Peach Salsa

Yes, another peach recipe! Peaches are really coming into season, and they're easy to find. If you can't find good peaches, nectarines will work just as well. They should be ripe, but not overly so. You want some firmness - and juicyness is not really a necessity for this recipe. It's excellent with grilled meat, and goes fabulously with salty food. Add a bit of minced garlic for variation!

Peach Salsa

2 peaches
1/2 red onion
200 ml thick greek or turkish yogurt
2 tbsp mango chutney
salt, pepper

Chop the peaches coarsely. Dice the red onion very finely. Stir everything together, and season with salt and pepper.

Persikosalsa

Weekend Cat Blogging - Greek Kitties All Grown Up

I know I showed you about a million pictures of these kittens when they were smaller, but nothing since they moved to their new homes. Well, we just visited two of them today - Ida and Ikaros. Both are doing great in their new homes, and as I of course brought the camera.. I thought I'd show them to you. Also, I have some newish pictures sent of the other three. So, enjoy!


Ikaros, playing in the grass.


Ida, who spends most of her days in the garden.


Io, lounging in her bed.


Ismene with her new buddy, Melker.


And Ixion with his new buddy, Mao the bengal cat.

Round-up of Weekend Cat Blogging over at Eatstuff!

Gondolen

I should have posted these pics long ago. They're taken at Gondolen restaurant, where I had dinner with my sister and her friends for my sister's "hen party". She got married in June - it was absolutely lovely. The hen party was nice as well. The restaurant has an absolutely spectacular view! And the food was great! Gondolen is one of Stockholm's more famous restaurant, and it's well worth a visit. I suggest you bring someone else to pay though, as it's *quite* expensive.


Most of us had strawberry daiquiris...


...except Annika who went for a delicious-looking Mojito.


We all got a tiny cup of Gazpacho as an amuse-bouche


And then I ate lamb. Or more exactly: Fillet of lamb with truffel jus, artichoke and potato cake with cottage cheese. Yum.

Gondolen
Stadsgården 6
104 65 Stockholm
08-641 70 90

SHF #21 - Ice Ice Baby: Peach Ice Cream

Ah! It's been a while since I took part in a Sugar High Friday, so I'm glad to be able to join in this time! The host is Sarah at The Delicious Life, and her theme is Ice Ice Baby. Well, ice is certainly necessary this summer, because we're having heat record after heat record this year. It's incredibly hot. I'm glad that we have moved and now live in a house - it's lovely to be able to barbecue, and eat outside - but I also miss the thick, thick concrete walls that kept our apartment so cool.

But, when need to be cooled down, there are solutions. Taking a cold shower is one. Whipping up a batch of delicious peach ice cream - another. Ok, this recipe *does* involve turning on the oven. Yes. It does. But it does help the peaches to reach their higher potential - super peaches - so please, try it anyway.

Peach Ice Cream
From Nigella Lawson: Forever Summer

10 ripe peaches (mine were seriously over-ripe)
6 tbsp of vanilla-infused caster sugar (mix in the seeds of one vanilla pod, or add in a tablespoon of vanilla sugar, or.. just use regular)
the juice of 1 lime
300 ml single cream
4 egg yolks
300 ml double cream (whipping cream)

Start by roasting the peaches. This will dramatically intensify the flavor. Preheat the oven to 210°C. Halve the peaches, remove the stone, and place in a small oven-proof dish, cut side up. Sprinkle over half the sugar - 3 tbsp - and the juice of a lime. Bake for 20-30 minutes.



Take the peaches out of the oven and let cool a little so that you can slip them out of their skins. Place peaches - and any juice from the pan - in a food processor, and blitz. Chill the purée until completely cold. (Nigella suggests adding in 3 tbsp of crème de pêche, if you happen to have it. Go right ahead.)

Heat the single cream. In a small bowl, beat egg yolks with the remaining sugar, and pour over the warm cream while whisking. Transfer to a small saucepan, and heat carefully while whisking, until custard turns thick. It can take a while, so don't panic.

