KOOL ICECREAM

My 15-month old niece now knows how to say the word: "KITTY!"

This probably doesn't come as a shocker after all since Hello Kitty can be found everywhere today! The products are endless..
I even own a few myself without even loving that little pink whiskered character that much..

A cell phone case..

A lip gloss..

And the other day I happened (!?) to look down in the icecream freezer at the supermarket and saw the Hello Kitty ICECREAM! It has a strawberry and blueberry flavor and is not too sweet, now we're just waiting for the sunny weather to come back here in Sweden..

FESTVAL FOOD

Summer means festival big time, especially here in Sweden. And they usually offer different (fast)food that you have barely heard of, like moose sandwiches or Wildboar kebab.. Here served at Peace & Love in Borlänge, Sweden..

At Arvikafestivalen (Arvika, Sweden) there were several places to purchase different plates of nachos!

For some exciting nacho recipes.. Click here and start cooking! :) Nachos is such an easy party food or when you simply have friends over, you can be greatly creative!

VESELKA BY NIGHT

When I visited New York last week a couple of friends and myself hit up one of my favorite downtown late night spots for dining - Veselka at 144 2nd avenue - where I indulged in the most delicious vegetarian stuffed cabbage. The vegetarian alternative is filled with mushrooms, onion and rice, and can be served with tomato or mushroom sauce, with this I had some mashed potatoes and their splendid beet salad with horseradish.. Yuuummy..

WHEN I WISH TO MAKE A WISH; I WAVE MY HAND WITH A BIG SWICH SWICH..

..Then I say; "I wish for fish!" And I get fish right on my dish.

(-Dr Seuss)

Summer = grilling season is here! There's even a Grilling group on Facebook ;-)
The other day I marinated tuna steaks in a mix if soy sauce, ginger and balsamic vinegar for 2 hrs. Then covered them in black and white sesame seeds. When I purchased the black sesame seeds at one of my favorite stores in town - Saffran - the woman in the store told me how good the seeds could be for you, a real source of nutrition! Read more about the goodies here :)
One has to be careful when you cook a tuna steak; it can easily overcook and become dry. I like it pan seared.

The BESTEST I've had - which I had a couple of times - is the Blackened Raw Tuna Sashimi (Pan seared and sliced with sesame chili vinaigrette, seaweed salad and wasabi) at Legal Seafood in Paramus, NJ. Yummm..

Then me and 2 friends went out for a fabulous lunch where I had "Salmon plankstek"; the fish version of the popular "Plankstek" dish here in Sweden. Where the salmon file is placed one can usually find a steak. Stek is steak in Swedish and Plank means board. Then you add mashed potatoes, tomatoes, asparagus (vegetables varries) and bearnais sauce. All the stuff on the board (which is usually made of oak for its durability) is already cooked, you then put it in the oven at 225C/437F until mashed potatoes has browned a little. Voila!

MAGNUM TEMPTATION CHOCOLATE

I'm fully aware that bikini season is upon us.. but, I just CAN'T TAKE IT ANYMORE..! ;-)

Milk chocolate icecream with brownie and white chocolate bits covered in dark chocolate..

Yes..?



Soon to be seen in a hand that could be mine..

IRON MEETING

..Is a little dinner meeting my mom and myself try to have every now and then (first it actually took place once a week, but that surely failed, we're just sooo busy.. not).

At Iron Meeting night Blodpudding is served; a very traditional Swedish dish which is made by cooking swine blood, milk, rye flour, fat, sometimes beer with a filler until it's thick enough to congeal when cooled. Nowadays people buy the already made blodpudding in the supermarket and then usually serve it with bacon, cabbage and/or lingonberry jam!

"Blood food" is very rich in iron and we usually wash it down with a or two of red wine, which also contain a high level of iron. I introduced mom to my new favorite; Sunrise Carmenere.

I sautéed yellow onion, bacon and steamed carrots, and put some lingonberry on the side! Yum!

