Keeping with tradition.

Updating ridiculously late when it comes to too many pictures and too many pictures to wrap my head around. So here is a simple picture story of my wonderful 2 weeks in Kansas.

I got to share my sisters first legal drink with her on her 21st birthday.

Spend time with creepy face santa in my mom's beautifully decorated house full of love, laughs, food and people I love.

Spend ''quality time'' with my ridiculous best friend, Teryl.

Spend time with my daddy.

Meet Jayme's baby boy, Rowan.

Throw a bridal shower for my best friend, Ashley and spend time with my girlfriends.

Watch Tanner be a crazy 3 year old boy.

Eat with my mom, sisters and niece at Ruths house.

Dress up like a present and act ridiculous with my girlfriends

Celebrate Christmas with my girlfriends at our annual Christmas party for the first time in 2 years.

Share laughs, smiles, drinks and good times with these beautiful women.

Be in amazement at this young lady. She is spectacular and I love her so much!

Watch the joy on a 7 year olds face while she opened her first Easy Bake.

Watch my mother be an amazing ''yaya''.

See my nephew wear a Swedish cartoon shirt :)

Watch my sister with her fiance and feel so excited that they found each other and will have a life with each other.

Spend time with my brothers and sisters and create new inside jokes ''Jesus Christ hoodies''.

Celebrate my niece's 7th birthday with her and providing a Swedish touch with Pippi Longstocking decorations.

Spend time with my big brother, who I am so amazed by and proud of.

Joy.

Love.

Those 2 weeks were so full of amazing things, times, memories, food, drinks, and I could go on! I am so thankful I have such a home to visit and so many people to see.

Now in 2012 we are enjoying our time together! I love living in Sweden and I love being with Fredrik. My heart is so full and I really feel like a lucky person!

Thanksgiving (a bit later)

I know it has been 2 weeks since my big party, but I was waiting on my dear friend, Crystal to get the pictures to me. As many hostess' know, it's not easy hosting and taking pictures! So Crystal was in charge of the pictures! And she always does a great job!
My glögg station. This was at the front door! First things first, alcohol!

The only down side to not taking your own pictures, you end up in a couple. Haha. Notice the food lined up and ready to be eaten!
Crock pot creamed corn, mashed potatoes, honey glazed ham, turkey and gravy being made!

Yammy Yams!These were in the rolls. Each roll at a different thing to say. This one was funny because there was actually a very small out break of ecoli at the school my friends work for (which I used to work for) and we had discussed it earlier in the evening and how awful it was. My friend's son got this and said 'I am thankful that I don't have...ecoli'. Priceless!A plate full of food!The guests! This is fewer people than expected, but I have winter cold and flu season to thank for that! Still a great turn out and lots of fun!My lovely photographer, Crystal, and her husband Thomas!Have to say thank you to my wonderful husband who helped with SO much! He dealt with extra tables, chairs, decorating and a wife who had 1 or 2 close nervous breakdowns! I am such a lucky person to have this man by my side.Time for dessert! Homemade apple cider made an appearance and it was delish!
Pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin cream cheese bread and apple pie!
Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, pumpkin cream cheese dip with ginger cookies and some chocolate covered pretzels.
And it's definitely not a party if you don't have the children jumping on all the coats on your bed!
And a minor above the eyebrow head injury!
Even made them take home a ball of pumpkin spice popcorn! Keep em' fed!

This truly was a pleasure to have and I felt so loved and happy that I have so many people, after only 1 year in Sweden, to invite to my home, share an amazing tradition with, and call my friends. It felt like a real family, traditional Thanksgiving!

Now that Thanksgiving is over, I have Christmas to look forward to! And holy cow, what a Christmas I have! In less than 5 days I will be headed to Kansas for a 2 week, much needed, Christmas with the family! It has been 2 years since I celebrated Christmas in Kansas and it will be a sure welcome feeling. I will miss Mr. Josefsson like crazy, but this is the life we, and I, have chose. Luckily, I get the best of both worlds. I wouldn't trade this life for anything else! It's so full of excitement! I feel like everyday is some sort of adventure. Not only do exciting things happen to me, on a regular basis, but embarrassing things, too. And that is just funny!

