This is what an easter chicken looks like in India !

it has been kind of hard to find any decorations for easter.....but when my friend Kathy and I was at

the arts and craft museum Kathy found these ones for me.....aren't they adorable ?

fell in love with the feet on the big one....

even better when I found out that they opened up....perfect for easter candy....

so I told the sales person that I wanted two chickens in different sizes...he looked at me and said " No mam, not chickens....owls !! "

noop I told him....they are for sure chickens...just look at their feet....

he didn't argue with me....just gave me a smile....I could see what he was thinking....

"all these strange tourists"

happy easter everyone...

Glad Påsk - Happy Easter

wish you all "en Glad Påsk" or Happy Easter ...

I've been busy getting my broom ready for the flight today......

I'm not sure about the direction from Delhi to Blåkulla though...and no GPS !

Lucia celebration at the Swedish Embassy.

Yesterday we where invited to the Swedish Embassy to celebrate Lucia 

the birds where having their christmas bath in the fountain...

since this was the first time arriving at the Residence in daylight I just had to get some pictures….

almost christmas and small oranges !!…

Mr Ambassador Harald Sandberg and his wife Else welcomed us to the residence …

we had glögg, saffron buns - lussekatter, ginger snaps-pepparkakor and grilled hot dogs while waiting for the luciatåg- the lucia procession….yummy...

it was Svenska skolans, the Swedish schools kids that performed for us...

and they did it so well…we got all the traditional lucia songs...

the ginger bread "men" sang their song…and so did the "Staffan"boys

of course we got the "tip tap" song from Santa's small helpers

small kids with small voices ….good that Mr Ambassador helped them along the way…

the fans where enjoying….

Mr Ambassador talked about why we actually celebrate Lucia…so good with a reminder…sometimes I think we forget why we do the things we do at some of the holidays..

I must say that it felt a little surreal… standing out in the beautiful residence park listening to Swedish Christmas carols and all the birds singing, having glögg and lussekatter  and looking at this beautiful Lucia procession….suddenly I get to think that Yes, I'm standing here in Delhi and it's Lucia,13th of december….sooo different but oh, so nice.

After a couple of hours it was time to head back home….the Residence looked so beautiful when we left….lots of christmas lights...

 we left with smiles on our faces because yet again we had a wonderful afternoon with lots of wonderful and interesting people…and the Christmas spirit is sneaking up on us.

First sunday of advent in the house of Susanna.

even though I'm are far away from "home" it doesn't mean that I can't stick to traditions…I just have to do with what I can find here…and some D.I.Y projects…

advent candleholder out of mango juice bottles (preferably empty), white paper and ribbon from all my shopping bags, stars made out of wrapping paper or again shopping bags…so much fun to make these stars…the christmas tree I bought of course…isn't it cute ?

when we where driving home from the national park I said " since we are so cold we really need go home and warm up the glögg…hahaha"….the AC was on and we where anything but cold….. a couple of hours later though

I lit the star in the window….and also the BIG one in one of the guest rooms

I turned on christmas music and started to prepare for….

glögg with almonds and raisin….and yes I had to make my own out of red wine, spices (cinnamon sticks,cardamom seeds,cloves and some sugar) and vodka ! (it actually turned out quite ok according to Mr M and Mrs S since I don't drink glögg)

gingerbread cookies with Danablue cheese and fig marmalade,gouda cheese, dades wrapped with bacon, christmas cookies and of course we did light the first candle….

I used cinnamon sticks instead of spoons ……..it wasn't easy to get the raisins and almonds out of the glass with those but they looked good and it made the glögg taste even better….

we did get a feeling of christmas coming along….next time I'm going to try and make white glögg out of apple juice !? sounds good ?

Nobel Dinner at the Swedish Embassy

It has been Nobel Memorial Week here in India. This year being 100 years since Indian author Tagore won the Nobel Prize in literature. To tell you the truth I didn't know about him before…..

Activities has been going on the whole week with Mr M invited to such, which was a breakfast seminar on "Swedish Companies views of the Indian market - Challenges and Opportunities" held at the embassy by the Swedish Chamber of Commerce.

credit to Swedish Chamber of Commerce for the picture

The memorial week came to an end last night with the Nobel Dinner at the Swedish Embassy.

