I have moved

You can mostly find me here these days instead. I'll do cross-posting for a while longer though.

Monday, December 13, 2010

St Lucy's Day

Today it's Lucia-day and all over Sweden parents are choking back tears as their little ones sing and celebrate Lucia.

We're invited to my littlelest one's daycare at 3:30 pm for an outdoor celebration.

They combine the celebrations of all three units and parents and relatives are invited to come watch and listen.
After the kids are done we're invited to stay and have some fika, but we have to bring it ourselves.

Since we live so close to the school we usually walk home afterwards and do fika at home.
This year the girls' grandparents (my in-laws) are joining us for dinner at home.

I'll post pictures tomorrow or maybe later tonight, but here are two from last year. Both girls were there then. This year my oldest is in school and won't be joining her sister.

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Thursday, December 9, 2010

Swedish Christmas baking 2010: Mandelmusslor

Every year my grandmother bakes lots of cookies for Christmas.

When I was a little girl I helped her with some of them, ginger snaps mostly.

This year she had a bad fall in October and broke her arm and once that was healed we couldn't understand why she didn't feel better. She couldn't walk and she was so pessimistic about things she normally wasn't.
Turned out she had fractures on her pelvis. We're not sure if it was from the fall or if it's because of some other condition - she is 87 years old after all.

But it's sorted and she's on the mend. However, baking cookies in any larger quantities is sort of out of the question.

So last weekend I softened 2 lbs of butter and set my Kitchen Aid to work. Most kinds of cookie dough is supposed to rest in the fridge anyway, so I quickly mixed up 5 kinds of cookies in the Kitchen Aid and put them to rest in the fridge.

I baked two kinds on the Saturday, but then life happened and I didn't get to do the others until Monday.

This is a recipe for an old Swedish cookie that's usually reserved for Christmas.

Almond cups. A literal translation would be Almond clams. They're made from a pretty regular cookie dough with added almonds.
I'm pretty sure housewives of old would blanch and peel the almonds to make them as white as possible, but I opted on not doing that.
I was also out of bitter almonds and keeping the peel on the sweet almonds ups the almond taste a little.

mandelmusslor

The dough is made by mixing sugar and butter until soft, then adding ground almonds (sweet and bitter), flour and an egg.

The dough is put in the fridge over night then you take it out and work with small portions at a time to keep it from going too soft.
If the dough gets too warm the butter will start to leak and the dough is hard to work with.

Soften the piece you're working with and roll it out. The length and size of the roll is not important. Cut it up into smaller pieces and put a piece in each aluminium cup.

Now, about the cups - I borrowed these from my grandmother. They're seasoned and doesn't need to be buttered. New cups will have to be buttered or sprayed with cooking spray otherwise the cookies will not come out of the cups.
It's also possible to use disposable aluminium cups for baking and keep the cookie in the cup if they won't come out. It will be a bit harder to eat them though.

Each dough piece is pushed up the sides of the cup and evenly distributed. If the piece you put in the cup is too small and there are gaps in the dough, just cut up and extra piece and add to what you already have (did that make sense?).

The dough should be thin, but not so thin the cup shows through.

My grandmother has a lot of these cups in various shapes so I work with about 10-15 at a time. Put them on a cookie sheet and bake them at 400 degrees (F) for about 8 minutes.

They shouldn't get too much colour around the edges. Mine are a bit too browned.

Take the cookie sheet out of the oven and let the cups cool. As soon as you can flip them over and some of the cookies might come out of the cups immediately. If not them leave them until the cups have cooled enough to be handled.

I lift the cups up a few inches above the cookie sheet and just drop them. That usually does the trick.
Sometimes there's formed a vacuum between the cup and the cookie. If that's the case then pull on the sides of the cup a little so let air in and try again.

Any broken cups can be ground up and used for breading cake pans. Or you can just eat them off the sheet.

Let the cookies cool completely and store in an air tight container in the fridge or freezer.