So hopefully I will have time to update while I am in Kansas, but I hope I am so busy I won't have time! No offense dear readers. Plus, most of you who read are Kansans! No need to update, I'll be there!

it's never too early

• In the words of one of my dear friends 'Don't you dare mock me for being early or I'm liable to bite your head off'. I feel the same way. Christmas has always been a time in my family to relax, spend time together, enjoy and be jolly! So if I wait until AFTER Thanksgiving to put up my decorations, I have what...a few weeks to enjoy? I'm sorry, but I want to enjoy and feel this warm, cozy, loving, holiday feeling 2 months out of the year. Plus, I was chomping at the bit to start decorating. This is mine and Mr.Josefsson's first Christmas in our own apartment together! Decorating is not a burden to me. Mr. Josefsson is more than willing to help! So it's a wonderful time for us to spend together sharing ideas and enjoying each other's company!
  

• I know Christmas and the holidays are not about the decorations or the presents, but it feels so warm, cozy, and lovely with lights up and nice smelling candles and with a fresh look to our apartment. We love change. I guess, I love change. It's fun to redecorate, especially if you have a certain goal. So thank you, Sarah, for those words! Her blog is http://http://farthingboys.blogspot.com/ and she has some wonderful words to say about Christmas and this time of year. Plus, she has cute videos and quotes from her darling twin boys!

Here is a glimpse of my decorations....

This tree looks quite ugly, but it was our first Christmas tree we had together while we were staying at his parents house when I first moved back to Sweden. The decorations are keychains for every country we have been to together. The silly santas were made by Mr. Josefsson when he was a child. Some of the ugliest or least stylish decorations are the most important and hold the best memories. I love this silly little tree.

A special shout out to Mr. Josefsson for taking this lovely picture of me! Thanks, babe! Haha! I especially love the candy wrappers spread all over the table and the dirty clothes draped over the chair. Wonderful housekeeping! Can't be perfect all the time, right!?

Last weekend we had a really relaxing wonderful weekend together and I whipped up an amazing batch of garlic breaksticks and creamy chicken piccata. The chicken, luckily for us, was actually grilled! Mr. Josefsson was cleaning out our outside shed and found an open bag of almost useless coal. He asked if I had anything I wanted to grill and I immediately thought about this recipe! Check it out.

• Chicken

Juice of 1 lemon (3 Tbsp)
3 Tbsp. olive oil
1 Tbsp. minced garlic
1 tsp. salt
1\4 tsp. black pepper
1\2 tsp. oregano and basil
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

• Pasta

2 cups dried penne pasta

2 Tbsp butter

Juice of 2 lemons (6 Tbsp)

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 cup half and half (or heavy cream)

2 tsp dried basil

2 Tbps capers

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

• Chicken

Combine first 6 ingredients and mix well. Place chicken in a ziplock bag and pour marinade over chicken. Marinate overnight in the refrigerator. When ready, grill until done. Allow chicken to rest for a few minutes and then slice into strips to serve over pasta.

• Pasta

While chicken is grilling. Cook pasta according to directions (10-12 minutes). Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain. In same sauce pan, melt butter over medium heat. Whisk in garlic and lemon juice. Pour in half and half and whisk until hot. Add some salt and pepper to taste. Add the parmesan cheese, basil and capers, and heat until cheese is melted. Check the consistency of the sauce and add some of the reserved pasta water to loosen the sauce if necessary. Toss in pasta.

• Garlic Bread

Turn oven onto low heat such as 50 degree. When it is preheated turn it off and close the door.

1\2 c. luke warm water

1 pkg. rapid rise yeast

1\2 c. luke warm milk

1\3 c. sugar

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1\3 c. melted butter

4 c. flour

• Let yeast dissolve in luke warm water for 1 minute. Add milk, sugar, egg, salt, melted butter and 2 c. flour. Mix until smooth. Add the rest of the flour and knead or mix for 3-4 minutes. Scrape out of bowl into new, greased bowl. Place a towel over bowl and place in proofed oven. Let rise for 1 hour or until doubled in size. Punch down and roll into long, breadstick shapes. Keep in mind they will double in size again, so don't make them too big! Let them rise another 30 minutes. Once risen, poured melted butter over them and sprinkle with garlic salt. Bake at 300 for about 10-15 minutes depending on how doughy you want them. Once you take them out pour a small amount of olive oil over them. This makes them really soft and gives that extra punch of flavor!

• I also had extra dough, since I was only baking for 2. So I used the extra to make mini monkey bread. Same recipe up until you form the dough. I rolled them into 3 smalls balls, rolled them in melted butter, then in cinnamon, brown sugar and pumpkin spice. There is also 2 chocolate chips in each ball. Just a little surprise for the mouth! These also take a little longer to bake. So give them an extra 5 or so minutes.

