KSerWtz4Xy0lrlFFi2aaNdUIwCXEXYkSi168kP80SbkTQN5y4_m6Xh2oramtdcq25NNT6LRKd4BZ3-xxlu/s320/P9020252.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">No, I don´t mean that I promised to write more often and then didn´t because I <em>told</em> you I have so much to do with the baby and all. I mean </span><a href="http://clivias.blogspot.com/2008/01/last-year-i-darednothing.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">my foodie resolutions for 2008</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">, which I just imported from 2007 when I didn´t keep them either. Make my own pasta, take a fish class, wine dolmadas? Fat chance! Maybe possibly we will make sausages but I am not sure. </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">And the last one: "I will not feed my baby food from a jar unless it´s an emergency". Blah. I have changed the resolution to "I will not feed my baby food from a jar if I wouldn´t consider eating it myself" and everyone is happy at the moment. You see, I have found that the jars are sooo fantastic- even when I am not in an emergency. Especially the ones with porridge. Oh I love the porridge you just bring along to cafés and activities. And when you try to find out what the baby likes and not it is so much easier to open a jar of lasagna than making a whole lasagna with no salt and then maybe he doesn´t like it, or is allergic to tomatoes. I have come to terms with the jars, they will be part of our lives. But not the veg ones! Oh no. Not after trying broccoli! </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><br />You see, I had heard that babies like broccoli and wanted to try it but thought that maybe I could buy a jar the first time. I opened it, frowned at the terrible smell of it but heated it and stuck a spoonful of it in D´s mouth at which moment he just looked at me with a "You have got to be kidding" look at his face. I tried it and agreed with him. The contents went into the kitchen sink and I made broccoli for him from scratch which he didn´t like either but at least I don´t risk teaching my child that broccoli is brownish and tastes like a fart smells. Look at the picture and try to guess which is which! </span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-66443930076682969932008-09-18T11:55:00.000+02:002008-09-18T11:55:00.353+02:00Salmon with pink peppercorns and root veggies<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaz7B2eQgEN9_OO_N0w7wEwiO9bsvWe-mGpkKC2F1tPDhc4QvXBoxPA3jnj338KxVpjjVmFpCP36ePlcX9mqi2Nz2UkTWek0h63kffdXDYRDPOuFvFGPJKfb4aWbPwO0VuxDp4/s1600-h/P6090041.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225522699178604002" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaz7B2eQgEN9_OO_N0w7wEwiO9bsvWe-mGpkKC2F1tPDhc4QvXBoxPA3jnj338KxVpjjVmFpCP36ePlcX9mqi2Nz2UkTWek0h63kffdXDYRDPOuFvFGPJKfb4aWbPwO0VuxDp4/s320/P6090041.JPG" border="0" /></a><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I really do have enough cookbooks, but recently I treated myself to another one, anyway. Ha! </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I got a gift card from someone and really wanted this: <em>Saras kök</em>, Sara´s kitchen, by Sara Begner. She was the chef of the Swedish TV show Toppform some years ago, and then she has had another TV show with the journalist Ann Söderlund about family food. I wasn´t too impressed by them, but her cookbook is nothing but excellent. Tempting recipes, nice photos, nicely written - it inspires me! </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">A and I have tried several of the recipes and some of them will show up on this blog - first out is this delicious and easy salmon, baked in the oven with three different kinds of onion, wine and my favourite; pink peppercorns. Serve it with just boiled new potatoes or try the root veg mash - although you have to use winter potatoes for that. I like recipes where you can serve each part on its own - the mash would be good with meat, the onions with rice served as a vegetarian dish, and the salmon with a cold sauce perhabs...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Salmon with pink peppercorns and root veggies<br /></strong>Serves 4<br />600 grams fillet of salmon<br />1 tbsp pink peppercorns<br />2 tsp flake salt<br />1 leek<br />1 red onion<br />1 yellow onion<br />200 ml white wine<br />100 ml cream<br />1 tbsp olive oil<br />1 tsp sugar </span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;">Cut the salmon in four pieces and put them close together in an ovenproof dish. Crush the pink peppercorns and salt to a coarse powder and spread it over the salmon.Cut the leek in slices, the red onion in wedges and the yellow in rings (or as you wish). Mix it all and spread it around the fish.Pour wine, cream (use any fat content you are comfortable with, I used some cooking cream) and olive oil over the onion and sprinkle over the sugar. Bake in 175C for 20 minutes.<br /><br /><strong>Root veg mash</strong></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">800 grams potatoes<br />200 grams parsnips<br />200 grams celeriac<br />1 cube veggie stock<br />juice and finely grated zest from one lemon<br />1 tbsp olive oil<br />pinch of white pepper<br />1 "bunch" of dill - hmm. Maybe a good handful is enough? Parsley is good too</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Peel and cut all the root veggies in pieces and boil them until soft, about 15 minutes. Drain.Melt the stock cube in 100 ml boiling water, pour in lemon juice, lemon zest and olive oil. Spice to taste with white pepper. Pour it over the soft root veg and mash it up coarsely.Chop the dill and stir it into the mash. Serve with salmon and enjoy.</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-81533212852343071622008-08-12T21:24:00.003+02:002008-08-12T21:42:18.686+02:00Carrot coconut soup<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Some things are just not <em>photogenique</em>. Like this soup, or most soups come to think of it. A fish soup can be nice to look at but not many more.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Anyway. One of my current favourites on my cookbook shelf (ahem, shelves more like) is <em>Tillsammansmat</em>, a great book published in close cooperation with the Swedish church. <em>Tillsammans</em> means together, and the book is meant as an inspiration for all who wants to take back the opportunity to meet around the table, share a meal together - instead of just watching TV and running around not caring for each other. A nice thought, I think!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I didn´t take a photo of this soup from the book but I recommend you all to try it anyway, it is well worth it! Very tasty, very easy to make and with ingredients you probably keep in the house most of the time (at least I like to have a tin or two of coconut milk at home). The recipe in the book is for 10 people so I have cut down on it, plus I don´t use more than one tin (usually about 200 ml) of coconut milk, for me it is enough. The recipe calls for 1500 ml for 10...