Le Fabuleux Destin de Moi - Week 47
Monday: Celebrating the new week with a mango and grapefruit salad with low carb ice cream from Alvestaglass.
Tuesday: Falling in love with this bowl from Ikea (yes, I had to take it home...).
Wednesday: Meeting with the book club at my place. This time we had all read different collections of short stories by Alice Munro. Interesting discssuions and new angles.
Thursday: Eating a few of these chocolate bonbons that was given to me by the girls in the book club. Delicious!
Friday: Watching Bride and Prejudice for... well, could it be the seventh time? It's silly and overly romantic, but I like it! If you are curious of Bollywood movies but not yet ready for the real, heavy stuff this can be a good start. It's westernized but still with a lot of singing and dancing India style.
Saturday: Oops! Accidentally buying myself a pair of new shoes... But these are just what I need for the upcoming winter, right?
Sunday: Going for a long walk in the beautiful weather. But I had really forgotten what 1ºC (approximately 34ºF) feels like. Brr!
Hot Smoked Salmon Pie (Low Carb)
I wanted to share the recipe for that salmon pie I made last week. Not that it was the best pie I’ve ever had, I won’t lie to you, but it was tasty. And easy to make. And with the best gluten free low carb pie shell I’ve made so far.
In case you’re not in to salmon, just try the shell, will you?
Pie Shell
1.3 cups almond flour
0.5 cups peeled sesame seeds
1 tbsp psyllium powder
1 tsp salt
4 g butter, at room temperature
1 egg
Combine almond flour and sesame seeds in a blender. Add the remaining ingredients and mix to a dough. Press it into a pie plate and put a few holes on the shell, using a fork. Let it rest in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350°F and bake the pie shell for about 8 minutes or until it has caught a little color. Take it out and put up the heat to 400°F.
Filling
250 g hot smoked salmon
1 leek
0.4 cups chopped dill
3 eggs
0.8 Philadelphia cheese
0.2 cups milk
A pinch of salt
Cut the salmon into smaller pieces. Rinse and cut the leek. Whisk eggs, cheese, milk and salt together. Distribute salmon, leek and dill evenly over the pie shell and pour over the egg-milk-and-cheese-mix.
Bake in the middle of the over for about 30 minutes.
This is where I convert. I convert from the metric system to US measures.
Jag tänkte att jag skulle dela med mig av receptet till laxpajen som jag gjorde förra veckan. Inte för att det var den absolut godaste pajen jag någonsin har ätit, jag ska inte ljuga, men den smakade bra. Och var lätt att göra. Och det var det bästa glutenfria lågkolhydrats-pajskalet jag ätit hittills.
Om du inte gillar lax så hoppas jag att jag åtminstone kan inspirera dig att testa pajskalet.
Pajskalet
3 dl mandelmjöl
0,5 dl skalade sesamfrön
1 msk fiberhusk/psylliummjöl
1 tsk salt
40 g smör
1 ägg
Blanda mandelmjöl och sesamfrön i en mixer. Tillsätt resterande ingredienser och kör till en deg. Tryck ut i en pajform och nagga botten med gaffel. Låt vila i kylskåp cirka 30 minuter. Värm ugnen till 175 grader och grädda pajskalet i ungefär 8 minuter eller tills det har fått lite färg. Ta sedan ut det och höj värmen till 200 grader.
Fyllningen
250 g varmrökt lax
1 purjolök
1 dl hackad dill
Äggstanning
3 ägg
2 dl naturell färskost
1⁄2 dl mjölk
En nypa salt
Dela laxen i bitar. Skölj och skär purjolöken i ca 1 centimeter breda ringar. Vispa samman ägg, ost, mjölk och salt. Fördela lax, purjolök och dill i pajskalet och häll över äggstanningen.
Grädda i mitten av ugnen i cirka 30 minuter.