When thickened, cool the custard completely. Then mix with the peach purée. Whip the double cream into thick, and fold this into the mixture.

Freeze as you normally would ice cream - I use my very, very, very old ice cream maker. It works perfectly, every time. Serve either straight up, or with some lovely berries. Strawberry season is sadly nearly over here, but you could try it with raspberries, or maybe with more peaches. Anything goes!

Persikoglass

Foodie Gifts: Weird Spices

Our friends Linda and Anders visited us a few nights ago. They live in Gothenburg, and were in Stockholm for a short vacation. They own one of our little darling kittycats - actually one that has been presented here on the blog quite a bit: little Honey.

Anyway. They brought gifts! A catnip-filled veterinarian for the kitties to enjoy (Hamlet in particular liked him) and a collection of strange spices for me. Linda had actually walked into one of the best spice shops in Sweden, and asked the owner for his weirdest stuff. So, I know what some of this is, sure.. but not all. Good thing I have a blog, and can ask for help!

1. Pan Masala. (Close-up!) This is very pretty. But what the heck do I do with it? Another friend said that you don't eat this - you roll it up in leaves and use it like snuff. Huh. It does have tobacco in it so I guess that's a valid theory. In which case I'll mostly be admiring the pretty colors, I suppose. Any input? What do I use it for??

2. Hickory smoked salt. I know what to do with this! Yum!

3. Mexican Green Jalapeño. Surprisingly yellow in color, but I assume this is just some kind of ground up chili. I'll play around with it - it sounds lovely.

4. Go Cajun! Well, this is a perfect spice mix, and I think I'll start by using it as a dry rub for chicken or beef, to go on the barbecue. Should work well!

5. Berbere. Ethiopian Pepper? Huh. I've heard of it. What do I do with it - any special ideas?

6. Rouille. Oh, this is a French blend, perfect with fish. I think I'll try a fish soup with it soon!

7. Zahtar. Enlighten me, please - what do I do with this?

8. Sumac. Oh, I've heard of this too. I just don't know where to start - what should I try?

Cyberchef #4 - we have a winner!

Head over to the Swedish site to see who won! (In Swedish only - sorry!)

Banana Bread

Funny - I made this quite a while ago, but then forgot to post about it. Kevin just posted about a banana bread and reminded me that hey, I should too. This is a no frills banana bread - very tasty though. My aunt's dog Stumpan - remember her? - used to love it.

Anyway. Great bread, lousy picture. It keeps well in a jar for a few days, as it's very moist.

Banana Bread
from Thane Prince

3-4 mashed bananas
3 beaten eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
200 ml vegetable oil
140 g wholemeal flour
140 g plain flour
2 level tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
100 g light muscovado sugar
50 g chopped shelled pecans or walnuts

Preheat the oven to 160°C and lightly oil a loaf tin. Mix the bananas with eggs, vanilla extract and oil.

In another bowl, mix the flours with baking powder, salt and muscovado. Fold into the banana mixture, and add the nuts.

Pour into the prepared loaf tin and bake for 50-60 minutes. Allow to cool for at least 30 minutes before removing it from the tin.

Banankaka

Cyberkocken #4 - the round-up

Sorry - just Swedish!

The round-up for Cyberkocken #4 is now up at my Swedish site - check it out, and don't forget to vote for your favorite.

Errazuriz

Faithful readers know that I rarely write about wine. Not only do I not drink that much wine, I don't know much about it and thus have not so much to say. But there are exceptions. I recently found this beauty - Errazuriz, a Cabernet Sauvignon Rosé from Chile - and I knew I had to tell you about it. It's been raved about here in Sweden in the morning tv shows, so it can be pretty hard to find - but do make the effort. It's well worth it. I'm not a big fan of rosé, as are quite few - but this one is special. As you can see from the photo, it's a really dark rosé, and it's incredibly flavorful - it's young, and tastes of ripe berries. It's more like a light red wine, if that makes sense. Perfect for summer, and perfect for sipping outdoors. It's very reasonably priced at Systembolaget at a meager 69:- SEK; and if you can find it, I strongly suggest stocking a few bottles.

