Sea Food Heaven

Hi everyone!

Earlier this week I got a text from a friend saying she wants to take me out to dinner! (I know I'm lucky) of course I said yes. She said she wanted to take me to a fish and sea food restaurant. At this point I'm thinking: Yes, Yes, Yes PLEASE :)

So this Thursday we went to Fish Works. I actually have to post a link to their website because I really want you to go here, whenever you are in London and if you like sea food! It is so worth a visit, trust me! http://www.fishworks.co.uk/

As soon as you walk in the smell of fresh fish hits you(coming from Gothenburg, Sweden it feels like home!) The lights are dimmed down and the wooden tables with white cloths feel very intimate even though you sit next to other people. The staff has humour and they are attentive and friendly.

I have to say that my dad is a pesceterian (fish-terian), which means he only eats fish as meat. This means that I ALWAYS eat fish and sea food every day when I am home! (I know, how lucky am I?! :) ) Because of this I have to say I am a bit picky when it comes to fish and so far I havent found any good fish in England to be honest. Although I know that the restaurants get the best fish, I have to admit I was a tiny bit hesitant and I doubted if it would be good. Oh boy, was I WRONG!

For starters I had scallops in lots of garlic and butter. They were cooked perfectly so they melted in my mouth. The freshness of the fish and the perfectly garlicy butter was just AMAZING! I was actually lost for words! Don't think I said much during the starter really. except for Mmmm :) Lets just say...I was just really enjoying my food! LOL

For the main course we order a platter of different fish shell fish: Fillet of bass, prawns, squid, scallops, fillet of bream, oysters, mussels, clams, crevettes,
cracked crab. Served with hollandaise, garlic butter, mayonaise and lemon. It was AMAZING!!!

When my parents are coming to visit in two weeks I am defo taking them there! :)

xx

Snuggle Sunday

Hi, whoever reads my blog! :)

So this week I have only worked at one of my jobs as it is half term and the family I'm working with is in India! So its been a very slow and quite boring week, although fun when I'm actually at work! And I love that I really feel the difference when I am working 12 hour days and that I actually miss it when I do nothing..is this sad?? Hm...well for me I love to have lots to do and I easily get restless when I do nothing...which, to be honest, has been a little too much of this summer...

BUT....

Today is a Sunday - which is a day to rest on, right?? I woke up with a sore throat so I didn't go out and run as I did yesterday, although this was my plan! I felt a bit bad to not go out for a run so I thought I have to do SOMETHING productive! And baking was what I came up with! Quite the opposite though-a jog and baking ;). Haha...and it only took like 30 min to do the oat meal cookies...nevertheless is was something! And my flat mates enjoyed my labor of love! :)

I then watched the film Julie and Julia which is a lovely story about cooking and food and blogging and it's very inspirational. I snuggled up in the sofa with a nice warm cup of tea and a cookie and I warmed my feet under a blanket. Alex came a joined me too which was nice! The cookies were really good...Alex asked me if they were one of these healthy oat meal cookies...the answer is no. But they are good! Hope you all have had a Snuggle Sunday too and enjoyed the weekend!

Now starts a new week and autumn is upon us! I love, love, love autumn! The autumn is a reason to do lots of cosy stuff; walk in a park where leaves with all the colors from yellow, orange and red paint the pavements and where the warmth from the sun heats your back while the cold wind bites your cheeks. ITs just so refreshing and it makes me so happy!

xx

Red Velvet Cupcake

Hey!

You know, red velvet cake? I do...but I have always heard of it but never actually eaten anything red velvet.

I can now proudly say that I have now tasted this classic American delightful cupcake...in London at Brick Lane Market. That market was very disappointing in the beginning as the market we saw was second hand shoes and clothes put on the streets. However, the market picked itself up when we walked further down. Lots of second hand cool furniture and radios, telephones etc...very retro I thought. Then we walked down even further and lots of music was blasting out from somewhere and it was a happy vibe! Then we entered the food market which I must say was good but not as good as in Camden...We had falafel (Yummie!)and then I just couldnt resist the cupcake stand when I saw a red velvet one....