Receptet på pajskalet har jag lånat från Allt om LCHF och fyllningen från Arla. Den uppmärksamme läsaren noterar kanske att jag tycks ha börjat äta fisk. Det stämmer. Efter 17 år som vegetarian tog jag det här steget i våras. Kanske berättar jag mer om vad som ligger bakom det beslutet en annan gång, om någon är nyfiken. Helt klart är att det var ett stort steg för mig.
Le Fabuleux Destin de Moi - Week 46
Monday: Feeling pretty in my parrot bracelet.
Tuesday: Giving Buddha and his little babies a shower. It looks like he's crying but I think it's only tears of joy.
Wednesday: Inspired by Patrick O'Neill and The Four-fold Way at Yogahuset. Will tell you more about this event later on.
Thursday: Eating a low carb salmon pie. Will share the recipe with you!
Friday: Getting served a delicious dessert with Tokaji wine after a fab dinner.
Saturday: Being adventurous and trying this Death sauce. Yes, I felt I was alive.
Sunday: A quiet day. Went to the library.
I don't want to say it was a busy week, but it was a rather eventful one. Still, this was the week I felt that I finally 'landed' in working 75 percent of full-time. I hope this feeling lasts.
I have to admit that I'm also suffering from 'blog guilt' right now. I know I shouldn't, but it's just that you have been leaving so many thoughtful and kind comments here, and I just haven't had the time to answer them or visit you, my blogging friends. I think tomorrow will be the day, and I'm looking forward to see you again.
DIY Advent Calendar
Christmas came early this year!
I love Christmas and I love to wait and long for it. I usually don't do anything Christmassy until either the first of December or the first of Advent, whichever comes first, but this year is different. Partly it's because my dear friend Anna is leaving the country for six months at the end of November, and we had this Advent calendar for her son to finish before that.
Said and done. Last Sunday we met up at her place and were crafty all day long, resulting in this calendar with bags and boxes of different shapes and sizes, filled with gifts - one each day up until the 24th, which is the day we celebrate here in Sweden.
Enough with words. I'll let these pictures speak for themselves.
Tjugo - that's 'twenty' in Swedish
Le Fabuleux Destin de Moi - Week 45
Monday: New camera! I am one very happy blogger :-D
Tuesday: Enjoying life together with Nils.
Wednesday: Rediscovering an old favorite of mine - thin slices of Danish rye bread roasted in the oven, covered with a spread made of feta cheese and yoghurt and then some avocado, sundried tomatoes, mozzarella, tomato, basil and freshly ground pepper. Yummy!
Thursday: Finally! Back at the gym.
Saturday: Dating myself and going for a long walk. Realizing that November isn't so grey and dull after all.
Saturday: Christmas crafting (I'll show you the result later this week) and drinking mulled wine with Anna.
One very happy moment from last week was reading Sara's Blog love post. It gave me blogging inspiration and a real energy boost! I love reading Sara's blog Life in Singapore. Sharing bits and pieces from her life in Asia, her blog is a peaceful and inspiring escape from my everyday life. She's also a great photographer, yogini, fashionista and home decorator with the cutest little daughter. I'm glad to have found you in the blogosphere!
Dating Myself
On a day like today when I have no plans, no parties, no musts, no meetings I’m taking myself on a date. I’m letting me decide exactly what to do and I revel in the company of no one but me.
When I go on a date with myself, I stay in bed far too long. Make a few phone calls with a pile of pillows behind my back, read the morning news and drink a cup of tea. Then I have breakfast, grapefruit and cottage cheese, while visiting some of my favorite blogs.
I put on a rain suit and go for a walk in the nearby nature reserve, simply smiling at the fact that the heavy rains make it feel like walking through a waterfall.
When I come home, I take a long, warm shower and I dress up a little. Just enough to feel beautiful, not too much, taking care to still being comfy. A knitted dress, some lipstick.
And here I am, with a cup of hot cocoa steaming in front of me, made from my favorite powder from Hediard with black pepper, nutmeg, cloves, ginger and cinnamon. Billie Holiday is singing me calm.
Later on, I will cook myself some dinner before watching an episode of Downton Abbey. And that’s pretty much a perfect day for me.