Serve the cookies filled with whipped sweetened cream and some nice jam. I like a good strawberry jam, but anything goes. A cinnamon-y apple sauce can be perfection!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Wordless

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AM-thoughts

Working from home today and it's bloody freezing next to this window.

I've started a load of laundry that will be done by the time I'm due for my next coffee break. I hope.

I made cute little fabric napkins yesterday. I'll show them off later. I think I'm going to sew some up in the shop fabric so I can post something to that blog too.

The girls are getting very enthusiastic about their Lego Advent Calendar.

I fantasize about sewing up my own calendar and filling it with little presents, one for each girl - of course. But I never do.
It's darned expensive to shop for 24x2 little, well-thought-out gifts fit for a calendar.

So we got a ready-made Lego calendar that the girls will get to share. They seem happy with that arrangement.
And since we celebrate Christmas on the 24th there is an even number of presents and no one gets left out.

Well now. It's 8 am and I'd better get a move on.

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Holiday baking

Since my grandmother is in the hospital - it's a long story but it's nothing really serious. She has fractures on her pelvis and needs to let them heal - we don't really get any Christmas cookies this year.

She's 87 years old and mildly diabetic but I'll bet she would make cookies for us all for Christmas if she had been home and at full capacity.

Instead I've decided to pull my weight.

My girls are going to their grandparents' (my Mum and Dad) this weekend to assemble and decorate two ginger bread houses.
That gives me a Saturday to get some of our Holiday baking done.

I'm making:
Saffron buns
Ginger bread (ginger snaps)
Rolled lace cookies
Currant cookies (Mum's favourite)
Almond crisp cookies
Piped wreaths

Most of it will go to my Mum since she's hosting this year's Christmas Eve dinner, but I'll keep some of it for us for when Rickard's sister comes to us to have our kids meet for Christmas.

I have half a batch of ginger bread dough in the freezer from last year. I think I'll have to take it out to see if it's still good.
The girls will want to make ginger bread too so I'll make them myself first to make sure we have enough, then they can be let loose and make as much as they want before they get bored.

I need to get some saffron. Last year it was horribly expensive. But it's a lot more affordable this year. 32 SEK for a bag. Last year it was 70 SEK for a bag. (1 bag = 0,5 g).
Apparently the harvest has been better this season.

Monday, November 29, 2010

Results

The curtain's fixed and hung and looks great.

No way I'm making up the second one. That will turn into a table runner instead.

I got groceries - sort of. I forgot half of it, but I did remember lamps for the Advent lights in the windows! I just have to get my butt up in the attic to find the missing star for one of them.

Bath time went smoothly, mostly cause it was just one of them and she took a shower. We swung by the library on our way home and checked out The Narnia Chronicles and while we were there I found Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets as an audio book and thought Isabel would like that.
She did. As soon as we came home she disappeared into her room and only came down to have supper.

Things to remember tomorrow would be to give Sofia her meds as soon as possible after dinner and not wait until she's in bed.
We read for so long from The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe that she fell asleep on the sofa.
Isabel liked it though. I think she's keeping up hope that the Witch is going to be a nice person, but she will be sorely disappointed I guess.

On our own ...

I finished the curtains on Saturday. They looked so nice and they turned out just as I had envisioned them.

I started on a panel curtain for the kitchen as well, but once I figured out how to hem it correctly (long story) it ended up being slightly skewed.
Not much but enough to show and enough to force me to fix it.

I think I'll do that tonight after the girls are in bed. I have an extra hanger so I can try it out upstairs to make sure it's looking ok.

My husband is away on business all week which is both a drag and a hoot. A drag because we all miss him, and a hoot because that lets me sew all night after the girls are in bed. No need to socialize.

I have a butt load of stuff to do before that though, which is also cause for it being a drag.

Cooking, bath time, cleaning, laundry. But it will get done. Somehow.

Friday, November 26, 2010

Shiver me timbers

We kind of figured out why it was so cold last night upstairs.

I took the girls grocery shopping after school last night and bought some red cabbage. After I got supper started I began shredding the cabbage and make some for Christmas. We eat baked ham with red cabbage for supper on Dec 23rd.