Housekeeping

I'm proud - I've updated my template quite a bit today. You'll find a lot of my new favorite blogs on the blogroll (although I always read in my rss-reader, so this is by no means a complete list), you'll find that all the recipes from June and July are now indexed in the drop-down menus and you'll also notice that my wishlist links are now working. (Well, maybe not so many of you will notice *that*.)

Actually, talking about wishlists - if you have a moment, check out the list of cookbooks I'm coveting in the right-side column. I'd love to hear your input - if any of these sucks, or is absolutely great: tell me! It's a long list, and I'd love to cut it down a bit.

Minestrone for Two

This is an excellent soup, and one that surprised me. I had marked it as something to try in the latest issue of Olive magazine, but I kept making up excuses for not actually making it. Vegetable soup really doesn’t sound so appealing – at least not when the alternatives are so plentiful. But, I had made up my mind, bought home the proper ingredients, and we needed a light meal. (To be able to stomach the awesome chocolate balls we had bought for later, if you must know.) So we finally made the soup – and wow. It was really good – a lot better than I had expected, and something I would definitely be happy to make again. The recipe in the magazine has a bit more in it – like celery and borlotti beans – but I prefer it without. Also, it just says to use water. I chickened out and added some powdered bouillon towards the end, and I’m glad I did because it was a bit bland without it.

Great Minestrone For Two

1 small zucchini
2 carrots
3 small new potatoes
50 g risoni (or other small pasta)
3 tbsp small green peas, fresh or frozen
1 small handful green beans
600-700 ml water or stock

Dice the carrots, potatoes and zucchini. Cut the green beans into smaller pieces. Bring the stock or the water to a boil, and boil the carrots, potatoes, zucchini and pasta for about ten minutes. Add the peas and the beans, and boil for about five more minutes. Season to taste, and serve straightaway with a dollop of pesto on top.

Minestrone

Foodie Gifts: Aussie Mac & Cheese

One of the best things about blogging is getting stuff. Oh, did I really say that? Well, it's true. You can imagine that it was quite a joyous day when I got this in the mail - four HUGE boxes of my fave guilty pleasure: Kraft Macaroni & Cheese. It was sent by a reader, Super Jamie of Australia (check out his recipe collection!) and I'm as grateful as a girl can be. Thank you, thank you!!

And all Swedes out there - last chance for this round of Cyberkocken! Don't miss it!

Weekend Cat Blogging - Glinda and my tea jars

Glinda is kind of in the background this week, not drawing much attention to herself. Instead, you can see my new tea jars. I thought this was a nifty idea - jars for loose tea that have a blackboard area so you can write whatever happens to be in them. I looked all over for jars like that, but couldn't find any. Finally, I bought blackboard paint and jars, and just made them myself. I'm rather happy with the result!

And I got some great teas in them! When I was in London, I dropped by Whittard and picked up some caffeine free fruit infusions. Not normally one to back away from caffeine, I love that these are so fruity and flavorful! I wanted to buy one of each, but after a stern look from Per I limited it to three - "Morning Reviver" with citrus fruits, a lovely cherry blend, and "Plum Pudding" which smells mostly of cinnamon, perfect for a late cup.

I guess I should show you a proper cat picture too. So here's Hamlet, eagerly waiting for someone - anyone - to play with him.



For more cat pictures, check out the round-up at Clare and Kiri at Eatstuff!

Pasta with Bacon and Snow Peas

We had this for dinner a few nights ago - and it was definitely a "wow" dish that I'll gladly make again. It's easy, fast and made with readily available ingredients - except for perhaps the dried funnel chanterelles. I was given a huge supply by a dear friend a couple of years ago. It's finally dwindling, but it's lasted me really well. Dried chanterelles last - apparently - for a very long time without losing their flavor. Just a tiny bit makes a big difference with this sauce - but if you can't find any, just omit them.