</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><strong>Carrot coconut soup</strong><br />Serves 4-5</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">2 large yellow onions<br />about 12-15 carrots<br />500 ml water<br />1 regular tin of coconut milk<br />2-3 cubes of vegetable stock<br />salt and pepper</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Peel and chop carrots and onions. Fry it until a little soft in a big pot and pour over boiling water, coconut milk and the stock. Boil until soft, it doesn´t take long, and then wizz it with a mixer or in a blender or something. Spice to taste with salt and pepper and garnish with some parsley.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-16895360231361777932008-08-06T20:36:00.000+02:002008-08-06T20:36:17.072+02:00Chicken dill casserole<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHv_LzOUZW25x9CHP4JDR7Z8E73JlOzOjj7NkrAbIyY5bMJYYkTRMASn5UyfvV4qsStVHjOsKmIHR99fbOoWZMelvsse_Jak6bIS88nGd1DxbxjSzWqQYNxjpaTXFOKwHm_4V/s1600-h/P6230179.JPG"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225513404632404162" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAHv_LzOUZW25x9CHP4JDR7Z8E73JlOzOjj7NkrAbIyY5bMJYYkTRMASn5UyfvV4qsStVHjOsKmIHR99fbOoWZMelvsse_Jak6bIS88nGd1DxbxjSzWqQYNxjpaTXFOKwHm_4V/s320/P6230179.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I have written before about the very Swedish dish dillkött, a stew with a subtle sweet-sour taste and lots of dill. It is traditionally made from beef, but during my pregnancy I stumbled upon a recipe where you use chicken instead. The recipe is from the book "Mat för gravida och ammande", food for pregnancy and nursing, by Gunilla Lindeberg and Marie Löf. </span><div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Even though I like beef it just is a little easier to use chicken, not so much carving and trimming involved. Also, the mild meat is excellent to use in this stew and I have made it several times now...you try it too, wether you are pregnant or not!</span></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><strong>Dill chicken<br /></strong>Serves 5-6 </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">1 whole chicken, fresh or thawed<br />about 2000 ml water<br />2 tsp salt<br />5 whole white peppercorns<br />3 whole cloves<br />dill stalks<br />1 carrot in large pieces</span></div><div><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Sauce<br /></em>500 ml stock from the chicken<br />100 ml cream (or milk)<br />3 tbsp flour or 4 tbsp corn starch<br />100 ml fresh or frozen dill, finely chopped<br />1-2 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice<br />salt and pepper</span></div><div></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Bring the water, spices, salt, dill stalks and carrot to the boil, put the chicken in and let it simmer for 40-45 minutes. Remove skin and bones and cut in nice pieces. Strain the stock and reduce to 500 ml, or take 500 ml and make it stronger with one of those very handy stock cubes. Whisk cream and flour together and stir in the stock. Let it boil for a few minutes until it thickens a little. Mix in the dill and spice to taste with the lemon juice or vinegar, salt and pepper.<br />Serve with boiled potatoes and some salad.</span></div></div>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-58516018983326205872008-07-21T16:27:00.005+02:002008-07-21T18:31:54.946+02:00Always Estonia!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwzxMoUCnuWdsj9gCi8c3ER0Wn4EwU5txsrAu4D2REKnkHOTm5dVaD3-Ief6x-t9SuNd_PgcScyNrHgLYP-2acGuEqCBT-zAViSeqXP_foZxIaqdaD6eigBeamcAkCkuHsqVf9/s1600-h/P7170341.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5225477925259701538" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwzxMoUCnuWdsj9gCi8c3ER0Wn4EwU5txsrAu4D2REKnkHOTm5dVaD3-Ief6x-t9SuNd_PgcScyNrHgLYP-2acGuEqCBT-zAViSeqXP_foZxIaqdaD6eigBeamcAkCkuHsqVf9/s320/P7170341.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Back home again after almost a week in Estonia, as usual for us in summer. And as usual we have brought home some beer and salted cucumbers and lots of happy memories. The photo is from lovely Haapsalu, where you can see the men in my life walking towards The Wiigi Kohvik to have a light dinner. It was a lovely summer´s evening and we sat on the veranda having a salad of peaches and shrimps (me - it was a little too light but beautifully presented) and something with duck breast (my man - he liked it very much). The little man had some milk, so far he is more a gourmand than a gourmet.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Estonia is really special to me although I don´t have any family history there as A does. I like the nature, the sea, the beaches, the people, the food... And yes - I had the great pleasure of meeting </span><a href="http://nami-nami.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Pille </span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">too!</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-11535811220469822422008-07-11T20:47:00.003+02:002008-07-11T21:00:04.733+02:00Just salad...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKb6ol1E41wO0lS6NJ0hnUS07MQFKjP2hLZDfmrURvnUaMVLsW0aG89xnPYYdq2YfjlLKJ3fH3Wr9frmLTCQxd2Krg1YUpWz7PAF-aB6JvioQnuWIyZWFpyICBb_ZaXwISJu61/s1600-h/P7040225.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5221832448554846050" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKb6ol1E41wO0lS6NJ0hnUS07MQFKjP2hLZDfmrURvnUaMVLsW0aG89xnPYYdq2YfjlLKJ3fH3Wr9frmLTCQxd2Krg1YUpWz7PAF-aB6JvioQnuWIyZWFpyICBb_ZaXwISJu61/s320/P7040225.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">A quick lopsided photo today: the kid is hungry! I was at my parent´s recently and went out to pick some things in the garden for dinner; when I came back in I noticed that it looked fantastic - just chives, salad, parsley and dill. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Summer is here!</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">P.S. Can you find the kitten? </span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-43285507844500543982008-05-27T17:30:00.002+02:002008-06-30T21:18:19.188+02:00Back again<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH573xWDcLnhM5vJr0dnCr_sznb5O0ebw2tqNe3blqE5we8mAXwfmILx-aIsk5BPTtvR7463fZgC0pCNOfBjfhxACIJYgW3TCUaDO_xu3uCHzlUh_uJGuvPaOv9FAK0x9JOFcs/s1600-h/P5210158.JPG"><span style="font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5217755460346380098" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiH573xWDcLnhM5vJr0dnCr_sznb5O0ebw2tqNe3blqE5we8mAXwfmILx-aIsk5BPTtvR7463fZgC0pCNOfBjfhxACIJYgW3TCUaDO_xu3uCHzlUh_uJGuvPaOv9FAK0x9JOFcs/s320/P5210158.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:arial;">I don´t know which time in order I say: "hello, remember me? I am back again, and this time I will really try to blog more often!" but it is my blog and I write when I want to. Or when I have the time, as is the case now when my life is changed rather profoundly by a very small person.