Anyway, since I preferred not to have the house smell of cabbage I ran the fan over the stove the whole time and I think I cooked it for well over an hour.

Sucked all the warmth from upstairs in no time. When I went upstairs to pick up the sink plunger (don't flush red currant jam down the drain - it clogs) we had 16.5C up there.

Ah well. We turned the fan off and put the heater on upstairs and that took the edge off.

I'm soon leaving work to fetch the girls then we're going home to have an afternoon snack. And while they eat (I'm thinking maybe a Nutella sandwich) I'm gonna debone a chicken - just to see if I can.
If I can't I'll just have to grind the chicken meat and make patties or meatballs.

Happy Weekend!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Well .. darn

So much for my pledge.

We had 63 F in our upstairs last night.

So I decided to go downstairs again and read under a quilt on the sofa.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Letter of Intent

Tonight I pledge to get started on the curtains for our kitchen.

There aren't a lot of "must-dos" for me during the holidays, but I will put up the Advent lights in the windows on Saturday so I want the curtains done by then.

Ideally I would also clean the windows first - maybe on Saturday as I put the lights up.

I also pledge to have the mat for the Christmas tree finished this Christmas.

I need to get some fleece for the back before I can finish it. The bias binding is done and all I need is to quilt it to the backing.

I was supposed to go to sewing class tonight but I canceled because I thought I would go see grandma tonight.

Let's see what else?

A table runner from the left over curtain fabric would be nice. I know exactly how I want it to look, but I lack matching sashing.

Sofia has a new dress that I think we'll save for Christmas, but I should really get cracking on one for Isabel too.
I'm thinking a Music Box Dress or a School Photo Dress would be nice.

If I had more time or felt a bit more confident I'd enlarge the Birthday Party Dress for her ... I'll have to take a look at the pattern pieces and see what I can do.

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

MovieThoughts: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

So HP7.

I liked it and I wish I could somehow swing it to see it again but I doubt I'll get a chance in theaters.

Beware! Spoilers after the jump

Monday, November 22, 2010

BookThoughts: The Hunger Games


The Hunger Games knocked me off my feet.

I bought it on Saturday and had decided to just read a few chapters, but circumstances allowed me to finish it on Sunday afternoon.

Such an amazing story and so exciting.

I had the sequel, Catching Fire, in my hand at the bookstore on Saturday but decided not to get it in case I didn't like the first book.

I regretted that last night.

So tonight when we go to town to see Deathly Hallows I'm swinging by the bookstore to pick up books 2 and 3 (Mockingjay) as well.

There's something I noticed about good literature that make me want to try it out myself, wishing, hoping I can make something as good myself.
And then there's bad literature - the kind you read and cringe and just want to hide in a hole and abandon books all together.

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Thoughts on Glee (2x07)

Ok, so I watch Glee. And I'm wondering where they plan to take this plot twist with the Neanderthal jock who suddenly out of the blue kisses Kurt.

I mean, how do they plan to resolve it? Because by all things Holy - I will strangle someone if they somehow end up together, or even if they just have Kurt feel attracted to the guy.

This guy has abused Kurt and to pair them up after that is just this typical plot where A meets B who is inexplicably rude and abusive and yet stalkery and sending off "I'm sort of attracted to you, but I can't come to terms with my sexual persuasion/lust for you so instead I will be rude and abusive and treat you like shit and hope you will understand anyway"-vibes towards A (you know like the three year old boy who pulls a girls' pigtails and everyone says "Aww, he likes you!" Way to go to indoctrinate your girl to interpret abuse=love) and then A can't help but be "intrigued" and "flattered" by this attention and so of course they fall for B.

Wait, that sounds like ... Twilight.

*shudder*

And in this week's episode they added death threats to the mix.

Oh, joy.

In other news - I quite liked this weeks' episode. Sue was deliciously vicious. Gwyneth actually worked (and was that her singing? I liked it. A bit nasal at times, but good) and I loved the mash up at the end of Umbrella and Singing in the Rain.
Oh and the Glee mini-mes? So adorable!