IKEA lights guiding us to the entrance or maybe it was the red carpet..beautiful and innovative…

party party

Ambassador Harald Sandberg with wife welcomed each and everyone at the entrance ….us being more than a 1000 people…he then "opened up the evening "  on the big screens….

it was a fun mingle dinner with lots of wonderful swedish food and indian food and lots to drink…..entertainment…for instance Jennie Abrahamsson (?)…met some "old" friends and made some new ones…hopefully !

So many people so many faces so many VIP's

of course swedish companies where represented..not all can have a bar with their own products though

I am already looking forward to next years dinner….

It can't get any better ….

Our very best friends from Sweden arrived early this morning….

I'm going to gain so much weight….6 kg candy ! maybe I also need to find a good dentist…hmmm

but we better go shopping now…since all they had in the bags was eatable…..

one-of-the-best-days-ever-when-best-friends-are-here

Mela time....

I just got back from a Mela that Gurgaon Connection organised......

Melas are always fun ....lots of vendors...lots of people and good food.

 Guess what, I didn't buy a single thing...but I met some interesting vendors from Australia  ( we'll they are from down under but live and work here )...maybe something for the swedish market....we'll see.....

I told you I didn't buy a single thing....

but I bought these....hmmmm...danish almond pastry and " I go nuts for " donuts....

you see that the cakes are looking at me and smiling , right ?

eat me...... eat me.....

Midsummers eve was fun

this pretty much sums up our wonderful midsummers eve..maypole, pretty girls with flowers in the hair, herring in different forms and shapes, my friends salmon cake and strawberries...lots of them, games and fun and lots of laughter, some rain and lots of sunshine, beer and snaps, sparkling wine and macaroons..good friends and family. 

 Thank you all !!!!

The final product - pink macaroons

yummy macaroons..and they go so well with champagne or sparkling wine 

Fresita (Chilean sparkling wine made on strawberries ) and macaroons with strawberry buttercream and  chocolate buttercream......yummy yummy 

This is Leilas macaroons recipe

Grundrecept macarons , recipe macaroons4 st ekologiska äggvitor    , 4 eggwhites0.5 dl strösocker , 1/2 dl sugar

150 g skållad och malen sötmandel , 150 grams almond floder4 dl florsocker , 4 dl icing sugarGrundrecept smörkräm, recipe butter cream100 g mjukt smör , 100 gr soft butter1.5 dl florsocker ,1 1/2 dl cing sugar1 tsk vaniljsocker, 1 tsp vanilla sugar 1 st ekologisk äggula , 1 egg yolkNågra droppar valfri hushållsfärg , food colour

Gör så här, Do it like this

1. Macarons
Sätt ugnen på 150 grader., put the oven on 150 degrees celsius

2. Vispa äggvitorna på låg hastighet i en bunke och öka efter hand., whisk the egg whites first on low speed and then higher and higher

3. Tillsätt strösocker, lite i taget och vispa till en toppig maräng., add the sugar , a little at a time and whisk until it's a merengue you can turn upside down

4. Blanda försiktigt ner malen mandel och florsocker, gently add the almond flower and icing sugar that have gone thru a flour sifter,

5. Spritsa eller klicka ut smeten till 50 runda klickar, stora som femkronor, på en plåt med Silpat eller bakplåtspapper., sprinkle about 50 round cookies unto a bakingsheet( silipat or oven paper)

6. Låt kakorna vila på plåten 15 minuter för att förhindra dem från att spricka i ugnen.,let the cookies rest for at least 15 minutes ( so they don't crack when in oven )

7. Grädda kakorna i nedre delen av ugnen cirka 12 minuter, de skall vara lite mjuka i mitten. Bake the cookies on the lower part of the oven for about 12 minutes

8. Dra bort Silpat/bakplåtspappret från plåten direkt och låt kakorna svalna.,pull the oven paper from the baking trey and let them cool

9. Smörkräm, Butter cream
Vispa smör, florsocker och vaniljsocker vitt och pösigt. Whisk butter, icing sugar and vanilla until it's all white and fluffy

10. Vispa ner äggulan.,whisk in the egg yolk

11. Färga med karamellfärg och smaksätt med valfri smak/essens.,put in the food colour and whatever taste ingredients

12. Spritsa ut krämen på undersidan av 25 mandelkakor., sprinkle on half of the cookies

13. Lägg resten av mandelkakorna över som lock., put the other half on as a lid

You can keep them in the freezer in or in the refrigerator.