The thing is that I dont really like cupcakes..they look pretty and like a work of art but I dont particularly enjoy eating them...but I just had to try it as I always wanted to try a red velvet cake and I thought, I would never really get a chance to eat one as I wont actively search for one....so I bought one. It was SOOO GOOD!! This is a cupcake I have always wanted to make and now that I havve tasted it I will attempt to bake one myself one day! Ill keep you posted!

xx

My sisters wedding cakes!!

Hey,

So I love to bake, one day I really want to learn how to bake professionally - like techniques and stuff...now I just do it for fun.

My sister asked me to bake the cakes for the day-after-party. I ended up baking 10 cakes or something so there were a lot of guests!

I made the classic (Swedish) Princess cake and a almond paste based cake which I atually didnt like that much, however I am writing this blog post to show you my decorations which I thought was so much fun to do! Very stressful because it had to be done that same day so I didnt have much time but this is the results! Hope you like!

xx

One step towards my dream

Hey, long time no see! Ive been too busy to be doing what I love - blogging. So finally, Im ill in bed so I have time ;)

A few posts ago I talked about my dream kitchen supplies and last weekend I bought the first part of my dream kitchen!......

A Le Creuset tea pot!! :) Im so happy, I drink tea from it almost every day! In fact, Im using it right now! :) Its amazing!!!! Love, love, love it!!

The only ting is I am a bit worrid that I will break it beacuse since we have moved in to this new flat in London with a kitchen floor being stone plates I notice how much I drop things on the floor!!! SO fingers crossed I wont drop my presious tea pot! Im being very careful but...håll tummarna! :)

Have a great weekend everyone!!
xx

Scones

Living in England I need to honor their traditions..right? So this is why I baked some scones a few weeks ago....not only because it's a tradition but because they are so good!

When I was little I remember mum baking them...isn't everything better when your mum makes it?! Well, my flat mates has to settle with me doing it :)

One of my flat mates had a Swedish friend over so I thought what better to do some British baking!

Scones!
Oven 250 C
10-15 min

7.5 dl plain flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
125 g butter (room temp.)
1 egg
2 dl milk

Mix the dry ingredients first. Dice the room tempered butter and mix that in with the dry ingredients. Batter the egg together with the milk and mix together with the butter and dry ingredients.

The dough will be sticky, and it's supposed to be so don't worry. Divide the dough on a oven tray with spoons.

Put them in the heated oven for about 10 min. Usually they don't need more than that but keep an eye on them.

Serve them with whipped cream and jam/ butter and cheese or with the traditional clotted cream (whisk the cream very well, almost to butter)

Sushi!

I love sushi! I really do!

I tried something new last time I had sushi. It was yummie!

Its sashimi - not just the salmon one but also tuna. However the one thing I loved was the Coquilles. St Jacques or scallops sashimi!

I have been to Miyajima Japanese restaurant in Lavender Hill, Battersea, Clapham Junction, London.

Its very good food and the staff is kind.

Go there :)

Crete!

I was lucky enough to be albe to make it to Crete with my friend Anna! She is the most persuasive person I know, in a good way. She loves to travel just like me and she sold me this trip so well I couldnt resist! And Im happy I didnt!

One thing when I travel is that I love walking in different food stores to see what they actually sell and not only to tourists.

I found this crip taste which I thought was really cool. I have never seen this before, but then again I had never been to Crete.

I love how countries have a global product and then make it fit the end users in the particular countries! It such an amazing idea really, and it makes it a lot more interesting to travel and experience new foods!

The crips had oregano taste on them. And if you think about it, its not that strange, its just not what Im used to on crips. In sweden its plain salt or soure cream and onion, in England its salt and vinegar! That's something we dont really have in Sweden, although I have actually seen it resently but im ignoring it...

Birhtday cake!

My last birthday I got a spatula especially used for cakes. This was one of the best presents, so thank you to my sister!

Because I kept it in Sweden for a year and I live in England I thought it was about time for me to use it.

What I always do for a birthday cake to anyone is the Swedish princess cake (you can find them in IKEA).

This year I wanted to use the spatula more so I thought about doing a classic strawberry cake.