In other news. I am really pumping up for my Thanksgiving party! I have my menu and grocery list. Mr. Josefsson is going to take me on a huge shopping trip tomorrow and our fridge will be packed full with ingredients ready to be whipped up into a delicious meal! I took Friday off work so I can spend the whole day baking, cleaning and of course, tasting the food!

• Menu:

Turkey

Green bean casserole

Creamed corn

Stuffing

Sweet potato casserole

Mashed potatoes

Sweet yeast rolls

Cranberry sauce

Gravy

• Desserts and appetizers:

Pumpkin cheesecake (sorry, I don't get down on pumpkin pie)

Apple pie

Chocolate covered pretzels

Pumpkin popcorn

Gingersnaps with pumpkin dip

Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies

• I know this seems like a ridiculously long dessert menu, but honestly, that is the part I am most looking forward to! I hoarded all the pupmkin my mom sent me just for Thanksgiving! I want to bake and bake! The food is going to be delicious, also, but the baking is what is filling my mind wiht ideas and excitement!

• I will also have hot chocolate and apple cider and for the adults some glögg, which you might know as mulled red wine. It's so delicious! That is actually what one of the pictures above is, my glögg station. It's a small jug to fill with glögg which is heated by a small candle. Here, we drink glögg with chopped up almonds and raisins and of course...ginger cookies!

• I hope everybody is enjoying the beginning of the season as much as I am! I just love this time of year! I have always been a fan of the holidays and as an adult it hasn't gone away.

• ALSO in 22 days I will be on an airplane headed home! The amount of joy and excitement I have cannot be explained. Going home is always a wondeful thing, but to go home after 2 years away during the holidays feels really wonderful. My mother is the queen of decorating and the queen of Christmas. It feels so homey and wonderful. I absolutely cannot wait to spend time with my friends and family and enjoy every second I have home!

• Hope everybody has a wonderful Thanksgiving, as I probably won't have time to post before. I will take loads of pictures and give you a huge update ASAP!

• Love to all!

Birthday

Even though it was over a week ago, I thought I'd brag about my amazing birthday. Haha. Sorry, but it was really great.

It started Thursday night. I made these amazing cream cheese stuffed pumpkin cupcakes. Holy cow, people went crazy over these! Which puts a huge smile on my face! The best part is these make so much batter you can do so much with them. I made 12 cupcakes, 3 heart shaped cupcakes and a whole loaf of uh...cake bread. Perfect if you want to make one time for many occassions!

Now I usually just make stuff up as I go along, but these I followed precisely by this recipe-http://www.the-girl-who-ate-everything.com/2011/10/pumpkin-cream-cheese-muffins.html

These are amazing! Thank you, girl who ate everything!

btw, I made regular muffins are pictured first, the other one is a heart shaped muffin. I had just enough batter left for 3 adorable heart shaped muffins for my colleagues in my classroom. They are a little bigger! ;)

Then Friday the muffins went to work and were raviously eaten. I had my early day that day, so my weekend started at 1 in the afternoon! Nice way to start!

Fred and I had a cozy Friday night, which are always my favorite way to start the week!

Saturday morning we made yummy fried egg sandwiches and he told me, pack, we are going to a spa for the day and night! WHAT?! How exciting! I'd never been to a spa! What a great surprise. We went to Tylösand, which is about an hour drive. It's a lovely spa right next to the ocean with a beach sand beach. It would be the most amazing summer vacation as well.

We got there at 3 and went to the spa right away! Wonderful view from the spa, lovely hot tub, steam room, sauna, everything! I loved it! We then went to the room showered and shared a really yummy panchetta, sun dried tomato, mozzarella and lettuce bagel sandwich. Good stuff. Then we took a walk around the beach and took some nice pictures. (I feel obliged to tell you, we drank a lot of wine that night! But hey, why not!? We weren't driving anywhere! ;)

I love this guy, a lot.

We then had an amazing wine tasting followed by a 3 course meal. Oh man. Since this is a food blog, I must describe the main course. It was a rose fried duck breast, cooked perfectly. A shot of pear cream, a spring roll stuffed with wild rice and mushrooms and a fried edamame ball in an amazing soy sauce sauce. I ate as slow as possible, because it was so delicious. I want to cook like that every night!