</span><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">On March 10th I gave birth to a beautiful baby boy, and we now spend the early summer days together in lots of lovely ways. Walking, eating, sleeping, changing nappy and then eating, sleeping etc. Life is sweet, simple and blissful with my little D. One of many many good things about him is that he lets me cook and bake almost as usual. Meanwhile he lies in his "gym" and play with the toys, or keep me company in the kitchen sitting in the baby sitter. My little sidekick.</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">On our way home from the hospital we bought some bread, but since then we have baked our own daily bread as a matter of fact. My man is rather absorbed by this bread-baking: keeps reading recipes and trying them, buys all kinds of flour and he also borrowed his parents large kitchen machine, I don´t know what it is called in English but you use it for kneading. They use it once a year, we use it once a week!</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">This is a very nice bread to make when you want a luxury breakfast or expects guests for lunch and want to greet them with the wonderful smell of fresh bread. The recipe is from Allt om mat, a well-known Swedish food magazine and an article on how to get going with your baking by the journalist Peter Streijffert. My man read the article over and over again and then tried this, and then some other breads. Thank you Peter! </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;"><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong>Morning rolls<br /></strong>Makes 10</span></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">12 grams fresh yeast<br />50 ml cold water<br />1 tsp salt<br />100 ml graham flour, this is a wholemeal wheat flour<br />540 grams strong bread flour, "Vetemjöl special"</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">1. Crumble the yeast into a bowl, add some water and dissolve the yeast.<br />2. Add the rest of the water, salt, graham flour and the wheat and work the dough for a couple of minutes. It is supposed to be sticky: nothing to worry about!<br />3. Cover with cling film and put in the fridge over night<br />4. Warm the oven to 225 fan oven or 250 "ordinary" oven. Spoon out the dough on a baking sheet: 10 sticky lumps the size of tennis balls. Bake for 20 minutes in the middle of the oven. Let them cool on a rack. </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">The rolls have a lovely crust the first day, but then sadly they get a little boring so make sure to eat them all very quickly. Not a huge problem, really!</span></div>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-10872317499011666562008-03-05T19:58:00.001+01:002008-03-05T19:59:33.821+01:00Poached pears with saffron, ginger and vanilla<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdz_u5HKaWnmE5qhXB4U5PM3TUEVhOM927yY7uAU5V0ZilxEpF4KawqH0sMUCHqNL8lusYOMpR60iGgBM8X1bah_0uR7AlMxpt60bBh9W54jWubDXGhHKFk5Amfqz3rnRDSE2/s1600-h/P1100132.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169414419605881666" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIdz_u5HKaWnmE5qhXB4U5PM3TUEVhOM927yY7uAU5V0ZilxEpF4KawqH0sMUCHqNL8lusYOMpR60iGgBM8X1bah_0uR7AlMxpt60bBh9W54jWubDXGhHKFk5Amfqz3rnRDSE2/s320/P1100132.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">For dessert when I had my girl´s lunch recently I decided to finally try poaching some pears, inspired by Pille who just </span><a href="http://nami-nami.blogspot.com/2008/01/pears-poached-in-ginger-syrup.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">had posted about ginger pears</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">. Ginger pears are a real classic here in Sweden as well but I have never made it myself.</span><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">My recipe of choice this time was - surprise - one from my cooking guru Anna Bergenström. Here the ginger goes together with vanilla, saffron and spices in a delicious syrup! The recipe is easy and very practical, the pears can be made up to a week in advance! They can also be frozen in their syrup. Just make sure you try if the pears fit in the skillet before you start, and watch the pears carefully so they don´t get overcooked.<br /></span></div><br /><div><strong><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Ginger pears with saffron</span></strong></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Serves 6-8</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">6-8 nice, firm pears<br />500 ml water and 50 ml sugar<br />1/2 vanilla pod<br />about 2 tbsp fresh, peeled, chopped ginger (I think I used a little more)<br />a 5 cm piece of a cinnamon stick<br />0.5 grams of saffron, ground with a sugar lump in a mortar<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">(Then I get confused because the recipe mentions 1/3 lemon in slices but not where to put it! I just skipped it and it was fine)</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Boil a syrup from the water, sugar and vanilla pod for about 5 minutes without a lid. Peel the pears but keep the stalks and the little thing on the other end where the flower was. This will prevent the pears from getting all mushy! And it looks pretty.<br />Put the pears close together in a skillet and pour over the syrup carefully. Add the ginger and cinnamon and let it simmer on very low heat, under a lid, for 20-25 minutes. You may want to turn them over once or twice but be careful! Put the saffron in the last 10 minutes. When the pears are all soft, but not more, let them cool in the syrup. The day after they will have a much more intense yellow colour!</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Serve with a dollop of good vanilla ice cream. </span></div>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-26866362217322608992008-02-21T12:51:00.005+01:002008-02-21T13:26:14.454+01:00Kamut wheat salad<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg41kxz60UsxvCD9y_7iX5Y4B8s_oSsug_BQML87VJnikx28l2pU7DM54drIdkIHsPwqqZPqGraoP7DAKJc7q0YbSMeaOdDHrOmBpSaYE-9JWO136M_CAwztf2aWMxpQZf5wLJi/s1600-h/P1110136.JPG"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5169407083801740082" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg41kxz60UsxvCD9y_7iX5Y4B8s_oSsug_BQML87VJnikx28l2pU7DM54drIdkIHsPwqqZPqGraoP7DAKJc7q0YbSMeaOdDHrOmBpSaYE-9JWO136M_CAwztf2aWMxpQZf5wLJi/s320/P1110136.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Oh dear dear, over a month since last time I managed to post something here! What a lousy blogger I am, compared to others who just keep writing and writing! But really, it is my blog and I´ll write once a month if I want to... Even if I hope to be more frequent for a while now, being ordered to rest by my doctor! Not much to do other than cooking and taking slow walks. Then in about six weeks The New Foodie will make his/hers entrée into our lives and then we´ll see what happens with everything!