Pasta with Bacon and Snow Peas
Serves 2

Enough pasta for two - use your favorite, and boil in lightly salted water
70 g bacon
1 small yellow onion
1 garlic clove
250 ml cream - I use a low fat "cooking cream"
50 ml (about 1/4 cup) parmesan
50 ml (about 1/4 cup) cheddar cheese
small handful of snow peas
olive oil
dried chili flakes
1 tsp dried funnel chanterelles
salt

Dice the bacon and onion, mince the garlic, and grate the cheeses. Slice the snow peas lenghtwise.

Boil the pasta. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a saucepan, and fry onion and garlic for a minute. Add the bacon and fry until it gets crispy - but without burning the onion, be careful. Add a bit of dried chili flakes, and stir well. When the pasta is nearly finished, add the cream to the pan and let it boil for a few minutes. Add the cheese, crumble in the dried funnel chanterelles and add the snow peas. Add the pasta and perhaps a spoonful of pasta water if you feel that the sauce could use it. Season with salt - I have a mixture of sea salt and dried mushrooms that was just perfect for this dish.

Pasta med bacon och sockerärter

Cyber Chef #4 - it's on!

For all you Swedes out there, head over here to read the details of this month's Cyber Chef! The deadline is Monday and the four chosen ingredients are shrimp, broccoli, sundried tomatoes and any sort of cheese.

Järla Sjökrog

I don't get around to writing about restaurants very often - partly because we don't eat out that much, partly because I rarely remember to take pictures when I do eat out, and partly because I nearly forget to post about it. So this is really long overdue. It's about Järla Sjökrog, a small place located in Nacka, about ten minutes from Stockholm city. It's well worth a visit, especially in the summer. It's located right at the waterfront, and has a gorgeous view of Järlasjön.

The food is good - not spectacular, but then again, not awfully expensive either so well worth its price. They make a great Caesar Salad that I've had for lunch a few times. (And not remembered to photograph.)



This is a starter with grilled halloumi on asparagus, with some kind of basil or parsley oil - I can't remember exactly.



And this is a rather bland piece of fish in a tasty white wine sauce, and with a great garnish of crunchy snow peas.

Järla Sjökrog
08-553 606 50
Järlasjöbrinken 8
13160 Nacka

Phoebe’s Fabulous Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies

Do you like the TV-show Friends? I know I do. I followed it religiously when I was at university – Friends was the ultimate time to gather in someone’s living room, stock up on baked goodies and munch away while enjoying the comedy. I still like the show a lot. And several years ago, I got a cookbook called Cooking with Friends by Amy Lyles Wilson. It’s a pretty good book – if you’re a Friends fan. It combines quotes and pictures with recipes of things similar to what they eat on the show. And this recipe is one of my favorites. I’ve made it dozens of times, and everyone loves the result. Also, it’s one of the more memorable quotes.

"Phoebe: Okay. We haven’t known each other for that long a time. And there are three things you should know about me. One, my friends are the most important thing in my live. Two, I never lie. And three, I make the best oatmeal-raisin cookies in the world.

Rachel: Okay. Thanks, Pheebs. Why haven’t I tasted these before?

Phoebe: Well, I don’t make them a lot. Because I don’t think it’s fair to the other cookies."

Phoebe’s Fabulous Oatmeal-Raisin Cookies
From Cooking with Friends by Amy Lyles Wilson

150 g unsalted butter
1,9 dl (¾ cup) brown sugar
1,6 dl (2/3 cup) sugar
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
5 dl (2 cups) rolled oats
3,1 dl (1 ¼ cups) flour
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt (omit if using salted butter)
3,75 dl (1 ½ cups) raisins

Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F). Cream the butter and sugars with an electric mixer until pale and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla. Stir together oats, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda, and add this to the batter, which will be very thick. Add the raisins. Drop the dough in heaped tablespoons on lined baking sheets, and leave plenty of room in between as they can spread a little. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown.

Phoebe's kakor

Recent snack findings

Both of these pictures are perfectly dreadful, I know! I'm sorry! However, what's in them is curiously addictive, in both cases. The first one shows roasted and salted soy beans that I bought on my visit to Saltå Kvarn. Completely yummy! I liked them much better than peanuts - and I'm happy to know that they are a lot healthier. They weigh much less, and at least I couldn't eat very many. (Sadly, not a problem with most snacks for me.)

