Later today I’m off to spend a couple of days with my mom down south but before I leave I thought I’d share a few photos from last night. Martin came over for lunch and we exchanged gifts. This year was tricky in terms of gift giving for Wille because the only thing he could think of that he wanted were a pair of jeans and some PJ bottoms. Yeah, I know, all grown up! At the same time I enjoyed the challenge and came up with some additiional things I knew he would enjoy like these Old Fashioned glasses, this, this and this book, binoculars, a James Bond DVD and the piece de resistance, a banjo which came as a complete surprise to him which was great. We had a mini version of traditional Christmas smörgåsbord with stuff like pickled herring (remember the one I got at Skansen?), smoked salmon, ham, smoked lamb shank, sausages and cheeses. We also had some home made Rocky Road and the Åre chocolates I got from Anne. Btw Åre’s a ski resort in the north and I used to go there quite often when I worked at my former job. When I used to go there it was early days chocolate making. Now they’re famous. Gotta love a success story! Mini and Bonus also got gifts in the shape of Yeowwws but of course the most interesting of all were the boxes, wrapping paper and string. If you have cats and aren’t familiar with Yeowwws btw, check them out, Mini and Bonus LOVE them and they’re really finicky when it comes to catnip toys. I hope you guys had/have a great Christmas too!
Christmas Eve Recap
So we had Advent first on Sunday. It marks the start of holiday décor over here and it’s lovely seeing all the lights, paper stars and decorations go up in the neighborhood. I’m keeping it super simple this year too. I bought this candle holder a few years ago through work but haven’t gotten around to using it but this year it holds the advent candles. Also present in this year’s décor are some huge pine cones and of course the Amaryllis. Lussebullar are a given and this year I made them with almond paste filling. They are not the prettiest things you ever saw but do taste so good. In the kitchen I have this little arrangement going on, hyacinths and a mini juniper with some moss around. Like I said, keeping it simple.
Advent
Happy thanksgiving, guys! My dinner club members and I celebrated ours early. Say hi to Sarah! Us dinner club members, Kerstin, Jenny, Sarah and I rotate the club dinners at our houses and this time around we were at Kerstin’s place, three houses from mine. There were cosmos… … while the last bits of preparations were done. And then we sat down for traditional turkey… … stuffing, cranberry sauce, sweet potato mash and brussel sprouts… … at the beautifully set Thanksgiving table. For three quarters of us this was our first ever proper Thanksgiving dinner and of course we topped it off with a delicious pecan pie. I had it easy this time around and just supplied the drinks. That dessert wine was oh so good if I do say so myself! Thanks girls for a lovely evening! Hope you have a great Thanksgiving! I know I have a lot to be thankful for.
Happy Thanksgiving!