Sewing related

A few weeks ago I finished Isabel's Music Class Blouse and a Birthday Party Dress for Sofia and all I had left to do were the buttonholes.

Only, my machine would not cooperate. No matter what I tried I could not make it tick-tick-tick like it has to in order to make buttonholes. I guess I could make them manually, but I didn't want to mess up the garments cause they were really nice.

So they've just hung there on hangers in my sewing room. Blocking what little natural light I get in a north-east facing window in November in Sweden. (That is pretty much nothing between 9 am and midnight. And since the sun rises at 8:30 am .. well, you do the math.)

Anyway. Today I finally sucked it up and just put snaps in them. The dress will hold up nicely. The fabric was rather heavy and with the interfacing it will work out well. The blouse though, it might not fare as well. It's made from a fairly sheer seersucker and I worry Isabel will tear the fabric when she takes the blouse off.
I tried adding extra interfacing on the snaps, but I'm not sure how well it will work.

It's nice to be done though.

Tomorrow I hope to get started on the Christmas/holiday curtains I plan to make for our lunch nook and kitchen.
I have a Fruitcake by someone for Moda jelly roll that I'm pairing up with sheer brown linen and a red linen fabric with printed white stars. It will be so pretty (I hope).

And since I like to include at least one picture in a post ..

Here's my little swashbuckler Pirate girl showing off the foam sword she got last weekend.

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Monday, November 8, 2010

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Ready for a Playdate

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There - one dress, ready to wear.

It needs to be washed. There are still some trace lines on the inside of the sleeves. Sofia asked to wear it tomorrow though and I agreed.

I'll definitely make one more - I had a thought on how to bind the neckline and add the piping in one go that I want to try.

I also loved the construction of the yoke. Almost like a puzzle - and no hand stitching!

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Halloween and turkeys

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Isabel went to a Halloween party on Saturday. Some of the kids thought she looked mighty scary.

Halloween's gotten more and more popular in Sweden the past few years but for some reason no one can agree on when to come trick or treating.
This year we had trick or treaters on Saturday night and Sunday night.

At least they had dressed up in costumes.

I'm preparing a turkey dinner for our parents this Saturday. I'm not sure how long we've done this, but it might be the 10th year.
We've been doing it since before Isabel was born. But we skipped that year I remember because she was little and I didn't have the energy, what with PND and everything.

We're serving a curried sweet potato soup with goat's cheese biscuits for starters. Turkey with roast potatoes, gravy, carrots and sprouts for the main course. Cinnamon apples with vanilla and cardamom pannacotta for dessert and then I'll make a lemon and poppy seed cake if someone wants cake with coffee.

It's a lot of work, not just on the day but the whole week. I'm buying the turkey today and I'll leave it to thaw in the fridge. Then I'll put it into a brine on Thursday and leave it there until Saturday. Thursday I'll boil the stock for the gravy after the turkey is in the brine.

Cake is done on Friday, along with the pannacotta and the little puff pastry cookies I'm serving with it. I'll also pre-fry the bacon to be mixed with the Brussels sprouts.
I'll also make the soup then and I'll have to check but maybe I can pre-mix the biscuits too.

Isabel is on November holidays this week so there is no school. She's still in school but with the after-school staff all week.
I have taken the day off on Thursday and Friday to be with her and Sofia. I hope I can manage to let them help out.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 30}

Missed another day yesterday, but at least I've blogged more here in the past month than I have in like - ever.

I'm quilting today. I have the day "off" from the family and I went to town with my mom (her suggestion) to get a pair of boots for Isabel and to get some errands done.
But this afternoon and evening I've been sewing up a quilt top for Sofia.

I have the center seam left then it's done, I think. I'm still debating whether or not to put border on it and if I decide to do that I have to decide how they're gonna look.

I used a free pattern from Oh Fransson called New Wave. I loved the look of it, but all those seams are tough to match for a n00b like me.

I'll have to see if I can live with it otherwise Ill have to do something about it.

We had the best garlic and lemon chicken for dinner and I want some ice cream, but I think I'll wait until the girls are in bed.