The other photo is of chocolate-covered sunflower seeds. Sounds strange? I know. And they look almost dark green. Curiously, these are named "Yogurt Seeds" and are sold by the store Granit. There is no yogurt in them, which is what is so curious. They really should be called chocolate seeds. Well, no matter what the name - they taste really good. And these are also quite satisfying - I eat just a few at a time, and that seems to sate my cravings for the moment.

Chicken Skewers with Sage and Parma Ham

This made for a very quick and delicious meal last night. These skewers just need a few minutes on a hot barbecue (we used our Weber gas barbecue, which we're finally learning to operate properly) and turn out wonderfully succulent and flavorful - without any additional seasoning, but feel free to add whatever you'd like. We served it with a version of risotto milanese, with the addition of two large carrots grated in and added at the same time as the rice. It was really delicious and went very well with the other flavors, so do try that.

Chicken Skewers with Sage and Parma Ham
Serves 4

700 gram chicken tenders or thigh fillets of chicken
10 slices of parma ham, serrano, prosciutto or other cured or lightly smoked ham
sage, 20 leaves

Divide the ham slices in two, to make a total of twenty. Count your chicken pieces, and cut so that you have 20 similarly sized pieces. (My cats loved this particular step, I'll tell you.) Put a sage leaf on each chicken piece, and roll up in a slice of ham. Put on a skewer. Repeat. We fitted three or four packets on each skewer.

Grill on a hot barbecue (or in the oven, if you're so inclined) until the chicken is cooked through, and the ham crispy.

Kycklingspett med parma och salvia

Don't forget - almost time for Swedish Cyberkocken!

This one is for all you Swedes out there. This upcoming weekend, it's time for another round of the Swedish version of Paper Chef - Cyberkocken. It'll be hosted by yours truly, and I've written about it on my Swedish blog, here. Have a look - and don't forget to check back on Friday for the final ingredients!

Weekend Cat Blogging #58 - stay!

Mommy, I don't want you to go away again. Or if you do, I'm planning on joining you.

Glinda has a point. It's good to be home again. Travel is lovely, but I happen to really love our new house and it feels wonderful to live in it.

Let me show you our lucky house-trolls - my sister Ehva made them.



And hey, while I'm at it, here's a very cute cat magnet I got from a friend. It lives on our new fridge - I *have* to tell you all about that soon, too. In fact, I have so incredibly much to talk about, I really need to get writing. Lets hope it rains some day this week, so I'll get to it!



Weekend Cat Blogging is hosted - I think! - by Clare at Eatstuff. Haven't heard from her in a bit though, I hope she and her lovely Kiri are ok!

Mazarin squares

It's been ages since I shared a recipe. This one is for some really tasty, quick mazarin squares. A "mazarin" is a baked goodie named after Jules Mazarin - but as far as I know, that's it for the relation. It's somewhat similar to the English Bakewell tart (for a huge round-up of bakewell recipes, look here!) and generally has a shortbread shell, and a marzipan filling, and a glaze on top. Sometimes it has a layer of raspberry jam on top as well, and is then named "catalan". There are many versions - every café has them, and they are very popular. I haven't tried making them myself, although I'm sure it's not very difficult. Instead, I opted for this version which is even easier - it does away with the shell entirely, and is essentially a soft, moist almond cake with a sugar glaze. These will keep well in the fridge for a couple of days, without going dry.

Be aware that this recipe makes a lot. If you halve it, you have to figure out the proper size dish to use. Next time, I think I'll simply try halving it, and using a regular 24 cm springform pan - I *think* that should work quite well.

The recipe comes from the lovely book Kyrkkaffe, just like this recipe.

Mazarin squares
You need a baking dish 30 by 40 cm (roughly 11 by 15 inches).

