A TASTER OF NORA

As I mentioned before three weeks ago I went with a group of "girls" to the sweet little town of Nora. Famous for its lovely wooden houses and detective stories. A bit of a Swedish Midsummer Murders set in the area of Bergslagen in Sweden. This is just a taster. Here one of the old shops that are still around, a cookshop that covers anything you need in the kitchen. This Friday you will just have a little taster of what to expect next week. Lots more then from Nora Glass (Ice Cream) to a Rosegarden.

In the detective stories the town is called Skoga even though it is based upon Nora. The vintage shop in the big square bare that name. A fantastic treasure if you are into vintage!

The entrance to the vintage shop on the square gives you a faint idea of what you can expect...

On the High Street you can find a couple of nice interior design shops that also carry clothes etc.

A relatively new interior shop with a mix of old and new, Vickys on Rådmansgatan just off the High Street. This is just a taster, more to come next week! See you then...

ASPARAGUS AND LIMONATA AT GÅSÖ

We have wild rasberries outside our house that will give us a wonderful crop in about a month! Will come back then with some lovely rasberry recepies!

Last night I had nice lovely light meal. Freshly cooked asparagus (4 min) with a garlic vinaigrette and Parmesan cheese. To go with it some Spanish Serrano Ham! Delicious!

We also have beautiful Rohan trees. Will give a lot of orange berries in late august. If there is a lot of Rohan berries it is said here in Sweden to be a very cold winter! I will make jelly when they are due!

My latest favourite drink is this Limonata from SanPellegrino. Not so sweet, sharp and bubbly! Really refreshing after a "hard days work" on the island.

I got these vintage jars at a "antiques" shop in Nora two weeks ago. They are from famous Swedish maker of jars, Höganäs. And they were a bargain @ only 30 and 40 Skr each! More from Nora tomorrow!

NOSTALGIA VILLAGE OUTSIDE NORA IN SWEDEN

Two weeks ago I went on a Girls Trip to the charming little town of Nora northwest of Stockholm. We were recommended to stay and have a coffee break (Fika in Swedish) at the quirky place called "Nostalgibyn" (Nostalgia Village) just outside Nora. They had just opened for the day when we got there so the coffee (that was promised to be extra good, and it was) was freshly brewed and they had all the old fashion cakes and sandwiches. All in a retro setting with a mix of the 50-ies and 60-ies.

An honesty box by the parking suggests 20 Skr for adults, children go for free!

The petrol station (not working) even had an authentic car, bus and motorcycle parked outside.

By the café a small cinema showing old Ingmar Bergman film occasionally etc...

I had a bisvie with pear filling. A very classic cake you have with a coffee "fika". Yummy!

Of course there were the typical Village Shop with clothes, shoes, etc. Some of it was for sale!

In Sweden we have something that is still around (not as much as before) the FOLKPARK with an old fashioned dancing area. Where you met and danced (and drank etc in the bushes) on a Saturday night!

The wonderful café with it´s authentic furniture, cabinets, china etc. Wonderfully nostalgic. Took me back to my childhood (I was born in 1955). It turned out to be very popular with the local people to go for lunch! The charming café was immediately nearly full!

Some of the display of old packaging from the 50-ies and 60-ies. Still looking very good!

The classic ice cream kiosk they way they use to look!

Even the vending machines with condoms were there by the toilets. I would not dare using them thow....

I can remember making phone calls from one of these...

And finally, the girlsroom where perfectly nostalgic, you can even dry your hair the old fashion way. So if you are near to Nora do not miss to visit www.nostalgibyn.se

RHUBARBS AND TOMATOES at GÅSÖ

My sister had some rhubarb, from her garden in Bromma (suburbia in Stockholm), leftover after the midsummer weekend and I decided to make some "saft" (squash, lemonade). Here is the result! Nice pink colour.

    

Very simple procedure, cut the rhubarb (about 1 kilo) into 1 cm pieces. Put in a saucepan or similar container, add the juice of two limes and the rind from three. Pour 2 liter of boiling water over them and leave (lid on) for 24 hours. Pour through a colander or sieve and add 800 ml of sugar to the juice and heat to 80 degrees celsius. Pour into clean and warm bottles and seal immediately. Will last for up to a year! Nice and refreshing with sparkling wine or water and ice!

Last day of midsummer and we had a lovely dinner with barbequed chicken, new potatoes and a nice french tomatoe salad. The table setting was still very midsummer inspired, but now the decorations has been put away for a year! 