MEINKLANG

Last weekend my gorgeous friends Malin and Markus (Mrs & Mr) brought me a bottle of the lovely Austrian white wine Meinklang (2007) which I hadn't tried before; it was a dry, spicy and fruity wine, with hints of melon, white pepper and lime. Grapefruit..? A scent of almond..?

The Grüner Veltliner grapes are grown according to biodynamic methods. One can read in several places that it's a very "food-friendly wine" and it's said to be the classic pairing for the otherwise hard-to-pair asparagus.

It was indeed marvelous darlin'..

It's about 79 SEK at Systembolaget. Not bad!

DELICIOUS DORSET

My awesome friend Helena brought me a box of really yummy Dorset Cereals a couple of days ago when she visited for my birthday; it was the Super Cranberry, Cherry & Almond kind that included Chilean Flame Raisins, no less! It was picked up at the cute store Matdistriktet on Rådmansgatan 57 in Stockholm.

COLLECTING CRISP BREAD or KRAZY FOR KNÄCKE

Today I received a home made bag in thin cotton fabric to keep round pieces of Swedish crisp bread (a k a knäckebröd in Swedish) in. The lady that so generously gave it to me had made a whole collection of various colors, I immediately picked a pink to match the interior of my little pink kitchen :)

LOVING LIQUORICE

My friend Linda stopped by yesterday and since weather has been warm and sunny in Sweden we sat down on my terrace and had a fika.. Fika is simply coffee or tea and maybe a little something to eat, like a cinnamon bun or cookies.. (or slice of pie or cheesecake or or...). In New York there's actually a restaurant named Fika.

The indulgence of the day was the Swedish Singoalla brand of cookies that have just hit the market with their new liquorice flavor.. Not too sweet, just simply yummy and very dipable :)

CHOCOLATE

The other day someone offered me to pick the first piece in a box of Paradis chocolates.

Paradis is the milk chocolate version of the very popular chocolate box Aladdin which contains both dark and milk chocolates. Aladdin has been around since 1939 and is usually sold in all Swedish supermarkets, they are seen all over the place at Christmas time when it's extremely common to purchase these as Christmas gifts or as a bring-along-present to Christmas parties/dinners. There are 2 layers (of the same chocolates) in these boxes and the rule is NOT to start the second layer before finishing the top one. One can choose from many different chocolates in these boxes; coconut-caramel, cream nougat, cherry, liqueur truffle, rum-raisin, triple-nut, orange truffle, egg liqueur and my favorite "the pearl nougat" which is nougat covered in white chocolate, it's placed in the middle of both of the boxes, but someone always grabs it before me.. But now I had the chance to indulge!

Last night the famous Swedish TV hosts Filip & Fredrik aired the very first episode of "Söndagsparty" (Sunday party) which is sent live from Chelsea Studios in Manhattan. It was alright, but they had 2 interesting guests where Marilyn Manson was one of them, he was sipping on absinthe, but was then offered a piece of chocolate from a Paradis box and picked...*drum whirl* .. the Pearl Nougat!

I'm SO Marilyn Manson..

TOURNEDOS ROSSINI

I took the quiz "What (food) dish are you?" on Facebook today and the result was: Tournedos Rossini, which is served every Sunday at the Carlyle Hotel on Upper East Side in New York. I once took my (then) boyfriend there for his birthday for a great dinner; while Woody Allen played his clarinet.. Pretty fancy indeed.

CAKE

My beautiful niece Millie turned ONE today and my sister made a cute princess cake for her little doll :) The crown is made of yellow sprinkles.

CUPCAKES

My Swedish friend Linda stopped by last night with a taste of her very first cupcake batch! So sweet; both her and the cupcakes! ;-)

A FAMILIAR FACE

My ex-coworker Bria cooked for the Persian New Year on Fox 5 "Good Day Cafe" this morning (New York time)..