100 g almonds, blanched and peeled
400 g butter
300 ml milk
4 egg
600 ml (2.5 cups) sugar
700 ml (2.9 cups) flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
¼ tsp bitter almond extract

Glaze:
300 g powdered sugar
4 tbsp water or freshly squeezed orange juice

Butter and line the dish with breadcrumbs or flour, or use a teflon sheet to line it, which is my preferred method. Preheat oven to 175°C,

Run the almonds through an almond mill, or if you don't have one, process very finely in a food processor. (Add a tablespoon of powdered sugar to make it even finer.)

Melt the butter and add the milk. Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy, and add the butter-milk mixture.

Mix flour with baking powder and vanilla sugar, and stir into the batter. Add the almonds and the bitter almond extract.

Pour the batter into the baking dish, and bake for about 30 minutes. Keep a watch on it - you don't want it to turn too dark, so you might need to cover it with foil or lower it a bit after about 20 minutes, depending on your oven.

Let the cake cool completely. Mix the glaze, simply by stirring together the sugar with water or orange juice. It should be thick but spreadable, not runny.

Glaze the cake - either completely, and cut the squares afterward when the glaze has set, or cut the squares beforehand and put a big dot of glaze onto each piece of cake, like I did.



Mazarinrutor

Fika at Saltå Kvarn

Saltå kvarn is a lovely place to visit. They make - and sell - loads of ecologically farmed products, including flours and grains, beans, breads, dried fruit and much more. They also have a little café, which is absolutely wonderful. I was there with my good friend Anna and her two daughters a while ago, and we sat by the small stream and had lunch, and later, one of Saltå's famous vanilla buns. Yum!



Saltå is located in Järna, about half an hour from Stockholm city.

Lunch at Solstugan

Last week, we had lunch with Henrik, who is also a food blogger. (From Amsterdam, you can find his blog Mums here.)

We went to Solstugan, a lovely little place up on the cliffs over Fredhäll in central Stockholm. The above picture shows the view from where we were sitting. Henrik kindly gave me some more camera advice and let me try on his lenses - we both have a Nikon D70 - and it was great to get to meet him.



The food was good too - a bit on the pricey side, but very tasty. I had a burger with honey-gratinated chèvre cheese, and Per had a regular burger. Henrik went for the Caesar Salad - didn't snap a picture, but it looked really tasty too.



Solstugan
Snoilskyvägen 37
112 54 Stockholm

Lemonade!

I've always loved lemonade. However, it's not a very common drink in Sweden - you can't buy it in the stores (at least not the usual ones) so I mostly got hooked on it (like with so many other things, sigh) when I've been abroad. And for some reason, I never tried making my own. Until I saw this perfect little recipe over at Tülin's blog! It looked so simple... and guess what - it was simple. And absolutely delicious. A keeper!

I had a couple of limes that needed using up, so I threw them in - it worked very well. You can use any quantity of lemons, just add about 100 g of sugar for each lemon. I added about 50 g each for the limes, they were large and quite tart. Also, Tülin specifies to use thin-skinned lemons - but as I couldn't find any, I worked with what was in the store. And that seemed ok, too.

Lemonade

4 lemons
2 limes
500 g sugar

Clean the fruits very well. Cut them into small dice - don't peel them first, just cut them into dice. Place in a big bowl, and add the sugar. Stir well. Cover with a cloth, and leave at room temperature over night. Next day, all the juices will be released, and you have concentrated lemonade. Pass through a sieve, squeezing on the citrus bits to release all their liquid, and then filter through a coffee filter to make sure it's all clear liquid. Store in the fridge, and when you want to drink, simply mix a spoonful with as much water (regular or carbonated) as you want.

Some copycat stuff

In a few minutes, I'm off to Dalarna (Dalecarlia!), a gorgeous part of Sweden that I've blogged about several times before. Me and my mom are planning to spend the week golfing, sleeping, reading and eating. We'll see about the golf - it's raining like crazy right now, for the first time in weeks. Oh well!



Anyway. I should tell you about some of the things I've tried from other bloggers lately, so you can go explore some of their excellent food! First out, my very first attempt at cooking Indian. It went very well, thanks to Deb at In My Kitchen.



