Scary food

I love junk food as much as anybody and there is no doubt about it that I've eat a lot of it through the years. Thankfully as I grow older and wiser I learnt that it didn't keep me very full, it was too fat which often gave me a stomach ache and it wasn't really that tasty after all. Still do I have a thing for fish and chips, especially chips and if they are freshly made and golden crisp then I've died and gone to heaven. At least for a while.

From time to time you read about scary food. Food that is so full of calories that you really shouldn't eat in days after having one serving, or the size of the portion is actually made for 2 or 3 people. To me it seems like the product developers (or cooks God forbid) take one of the meals with the most calories and than add it to another. Like Paula Deen's fried cheese cake or Lasagne sandwich. A real New York style cheese cake is one of the best deserts there is, why on earth would I like to put that in the deep-fryer? You are just ruining it. I lived in Texas so I know you fry everything down there (Mars bars so delicious), but some things are just not made to be deep fried.

Today there was another list out with scary food. Some of it didn't look that bad (I'm hungry), but one thing really got me wondering - Fried Cheese Melt with wavy fries and marinara from Denny's. Fried cheese sticks covered in more yellow cheese in between two slices of bred. It doesn't even look good. It looks scary. I had to look twice to really understand what it was. And in my book if you have to have second look because you can't figure out what it is, then it's not food.

Food should be bright and colourful inviting you to dig in. The first bite should put a smile on your face and when you're done eating you should feel happy and satisfied. Eating should be a joy and pleasure where all 5 senses are involved. Eating is not only fuel. Eating good and healthy food is showing your body the respect it deserves, and by respecting it the body gives you a good and healthy life back.

Rainy weekend in the woods

Just back from a rainy weekend in the woods visiting the best 4-year-old in the world, her parents, her aunt the English Lady, her uncle the The Tall Man and her grandma, my aunt.

As usual always lovely to see all of them, but the weather could have been better. A lot better. Yesterday it actually rained 55 millimetres in just a couple of hours which caused sever flooding and damages to many roads. Somehow we managed to get stuck right in the middle of and got redirected to drive on some pretty tiny country roads that were not made for this sort of traffic. Two big lorries where too heavy for the soaked ground so one side of the road caved in. Redirected to another road that road was already under water when we arrived so again we had to turn around. Trying a third road the took half way around the county finally got us home safe and sound.

The plan had been for a long time to fire up the BBQ for supper as this probably would be the last chance time for the year. Almost as a miracle the rain stopped just enough to get the BBQ going and cooking some lovely steaks and then the downpour started again.

The rain just went on and on and in the evening the temperature dropped to 9 degrees C. Freezing cold so we decided to light a fire. Yes light a fire in August, but last night it did not feel like August it felt like late November.

This morning we actually woke up to a blue sky but that lasted for about an hour and then the rain started again. Another fire was definitive in order and we stayed in the warm and cosy living room most of the day.

The trip back home to about an hour longer than normal. The main roads were open again even though quite limited and we were told just to use the lane closest to the middle. Back home in the city it looked like it had been a great sunny late summer's weekend, but then the rain started here too. If it continues tomorrow and the rest of the week I'm seriously considering building an ark.

Warm salsa and grilled haloummi on ciabatta

At the moment I'm obsessed with food, more than usual I might have to add. I read cookbooks, go to the supermarket at least twice a week, visit the farmers market whenever possible and last but not least I cook. I cook a lot. I'm back in the kitchen again trying out both new recopies and food.

On Monday night I tried doing warm salsa which was so simple and very nice that I have a feeling I'll be doing it over and over again. Fry some red onion and garlic in olive oil. Add finely chopped plum tomatoes and some balsamic vinegar. Stir until everything comes together and tomatoes are melting. Add a touch of water if it gets too sticky. Set aside while you fry or grill two slices of haloummi cheese.

Cut a ciabatta in half and spread the salsa on one half. Put the grilled cheese on top. Let it stand for a minute or two so the juices from salsa can go into the bred. Serve with mixed leaves. Dead simple and so very, very nice. The combination of sweet tomatoes with somewhat salty cheese is perfect. As a topping on a chewy ciabatta (preferable a day old) it makes you think about sunny days in Italy and lunch at local trattorias. It can't get much better than that when it's pouring outside and the wind is hauling.