<br /></span><div></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I had some girlfriends over for Sunday lunch a few weeks ago and made lots of big plans of involtini with beef, or some finger food, or maybe a soup? It was a lot of fun to make plans but then my health started to sway and I went for a simple salad instead. No use to cook a large meal for friends if I would have to spend two hours in bed to recover! This meal was ready after just over an hour in the kitchen, plus some dessert preparations the night before (I will save that for a separate post). </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Salads are really typical Clivia-meals - easy to prepare, fresh and always appreciated. I love to explore all the different kinds of grains and pasta and rice you can use, and then I just pair it with a good dressing and vegetables and a good bread. Then depending on the guests I serve meat or fish on the side, more veggies and often some different kinds of spread for the bread. This time my guests got home made foccaccia, creamed feta cheese and some salmon. The featured grain was a new product from the store I wanted to try: Kamut wheat. Apparently some grains were found in the Egyptian pyramids and now they grow it again! Very tasty, but maybe hard to find. You could subsitute spelt wheat, or bulgur for example. The recipe is from the back of the Kamut wheat box, we are into trying recipes from boxes right now since A made an excellent chicken curry after reading on the small box for the chicken stock cubes...</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><strong>Kamut wheat salad<br /></strong>Serves 4</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">200 ml Kamut wheat, or other kind of whole or cracked wheat<br />400 ml water<br />2 carrots<br />a bunch of sugar snaps, trimmed<br />some fresh green asparagus<br />100 ml chopped fresh basil<br />50 ml chopped flat-leaf parsley<br />3 spring onions, chopped<br />100 ml of toasted cashew nuts<br />Juice from half a lemon<br />salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><strong>Dressing:<br /></strong>100 ml olive oil<br />50 ml apple cider vinegar<br />1 pressed garlic clove<br />2 tsp dijon mustard<br />1 tsp sugar<br />salt and pepper</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Boil the wheat in the water until just soft, about 10 minutes. Rinse in cold water and stir in some olive oil. Put aside. Cut the carrots in nice chunks and boil them until just soft in salted water. Do the same with the asparagus and sugar snaps. Rinse in cold water.<br />Mix everything for the dressing.<br />Mix the wheat, veggies, nuts and herbs and arrange in a nice bowl or on a platter. Pour over some dressing and serve the rest on the side. Some olives never go wrong!</span></div>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-24500523955335557402008-01-14T21:06:00.000+01:002008-01-14T21:06:15.631+01:00Nigella´s involtini<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPdqwqGLodIDgbZzI6ZArXLnv80oIwpnM6MzHVVeO_hesXk3jw-sRJZE7GptUO-xmclQN0s17j2TzxlAH4_DAWXBYq5hmjqNw3Pn-w2vkklO7lb9PHYuki2mrKT_53fJO7i0L/s1600-h/involtini.JPG"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5152302816423467362" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpPdqwqGLodIDgbZzI6ZArXLnv80oIwpnM6MzHVVeO_hesXk3jw-sRJZE7GptUO-xmclQN0s17j2TzxlAH4_DAWXBYq5hmjqNw3Pn-w2vkklO7lb9PHYuki2mrKT_53fJO7i0L/s320/involtini.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;">Getting rid of: cheese, aubergine, raisins</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">This is, seriously, one of the best meals I made 2007! Nigella Lawson´s <em>Feast</em> is a book I leaf through at least every other week, just to enjoy her excellent writing and compensate myself during hard times for not having time to cook or having parties.<br />When I came home in late November after a particularly hard day at work I reminded myself that I a) had two large aubergines lying about in the fridge from the veggie box b) should grab the opportunity to make something proper even on a Tuesday. Involtini is maybe not the thing you should attack under these circumstances, but the name kept floating up in my brain all the way home and since I had most of the ingredients I simply jumped to the task. Nigella´s recipes are never scary - that helped! But do make sure you have a sandwich or some nibbles on hand before you start off - this will take you at least an hour! Count in that when you are finished and the involtini has cooled enough to eat you will remember nothing from your hard day at work, it is all obscured behind a joyful time of cooking!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Here is Nigella´s recipe (for those of you who has not yet got the book) with my own tweaks and changes</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">2-3 large aubergines cut lengthwise in thin slices<br />1500 grams tomato passata (I used less, see below)<br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">200 grams mozzarella (I used leftover filling)</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Filling:<br />100 grams crumbled feta cheese<br />100 grams mozzarella<br />25 grams grated parmesan (I didn´t have any mozzarella in the house so instead I scraped together 225 grams of other mixed cheeses; feta cheese, another excellent salad cheese from </span><a href="http://www.jarseost.se/"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Jarseost</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">, and parmesan)<br />75 grams pine nuts (I used chopped walnuts or almonds if I remember correctly)<br />50 grams raisins, soaked in hot water for 10 minutes<br />4 tbsp olive oil<br />2 tbsp breadcrumbs<br />1 garlic clove, crushed or finely chopped<br />zest from 1 lemon<br />a good pinch of dried mint<br />2 tpsb parsley<br />1 egg</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Brush the aubergine slices on both sides with olive oil and grill them until soft and nicely patterned, I used my beloved cast iron grill pan for this. Put aside and let it cool.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Mix everything for the filling in a bowl, yes, raisins too. I was soo sceptical to these raisins! I am not a huge fan of Fruit in Food you see, and warm raisins are...yeurgh... But I decided to stick to the recipe the best I could and go with the raisins which really was t-a-s-t-y, surprise surprise. In the meantime I decided to make a cooked tomato sauce instead of just using passata, because I had so many odd aubergine slices and some old onions and whatnot in the fridge. I simply chopped it all up, sautéed in olive oil, poured in a packet of passata and let it boil with some dried thyme, salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar while I made the involtini. Put about a tablespoon of filling on each aubergine slice and roll it up firmly. Put in an ovenproof dish. When all the slices was gone I put the rest of the cheese filling in the tomato sauce and poured it over the involtini, and then baked in 190C oven for 25-30 minutes. The involtini should be served lukewarm according to Nigella, or cold - all but boiling hot from the oven! That way you will be able to really taste everything in these marvellous little rolls.