Thunder and lightning and STRONG winds

not a very pleasant morning

but some of my swedish friends here immediately wrote on facebook that this means SPRING...the season spring, that is....

that sure felt good to read but since I've had a cold since a couple of weeks back all I could think about was  how to stay warm and  how to get this darn cold off my back

  I got a gift the other day that I hope helps, a box full off Kinu's...what a great gift !

Kinu's looks like an orange but is not....it's bigger than an orange, juicier than an orange and also sweeter than an orange....

I guess the month of january is the month when everybody tries anything to stay healthy...well, almost...

a good tip is to get enough vitamin C in your body and what better way than to make your own morning juice...it tastes so much better when you do it yourself....no extra sugar and other additives in this one I tell you...only Kinu...just the colour of this one makes me happy !

remember, you have to take care of yourself...spring is just around the corner....

Hope you have a wonderful day and don't forget your vitamins C's.

They where flying high

the other night….Ms F and Mr A aimed for the sky….

we went to the Kingdom of Dreams and outside they have an attraction…the bungy orb !!! and of course they thought it looked fun so…

ready for take off….I think my heart was beating faster than theirs when it said swisch…and off they went….I heard a long scream….wonder if it was Ms F or Mr A that let all the air out of the lungs ?

up up into the sky ….then they where bouncing around for a while….I'm sure glad that they decided to do it before we had dinner !

Ms F looked so happy looking down on us…wonder if it was because it was finally over or ?

I was happy when they landed on the ground again …and they where all smiling and laughing so it must have been fun…don't understand how that could be….

then off we went to dinner at Kingdom off Dreams…we had south Indian dinner….dosas…yummy !

everybody has to get their picture taken with the elephant outside….

a full day with activities came to an end and I tell you ….we had no problems falling asleep.

Fierce competition, juju berries and the sun on a straw !

While driving home from work today I saw these vendors 

all lined up and I thought " this is what I call fierce competition"

….. it was just so cool to see all the wagons lined up…I saw all these wheels and then I saw the fruit...

when I first got into the car my driver wanted me to taste these kind of berries…jujube or indian plums…

I didn't like the smell of them, so I was a little hesitant to taste…it was sweet and sour…nothing I will go out into the hills here and pick though ( like I would here anyhow with jungle cats and leopards around )…Pawan is really thoughtful and knows that I do like to try new things so…some I like some I don't.

when we where getting closer to home I looked up and saw this beautiful sunset…and thought today I will be fast with my camera....you see the sun sets so fast….it's like it's falling into the ground…..but I managed to get one nice shot…well, at least I think so…..I got the sun on a straw….

got me thinking of picking wild strawberries and putting them on a straw in summertime….and now it's christmas….confusing…anyhow, the house you see in the background is actually where we live.

See you tomorrow..I hope….

Second sunday of advent in the House of Susanna.

I can't believe that it's already the second sunday of advent…time just fly by when you are having fun….or when you have a lot of things to do….today we've just had a lazy sunday at home…we did work out and then I started preparing for making

saffron macrons with orange buttercream…oh so good….and I made oh so many….first time I did these with saffron….so fun to try and make new ones…I only wish I had a food scale,weighing machine…when you make macrons it's really important that you weigh the ingredients…otherwise they turn out a little "weird"…. anyhow mine almost turned out the way they should….

 then I also made lucia buns-saffron buns….again yummy….made them small because they are for a special occasion this week…I need plenty of them….so after an afternoon with all this baking our house smells so wonderfully saffrony…it really smells like christmas again…

today it was only Mr M and I who lit the candles…of course we had to taste the macrons and the buns. I can tell you that the taste of orange goes well with saffron, as if you didn't know....today we didn't heat up the glögg though….we made hot chocolate with rum instead…

we also decorated the christmas tree…since my mother left yesterday morning we did a little decorating before she left…just so that we all can get into the christmas spirit…I don't think my mother has a christmas tree at home so…it turned out just fine don't you think ? I made the star in the top…one of my D.I.Y projects….if you're interested in how to make them I'll show you…also if anyone wants to make the saffron macrons please let me know and I'll post the recipe.

Hope you all have a wonderful second sunday of advent.

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 ?

Bukhara, here we come again….

but first time for my mother and Bukhara didn't let us down…it was as good as last time….

