Sju Sorters Kakor

Sweden's baking bible

My corridor mates brought me shopping in town last month, showing me their favourite stores and giving me ideas for Christmas presents to send home.  We went to a bookstore, and (obviously) I was drawn to the cooking section.  Linnea and Karro started to rave about a popular book, "Sju Sorters Kakor."  The title translates to "Seven Kinds of Cookies."  It is packed with recipes for breads, cakes, cookies, and every possible sweet treat you can think of.  At first I thought I would send this to Nicola for Christmas, and then my selfishness came through and I decided to buy the book for myself.

The book is small, but as I mentioned, is packed with so many recipes, mostly Swedish, but also reaches out to goodies from other parts of Europe.  I learned today from a classmate that Seven Kinds of Cookies raises its glass to the old Swedish tradition/belief that a household must always have something to offer to expected, or unexpected guests - at least seven kinds of cookies.  The book has been around since 1945, and it seems to be the baking bible in Sweden.  My corridor mates have told me that they have a copy of the book, their mothers have a copy, and their grandmothers too.  I brought it to class today and during fika break, my classmates gave me recommendations on which recipes to try.  

So tonight I made two of the recipes, Prästgårdens Pepparkaka, and Märtas Skurna Chokladkakor.  Both of these treats turned out nicely.  Here are the recipes in Engelska ;)

Prästgårdens Pepparkaka

Prästgårdens Pepparkaka (Prästgårdens Gingerbread)

Grease a cake or loaf pan with butter.

Melt 100 grams of butter, and cool down.

Mix together the melted butter, 2 eggs, and 2 dl sugar.

Stir in 11/2 dl sour cream, then 11/2 tsp ground ginger, 1 1/2 tsp ground cloves, 2 tsp ground cinnamon, 3 dl flour, and 1 tsp baking soda (or 2 tsp baking powder).  Mix well.

Pour the mixture into the cake pan and bake at 175 degrees C for 45 minutes.

Märtas Skurna Chokladkakor

Märtas Skurna Chokladkakor (Märta's Cut Chocolate Cookies)

makes 60 pieces

Mix together 200 grams softened butter, 2/1/2 dl sugar, 5 dl flour, 4 tbsp cocal powder, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp vanilla sugar (or regular sugar + vanilla extract), and 1 egg.  Form into a dough.

Divide into 6 pieces, and form rolls, like long worms.  Place them on baking sheets (greased or covered with parchment paper) and flatten the rolls slightly.  

Brush the tops of the rolls with a beaten egg, and sprinkle with pearl sugar.  Bake at 175 degrees C for 15 minutes.

Cut unevenly (a bit like biscotti) while still warm.

Winter Wonderland

Crazy Swedes

A bit of game action..

There are two kinds of Swedes: those who attend hockey games and those who don't.

Good lord.  I thought, as Canadians, we are pretty crazy fans.  We shout, we swear, we make it obvious when we aren't happy with a call, and we let it all out when our "boys" score a goal.  Think of Towel Power, and what most recently comes to mind, the Green Guys.  We proudly say that hockey is "our game."
Think again..

After attending my first Swedish Hockey game, I have to say that Swedish fans come pretty close to us  - they aren't afraid to show their team pride in the arena!

No shot of Larsson from the front, but here he is from the back like a stalker pic!

Elitserien is the Swedish Elite League. This is the league (notably the team Modo from Örnsköldsvik) that has produced such players as Markus Naslund, the Sedins, Peter Forsberg, Mats Sundin - basically, any Swedish NHL player was in this league at one point in his life!  The league is comprised of 12 teams from across Sweden, and has many young prospective NHL players, or players who aren't able to compete at the NHL caliber.

Although it would have been AWESOME to see Modo play, we went to Stockholm to watch Stockholm AIK play against Skelleteå AIK.  Both teams are pretty good in the standings, and we really wanted to catch a glimpse of the young kid, Adam Larsson, who is considered within the top 3 NHL draft prospects for 2011.  Tickets for 11th row seats were just 185 SEK, which is under $30 Canadian!

Let me give you a brief description of my time there...

First of all, Hovet, the home arena in Stockholm, is super tiny, with a capacity of just 8,000 (compared to Rogers Arena of about 18,000).

First hockey game for the ladies!

It was Cedric, Thomas, Anatoli, Noemie, and I who went to the game.  The boys and I gave Anatoli and Noemie a quick lesson on hockey rules before it started :)

Before the team comes out, the lights are dimmed in the arena, and cute little kids of skates come out and wave the home team (Stockholm AIK) flags...the entire stadium then chants the team song.

The players emerge from the steam castle.

Out comes the home team through a bizarre castle-like structure with steam blowing out. Everyone cheers, and then begins booing when the away teams skates in.

The Swedish National Anthem is sung...

...and the game begins!

They pay for seats, but stand the whole time!

And that's when we noticed the singing...that never ended.  You know when you watch European soccer matches, and the fans in the stands always singing?  Well, the same rule apparently applies to hockey games.  Though it's a small crowd of 8,000, every person present appears to be so passionate, and really knows the game (vs many of the Canucks "fans" that we see in Van..).

SINGING NEVER ENDS

I am so serious.  Thomas and I were laughing our heads off at the ridiculous number of chants and songs being sung.  Even when a goal is scored for the away team, they still sing.  And when the home team scores, even the CLAPPING is synchronized to the same beat: clap, clap, clap, clap!  Want to check out my video (and others from the game) that shows you what I mean? http://www.dropshots.com/katinamtam#date/2010-11-21/09:15:40

So that basically sums of Swedish hockey.  I didn't even mention the results of the game - Stockholm won, 4-2 - and good thing they did, or else there may have been some kind of riot.  And I did get to see Adam Larsson and a few other ex-NHL players.  The caliber is very high, and it felt like I was watching a regular NHL game (excluding the songs).