More books

Having been back at work for more than two weeks now (time flies) I still try to keep up my reading habit. Reading is good both for your body and mind.

Solace of the road
Holly Hogan is a 14 year old who has been living in residential care home and now lives in a foster home. She has pretty much locked away what happened in the past, but she daydreams about going to Ireland to find her mother.

One day Holly finds her foster-mum's long blond wig. Putting it on she becomes Solace. A women of the world who makes her own choices, and not the restrained Holly who just does what she's told. Wearing the wig as Solace and with not very much money she hits the road to go to Ireland.

It's a rather bitter sweet story of all those children who grow up with the state and social workers who say they care, but the children hardly feel it. At the same as you you feel sorry for Holly/Solace and her life you also feel hope. Hope that life and the future can always be better.

You don't have to be good
Bea is woman who all her life has been good, sensible and dependable. Married to a man who only thinks about himself and with a job at the city council which means drowning in emails she decides to disappear one day. She has had enough of being good.

Her husband gets suspected of murder. Her sister, the high flying career woman, slowly breaks a part. The only ones dealing rather good with Bea's disappearance is her nice and nephew who also try to solve the mystery of why she vanished.

The ending wasn't really what I expected but it's quite a compelling story of what happens to the ones left behind when someone disappears.

The perfect cereal

I'm on a quest to find the perfect cereal, or at least a cereal that I like. Growing up cereals were something other families ate for breakfast. We were a pure bread family and sometimes eggs on weekends. Probably why I still find fried egg and toast very comforting.

When going to school in Texas I think I tried every possible cereal out there and I did find a favourite - Apple and Cinnamon Cherrios. I've never found them in Sweden, which probably is good because they are not as healthy as they look. Or at least that's what I've been told.

Trying to eat better and healthier the last couple of years I've been doing porridge for breakfast during the week and cereals for the weekend. Still though I haven't found a cereal that I can call a favourite. The one that I keep coming back to whenever I need a bit of rest in my quest is Special K Red Berries. It's a nice mix, but I need to eat to a lot to keep me full. Otherwise I'm jut hungry in an hour again. And yes Special K Chocolate and Strawberries is nice to. Especially when you want and need chocolate right this minute, but still it's not a good breakfast cereal.

Yesterday and this morning I tried Nestlé Fitness whole grain flakes which I really liked. Especially how crunchy they were and that they actually kept me full until lunchtime. I will give it a couple of more weekends before I can tell it's the perfect cereal or not, because it has to be out there somewhere.

Photo of the day

Stena Germanica III

Stena Germancia arrived today in Gothenburg harbour. She's one of the largest passenger ferries in the world and will sail on the route Gothenburg-Kiel (Germany).

I took quite a few photos and since it was very cloudy and about to rain any minute most photos got rather dark, besides this one. Just when she arrives with a tog boat saluting her the sun breaks through the clouds for a couple of seconds. Just like the sun wanted to say hello and welcome as well.

Artichokes

Last week for the first time in my life I cooked fresh artichokes. They were really cheap at the Farmer's Market so I thought why not. Having heard all these stories about how difficult they are to cook I did a search on the Internet and found an excellent site from Ocean Mist Farms.

After watching two or three of their videos on how to prepare artichokes and went ahead and tried myself. Cutting of the top, into a big pot of boiling water with lots of salt. Boil for around 30-35 minutes or until stem is soft. While the artichokes were boiling I mixed butter, salt, black-pepper and a squeeze of lemon.

The artichokes were done when the stem was soft and I could pull out the leaves without any problems. Still steaming hot I pulled out a leaf and dipped it in the butter mix. Oh My God, for a while I thought I had died and gone to heaven. The artichoke melted in my mouth and the butter and spices mixed very well with that slightly tart taste from the leave. So I had another leaf and another one and another one. Suddenly I realised I eaten a full artichoke standing next to the kitchen sink. For the next one I sat down by the kitchen table, and I'm sure I said plenty of ohh-s and aah-s, because fresh boiled artichoke was plain delicious. It's probably a bit an acquired taste, but when you get it you get it. And it's well worth a try and not difficult at all to cook.