Then we had a great time at a piano bar, followed by champagne at the night club in the hotel at midnight!

The breakfast buffe the next morning was also amazing. I love hotel breakfast! Haha. Guess it's a childhood memory thing. Or having everything you could ask for and not worry about dishes!

After that we went back to the spa for 2 hours and then I had a massage and then we went home.

I wasn't said though because I took Monday off work! We went to Ullared! Please wikiepdia Ullared. You will be amazed. It's a huge, Swedish version of Wal mart and people flock there. Yes, flock. It was amazing crowded the day we went. But I managed to buy some really cute baby clothes for all my nieces and nephews, loads of Christmas stuff and clothes! Go me.

Then the weekend was over, but it was amazing! Thanks to my wonderful husband for making me feel so special!

Now I'm off to make my never fail lasagne. I use spinach noodles that don't need to be cooked and layer on top of them browned ground beef with spagetti sauce, cottage cheese, mozz cheese. Followed by another layer. I make it the night before, usually. It just tastes better and has a better consistancy. Great for those nights you have so much to do! Love it!

I love board walks!

I also need to share with you, dear readers, that I have decided to have a Thanksgiving party. This party went for a couple girls baking and cooking together to now, what it seems to be, at least 24 people. Holy cow! It will be so amazing because there will be men, women and children for all parts of the world. America, England, Phillipines, Sweden, Croatia, Poland, etc. It nearly brings me to tears thinking of how amazing this Thanksgiving will be. Updates coming. Plus pictures of our DECORATED apartment! That's right, my Christmas tree is UP!

pumpkin eller pumpa

Pumpkin is on my mind. It's on my mind...a lot. I went on a wild goose chase the other weekend for canned pumpkin. Yea, that ended up as a nervous breakdown thinking ''how can I celebrate fall without pumpkin!?''. But as luck would have it, I have one of the best moms in the whole world. She is my pumpkin savor. Thank you, mom!

So I got off work early on Tuesday and decided to go all out. I boiled up some cider vinegar and plums, started on a pumpkin yeast dough, and started a pot of coffee. How did all of this end up...

Plum Pork Tenderloin

1 lb. pork tenderloin

1\2 c. apple cider vinegar

1\2 c. brown sugar

1\2 tsp. cinnamon

1\4 tsp. salt

1\4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1\8 tsp each ground cloves, cardamom and allspice

1 pork tenderloin (1 pound)

1\2 tsp. pepper

In a sauce pan bring pitted and halved plums and cider to a boil. Let simmer of medium heat for 10 minutes.

Take away from heat and let cool. Pour into a blender and pulse until smooth. Now you can either strain or leave it a bit chunky. Depends on how you like your sauce.

Place back into the pan and add brown sugar and all spices (except pepper). Bring to a boil then reduce heat and let simmer for 10 minutes occassionally stirring.

Place pork tenderloin in a crock pot or a pan and pour half of the sauce over and then sprinkle with pepper.

In a crock pot cook on low for about 2 hours occassionally basting. If in an oven bake at 350 for 40-50 minutes.

Serve over rice with saved sauce.

Tastes just like fall!

Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls

1\3 c. milk

2 Tbsp. butter

1\2 c. canned pumpkin

2 Tbsp. sugar

1\4 tsp nutmeg

1 1\2 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice

1\2 tsp. salt

1 beaten egg

1 package dry yeast

2 c. flour

1\2 c. packed brown sugar

2 tsp. cinnamon

2 Tbsp. melted butter

In a small bowl, microwave milk and butter until luke warm.

In a large bowl combine, pumpkin, sugar, nutmet, pumpkin pie spice and salt.

Add milk mixture, then beat in egg and yeast.

Add half the flour and mix for 4-5 minutes. Add the rest of the flour.

Place sticky dough in a lightly greased bow and let rise until doubled. (What I do, because I don't have a large microwave, I pre heat the oven at about 100 degrees while I am preparing the dough, then turn it off and put the bowl in).

Once doubled, place dough on a lightly floured surface and roll out in a 10x12 in. square.

Brush with melted butter and then sprinkle brown sugar and cinnamon on top.

Roll from the long side.

I used fishing line to cut roll into 12 equal rolls. Super easy.

Place in a prepared 11x17 in. pan. and let almost double in size.

Once doubled bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes.

OMG, these are good. I love the orangey color and holy moly, they smell good from beginning to end!

Pumpkin spice coffee

I started with an entire mix of ''pumpkin milk''.