They are eagerly waiting for some Trick or Treaters (kids in Sweden are a bit unsure of when to go Trick or Treating and some years we had TorT for three days in a row.) but it looks like none are coming today.

I think a cup of coffee would be nice right about now, and I'll see about that ice cream too I think.

Also, Happy Nameday to my darling Isabel.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 28}

Husband is home. Finally.

We get to keep him for a week, then he's off again.

No sewing today. I miss it. But I'm saving it for almost all of Saturday.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 28}

They're painting some machine parts in the workshop at work today.

The guys have rigged plastic around the work area to prevent spillage - but from the outside it looks like Dexter's been here.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 27}

So the girls were both really good last night. No fighting and almost no bickering. We drove to town to buy my Big Girl new winter boots.
I aimed for a quick in and out procedure and that's what we got. We left the school at 4:30 pm and we were back home at 5:25 pm. I'd call that success.

I got her a warm pair of snow boots. Like these. I had thought size 34 would be enough for her but she thought they were a bit too snug and hurt her toes so we sized up.
She's 6 years old and wears size 35 boots. Silly.

Then I showed her these boots. I like them a lot but her first comment was "They're Big Girl shoes".
I'm thinking they would make a nice Christmas present for her.

Once we got back home they wanted to help out with dinner and I actually let them (Go me!). They sliced up the sausage and Little Sister set the table and Big Sister opened up the can of beans and heated them.

Once they were gone eating they went to the shower when I asked them (Who are you and what have you done with my kids?) and took a quick shower.

Some Robin Hood on the xBox/movie computer later and then bedtime.

I had big plans on sewing buttonholes in the blouse and dress I had made for them, but the machine was in one of its moods and just blew raspberries at me and refused to cooperate.
I'll have to try another evening.

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 26} Turkey

We're having my parents and my in-laws over for turkey dinner on Saturday next week, so I have a bit of prep to do.

I used to make a turkey with a cider and maple syrup based seasoning, but the last three years I've made a brine and soaked the turkey for two or three days, following a recipe of Nigella's.

I don't remember everything about it, but it's water with lots of salt and sugar, orange juice and orange, onions, leeks, cloves, star anise, cinnamon, pepper and a bouquet garni.
Soak for three days then slather with butter or oil, salt and pepper and chuck it in the oven.

Serve with roast potatoes, gravy and side dishes.

I think we'll have pannacotta for dessert. I made some last week and the girls loved it. I put blueberries and raspberries in the bottom and poured the pannacotta on top. But I like an apple dessert with turkey so I'm thinking fried apple chunks with sugar and butter and cinnamon and cardamom in the bottom of a glass then pannacotta on top and a wafer or cookie made from puff pastry.
Oh - warm voul au vents with apples on the side ... and cardamom infused pannacotta, hmm, I think we have a winner!

A few years ago I made Tarte Tatin. But this sounds even better.

Now I just have to come up with some sort of soup to have for starter - carrot soup perhaps ...

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 20}

Ok, so my favourite pattern designer just sent a newsletter with info about a second upcoming fabric line and her new Spring 2011 patterns.

I am so screwed. Credit wise.

Tuesday, October 19, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 19} work stuffs

I have a looming deadline at work that I fear I will not meet. I'm dependent on one or more coworker for parts of it and one is out of the country for two weeks, the other is out of the country for two weeks followed by five weeks up north where he's hard to reach. A third coworker was out of the office today, working on site with some testing. And the fourth was working from home.

I have to have a manual written by Friday, and I have only got about 75 % of the material I need, and 50% of the directions I need. Two of them will be back tomorrow, so I think I'll set up camp in our work shop and pester the crew there.

I sort of want to have it done, not only so I meet the deadline, but also because I'll be sort of single parenting for the next three weeks. I need some buffers in case one of the girls get sick.

Next week R will be away three days. The week after that he'll be away two days and the week after that, five days. Not really looking forward to it, but we'll manage.