</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-2064787504559945832008-01-09T22:20:00.000+01:002008-01-09T22:18:37.060+01:00My new kitchen<div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1hGXYsJq5ysQYjD4FKSiE2Vq3Kfu-cF3yYwcwvKEZWvpse6xLrOZux269DmmvVcI0y1zMayqHsPy_rML1ntE6ZxUtJ481RQtZt67j9LIHRSzme-0qvnyCdmZIU5MOOhe01_1R/s1600-h/ikea.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5152310646148847986" style="margin: 0px 0px 10px 10px; float: right;" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1hGXYsJq5ysQYjD4FKSiE2Vq3Kfu-cF3yYwcwvKEZWvpse6xLrOZux269DmmvVcI0y1zMayqHsPy_rML1ntE6ZxUtJ481RQtZt67j9LIHRSzme-0qvnyCdmZIU5MOOhe01_1R/s320/ikea.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >This is me, or 2/3 of me, in our new kitchen on Gooseberry road. Since December 8th we live in a small <em>radhus</em>, which means a house connected to other houses in a row, I don´t know the correct term in English for it. We have four rooms and a kitchen and a small toilet and a bathroom and storage room in the front yard and a garden shed in the backyard, and a small pond and a glass room which will come in really handy April-October since it is so well built you can sit there while it is still a little too cold outside, or too hot, since we both have a fan and a heater in there. We also have a grill, and furniture enough to house 12-16 people for a garden party. Very nice!</span></div><div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" > </span></div><br /><div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >For now we have to stay indoors though, and work to fit in all our belongings in cupboards and boxes in time for the baby´s arrival in just over three months (yikes, so soon!). Last week I crawled inside the kitchen cabinets to fit in a new basket shelf which you can slide out to reach what´s in it. I have already some problems reaching my own feet and in a month´s time I certainly will not be able to reach, say, a bowl from this cupboard which is very deep and very deep down. After much twiddling around I took the basket shelf and tried to fit it in - bah, the cupboard was 50 cm and the shelf was 60 cm! So I had to crawl back and take away everything and move it to the other cupboard and try not to swear too much, the baby can hear me now. We will have to go back to The Large Swedish Furniture Warehouse and buy a new shelf! Sigh. </span></div><br /><div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" ></span> </div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:85%;" >But to make a long story short: I really like this kitchen even if we have slightly less space in it. It is what we call a parallell kitchen, stove and washing on one side and fridge and another working space on the other. When I am at the stove and need something from the fridge I simply turn on my heel and get it in two seconds instead of having to run some metres to the right and squeeze myself in between the kitchen table and the fridge (which also was smaller). This is so so much more practical! When you have all the shelves in place, mind. And above all, the eating area is just outside the kitchen and opens up into the living room - equals lots and lots of space for having lots of friends over who never again will have to hear the phrase "oh could you get up, I have to get something from the fridge".</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-82866353203798376752008-01-06T10:18:00.001+01:002008-01-06T10:31:46.943+01:00Last year - I dared...nothing?<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Hahaha, I just re-read my foodie resolutions for 2007 with a grin on my face. What has become of them? Absolutely nothing! But since I am good at forgiving myself for things I did (or did not) that didn´t harm anyone anyway I am simply putting them up again for 2008! Isn´t that neat? Some of them will be easy, some of them not. But then there is always 2009!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">1. I will make my own pasta</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">2. I will take a class in how to handle and cook fresh fish </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">3. I will make sausages from scratch (that will have to wait until Christmas)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">4. I will make sourdough bread</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">5. I will make wine leaf dolmadas </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">6. I will make pear preserves with ginger and lingonberries this autumn</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">7. (new) I will not feed my baby food from a jar unless it is an emergency</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">And I have made other things this year, really! I have further explored Lithuanian and Estonian cuisine, I have ordered veggie boxes, I made my own red cabbage for Christmas for the first time, I have become a cooking teacher... And above all I lost my job, got a new one, became pregnant and bought a house and moved. Christ, 2007 has been busy! Not sausage-making, though.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-49022886896373964152007-11-24T17:20:00.000+01:002007-11-24T17:18:24.579+01:00Tomato-fennel-beer soup<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKF4QL_LotbNanDOrL0KPDYXYkZwhKir5jGER5RYu3LxcjfVxMZzSaXjfkGrf0LY-sVi7M8EaEuiNUgIDdr1sdKVuogiUq83xKYjkMXd-EW36-6sZBqa-gXCj-jMzVUOWFsk3/s1600-h/P9290010.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5136441319382422066" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYKF4QL_LotbNanDOrL0KPDYXYkZwhKir5jGER5RYu3LxcjfVxMZzSaXjfkGrf0LY-sVi7M8EaEuiNUgIDdr1sdKVuogiUq83xKYjkMXd-EW36-6sZBqa-gXCj-jMzVUOWFsk3/s320/P9290010.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><span style="font-size:78%;"><span style="color:#cc0000;">Getting rid of: fennel, crushed tomato, Estonian beer</span><br /></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">So, it is official: in April next year a new baby foodie will be born! That means that I for example don´t drink alcohol anymore, and I am not allowed (sigh) to eat parma ham and cold-smoked salmon and other favourite things. But lucky me, I have lots of <em>other</em> favourites to enjoy while waiting, and some of the Estonian beer we bought a large quantity of this summer before we knew about my pregnancy can be used in, for example, this delicious soup! </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><br />Since I stopped working in Stockholm I don´t buy as much food magazines anymore which is very good because of a) my economy and b) I already have loads of magazines to read and re-read. But recently, after a particularly hard day at work, I treated myself to the latest issue of Laga Lätt, a fairly new and very inspiring Swedish food mag. The title is a play with words, the Swedish Lätt means both easy and light - and so are the recipes!<br />I had all the ingredients on hand and the preparation took just 20 minutes, then I had a warming and a little different tomato soup in a bowl, sitting on the couch in front of the TV...