The first layer always has jam - we didnt have jam but what I did have was lots of strawberries. I mixed some of the strawberries with a fork parting them and put that in the first layer. The second layer is a custard layer where I usually put more than the recepie says because its so good! Then the top layer has whipped cream. To make the cream a little more sweet and not so buttery I usually have powder sugar/ icing sugar, just a tablespoon for 5 dl cream.

The spatula makes it so easy to keep the cream even and pretty, so this is a hit with me at least! I LOVE it!

Im pretty happy with the result for the first time using this spatula, what do you think?

Birthday!

In my family when its someones birthday that person can chose whatever they want for dinner. So in June it was my turn to chose my dinner.

I dont know why but I love duck with potatoes and port wine sauce and so this is what I requested for dinner. It was only my mum, my brother and I at home when we celebrated my birthday and so we cooked the meal togehter. We like to do that in my family.

So here is the result!

The duck needs to be broiled and then put in the oven. It should be pink in the middle and then you can enjoy it with the roasted potatoes and the sauce which is rich and tasty!

I love it! It's my favorite thing - dinner! Food can be so good for some reason, it really is an art!

Childhood memory

99p Ice cream is such a childhood memory for me. When my family and I lived just outside London we always made trips to Richmond park on the weekends and I remember eating 99p ice cream with a flake.

The other day I went to the common in Southampton with some friends and we had some ice cream. Of course I got the 99p ice cream! :) YUM!

My dream

I don't know about you but my dream is to have a big beautiful kitchen (have a few ideas of the styles) and in that kitchen I want all kitchen supplies you can think of. I want to have access to a crepe pan even if I only do it once every year! I want to have everything accessible to me when I need it, because some times I just get an idea in my head of what I want to do and I cant because I don't have the supplies needed.

I do realise that it will take me years to get all that I need (read want) but I can always dream, can't I?

So here are some pictures of my dream kitchen supplies. (I'm sure more will come)
Le Creuset Frying Pan

Le Creuset Crepe Pan

Le Creuset Grill Pan

Le Creuset Wok Pan

Le Creuset Oval Casserole

Le Creuset Casserole

KitchenAid Mixer

What do you think? These are the big stuff I want, then there is loads of small kitchen supplies such as cheese grater, olive pitter and stuff like that. One of my favorite things to do is to window shop in kitchen stores and find the most original supply and guess what it is!

xx

Swedish Cinnamon Buns

Every year when I get summer feelings,or when it rains on a summer day I feel like baking Swedish cinnamon buns!

This was a day where my friend and I wanted to bake some of these buns and so we did (she did mostly as I had a dissertation crisis).

The recepie: OVEN: 200ºC for 8-10 minutes
The dough:
50 g yeast
125 g butter
5 dl milk
½ tsp salt
2-3 tsp cardemom
1 dl white sugar
Ca 14–15 dl)plain flour

The filling: (to your liking)
Sugar
Butter
Cinnamon
Raisins

Topping:
Battered egg

Baking process:
Crumble the yeast in a bowl. Melt the butter on the stove and add the milk. Heat up to 37°C. Note: if you use dry yeast the milk and butter should be 47°C. Add the milk and butter to the yeast and stir until dissolved.

In the mix, add the salt, sugar and cardamon and stir. Add the flour a little at a time so it dissolves properly. Easiest to use a whisk in the beginning and a spatula when most of the flour is added to the mix. You will know its done when the dough rises and don't stick to your finger when poking it. It should not stick to the bowl however, be careful its not too dry. Let the dough rise under a clean kitchen towel for 30 minutes.

Now its time to do the filling. It is important that the butter is soft so keep it out of the fridge for a while before using it. Add sugar and cinnamon to the butter. 1 part sugar to ½ part cinnamon or to your liking. Mix it easiest with a fork.

With sprinkled flour on the kitchen top knead the dough for about 1 minute. Divide the dough into 2 pieces and roll out one at a time. Make sure the dough doesn't stick to the kitchen top.

The secret to do really good buns is to use lots of butter, cinnamon and sugar in the filling.

Now, generously spread the filling with a butter knife (a non-sharp knife) on the rolled out dough and sprinkle some raisins. Then roll it together to a roll and cut (now, with a sharp knife) into 1 cm thick pieces. Put on a tray with baking paper and let rise for 30 minutes under a clean kitchen towel.