1. c milk

1\4 c. canned pumpkin

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. all spice

2 tsp. pumpkin spice

3 Tbsp. sugar

1. tsp. vanilla

I brewed a very strong pot of pumpkin flavored coffee with cinnamon sprinkled ontop of the coffee grounds.

Poured into a glass and added about 3 Tbsp. pumpkin milk and topped off with whipped cream and a little sprinkle of nutmeg. Yea, I almost cried it tasted so good.

Last weekend we celebrated Fredrik's birthday and my birthday with Fred's family. What a wonderful family he has, and now, I have. They are fantastic, kind, fun, loving and just plain amazing. We received some really nice presents and had a really cozy time with them!

In Sweden it is very typical to make your own cake for your birthday. So I made my never fail vanilla cake with butter cream\cream cheese\whipped cream frosting. Yea, it's so good. Unfortunately my decorating skills aren't up to par at 7 am (when I woke up Saturday morning to decorate it). So it's a little bit pathetic, but hey, it tasted fantastic.

We also got to spend some time with Lukas and Agnes, which always make me happy!

I'm a sucker for their big blue eyes!

I also took pictures of logs. Swedish logs are everywhere right now, and they smell good!

This weekend I have no idea what Fred has planned for my birthday. But I am not allowed to make plans for Saturday night. So we will see! Turning 25 feels like a big deal and I don't know why. I guess because in Sweden it is sort of a ''big birthday''. They haven't had a ''big birthday'' since the 20th birthday (the drinking age here). So maybe that is why. But as one of my friends put it I will be ''a quarter of a century old''. Yikes!

Happy Fall Ya'll!

baby apple pies

This past Tuesday my sister-in-law, Hanna, her husband, Andreas and their adorable daughter Agnes came over for dinner. Agnes turned 6 months old last week. I cannot understand how time is going by so quickly! I felt like it was just yesterday Hanna told us she was pregnant!

I love that worried face she has!

Her cheeks are amazingly soft and adorable!

The day they came over was my 'early day'. Which means I had to be at work at 6 am, but I got to leave at 1:30 pm. I really love these days. 6 is very early but it honestly feels like I have a day off when I go home so early! So I had lots of time to make a delicious dinner! I made some cumin bread, crock pot chili, apple ginger punch and baby apple pies. Now this is another thing that is different in Sweden. They have apple pie, but it's not like the American apple pie we think of. An apple pie here has the same fillings but not the same crust. It's simply butter, flour and a bit of sugar sprinkled on top. Still delicious with a lot less work!

I got this apple pealer, slicer and corer (?) from a student at the last school I worked at. This is one of my favorite student gifts ever. What a cute and sweet idea! I use it so much, especially with the season!

Look at how beautiful that is! Takes out so much work!

Baby apple pies

4 apples, if I were in Kansas I'd be using some red delicious! Unfortunately we don't have those here!

1 Tbsp. sugar, depending on the tartness of the apples you are using. You can adjust to your liking!

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. all spice

1 tsp. nutmeg

Peal, core and slice apples according to however big your like your apples to be in a pie. I like them quite small so I cut the sliced apple in sections of 4.

Mix in sugar, cinnamon, all spice and nutmeg and distribute amongst 4 individual baking ramikins.

For the topping

4 Tbsp. butter

2 Tbsp. flour

2 Tbsp. oats (optional)

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

Mix flour, oats, brown sugar and cinnamon. Cut butter into dry ingredients. Distribute into ramikins on to apple mixture.

Bake at 400 for about 25 minutes. The goal is for the topping to be brown, crustry, buttery deliciousness.

PS. Sorry I didn't take a picture of the end product! But I can guarantee I topped it with 2 heaping scoops of vanilla ice cream!

I also wanted to add on that...

Apple Ginger Punch

1 c. sugar

1 galon apple cider

1 tbsp. cinnamon

1 tbsp. all spice

1 can frozen orange juice concentrate

1 liter ginger ale

In a pan mix sugar, 1 cup apple cider, cinnamon and all spice. Simmer on medium heat until sugar is dissolved. Take from heat and add orange juice and remaining apple cider. Chill in the fridge over night. Add ginger ale immediately before serving.

I also think it's fun to make either some ice cubes with tiny orange bits or an ice ring with a bundt pan and a few slices of orange if you are serving in a large punch bowl!

This drink is also really good served warm!

Happy fall!