One of my favourite salads. Very in in the 70-ies, but for me, a classic! Cut lovely big, sweet and juicy tomatoes in slices. Put on a bed of green leaves. Finely shop some red onion. Mix olive oil with lemonjuice and/or white wine vinegar. Season with honey, salt and black peppar. Drizzle over the salad and leave for up to 30 minutes. Serve as a starter or as a side dish to a meaty maincourse.

MIDSUMMER @ GÅSÖ

Midsummers eve @ Gåsö. I made this "Midsummer Pole" bread in the morning and decorated it with birch leaves, Marguerites and Swedish flags! Recepie will follow late on my food blog www.beyourownmasterchefwithankan.blogspot.com

Hard cheeses and crisp bread are musts to go with the herring lunch! We had three types this year, Svecia, Präst and Grevé.

A lot of different kinds of herring, a mix of home marinated and bought ones. From the left, homemade Archipelago Herring with Roe and to the left Apple and Horseradish. In front one of the classics, Mustard Herring from ABBA! Not the group but the famous herring food company in Karlshamn on the Swedish Westcoast.

Nearly time to sing and have a schnaps(Aquavit) with the herring. The table i decorated with Marguerites etc.

Matjésill, a special type of herring that we serve with sour cream and chives. A relatively new tradition is to make a cake from it, like a savoury cheesecake with the base made with pumpernickel and butter. Recipie to follow later on my food blog(see above).

New potatoes boiled and served with dill is another must to go with the herring!

I promised you my patriotic nails! Here they are. I was dressed i the Swedish Flag Colours too!

After lunch we headed to Gåsö Village Green to dance around the Midsummer Pole, have games and drink coffee. The boat was accordingly decorated with birch leaves.

The Midsummer Pole had been decorated the same day with birch leaves, Marguerites and Cornflower and everybody helped to raise it!

No, it is not a joke that we all dance around it and do the "little frog song". Everybody and all ages join in!

Back at Gåsö South we moved to my sister and neighbour for BBQ and games. My brother in law doing a wonderful job of the boar (which he has shot) on the BBQ.

Time to eat again. Potatoe salad, coleslaw and green salad and some spicy homemade butter to go with the meat. Yummy.

Strawberry cake for desert. Another must for midsummer. Here cut by our prominent guest Victor.

Time for games. In teams. One of them was this very difficult task of putting the pencil into the bottle. Mariana is doing a good job here!

Another game was to throw the ball onto the ladder. Seems pretty easy but is damn hard!

Another task that looks easy but is hard. To pick pegs with one hand and keep them there and not dropping them. Tania did well assisted by Clabbe. After the games we did some dancing around the table and then set off back to the village green for disco. For those who had the stamina, they stayed up in the light night and saw the sun rise...girls who are not married should pick seven wild flowers and put them under their pillow and dream of their future partner! A lot of drinking was done and there will be some heavy heads in the morning. See you tomorrow!

THE DAY BEFORE TOMORROW - MIDSUMMERS DAY

It is all coming together...furniture starts getting out from their winter sleep. Morning coffee is enjoyed by the little café table with a sea view and out of the wind (if windy). The big picnic table can seat up to 30 people!

Made a savoury cake today (two in fact). A type of cheese cake made with herring, sour cream, cottage cheese, red onion on a base of pumpernickel bread and butter. You will see the final result this weekend.

If we need to sit in the outdoor room tomorrow this is the view!

I am having 22 people for a typical Herring Lunch tomorrow, this is were we will be seated! If not too windy i.e.

The outdoor room is nearly there. Ready for the Midsummer Weekend. More in a couple of days, watch this space...

STRAWBERRY BRUNCH AND NASTURTIONS PLANTING @ GÅSÖ

After a power walk around the island this morning and a nice chat with some neighbors I had a lovely brunch with fresh Swedish strawberries with greek yogurg, muesli and honey! Yummy.

After marinating more herrings for Friday (more and recipies later this week) I did a tiny bit of gardening. Replanted some of the Nasturtion plants and put them on my lovely concrete table (made by Kina Lannmark, an artist friend on the Gåsö. One more step in the right direction.

The white Geranium now have a Nasturtion friend and company on the tiled table.

More Nasturtions found a new home today. These lime green containers I got last year, I like that they are made from recycled tin materiel.

More easy planting. The potatoes that I have prepared earlier this year are in their buckets! They will probably not be ready until September but I will enjoy seeing them grow. More preparations for Midsummer tomorrow. Watch this space!