<br /><br /><strong>Tomato and fennel soup<br /></strong>Serves 4<br /><br />2 yellow onions (personally I think that one is more than enough in all recipes but...)<br />2 small or 1 large fennel<br />2 cloves of garlic (also here too much for me but that really is a matter of taste!)<br />canola or olive oil for frying<br />400 ml water<br />2 tbsp concentrated fish or veg stock (I used a cube, crumbled up in the hot soup)<br />300 ml beer<br />500 grams crushed tomatoes or passata<br />1 tsp sugar<br />salt and pepper<br /><br />Chop the onion finely, finely slice the fennel. Press the garlic. Fry it all in a little oil until soft and shiny. Add water, stock, beer and tomato and let simmer for 10 minutes. Spice to taste with sugar, salt and pepper. Serve with a dollop of sourcream or creme fraiche, and a couple of sandwiches.</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-63662151942202769832007-11-14T15:29:00.000+01:002007-11-14T15:42:51.691+01:00Astrid Lindgren 100 years<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Off topic today: it is world famous author Astrid Lindgren´s 100th birthday today. Even though she passed away a few years ago she will live forever through all her wonderful books! I have read almost everything and cannot really mention a favourite - maybe Emil, and the Bullerby kids. And Ronja! </span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Oooh, it is not so off topic after all - today very conviniently also is </span><a href="http://clivias.blogspot.com/2005/11/day-of-cheesecake.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">the day of the cheesecake</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"> and I am sure Astrid has had a lot of cheesecake in her life, growing up in the same region as me: Småland. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Happy birthday Astrid!</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-84995873558999776702007-11-02T20:18:00.000+01:002007-11-02T20:18:55.636+01:00A find in the fridge: Jerusalem artichokes<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSdNaGdwoXvbboiGBoOAHrnQdFDSxK6i-1yNdqpaCgAYgxSYT6PijAY43yY-RNsbVeuvkKj2JVvAOpEknnXby_iBX1sgEf0xohyphenhyphenalRbvDpoidfu-7VvhZfUyCY3RucEHVLCB2S/s1600-h/P9260164.JPG"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5128324120585863474" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSdNaGdwoXvbboiGBoOAHrnQdFDSxK6i-1yNdqpaCgAYgxSYT6PijAY43yY-RNsbVeuvkKj2JVvAOpEknnXby_iBX1sgEf0xohyphenhyphenalRbvDpoidfu-7VvhZfUyCY3RucEHVLCB2S/s320/P9260164.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em><span style="color:#990000;">Getting rid of: Jerusalem artichokes, rice, mushrooms<br /></span></em><br /></span><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Not only the cupboards but also the fridge and freezer is in need of emptying. This spring I got five small Jerusalem artichokes with my veg box and since these knobbly little thingys are one of my favourites I wanted to save them for something really special, since I don´t grow them myself anymore and they are rarely seen in the shops in my town. Well, of course I forgot about them and they have spent all summer rattling at the bottom of the fridge. </span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><br />Last Friday night I wanted to treat my dear man to something extra since it was his birthday the day before and we didn´t have time to really celebrate. I decided to dig deep into our storages and make a variety of </span><a href="http://clivias.blogspot.com/2006/10/chanterelles-again.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">my favourite mushroom sandwiches</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">, only now I used boiled rice instead of bread and served this gratin with some good thin steaks!</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">On the photo you can see the Jerusalem Artichokes laying peeled and sliced (on my trusted mandoline) on a layer of rice in an ovenproof dish. I had some fresh thyme on hand after the cooking class earlier in the day so I added some stalks and thought it looked so pretty. Then of course when you cover everything with a nice thick mushroom stew it is more taste than looks that matters!</span></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">When I make the sandwiches I slice the artichokes thicker and boil them for some minutes but I skipped that this time and it was fine. And I meant to take a photo of my plate before devouring it all but of course forgot all about it. You will have to visaulize the gratin with the mushrooms in brown sauce and a little grated cheese on top, a nice piece of steak browned in butter and spiced with just black pepper and salt, and a pile of organic salad, tomatoes and cucumber from the veggie box tossed in lime juice and olive oil...mmm...</span></div>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-27446728629034405752007-10-29T20:13:00.000+01:002007-10-29T20:13:21.764+01:00Fruit salad<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlwveWw-s5jTAn3G1T_QyRrxMPyKWdv7O5hq2crGd7qxi0XtbP1cNf_94K7jp4QVrYY19Ih9aLa2YC82qNfhtr6osxgZRdHBUr7Oxz-ces2JRMq8_zx7ULx9XM2y5tg0kmoar/s1600-h/P9210160.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125739228878504226" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiVlwveWw-s5jTAn3G1T_QyRrxMPyKWdv7O5hq2crGd7qxi0XtbP1cNf_94K7jp4QVrYY19Ih9aLa2YC82qNfhtr6osxgZRdHBUr7Oxz-ces2JRMq8_zx7ULx9XM2y5tg0kmoar/s320/P9210160.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:#990000;"><em>Getting rid of: fresh fruit, raisins, canned pineapple</em></span><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Well of course I will continue buying fresh stuff even if we are trying to empty our kitchen - fruit and veg and dairy... But I know myself oh-too-well and fresh fruit tend to just be put in a bowl and looked at with pride in this household. <em>See, we have a bowl of apples in our kitchen. Look how lovely they are! And bananas, mmmmm. And kiwi! Lots of vitamin C.</em> They look so lovely that we somehow forget what they are really for: to be eaten! These past months I have been craving a lot more fruit, but even so especially apples just lies there - and it is such a shame! Every two weeks I get a delivery of fresh organic fruit and veg from <a href="http://www.ekoladan.se/">Ekolådan</a> and last time I got gorgeous apples: small, rather tart and very very apple-y if such a word exists. Most of the other things from the box is now gone, but a morning recently when I was making scones for my man the sad fruit bowl caught my eye. There was two rather browned bananas, a lonely kiwi and a pile of those apples... </span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Strange but true - fruit can be lying about for weeks here, but once they are turned to a fruit salad they are gone in just a day, sometimes just hours. My trick to make it extra juicy and tempting is to add a small tin of crushed pineapple in own juice, a cheap staple that is easy to keep at home (in the cupboards, oh my). Boring apples, or apples that will be boring in just days, and sad bananas turns into something luxurious, delicious and totally healthy! </span></div>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-69229783874794609632007-10-26T21:57:00.000+02:002007-10-26T21:57:20.839+02:00No-knead bread<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNh3P2vvuiqphCvY9g6eZdexNZA8q3Mn521vohN9sQf3daR1N0Ul3dJk-TB94sHdyAyH-zrS-wJaYibV4BeP6n9TbmwGDxh8Cv37mq7y3kqNckf9qrnYdMAwAiRD4y4jpAcjjs/s1600-h/P9210163.