Then, try a grape-avocado salsa from Kate at Accidental Hedonist. Perfect for summer - I loved it with a grilled hamburger.



For something sweet, how about some cookies? I finally got around to making Clivia's Cousins - great little icebox cookies that you can prepare in advance and just bake off.



And finally, a deeper, darker cookie, with chocolate - Brownie Points posted about these chocolate merengue cookies, and I couldn't resist it. (Nor should I have - they were great.)

I'm back!

Did you miss me? Yeah? No? Okay. Anyway.

I've been in London since Thursday. We had a wonderful trip! London was packed with other tourists, but the weather was pleasantly somewhat cool (at least cooler than Stockholm, phew) and we stayed in a decent little hotel near Paddington. Tourist highlights included St Paul's, Westminster, The Tower of London, Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, HMS Belfast (not so much of a highlight for me, it scared me!), Sherlock Holmes Museum, Soho, and London Zoo. (Which we actually liked well enough, not worse than any other zoo we've been to.)

Food highlights? Why, three rounds of Starbucks of course. And dinner at Khan's - we loved the food - and Wagamama.(We adored that, so we bought the cookbook. Anyone tried replicating their food at home? It looks easy enough.)

I'm going away for a few more days, to Dalarna with my mom for some golf, but I'll post pictures when I come home. I'll try to set up a couple of posts that Per can just make magically appear here when I'm gone, so you won't have to miss me too much ;)

Raspberry Slush

Allright, I'm off to London! I'm about to leave for the airport, but I have to leave you with a refreshing drink: the Raspberry Slush. I made this with my new toy, the "Slush Ice" by OBH Nordica. It shaves ice, basically. So this drink, which is non-alcoholic by the way, is simple a mix of shaved ice, a splash of Rose's Lime, and about a tablespoon of raspberry puree drink mix (by Finest Call, great stuff.) and a little bit of sparkling water on top. Aaah!

And yes, I'm planning on slurping as many frappuccinos as I can get my hands on.

Frozen Lemon Cheesecake

One of my favorite recipes, ever. My mom made this a lot when I was little. I've posted about a variation on this before - the Frozen Holiday Cheesecake. This is really versatile, you can flavor it with pretty much anything, and you can't go wrong. Per's little sister likes to put chunks of milk chocolate in hers - that's really tasty too.

Frozen Lemon Cheesecake

200 gram cream cheese
3 eggs, separated into yolks and whites
200 ml sugar
300 ml heavy cream
1 tbsp vanilla sugar
finely grated peel of one big lemon

150 g digestive biscuits
50 g butter, melted

Use a springform pan. Blitz the digestive biscuits in a food processor. Add in the melted butter. Press this firmly into the base of your pan.

Cream the cheese, egg yolks and the sugar with the lemon peel. Beat the cream until it forms stiff peaks. Carefully blend with the cheese cream. Beat the egg whites until stiff, and fold those in too. Pour carefully on top of the crust in the pan. Put in the freezer for at least six hours or overnight. Take out about twenty minutes before you want to eat. This keeps well in the freezer.

Frusen cheesecake med citron

Happy 4th of July!

My cheesecake, going more for pools of sauce than anything else

Being big America-fans, we obviously like to celebrate 4th of July. This year, we invited our fellow US-loving friends Lena and Nico for a barbecue. We had burgers with cole slaw, guacamole and tortilla chips, a grape-avocado salsa, fried potatoes and home made onion rings. Yum!


Just the guests missing

And dessert was a frozen lemon cheesecake with blueberry and strawberry sauces. The sauces were incredibly delicious - and the simplest thing ever. You need a special kind of white syrup available in Sweden - it's basically liquid sugar - and an immersion blender. Just take 100 ml or so of syrup, add berries and blitz. Add more berries, or syrup, to taste. It's that simple. And it's that good. I could eat the strawberry sauce all day long. (And thankfully, I made extra.

Everyone got to do their own plating.


Lena went for one stripe, then a blob.


Nico did pretty stripes, but didn't try for stars.


And Per kind of made stars, and one stripe. A big one.