Björns Bar

Björn Bar is one of my favourite places in town to get top notch food in a very laid back and relaxed environment. Placed in the basement of Kock & Vin, one of Gothenburg's Michelin star restaurants owned by Björn Persson, hence the name Björn's Bar.

A friend of mine and I usually go there once or twice a year to indulge on culinary delights such as duck liver, oysters, cheeses, sausages and hams. All paired with of course excellent wines.

On Friday my friend and I had both survived first week back at work after the holidays and of course a celebration was needed. Since you can't make a reservation you need to arrive early and that especially on a Friday night. We arrived around 6 pm and the place was already almost full. Neither of us was really hungry yet so we started with an Australian Riesling and catching up on things. Quickly we realised we hadn't talked properly since early May when we went to rosé wine tasting in pouring rain.

Sitting next to the bar I watched the chef prepare plates with foie gras, bleak roe, smoked deer, truffle salami, chorizo and pecorino cheese along with home made bread. After having seen four or five plates go out I just told my friend that's what I'm having tonight. My friend had been watching the chef as well and just like me her mouth was watering. Two gourmet platters please.

To drink our waiter recommended a full bodied golden Bourgogne with lots of oak. Pure heaven according to my taste buds, whereas my friend found it too oaky and went with a Portuguese wine that was more fruity and light.

I don't think I have had foie gras since my last trip to Paris almost 5 years ago. Nevertheless it tasted just like I remembered and more or less melted in my mouth. I'm pretty sure I uttered some Oh My God and heavy sighs. The roe was perfect too and even though I tried to savour every piece it was gone in two or three bites. The different cured meats and pecorino was absolutely amazing too. Talking a lot it probably took us an hour to finish. That's the nice thing with cold food. It never goes cold if you talk too much.

Deciding on desert was easy – Crème brûlée. On previous visits it had been perfect and this time was no exception. To match the vanilla and sugary top our waiter recommended us to try a South African desert wine. Golden brown with strong notes of raisins. Again it was a match made in heaven and we both sighed with delight.

When it was time to leave we both agreed that Björns Bar still is an epicurean heaven, and we'll come back for more, as always.

London photo of the day

My friends in London often tease me because I always take photos of buildings, people, signs, food and so on. I always have the camera in my bag because you never know what you will find. Landmarks like St Paul's Cathedral, Gherkin, London Bridge, London Eye and Big Ben are my favourites. You can always find a new angle or the sun is shining in a special way or there is a close up you haven't thought about before. St Paul's Cathedral and Gherkin have a special spell on me. Both probably because they are also are beautiful pieces of art and design.

Earlier this week just for fun I uploaded my favourites London photos to Mesomo which run photo sites for London, Paris, New York, Munich and Berlin. Every day people get to vote for which photo that are going to be the London photo of the day. This morning I had a tweet saying that today's photo was going to be my photo of Gherkin. Yeah!

Even though it's just a website I feel quite honoured and happy. Taking all those photos for years finally paid off.

A bit of reading

As a great end to my summer holiday I spent most of the weekend reading. Raining and being rather cold it was totally OK to curl up on the sofa with a blanket and just read. One of the best things to do.

The brightest star in the sky
Marian Keyes is the Queen of chick-lit but this was not one of her better ones. The brightest star in the sky tells the story of the people living on 66 Start Street in Dublin. The soon 40 years old music exec, the happy couple (or so at least it looks like), the gardener who prefer plants to people and the female cabbie who shares a flat with two Polish guys. During some months we get to follow them and see how their life and stories to get interwoven together and in the end nothing will the same again.

As usual Keyes' characters are lovely, cosy and Irish and you just have to like them. Unfortunately the story lacks that extra fun and wit that has been Keyes' signature mark for her books. This book is just one of many other and does not stand out in the chick-lit flood.

Meltdown
Six friends from uni and their life through the 1990's and the Noughties. Six friends who got it all, families, friends and fortune and never thought things would change so quickly as it did in the autumn of 2008. Six friends who suddenly are hit by failure instead of success and that's when real life begins.

A funny and satirical take on the credit crunch and the British MPs allowance scandal, which they all were part of creating.