:)

POTATOES & PLOPP

Mom was over for lunch. I sliced potatoes, carrots and chopped up yellow onion, mixed it with canola oil and dried rosemary. Shoved it in the oven for 30 minutes, 225C/435F. Served it with a side of crème fraîche that I had stirred a little wasabi paste into.
Thereafter we walked to a store a 7 minute walk away where I found this! The chocolate bar Plopp has been around for a while, but I haven't tried this new (?) liquorice version, woah; it was TOO good! A creamy caramel center with a hint of liquorice.. yumm..

BREAKFAST, BABY..

One of my favorite food products discovered last year is "Fårsalami"; or in English Lambsalami. Last week I put it on my very first homemade pizza with some blue cheese. It actually contains beef as well, but NO pork. It has a milder taste than the distintictive salami flavor, and contains less fat!I used to only eat poultry and seafood as far as it goes for dead animals, but after moving to Sweden I have had lamb and beef (the salami) and also moose; mostly grounded which I have used in Chili con carne.

This morning I made a crispbread sandwich with messmör (an ironrich whey butter that one can find at IKEA's Swedish supermarkets), salami and cherry tomatoes, yummy!

BERRY GOOD

Residing 2 1/2 hrs northwest of Stockholm in the beautiful province of Dalarna has been rough this winter. According to people that has lived here for years there's been a whole lot more snow than usual. I'm - first of all - NOT a fan of winter or being cold. It gets dark in the early afternoon and it's dark when you head to work in the morning as well. It kinda SUCKS. It's not difficult to become fairly depressed here unfortunately. BUT NOW; spring is on its way! It seems like.. It's been sunny for a few days and snow is melting and yesterday I made myself a vanilla/blackberry/raspberry smoothie which I enjoyed on my terrace (I live in an apt by the way). It was easily made in my fantastic pink OBH Nordica blender by mixing a non-added sugar vanilla & blackberry yogurt and frozen raspberries! So yummy.

In the evening my gorgeous friend Linda came over for dinner. Since bikini season is upon us and also because I've made the decision to cut down on the alcohol consumption in general; we had the non-alcoholic Amé blackberry & raspberry "wine" that I purchased at a local health store, it tasted like cider; but not as sweet as the ones that are a popular party drink in Sweden, it contains herbs and was pretty refreshing. Amé info.

For dinner I boiled wholemeal pasta and made a carrot sauce like this:

Peel and chop a yellow onion and a couple of garlic cloves very finely. Peel and shred 3 carrots. Saute onion and garlic in oil, but don't let it get any color. Add carrots and stir. Add 2 cans of crushed tomatoes (a 400 g) and one tablespoon concentrated vegetable buillon.

Let it simmer for 15 minutes. Add 1 1/2 cup (2,5 dl) cream, 3 tablespoons frozen (or fresh) parsley, 1 tsp salt and a pinch of black pepper. Simmer for another 5 minutes, serve over pasta. Level: quiet freaking easy.

Though if I'd do it again I would go for a less fat cream not to get over-powered by that creamy flavor.

Being chocolate lovers - both my friend and myself - I decided to bring out a bag of chocolate I got in Stockholm last week at a chocolate store and cafe called Chokladfabriken ("The Chocolate Factory"). When I visited with a friend from Sthlm we picked up some small pastries of various kinds that were pretty delicious, for example a Cointreau ball that I really liked! Then I also bought some smaller truffles with different flavors that - I realized - weren't as much fun. There were: rosehip, liquorice, cloudberry, ginger and black currant. I think the currant was the best if I had to pick one.

PRESENTATION

Howdy,

I played with the thought while back to start blogging about food when I realized that I included something food related quiet frequently in my other blog Blonde Bullshit (that's currently in Swedish ONLY). So here I finally go. For some time I waited for that special food event to take place so I could launch the blog, but I couldn't really put my finger on it, so today when I made a berry smoothie and sat down outside in a short sleeved shirt to soak up some Swedish spring sun I decided that THIS was the day. Hallelujah.