Brush the battered egg on the buns and put in the middle of the oven for 8-10 minutes. Keep an eye on them so they don't burn as every oven is different.

Served best 5 minutes after they are out of the oven with a glass of milk!

ENJOY!

Thank you all for reading my blog!

I really hope you enjoy it.

I'd love to have conversations with you so please comment your thoughts, ideas or just anything you want to share about cooking, food or drink!

I will update my blog really soon!

xx

Cordon Bleu Crème Champignons

Over easter I was visiting my sister and her fiance in Luxembourg. My whole family was there as well as another family which was really fun!

We went out for dinner one night to Porta Nova (Go there if you ever in lux). Its an Italian/ French restaurant and the portions are huge!

I had the best food! I had Cordon Bleu Crème Champignons. Basically, its minute steak beaten so its really thin. On half the minute steak put Emmentaler cheese (as much or little as you like) and a slice of good ham. Then you fold the other half over that. Dubble batter (egg, flour with salt and pepper and lastly bread crumbs) and then you fry it in a pan with butter on top medium heat for about 7 minutes on each side.

This is how good it was :)

I know it might sound difficult to do but it is amazing and this is what it looks like!

Voila!

Swedish Whipped Cream and Strawberry cake

In Sweden we have a cake with sponge cake (three layers) and whipped cream on top with strawberries. Ive said it before, but swedes go crazy for strawberries during the summer! We eat them as often as we can every summer!

The cake my sister did for her fiance's birthday was layered with raspberry jam, vanilla custard and on top its whipped cream topped with strawberries.

Voila!

Rose wine

I love rose wine and the best rose's according to me are Mulderbosh and Echo falls

Rose wine with berries are the best. If you have frozen berries its amazing as well. It keeps the rose wine perfectly cold and it looks good. A great tip for the summer parties outside!

Enjoy the summer!

Dinner with Josie

My oldest best friend was here in Soton to visit me! We had so much fun! It is always really good and fun to see her again. I really miss her and all my friends in Sweden, as I dont see them that often.

Josephine <3 We had great days here, anyway and one night we dressed up and made ourselves pretty and then went out to dinner. We went to an Italian restaurant here in Soton. We started off with a bottle of white wine and some olives in garlic and herbes. So good! Then I ordered Pasta with sea food and a delicious sauce! It was amazing, usually I think that pasta dishes you get in restaurants are just as good as home (and going out to dinner, for me, is about luxury and something exceptional that you dont cook at home)so Im happy it was good!

For dessert I had a cheese cake which was amazing with raspberry coulis YUM!

I really need to do a cheese cake! Ill keep you updated!
xx

Oreo chocolate chip cookies

Ok these cookies are something else! I saw this recepie on Facebook (thanks Holly) and had to make them. I had been inside all day and thought: I might as well go out to get som air so why not go shopping lots of sugar, butter and oreo's.

So baking these are easy really. Its a typical American recepie - everything dubble!

The cookies are classic dubble chocolate chip cookies but the difference is that you have one scoop of cookie dough and then an oreo on top. Over the oreo put another scoop of the cookie dough and let them bake in the oven!

They are extremly big and it is hard to even eat one! But just a few bites is worth the baking! :)

Oreo Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies
Makes 24 gigantic cookies
Prep: 25 minutes
Cook: 13 minutes

Ingredients
• 1 cup (2 sticks) softened butter
• 3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips
• 1 package Double Stuff Oreo cookies

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large bowl, cream butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar together with a mixer until well combined. Beat in eggs and vanilla.

In medium bowl mix the flour, salt, and baking soda. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with chocolate chips until just combined.

With a cookie scoop, form balls with the dough.

Place one ball on top of an Oreo cookie, and another ball on the bottom. Seal edges together by pressing and cupping in hand until Oreo cookie is fully enclosed with dough.

Place onto parchment or silpat lined baking sheets and bake cookies for approximately 13 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool for 5 minutes before transferring to cooling rack.
Recepie from Ned Hardy's Blog

This is the outcome!

ENJOY!

xx

Eton Mess

I dont know about England but in Sweden Eton Mess is something the kids eat on a birthday party and lots of it!