Back to work

Amazing how quickly four weeks can pass by. Tomorrow it's time to go back to work and to the real world. As usual it doesn't sound very tempting and I have to admit that I felt rather anxious earlier this week thinking about it. Now, well I have a job and it's not as bad as I think. It will take a couple of days and then I'm back at things again. Also I have had a great month off. Great new memories with great people, great food and wine and most of all time to relax and wind down.

But really summer isn't over just because it's back to work. (Even though it feels so right now with pouring rain) The better part of August is left and September is usually rather nice too. Watching a film the other day set in a cold and crisp autumn's day actually got me longing a bit for autumn. At least those cold and crisp days, not the rain... Life goes on and so does the good things.

Brighton 24 years on

I went down to Brighton for a day on my last trip to London. On my way down there I realised it had been 24 years since my last visit. Back then I was one of many, many student who comes to the English south coast to learn English during the summer. Staying in Hastings for a month one of the many daytrips was of course Brighton. Like most days that month it rained and we got totally soaked visiting the pier (which for us looked just like the one in Hastings), the aquarium and the Royal Pavilion. I also have vague memories of us trying to get dry at some local hamburger restaurant.

So now going there as an adult I of course wanted to do the same things again. OK, maybe not the aquarium, but definitely the pier and the Royal Pavilion. And probably some nice place to have lunch.

Getting off the train from London Bridge about 10:30 I immediately walked into a big group of Swedish students. For a second it felt like time had stood still. They even had the same backpacks as I did. The way they talked and acted also remembered me how it was to be away from home in another country and only relay on other Swedes you just met. To take care of yourself and try to be as grown up as possible. I don't think they realised I was Swedish and understood every word they were saying. If they did notice me I was probably yet another boring English woman...

The first sight of the sea did as always make me very happy. I just love the ocean.Walking down towards the beach and pier I very quickly noticed that nothing had changed. Brighton is the typical seaside town to the core. Nothing has changed and probably never will. The sea was rather rough and dark clouds were moving in but still the beach was full of people. Not dressed in bathing suits, but nevertheless there. Everywhere you could buy souvenirs, chips, cotton candy and of course soft ice cream with the 99 flake.

I made it over to the pier and God knows how many flashbacks I had thinking about my two summers in Hastings. The pier was the place to be, and sometimes even underneath the pier... Seeing all the attractions at the end of the pier also brought back memories and when I found an "authentic" fish and chip shop I just had to buy some. Couldn't get more by the seaside than that. In my youth I hated malt vinegar on the chips, but now. Divine.

Done with the pier I walked up to the Royal Pavilion. Criss crossing pass student everywhere. Did we really move in such a big groups? And was really things that boring? Probably, because we were teenagers. The Royal Pavilion was amazing. Both on the outside and the inside. And the kitchen. Quite some state of the art back then.

Before heading for London again I did a bit wondering around, and yes Brighton is cute seaside town as long as you stay away from all the students and rowdy people around the beach front. God, I sound so boring... But what to expect. I came to Brighton on a Saturday in July. I wouldn't mind coming there on a lovely sunny autumn's day in September or early October. Just like here in Sweden the coast is at its best right before or right after peak season.

So conclude it all, 24 years on. Brighton will always be a very British seaside town and everything that comes with it. Love or hate it. I do both. Very much.

The last letter from your lover

Last night I finished reading The last letter from your lover by Jojo Moyes. A fantastic love-story for all of us who have become rather tired of the chick lit clichés.

In the early 60's Jennifer has an affair with another man. A man who wants her to leave her husband and they are very close. A car accident comes between and Jennifer gets told her lover is dead. 4 years later they meet again... In present time Ellie, a new journalist having an affair with a married man, finds the love letters written by Jennifer and her lover. Intrigued and fascinated by the story Ellie decides to find out what really happened.

It's a beautiful story about love, passion and doing the right thing. Back in the '60 leaving your husband for another man wasn't really comme il faut. Today having a a lover might not rise any eyebrows, but when the excitement wears off and you only get an hour here and there. Is that love? Or passion?

Jojo Moyes mixes old and modern love in a well written story about the the two things we can't control, love and and passion. A great read whether on the beach or in my case a Saturday night.