I have a sewing class on Wednesday next week, but my mum has promised to watch the kidlets and put them to bed that night. It's also her half day at work, so maybe she'll be able to pick the girls up from school/daycare.
I'm making pants for me at the sewing class. I made a toile the other day to make sure they'll fit. I need to add about 1/2 inch on all four sideseams to be sure but it looks good.

Maybe this will free up some mental room to make a few dresses for the girls. At least I hope so.

Monday, October 18, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 18}

I started tracing the Birthday Party dress from Oliver + S for Sofia yesterday.

I have been a bit intimidated by the pattern. It has three scissors and is supposed to be a bit harder than the other patterns.
I made a Puppet Show Tunic for Sofia this summer and that was a three scissor pattern, so maybe it's not a huge deal.

I hate it when I'm coming over to a friend who says "You're welcome to come over, but please ignore the mess." And when I come over the place is spotless.

I told my friend who's coming over tonight that our place is messy, but yesterday we managed to get some cleaning done.

I finally got around to really vacuum under our beds. Rickard lifted one mattress on top of the other so it was easier.

I also changed the sheets in all the beds at once. I usually stagger it so that I change the girls' beds but not ours. Mostly for laundry purposes. But not this time.

I also put Sofia's duvet into the cover. She has complained about being cold and wanted lots of blankets and quilts. But when she's too warm at night she starts to cough so it's a fine line to tread.

So tonight when we get home I'll get some laundry done. Hopefully I can swing by the store on my way home to get some more yoghurt for the girls' breakfast tomorrow.
We also need some sort of supper.
And I have ground meat in the fridge that needs to be taken care of - I'm making meatloaf.

I also cleared the kitchen last night and this morning I emptied the dishwasher and loaded what was dirty, so the kitchen is still cleared.

I hope she's not intimidated.

Sunday, October 17, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 17} running weekends

Yesterday was one of those busy weekend days where you go to bed wondering what you accomplished.

Today I went up in our attic and sorted through all the children's clothes we've stored. A local clothes store is having a campaign where they collect their own brand to sell for charity and you get cupons for each garment you hand in.

I filled two big paper bags with clothes and I was planning to go to town tomorrow to hand them in, but I think it will have to wait until Tuesday. I have a friend coming over tomorrow to borrow my sewing machine.

If hers and my girls play nice together I hope to be able to trace a dress for Sofia. I've already started but it's taken some time. I have the facings to trace and I can't decide if I should do them in a contrasting fabric or not. I have enough of the outer fabric, but I might be able to use the cabbages for something else.

Friday, October 15, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 15}Thoughts in the morning

There was a golden fire lighting up our eastern horizon this morning. A fiery sunrise under a thick cloud cover bathed the world in warm yellow.

The glass feature on my office building is full east and the light reflected in the window panes and made it look like the building was on fire.

Even though I live in a big city, my drive to work takes me past horse pastures and crop fields, sheep pens and moto cross tracks. When I turned my car in towards the city again the buildings were all gilded and every window looked back at me, reflecting light.

We're in the middle of October, hurtling the year into November and the holiday season. There aren't many of these sunrises left this year. Not as I drive to work. In a few weeks time we'll change the clock. Time will Fall back. Mornings will be light an extra week but then the Earth's axis will have made its tilt and we're plunged into the winter darkness that is our trademark.

Sunrise will be only after I arrive at the office. Sleepy children in my car, not quite woken up before the daycare and school drop off.

Sunset will creep into the early evenings, slowly at first, then late afternoon and finally the sun will set some time after 3 pm and just like I drive to work in the dark I will leave in the dark. Light is for the few hours inbetween when we are ensconced inside.

It's so ordinary for me by now, and so miraculous at the same time.

We'll suffer this until Christmas when we celebrate not only a less and less meaningful Christian holiday but the turn of the year. The return of light. The winter solstice will be the season's last desperate stand before the Earth's axis inevitably makes another tilt and we face the sun once more.

But for now I will have to say my goodbyes to the light.

Thursday, October 14, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 14}

So I missed out yesterday. My husband has a wicked cold so I didn't get a lot of time to myself last night.

