Lucia

In the early morning hours of December 13, all over Sweden and the other Nordic countries, "Lucia" brings light in the darkness of winter. Each school and each city chooses a girl to represent Lucia, the lightbringer, and she is followed by a procession of maidens carrying candles and sometimes treats such as gingerbread cookies and lussekatter for the people.

When this tradition first started out back in the late 1600's, December 13th was believed to be the longest and most dangerous night of the year and many stayed up through the night with candles burning. In the morning, they knew the darkest part of the winter was over and with only 11 day left until Christmas, it was time to celebrate!

This is my favorite Swedish tradition, in school I always loved getting up early in the morning and dressing in the gown, making sure I knew all the songs and had the candle ready. It was such a magical feeling when the school is completely dark except for the procession lit up by candle light, moving through the hallways lined with people while singing songs that have been sung for hundreds of years.

A friend of mine recently pointed out that it seems a bit strange if you haven't grown up with it, and I suppose he has a point, but here, judge for yourself :)

Hot chocolate the Swedish way

Today is one of those days; the wind is howling, the rain is beating hard on the windows and the sky is just grey.
In short, perfect hot chocolate weather! For some reason, I almost never made hot chocolate in LA, I always bought it, but being back in Sweden it felt perfectly natural to turn on the stove and make a cup :)

To make traditional Swedish hot chocolate, you mix cocoa and sugar with a little bit of cream in a cup and pour hot milk over and it's so yummy!

Walk by the Water

Today I decided to walk home along the water, and it was such a good feeling!
Seeing all the lights on the mainland (for those of you that don't know,
I live on an island), and feeling the beginning of winter ice under my shoes made me smile.

The harbor, and "Castle Hill" on the bottom. Can you believe it's only 5pm though?

Guess Who?

Ok, if you saw this man on the cover of a book, who would you say he is?

If I didn't know that face, I would think he was a serial killer and that the book was called something along the lines of "Portrait of Evil". It might also have something to do with him scaring the crap out of me when we did a scene together when I was 11 years old.
Today, he is one of Sweden's most well known actors turned professional chef, who has his own cooking show! Well, he's not exactly Paula Deen, is he? Jeez, lighten up Mr. Morberg...

Seriously, be more creepy...

Christmas Treats!

This week is completely dedicated to baking and making candy :)
Over the weekend we made "Lussekatter", they are sweet saffron buns, tradionally eaten for Lucia and Christmas.

 

And today, I decided to give Peppermint Bark a try! I had never heard of this wonderful treat until I went to America, but now I got mhy whole family hooked on it after bringing tins of it home every winter :)

Swedish Police and Swedish Criminals

I had plenty of experience with American police in LA, not because I was a bakery worker by day and druglord by night, but because we lived next to what was referred to as "the crack motel", a place frequently visited by the police.

In the beginning, it surprised me how often the police would pull their guns (not to mention tazing people for practically nothing), but I got used to seeing interviews where the police would say that they "had to shoot the suspect and unfortunately he died" and it always reminds me of an interview I saw with a Swedish police officer.

The situation was this:
A man had threatened several people in a public square and this officer was trying to talk to him, telling him to put down the baseball bat he was holding.

Reporter - So, I understand this was the first time you felt forced to fire your gun
Police - Well, the man was moving toward a group of children and he just would not listen to what I was saying, so in the end...*sigh*...I shot him in the toe.
Reporter - And then what did he do?
Police - He fell to the ground and started to cry.

No street cred there!
But before you think that the Swedish police couldn't hang in the US, check this out

Delicious shortcut

Cinnamon Buns!!!

Yesterday, me and my mom spent hours in the kitchen baking hundreds of cinnamon buns! I've really missed my mom so it was great having a lazy day at home, just talking and baking, and of course: Eating the result :)

Crushing the spices

They're starting to take shape...

First batch is ready!

Enough to last us through the winter, haha!

It's a Swedish thing

In the US, I was always concious of the fact that I had, shall we say, a "different" sense of humor. At times when I'd make certain comments there would be stunned faces and horrified gasps, but as my friends got used to it, they would simply shake their head and smile (I'd like to think it was a loving smile, but it could possibly also be a oh-christ-she-should-be-locked-up type of smile, but really, that's neither here nor there...)

So when I walked around town the other day and saw this sign,
I had to show you; It's a Swedish thing, not a Mim thing!

That light

Today I saw that winterlight for the first time since I arrived. It's a hazy, peachy light that I've never seen in LA and it makes the view almost look surreal.

View from my window right now

Swedish word of the day

Kalaspuffar!!!

Now, only the 'Lette people would get this one, so this is for you :)

Sweden's finest!

Swedish police got the moves!

We are not in LA anymore...

Smoothies, not syringes!

My kind of town

Yesterday I went for a stroll through Haga, one of the oldest part of the city, where most of the houses are from the early 1600's. It's so cozy just to walk around on the cobblestone roads and when looking up some of the empty streets, it is as if no time has passed.

Haga is also the place if you want to try the best cinnamon bun in the world!

Just don't try finishing one of those cinnamon buns on your own, the're the size of a dinner plate!

Meanwhile in Sweden

I believe this is what they call "Making the most of local resources"

Autumn sun and evening moon

Unlike Los Angeles where the sun sets rapidly and leave the evening pitch black, in Sweden, the sun takes it's time, painting the sky orange, pink, purple and finally deep blue. When you see the sun set at the horizon, turn around, and watch the huge yellow moon rise on the other side.

See you next fall!

I'm so used to arrive in Sweden in the middle of the butt cold winter, so to be here and still be able to enjoy the sun warming my face and watching the leaves change from golden to crimson feels amazing!

Starting out and starting over

As I'm leaving 6 years of eternal summer behind, I feel I've come to love the contrasts that rain, darkness and snow brings. I miss twirling through red and yellow leaves dancing in the wind, I miss running to take cover from a spring rainstorm and I find myself longing for the feeling of walking on newly fallen snow in the dark hours of the morning, when it is completely quiet with the exception of the crunching sound under your feet.

There is, of course, a lot more to Sweden than just seasons changing, and I will try to show you everything that I love, and hopefully convince some of you to come and visit! Or if nothing else, follow me on my journey to re-discover my homeland.

Welcome to my side of Sweden!