Bukhara is one of the restaurant at ITC Hotel Maurya in Delhi…that means if we want to get there in time for our booking we have to leave early because of traffic…by the way you have to book a table…it's really popular…

these are the napkins or aprons…here you eat with your fingers….

prepared and ready…..

the menu…but we knew what we wanted so…..

the chefs in action….our table was right here so that we could look at them in action...

we ordered there famous lamb and the chicken and

daal with three different kinds of bread….so good….all of us ate way to much but we still got our dogggy bag with us…hmmm I wonder how that adds up….

even got served the betel leaves with "spices and sugar"…Mats ate a whole one ! …I dared to eat a piece…

we got a tour of the kitchen and they explained how they make the lamb…but the recipe is a secret of course….my mother did her best to get it though….

yes, that's me !! where's the doggy bag ?

Storytelling walls at Smoke House Deli, Hauz Khas

I have read about this restaurant and especially about the decor so I have been curious about the place for quite some time know....lucky me that I could convince the two blokes to come here today

it's different but so neat .....I really like what they did here....so much to look at ...and at a good spot  right next to the reservoir

different touch ha ? Staffan tried it out at once and it worked....I need to download the app first so....next time because it will for sure be a next time...the food was good and it was a pleasant visit !

Lots of food and cake today so I had to get us walking again...

guess where ?

Long luxurious breakfast

Today I had the most luxurious breakfast ever

I made ricotta pancakes and topped it of with a chausa mango.....don't forget my swedish coffee..

why it was long ? 

I started reading my new travel guide.....

She's made it so appealing starting with the little fabric bag it came in, to the cover which is in fabric and the way she presents Delhi in writing....it's really good.....it's an australian lady named Fiona Caulfield who has done a couple of these Love travel guides....

After all those calories I'm off to the pool for a long workout...

see ya later ...alligator

I bought a hairy thing the other day

and ever since it's been staring at me and I've been wondering what to do with the coconut.

Last night I knew

I got a little creative and made.....what do you think I made ?

First thing is to split a coconut...have you done that before...I haven't but I googled it and to my surprise   I opened it and then I grated all of it for my

coconut pie ! 

It needed a long time in the oven and I must admit that it could have stayed in there a little longer but...

the taste was yummy....

Talk about a sweat late night snack.

Want the recipe ? 

Hungry and in a hurry ?

So what do you think you can make out of this ?( I forgot to put the olive oil in the picture and some salt of course.)

Last night I made this easy, fast and as it turned out yummy dinner for us...my husband said that he loved it. Maybe he said it because I made it...I don't know ...I guess you'll have to try it yourself and see..

Here goes:

Ground up the day old bread together with the sun dried tomatoes and some garlic cloves in a food processor. ( Not to much though cause you want it to be crumbs so do a little at a time )

The bread crumbs then go into a hot pan with olive oil. Stir in it the whole time until the crumbs are a little bit crunchy.

Put the cooked pasta in the mix and stir. Put on plates and divide a mozzarella and put on top. Sprinkle some olive oil and garnish with basil. If you want to , since it's pasta, shred some parmesan on top of it all. 

yummy.....

Let me know what you think ! 

Love smoothies

So today after my so called workout  I made a mango-banana smoothie for breakfast.
A smoothie is also a good healthy breakfast.
Depending on what you put in it of course.

I had a mango, a banana , 1/2 dl low fat milk and ice. Mix it all together !

So good...

Healthy pancakes for breakfast

A while ago I think I promised to tell you about the easy, fast and healthy pancakes for breakfast.

Mash the banana and then whisk in the egg, add a pinch of salt and a pinch of vanilla sugar.

Make small pancakes, or as we say in sweden, plättar.

Strawberries go really well with this.( I only had frozen ones.)

Easy, fast and really healthy !

Vegetables anyone

This is for you Katrin. I guess this is what it will look like in S.Munkarp later on this summer and into the fall. I think there are some vegetables that you don't grow but maybe not.....

Recognise everything ? 

Today I bought red onions,lemons( they are really tiny here) tomatoes, cucumbers and whats like a cucumber ( you see it right under the carrots), beet roots and red carrots. Love red carrots.

All of us from Sweden know that vegetables can be quite expensive....here not....

Katrin... I so want to see your garden when I come home for vacation!