Usually we share chores at bedtime (he'll do asthma meds with Sofia and teeth brushing and I'll do the reading).

He's home from work today trying to recover.

----

Tonight has been a bust sewing wise. I had hoped to get some seqing started - at least some cutting of fabric, but we crashed on the sofa after bed time.

And now it's a wee bit too late. *sigh*

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 13 - fail} Happy Conception Day!

7 years ago on Oct 13th I was at an IVF- clinic having 11 eggs removed from my ovaries. In the hours that followed 7 eggs were successfully turned into embryos (ok - zytoblasts I guess) and one was implanted 2 days later and became our awesome Isabel.

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Three years minus one month later We had one egg thawed and implanted which became the lovely Sofia.

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Happy Conception Day girls!

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Tuesday, October 12, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 12} drive by blogging

I spent the better part of tonight reading a Swedish YA book (young adult) about long term friendship and secret love and teenaged romance.

It was somgood and I'm glad I managed to finish it to quickly.

Lately I've had trouble concentrating on books. There are so many ither things I want to do.

I think another chapter of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows are in prder so I can keep up with Mark Reads Harry Potter. Thne sleepies.

Monday, October 11, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 11} Poorly child

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Well, when big sister got sick last week it was only a matter of time before Sofia caught a bug too.

Sleeping in mommy's bed all snuggled up in pillows and duvets.

Red cheeks from fever and being a bit overheated. Bunny-rag ever present.

Sunday, October 10, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 10} Korv (Sausage) Stroganoff - recipe

This is a staple dish in our home. Korv Stroganoff, or Sausage Stroganoff. It bears a slight resemblance to a famous Russian dish called Beef Stroganoff - but the two are really not all that much alike any more. Not in our case anyway.

Aaany who.

You will need:

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One ring of Falukorv (sausage). Onions and/or leeks. I used both because I had a leek in the fridge that I kept forgetting to use.
Garlic is nice in this. Crushed tomatoes/tomato sauce and creme fraiche. Some butter or oil to fry in, I use a liquid cooking margarine that I like. Roasted peppers from a jar - cause it was in the fridge and my littlest one doesn't like too much tomatoes.
Some dijon mustard is nice and I spiced it up with some left over sauce made from the peppers and some creme fraiche from the day before. This can easily be left out.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 10}

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When we bought our new Nikon D5000 this summer we started lending the old digital compact camera to our girls, and Isabel's been really interested in using it.

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We were doing a jigsaw puzzle yesterday together and she wanted to take a few pictures of it.

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And I decided to take a few of her with the puzzle.

Saturday, October 9, 2010

{blogtoberfest day 9}

We did the Swedish Family Saturday thing today.

IKEA.

It wasn't as crowded as I had feared and we got out of there rather quickly.

The girls are at their grandparents' so we've been crashed out on the sofa with some tv-shows all night.

It's been nice too, but I miss them.

Friday, October 8, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 8} Winter upgrade



Library card generator from blyberg.net

I'm picking the girls up (at 2 pm! - Yay for Fridays!!) and I promised them fika in town today.
Rickard decided to take some time off this afternoon and meet us in town. Double-yay!

We have to upgrade the winter wardrobe for the girls. Isabel got a lovely purple coat last weekend, but she still needs new boots and jeans and leggings/stockings.
Today she wore a skirt and capri leggings with socks. It looked cold.

It also looks like I'll have to get Sofia a new coat as well. I can't find the one Isabel had at that age. I'll have to look again tomorrow.

I could use a new pair of gloves since I tore my old pair apart.

I also want to go to the home decoration/kitchen store and drool over the Le Creuset pots that I don't really need, but covet to no end.

Thursday, October 7, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 7} My littlest one



Sofia helped Rickard change the water in the fish tank the other day.

I'm constantly baffled by how big she's gotten. It's so easy to forget that she's not a baby any more.
She's older now than Isabel was when she became a big sister.

