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29.3.12

Trail Mix Bar & Lederhosen

I work for an insurance agency and last night we had a 40th anniversary Business After Hours networking event.
We had a great time.
Below are the two biggest hits of the evening:

1) Trail mix bar - thank you Pinterest!


2) Sam dressed up in German lederhosen - thank you Susi :)



28.3.12

Swedish Cinnamon Buns



Swedish Vetebröd recipe from cooking class 1999 during my year in Sweden
My morfar's parents owned a bakery in Siljansnäs, Sweden. Growing up, he assisted in baking and delivering the yummy baked goods. When I spent my sophomore year in Sweden, I took a cooking class AND spent time with my morfar, perfecting learning baking skills. Above is the recipe taken from Vår Kokbok with my notes and an additional "filling" recipe my friend Lillemor (a talented Swedish baker). She tipped me off on the filling years ago, and it makes the buns THAT much better. I promise!
Last week I decided to make Swedish Cinnamon Buns because I was hosting a ladies night AND I wanted to bring them to the Gordon College Women's Lacrosse Team (more on that in another post).

Rising dough... mmm...
This particular dough uses cardamom. Mmm... it makes the kitchen smell so delicious. I love it.

Rolling out the dough



Prepped for the filling.

Spreading the filling nice & THICK!
This is the filling I was referencing above. Special recipe from Lillemor the baker. :)

Sprinkling the cinnamon... it's always good to be generous

Note: The above is my first round of cinnamon... :)

Rolled and sliced, ready to rise.

Rising.

More cinnamon buns rising.

Into the oven.

More goodness into the oven

Outta the oven. YUM!

Swedish Cinnamon Buns
48 buns (love these, morning, noon, night & Christmas)

50 g yeast (5 tsp dry yeast)
2/3 cup – ¾ cup butter
2 cups milk
½ tsp salt
½ cup sugar
1 – 2 tsp cardamom
6 cups flour

Melt the butter in a pan on the stove; add the milk.
Warm it just enough (think baby’s bottle wrist check)
Add the yeast and use a whisk to thoroughly mix it (sometimes I mix the sugar in at the same time), remember, if it
In a separate large bowl combine, salt, sugar, cardamom, and most of the flour. Slowly add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and work it into a ball of dough. Let it rise for 30 minutes (or until it has doubled in size).
Take the ball of dough and split it in half. On a floured counter-top, roll one of the halves into a rectangle about ½ cm thick. Spread it with the filling (your choice) and roll it into a cylinder shape and slice into buns. Repeat with the other ball of dough.
Place the buns on a greased baking sheet and let them rise for 30 minutes. “Paint” the buns with a whisked egg and bake in the middle of the oven at 425 F for 5 – 8 minutes.

Filling

1.)  Spread butter onto the rectangle and then sprinkle cinnamon and sugar. If you like raisins, you can add raisins with the cinnamon and sugar.
2.)  Lillemor's Filling: For a creamier filling: Mix 1 cup powdered sugar, ½ cup butter, 1 egg yellow, and 1 tsp vanilla and spread on top of the dough. Sprinkle with cinnamon

*If you are someone who is nervous about baking with yeast, don't be! It's easier than you would think and if you have questions, please email me! I want you to try this Scandinavian Goodness that is listed and pictured above. And sometimes the yeast does die and your dough may be ruined... but it happens to the best of us. (maybe a story on that some other time)

27.3.12

Tuesday Travels

Caleb is finishing up his master's degree... during which time we haven't been able to travel as much as we I would like...
So, I decided to reminisce about some of my travels and our travels.
Last summer, even though Caleb was working through his master's degree, we were able to travel to Sweden (to visit my family) and France (for Caleb's sister's wedding).
Big HOO-RAH! First big family vacation for us (which included Sam). Another HOO-RAH!
First passport for Sam.
First across the ocean flight for Sam.
Sam's first two other countries besides the US.
Big stuff, right?!
We had a great time and the other day, while perusing pictures, I came across these.
Sam was great on the airplane, slept most of the way over (so not many pictures), however he LOVED the train, as you will see. This is a partial photo dump... I'll have to come back with more pics from Sweden.
What were some memorable trips for you?
Would love to hear from you in the comments below!
First international flight
Snoozing.

Icelandair Baby.
Stockholm Airport.
 
So excited.
Waiting to take the train.
Everything's moving so fast...
Mom, this is great! Why have we never done this before?
It's hard working watching, I need a drink.
Sam's Gammal Mormor.
  
Crawling at Notre Dame
Family Photo in front of the Eiffel Tower

Tour Eiffel at Night
Group shot!

Sisters :)
Bachelorette party in Paris. All in pink.
.sister love.
All dressed up.

All tuckered out.

Oh just goofing off in Versailles.
And we met some long lost relatives.
Sam is tired, again.
Walking around the Arc d'Triomphe.

First steps in France on the Arc d'Triomphe
family shot on top of the Arc d'Triomphe
Birthday party for Sam.
Birthday eclair
Sam's French Birthday Tart.


26.3.12

Our weekend

Our weekend looked a little bit like this:

Trip to singing beach to enjoy the lovely 70 degree weather in March!




Sam loved the dogs!

YouTube Video

Making cookies for the Gordon College women's lacrosse team.


Watching the game.


Catching up with a friend. Such good times. Unfortunately, this is the only picture I have of "us" until Shannon emails pics to me!


Running the bleachers.


Church in Boston.


Hope your weekend was a grand time :)

11.3.12

Keep Calm and Carry On

Recently I stumbled across the video that tells of the origin of the "Keep Calm And Carry On" poster.
I thought I would share it with you since there's a great story and history behind it.
Today our nation is not in grave danger with war in our country, deadly bombings, food rations and so forth.
However, our nation is experiencing life at breakneck speed with multi-tasking, time management and "getting things done" as top priorities.
This poster and video is a reminder to continue on, experience life, and I believe, slow down.
Happy Sunday.



Link to video: Keep Calm & Carry On