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5125736613243420930" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNh3P2vvuiqphCvY9g6eZdexNZA8q3Mn521vohN9sQf3daR1N0Ul3dJk-TB94sHdyAyH-zrS-wJaYibV4BeP6n9TbmwGDxh8Cv37mq7y3kqNckf9qrnYdMAwAiRD4y4jpAcjjs/s320/P9210163.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:#cc0000;"><em>Getting rid of: flour, sunflower seeds, spices</em></span><br /><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">As you can see I have changed my feature, from "Today´s Swedish word" to "Getting rid of". This will be my new theme for the upcoming months - getting rid of as much as possible from my bulging kitchen cupboards, fridge and freezer. Then, in December when I am installed in my new kitchen I can change back to my usual "Getting". Being a food nerd means "getting". You get stuff from EBBP parcels, you get stuff from friends who know you will love a food present for birthdays and Christmas, you get new and exciting things when you are out shopping with other food nerds, or indeed just popping by at Hötorgshallen for "just some sundried tomatoes" and coming back up the escalator laden with bags of dried fruits, pulses, herbs, strange-looking fruit and a smelly cheese. All this now occupies our kitchen and since we don´t want to carry too much while moving we will have to eat it, or throw it away which really is not an option unless something is helplessly expired...</span><br /></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Before my, and our for that matter, decision of getting rid of things I happily bought a large bag of flour and brought it home just to discover that I really didn´t need it. An entire shelf is filled with different flours, in two rows - meanwhile we have been <em>buying</em> our bread for months now! My baking goes in periods, sometimes I just bake and bake everything we eat, and then suddenly I stop for some reason and it is just so hard to get going again. Well, now I have to! This "No-knead bread" is an old favourite of mine and I made it long before everyone else started experimenting with cast-iron pots and minimal amounts of yeast a year or so ago when the ultimate recipe for no-knead bread was tried out by so many of us food bloggers. I, however, was not tempted because I already had the ultimate recipe: of course from my cooking and baking guru Anna Bergenström!</span></div><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><strong>No-knead bread<br /></strong>25 grams fresh yeast<br />1tsp salt<br />preferrably about a tbsp of honey<br />400 ml tepid water<br />800-900 ml of wheat flour<br />100 ml sunflower seeds (optional)<br />1 tsp crushed fennel seeds or other bread spice that you like (optional)</span></div><br /><div><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Crumble the yeast into a bowl, add salt and honey and some of the water. Stir until the yeast is dissolved and add the rest of the water.<br />Pour in the sunflower seeds and the fennel and the flour and work it to a loose dough. Cover with a towel and let rise for 1-2 hours.<br />Line a baking sheet with paper or grease it, and carefully tip the dough directly onto it. No need to knead. Heat the oven to 250C and meanwhile let the dough rise, for about 20 minutes.<br />Bake the bread in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 125C and continue baking for 40-45 minutes.<br />Let the bread cool on a rack, loosely covered with a towel. Enjoy!</span></div>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-33364236206169442462007-10-16T21:08:00.000+02:002007-10-21T14:19:31.097+02:00Hip hip hooray, maybe my blog will stay...<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzPWXnBiuPV81cG1HNaoKvALWp8XXqqJ4atddm9GHZ7AhlM-dqUjELIIOX3gbA-UkDZnSecg4TUOw0vDknB7o5CAOTKhkIcYx6u8hVZgCMDY3epsNjHMMrfxxRHVBQ24EfTCwz/s1600-h/P6180030.JPG"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5122012857668515026" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzPWXnBiuPV81cG1HNaoKvALWp8XXqqJ4atddm9GHZ7AhlM-dqUjELIIOX3gbA-UkDZnSecg4TUOw0vDknB7o5CAOTKhkIcYx6u8hVZgCMDY3epsNjHMMrfxxRHVBQ24EfTCwz/s320/P6180030.JPG" border="0" /></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Oh yes, I am still alive. Too busy living as a matter of fact - this blog gets more and more neglected and I really have to think hard what to do with it. Maybe I should quit, or take a "real" hiatus instead of just disappearing for weeks, or maybe I should just try and get inspired again, participating in all the nice events available? That is what I am thinking right now. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">But, no decisions made at the moment, today (forgot to post on the 17th though...) I celebrate this blog´s second birthday with a lovely flower photo shot at a restaurant in Riga where we consumed some - oh yeah - <em>shots</em> this summer! Two years of writing, taking photos, meeting incredibly nice people some of whom I have now met and count as real friends, answering questions about almost everything and learning loads, loads about food. Oh yes, while writing this I definitely feel that I just cannot quit blogging! What I need is a whole day, or a whole weekend when I can just cook and write and work on a good backlog for all those days and weeks when life just gets too much...</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">An exciting year lies ahead of me I can tell - the third year as a food blogger when also a lot of other things will happen in my life! We have for example bought a house, so in about two months´time Clivia will get a new Cuisine where new challenges will take place. So stay tuned, and thank you for your patience!</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-42027723454808611802007-10-05T16:40:00.000+02:002007-10-05T16:40:13.184+02:00Cooking class<span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;color:#006600;">Today´s Swedish word: kurs. Means course, or class.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;color:#006600;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">My life has been pretty intense these past months and I have had little time for food blogging and even cooking, sadly. But after my recent trip (see below) to Tallinn to meet my blogging friends I got new inspiration, and since four weeks back I have another source of inspiration: I have become a cooking teacher!