Wow.  Beneath that calm Swede sitting next to you is actually a Mr. Hyde (while not as creepy).  Go check out an Elitserien game for yourself if you don't believe me!

A great night at  a good 'ol (Swedish) hockey game.

Stand

Cause when push comes to shove
You taste what you're made of
You might bend til you break
Cause it's all you can take

On your knees you look up
Decide you've had enough
You get mad, you get strong
Wipe your hands, shake it off
Then you stand


Every time you get up
And get back in the race
One more small piece of you
Starts to fall into place


...then you stand...

Of castles, Harry Potter, and haggis

My trip to the U.K. last week included a visit to a beautiful and historic city, called Edinburgh..

Arthur's Seat, totally conquerable!

At the top of Arthur's Seat, with incredible views of Edinburgh.

The day I arrived, it was (apparently shockingly for the Scots) not raining, so Judy suggested we go up Arthur's Seat, a fabulous hill in Holyrood Park, where, once you get to the top, can see the entire city.  Good thing we did it, because it rained for the rest of the time I was there!

Edinburgh Castle

Queen E's crib ;)

The next day, I did my touristy bit, checking out the Edinburgh Castle, Holyroodhouse Palace (where Queen Elizabeth II stays whenever she's in Scotland), and Calton Hill.

The Elephant House

"Birthplace of Harry Potter."

This Hogwarts lookalike is just beside the Elephant House!

I had no idea that J.K. Rowling resides in Edinburgh!  The Elephant House is one of several coffee shops in the city that claims to be the "birthplace of Harry Potter," where J.K. Rowling wrote the book, drawing inspiration from the nearby school that ressembles Hogwarts.  What do you think?

Famous statue of Greyfriar's Bobby.

When I was child, my mom bought me a book about cutesy dog stories, which included the tale of Greyfriar's Bobby, the little terrier that visited his dead master's grave for 14 years, until the dog finallly died.  I had the chance to visit Bobby's grave, his statue, and also Greyfriar's Kirk, the famous graveyard.  

Mmmmmmmm!!

And what's a visit to Scotland without some Haggis? Heck yes, I went to World's End for its Haggis with Neeps and Tatties (mashed turnips and potatoes) and a whisky cream sauce.  

The Heart of Midlothian, spit in it as you walk by!

On the last day, we went on a FREE tour of the city, which was really, really great.  You meet outside of Starbucks (and can get a 10% discount if you're part of the tour) and walk for 3 hours around the city.  Lots of history to learn about, and I would definitely recommend it!  

Pretty :)

haha...what..!

I really liked Edinburgh, it's a beautiful city (when it's not windy and raining..) and so much cool history to it.  I had a nice reunion with Judy (re-living U21 memories!), fun shopping, and of course, nice food adventures.  About the picture above, apparently it's quite common in flats to have the washing machine in the kitchen!  Am I the only one who thinks this is really weird?

From Canada, with (azn) love

From Canada, with love!!

What does the BEST package from home include? Pocky, Hello Panda, pork floss, dried shitake mushrooms, century egg, Japenese green tea, and glutinous rice balls with red bean filling!  

That's right, suckas, my awesome parents lovingly sent me a gift from home: a package filled with some of my favourite "azn" foods that I'm currently missing.

Sooooo happy that I've been re-united with century eggs!

It's funny how there are so many things that you take for granted back at home, but when you're in a totally different continent where the gastronomical preferences are slightly different from those in Vancouver, you really appreciate a gesture like this!




I can't wait to freak out my friends with the new goods, make a real pot of congee, and enjoy some glutinous rice balls for dessert!

How do you know what you want to do?

For the past couple of years, I've been asked the following question: "Do you know what you want to do?" And no, this doesn't refer to when me and my friend are trying to decide what to do on a Friday night (although that does happen often), but more so in the educational context.  I guess I'm at that point in my life where I'm so close to graduating and have to start to seriously think about what I plan on doing next year, five years or even ten years (scary!).  As my year on exchange progresses, I find myself being asked that question more and more often.  And I always have the same answer: "I don't really know.." *nervous laugh*"

But it's time, isn't it?  What do I want to do?

Some of my friends are already graduated and working - as in working in real grown-up type of jobs.  With sixteen consecutive years of school under my belt, my natural instinct kicks in - I don't feel ready for that yet, for that responsibility, not being a student anymore.  My life revolves so much around school and my friends at school.  Not taking classes, having (study) parties, and even stressing over the dreaded exams is, to be really honesty, hard to imagine. 

In that case, it's easy, you tell me.  Go for grad school! Get a Masters! Further your education!  It's a rather tempting idea - remain a student for at least two more years, get a nifty M.sc on my diploma...but what for?  Is it a necessary thing, having two extra years of school? Will it really "further my education"?  And to answer that question, I need to find out what kind of career I want.   

I'll very likely end up applying for grad school (mental note to self: check application deadlines!) but need to start coming up with my options: jobs to apply for, internships, and all that fun stuff.  

So I leave with a couple questions for you: how will I be able to find out what I want to do? How did you know? 

Or maybe a sudden revelation will happen while I'm in Scandinavia. Wouldn't that be nice..