In my house we felt like trying it again because its so good!
In an Eton Mess there should be vanilla ice cream, marange, sliced banana, whipped cream, some sort of smarties or other chocolate sweets, marshmellows and on top of all this some chocolate sauce!

But we ended up feeling sick to the point where we couldnt even look at the remainings on the plates!

But it truely is a great dessert but take less that you want and think you can eat is my tip!

Saturday Luxury Breakfast!

So one of my favorite things are breakfasts. I love going to sleep thinking about my breakfast for the next morning and when I wake up I just cant wait to devoir my breakfast!

I love having long breakfast with everything you can imagine! So today I am having one of those lovely relaxing luxuary breakfasts. I had some tea, apple juice, a bagel with cream cheese and some red peppers on top and yoghurt with some fruit. YUM!

Its a wonderful day today also and I feel like a long walk in the common and a great lunch and then a wonderful dinner. Oh yea, study is something I need to fit in as well.

Have a great spring Saturday!
R

Pineapple and Blueberry

I have just realised that pineapple and blueberries are the best combo!

I ate this the other day and I thought about what I could do and I came up with making a cheese cake! with pinapple in the cream cheese batter and blueberries places on top.

Ill let you know when I have made it! :)

Juicy Fruit!

Hey everyone!

I've been to Amsterdam in Holland with eight other girls! It was great! We had som much fun and I loved getting to know new people. There was 4 I didnt know before the trip so that was fun!

We did, however not eat that healthy unfortunatly. There were pancakes, McDonalds, chips, beer and much more. So I came home really tired and beat after travelling and walking around all weekend so I went to Tesco where they had an offer I just couldnt resist. (Youre welcome Tesco for free advertising) I got two cases of fruit (berries) for only £3 so I bought a case of blueberries, strawberries and two cases of blackberries. I also bought a pineapple at ASDA so after dinner I made som fruit sallad. Just a simple one with all of there fruits.

Blueberries (Blåbär) have a lot of nutrients in them such as antioxidents which boosts the immunesystem. It is also believed that blueberries can help with your memory.

Blackberries (Björnbär) are good for you because one blackberry containes more anti oxidents than strawberries and raspberries. Blackberries has lots of Vitamin C and E so enjoy!

Strawberries (Jordgubbar) are somewhat a great tradition in Sweden. We love strawberries when its summer. We use fresh berries as decorations on cakes a lot over the summer. On avarage a Swedish person eats 3-4 tons of strawberries every year! Strawberries has a lot of fibre which is good for your tummy!

Pinapple (Ananas) is a sweet fruit which I think is very exotic! It has lots of vitamin C and also something called enzyme Bromelin which is very good at breaking down protein which helpes the digestion, so eat pinapple after as dessert!


This is the yummie outcome :)

You have dinner reservations at 15 Kings House!

So, I've been watching Come Dine With Me both the Swedish and the Englishh series, Master Chef and other cooking shows.

I would love to be on Come Dine With Me..but I have to be clear! Not the English one because its just drama, drama and even more drama. The swedish one its more about the food and how you cook the food etc. Which is what I am interesting in more than the actual dynamic between the people in the show.

So anyway, after getting lots of inspiration from the different shows I decided it would be nice if I treated my flat mates to a dinner at our place.

We had a wonderful time, just chatting and eating, watching Due Date and after the film we just sat in the dark and talked about our selves, our experiences and about just anything from families to what we want to do with our life. (Btw, thats a major talking subject in the house atm as we have no clue where our lives are going)

The menu:

~ Nuit Noir ~
Olivetapenad med crustini

Olive Tapenad with crustini

~ Tapis Rouge ~
Halstrad serloin (as you like it) toppad med hemlagat kryddsmör och/ eller aioli med rosenrostade grönsaker

Serloin (as you like it) topped with home made herb butter and home made aioli. Along with this golden roasted vegetables are served

~ Un Ciel aux baies ~
Kladdkaka a la Rebecca with Mousse aux chocolat tillsammans med söta hallon och lime

Chocolate mousse on top of a chocolate fudge cake a la Rebecca topped with sweet raspberries and lime