For a while I wanted to open and run a Mexican/Latin –Swedish/Scandinavian restaurant in New York and later on in Los Angeles; but those plans has been put on hold. After I moved to Sweden in June -08 people has demanded jokingly slash half-serious every now and then (while hanging out at my casa for some homecooked dinner) that; "you should open a restaurant Malin!".. or while walking around downtown; "look, that restaurant closed, you should get in that space now.."

Two years ago I had a most inspiring meeting and conversation with the Program Director of Culinary Management Stephen Zagor at The Institute of Culinary Education about opening a restaurant and studying at the Restaurant Management Program. But I didn't follow through, at that time I was way busy chasing $$$.

But there's always the future..

So why a restaurant?

My idea of creating a fusion establishment was born in the accumulation of several passions of mine.

First of all I find a true devotion in these two nations’ culinary worlds. I was born and raised in the Swedish country side and grew up picking berries and chanterelles; making pies and stews with my parents. Fished the nearby wood lake; grilled perch for dinner. I am fortunate to have been raised with a natural approach to organic cooking. Though New York was my home for 10 years; my Swedish’ background is strongly rooted and I very much enjoyed sharing it with others as in hosting Swedish smörgåsbord dinner parties and tutoring language classes at the Swedish UN Delegation, one of my most memorable and proudest accomplishments was when I co-founded the Swedish School of Hudson Valley in Tarrytown, NY in 2003.

In 1999 I moved to New York City where I quickly discovered the exotic Mexican fare which I fell in love with right away! Dining at such distinctive restaurants as Rosa Mexicano and Pompano truly broaden my curiosity to learn more about this culinary world; I realized that there was a wider menu than Old El Paso’s taco kits. I attended Expo Comida Latina at Jacob F. Javitz Ctr (NYC) and The Book and The Cook at Fort Washington Expo Ctr (PA) and took part in similar events; like cooking classes & luncheons at Rosa Mexicano.
I later on came to travel the east coast of the Yucatan Peninsula (Mexico) which indeed strengthened this interest further!

Second was my genuine love of planning and hosting an uncountable amount of innovative dinners, cocktail parties and various get-togethers.
My past event accomplishments covered kids creative theme parties (with my own business Pick a Party), Halloween extravaganzas and production planning for the annual CVC Music Video Conference (by CVC Report magazine) at the Puck Building, NYC. I like seeing people having a great time and wanted to create and share my own ultimate dining accommodation.

Third was my long interest in design, construction and real estate. I grew up in the Swedish country side; my dad is an architect and artist who designed the homes we come to live in; I literally grew up on a concrete foundation, the kitchen table cloth was a blueprint and the tree houses a la F.L Wright. Many years thereafter I got a job for the New York real estate giant Prudential Douglas Elliman and was involved in residential and commercial transactions; I have helped entrepreneurs and established professionals finding their new retail and restaurant spaces. The creative heritage has strongly showed up in many projects making invitations and party menus, helping friends with interior design for their apartments and always photographing food dishes.

Fourth was my love for engaging with people! I can’t stop talking about the wonderful opportunity of living in New York City and my appreciation of being able to meet new people everyday. I believe I have a very social personality and like to take part in people’s stories. While living in Europe I traveled extensively and very much appreciate that experience. During my years with the CVC Conference I managed staff and like encouraging people to put their utmost into everything; a role I feel very comfortable in.

But at this point; I don't run a restaurant, I don't even own a restaurant;-)I cook and eat, and will try make somewhat interesting blog contributions about it and other food adventures that I may run into.

I have many food memories from New York/U.S; Frozen green tea magaritas at Haru, my little food smoothie/muffin/salad heaven Juice Generation a block from my apartment, my 30th birthday at Rosa Mexicano, the elotes (mayo/parmesan/butter/salt/chili powder drenched corn on the cob) in the Pilson area of Chicago, birthday dinner with ex-boyfriend at Carlyle Hotel while Woody Allen played clarinet.. and list goes on.

I'm an almost 31 year old girlie, currently living in a small town in Sweden 2 1/2 northwest of Stockholm. There's still winter here with plenty of snow. I decided to move back to Sweden to be able to spend time with family and reflect on life. And food culture.