</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I have got a new job since april at an organisation which arranges courses for adults in everything from languages to yoga - a lovely job! Anyway, I don´t work full time and therefore had the possibility to take on a cooking class on Fridays, starting about a month ago. And it is so much fun! I only have three pupils but for a new teacher like me it is totally OK. We have great fun together and try many things - they are so brave and never turn a recipe of mine down! This has been on the menus so far:</span><br /><br /><p><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Beetroot soup with sour cream and chopped pickled cucmbers, </em></span><a href="http://clivias.blogspot.com/2005/11/day-of-cheesecake.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>fake cheesecake </em></span></a><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">for dessert<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Stuffed peppers, some with </span></em><a href="http://clivias.blogspot.com/2006/05/cyber-chef.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>lentils</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em> and some with mince and olives, </em></span><a href="http://clivias.blogspot.com/2006/02/bl-jungfruns-muffins.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>Blå Jungfruns muffins </em></span></a><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">for dessert<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">"</span></em><a href="http://clivias.blogspot.com/2007/01/waiter-theres-peanuts-in-my-stew.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>African stew</em></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><em>" with home made peanut butter, Gino for dessert<br /><br /></em></span><em><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Fish stew with root vegetables, apple crumble<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">Salad with whole wheat, marinated in a vinaigrette with sundried tomatoes and garlic, loads of veg like cucumber, tomato, peppers and onions - served with oven grilled chicken. Dessert: ice cream with lemon marinated blackberries.</span></em></p><br /><p><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;">The upcoming Friday we will cook meatloaf. What next? I don´t know... Any ideas?</span></p>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-74192000816930734352007-10-02T19:22:00.000+02:002007-10-02T19:46:33.176+02:00A lovely day in Tallinn<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttXVhXujgEiIbmbCfG_aaiSgOCLb-1zjxTXFmkSvIJ0wy61PkUwmCWLtX3GNt4JbfABSktqo8DkECSQaHIk-p8HM83UMNLyRfDypNnzC6hCuCgKGbTynMR6Qa3laphfAJDw_3/s1600-h/P8260140.JPG"><span style="color:#006600;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5116796229045499074" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjttXVhXujgEiIbmbCfG_aaiSgOCLb-1zjxTXFmkSvIJ0wy61PkUwmCWLtX3GNt4JbfABSktqo8DkECSQaHIk-p8HM83UMNLyRfDypNnzC6hCuCgKGbTynMR6Qa3laphfAJDw_3/s320/P8260140.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;color:#006600;">Today´s Swedish word: <em>Estland</em>. Means Estonia.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">I have written quite a lot about Estonia here on this blog, a country I first visited in 1992 in a youth exchange. Then I met A, whose mother is Estonian-Swedish and that has led to me visiting this fantastic country many times. When I found <a href="http://nami-nami.blogspot.com/">Pille´s blog </a>I was delighted, what a great way to learn more about Estonian culture and above all, food!</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">From the start I had a feeling that Pille must be a very, very nice person and a week ago I finally got to meet her and get that feeling confirmed! <a href="http://annesfood.blogspot.com/">Anne</a>, <a href="http://www.acatinthekitchen.com/index.php">Dagmar</a> and me arranged to go overseas with Tallink Victoria to our closest capital, Tallinn, for shopping and sightseeing - and meeting Pille of course. After a very calm night at sea we arrived in a sunny lovely September Tallinn on a Tuesday morning when everyone else was at work. Could life be better? We had a lovely day shopping, chatting, having coffee and eating and admiring the view from Toompea. Thank you so much Pille for guiding and feeding us, and thank you Anne and Dagmar for great travel company! Next time I hope we won´t have to listen to car alarms all night though (the journey back wasn´t nearly as calm as the first night...)</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;"></span></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Read more about our day in Tallinn and see pictures over at </span><a href="http://nami-nami.blogspot.com/2007/10/new-hgans-teacups-three-swedish.html"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Pille</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">´s and </span><a href="http://www.acatinthekitchen.com/?p=274"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">Dagmar´s</span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">!</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9237840.post-90493785864606931862007-09-09T18:41:00.000+02:002007-09-09T19:00:17.593+02:00Everyday luxury: going to the market!<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCfM7jieBvptgGtSDEguUooe-J7eRIq25BVJBiYJz74uAgydDsEuqBCsF4WgP11XxTYMQ_pmio5L2nxi9XIjvyQkbrDNSRjSincVRr3y1gpDYp_hHIpJ3HLasAS_-bfa0Azh1/s1600-h/P7250451.JPG"><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5108246122851831714" style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCCfM7jieBvptgGtSDEguUooe-J7eRIq25BVJBiYJz74uAgydDsEuqBCsF4WgP11XxTYMQ_pmio5L2nxi9XIjvyQkbrDNSRjSincVRr3y1gpDYp_hHIpJ3HLasAS_-bfa0Azh1/s320/P7250451.JPG" border="0" /></span></a><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:78%;color:#006600;">Today´s Swedish word: <em>torg</em>. Means square.</span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">One thing I have seldom done before I started this blog is shopping at markets, and I haven´t had a clue about seasons - when to buy the best.<br />Well, now I do! I have had a vegetable box coming all spring every other week with organic fruit and veg but this time of year I prefer to buy everything myself. I have the great luck to work just five minutes walk from the market square here in my hometown - so every Wednesday and also Friday or Saturday when the vendors are there I go down to shop for fresh vegetables and fruit.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Arial;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:arial;font-size:85%;">These are some very, very nice cucumbers I bought from my favourite stand, a very kind man who runs a small-scale business outside town and go to the square laden with fresh veg, flowers and potatoes on Wednesdays and Saturdays. I also bought some sprouted dill to use for pickled cucumbers - but no recipe yet. I have to try them before I can make any recommendations. Last year I failed with my cucumbers... For now it will have to make do with the pretty picture!</span>Cliviahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/18028194816479785554noreply@blogger.com2