When I put her to bed I read to her (sometimes) and when we are done she wants to read the story back to me. So I let her (sometimes). Then she asks for a song and when I'm done she wants to sing me something.
After lots of hugs and kisses I leave her and she'll sing to her teddies and bunny rags. She'll make up the songs and lyrics as she goes along and it's the cutest thing in the world.

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 6 - fail}

Oh, what a bummer - I missed posting yesterday.

Not really sure what happened, I guess I crashed on the sofa after bedtime and just sort of stayed there.

Tuesday, October 5, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 5}

Back at work today. Fall is starting to set in for real.

It was dark when I got out of bed but a lovely red sunrise could be seen above the neighbour's roof.

We have solar powered lights in the garden. They look so nice in summer nights but now the days are too short and overcast to charge them enough to last more than an hour or two in the evening.

Today is windy and a little chilly and the sky is thick with clouds.

Not the grey kind that threatens rain but the light dirty-white kind that will be around for a while making sure you don't get as nice a sunset as you did sunrise.

The fall equinox is no more than 2 weeks away and already I can tell the days are getting shorter.

Soon our days will be remarkably longer than in the north of Sweden.

I get an urge to make apple pies and stews and hearty soups. I think we need to find ourselves a pumpkin soon to bake and turn into soup.
The girls will love the roasted seeds.

When it isn't raining I think Fall is my favourite season. And we get to experience all four of them.

I've taken to lighting candles at dinner. The tea light holders have been in storage all summer but now they come out into circulation again.

Three tea lights on the television set. Two on the side board. Two in the dining area window. Two on the kitchen table. Two in the window above the kitchen sink and one in the other kitchen window. And five candles in the chandelier above the kitchen table.

Monday, October 4, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 4} cinnamon rolls and fevers

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Isabel still had a fever this morning, and after breakfast I had a look at her throat and saw some white spots on her tonsils.

I called the doctor's office but they wanted to hold off making an appointment until tomorrow since it's not been three full days of fever. I disagree, but I can't really force them. Rickard's gonna call tomorrow and make her an appointment because the spots are still there and she has a pretty high temperature.

So she's been hanging out on the sofa and I've made cinnamon rolls with apple filling. I made her Mac 'n cheese for lunch but she didn't like it.

She's a trooper though and hasn't really complained about her throat. She was a bit bored and wanted to watch a movie this afternoon. But we had watched so many already I thought she should take a break. That was her only complain.

Sunday, October 3, 2010

{blogtoberfest 2010 day 3}

Fall is setting in here in Sweden and we decided to get the patio furniture into storage today and clear out junk we never use and take it to the recycling station.

Yesterday I bought some flowers for the pots by the door and I arranged them today.

We got some kind of ivy from my aunt when we moved in three years ago, but sadly it died last winter when it was so cold for so long.
We emptied the pot already last spring at it's been standing empty since. It looked kind of sad.

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So I got two medium sized chrysanthemums and two different kinds of heather and some silvery crawler plant I never caught the name of and set to work.

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30 minutes later I had sweeped the flags of all debris and watered the flowers. I put a new candle in the lantern. Unfortunately it was a bit big, but it will be ok eventually.

Looking at the picture now I realise I could use some kind of garland or wreath by the door.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

{blogtoberfest} change of plans

I started out today expecting a rushed and mad day. And it turned out just like that.

And then my big girl came down with a fever. In a bit over 90 minutes she went from a bit under the weather to 39.1, crashed out on the sofa.

I had a post planned about fall and changes of the seasons and stuff, but that will have to wait for another day.

Friday, October 1, 2010

Fresh start



Ok, maybe this is what I need to get this thing going again.

It's been exactly, to-the-day, a year since I posted last. I've kept up my sewing, but I've mostly posted on my Swedish blog about that.

I like the idea of posting daily, and I hope to keep it up now that I have an incentive.

Tonight I plan to enjoy myself at a local theater. We're seeing Spamalot. I mean, Monty Python combined with a Swedish favourite, Hipp Hipp can only lead to greatness. They have received stunning reviews.

Plus, my favourite auntie was on the staff making the costumes.

More later. Now I have some paid work to do.
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