Today I’m thinking that even on the ordinary days, when I’m not pampering myself, I should treat myself with a little a more love, a little more care. Just like I would if I wasn’t me, but someone else very dear to me.
En dag som den här då jag inte har några planer, måsten eller möten så går jag på dejt med mig själv. Då låter jag mig bestämma precis vad jag vill göra och fyller dagen med enkla njutningar.
Då ligger jag kvar i sängen alldeles för länge, ringer några samtal med en hel hög med kuddar bakom ryggen, läser morgontidningen och dricker en kopp te. Sedan äter jag frukost, grapefrukt och keso, samtidigt som jag hälsar på hos mina favoritbloggar.
Jag sätter på mig regnstället, täpper till så att bara ansiktet tittar fram, och tar en promenad i det närliggande naturreservatet – ler åt det faktum att regnskurarna får det att kännas som att gå genom ett vattenfall.
När jag kommer hem tar jag en lång, varm dusch och klär upp mig. Lagom mycket för att jag ska känna mig fin, men inte mer än att jag fortfarande bekvämt kan krypa upp i soffhörnet. En stickad klänning, lite läppstift.
Och här sitter jag nu med en kopp rykande varm choklad framför mig, gjord på favoriten från Hediard med svartpeppar, muskot, nejlika, ingefära och kanel. Billie Holiday sjunger mig lugn.
Lite senare ska jag laga en god middag åt mig själv, innan jag tittar på ett avsnitt av Downton Abbey. Det är en perfekt dag i min värld, för mig.
I dag tänker jag att jag även under de vanliga vardagarna, när jag inte kan skämma bort mig själv såhär, ändå ska visa mig själv lite mera kärlek, lite mera omtanke. Precis som jag skulle om jag inte var jag, utan någon annan som jag bryr mig väldigt mycket om.
Your Song
”It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside, I’m not one of those who can easily hide. I don’t have much money but boy if I did, I’d buy a big house where we both could live.”
It’s not just the bass, every syllable travels through the concrete and in to my home. The speakers could just as well have been standing in my living room. I sing along, involuntarily, silently inside my head.
”I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind that I’ve put down in words, how wonderful life is when you’re in the world.”
We reach the end (Anyway, the thing is what I really mean, yours are the sweetest eyes I've ever seen), and then we start all over again (It's a little bit funny…). Over and over again.
My guess is that she, my neighbor, is suffering from heartbreak and whether I like it or not, I am dragged into it by the goopy melody of Elton John’s Your Song. That’s what it’s like to live in an apartment with nothing else than thin walls and a ceiling, or floor depending on who you ask, to separate me from my neighbors. We become part of each other’s lives.
When we meet in the stairwell, the only word we say is hi, yet I feel like I know her. I know when she gets up in the morning and when she takes her dog for a walk. I know when she showers and when she is watching TV. I know when she eats and I know, or at least I think I do, that she is currently experiencing something that no one but Elton John can help her get through.
I know a lot of things about her and I guess that she knows just as much about me.
It's a little bit funny.
”It’s a little bit funny this feeling inside, I’m not one of those who can easily hide. I don’t have much money but boy if I did, I’d buy a big house where we both could live.”
Det är inte bara basen som slår igenom, varenda stavelse färdas genom betongen och hem till mig. Högtalarna hade lika gärna kunnat stå i mitt vardagsrum. Jag sjunger ofrivilligt med, tyst inuti huvudet.
”I hope you don’t mind, I hope you don’t mind that I’ve put down in words, how wonderful life is when you’re in the world.”
Vi når ända fram till slutet (Anyway, the thing is what I really mean, yours are the sweetest eyes I’ve ever seen) och sedan börjar vi om från början igen (It’s a little bit funny…). Om och om igen.
Jag misstänker att hon lider av kärlekssorg, min granne, och vare sig jag vill eller inte så blir jag indragen i den genom de smetiga tonerna från Elton Johns Your Song. Så är det att leva i lägenhet med bara tunna väggar och ett tak, eller golv beroende på vem du frågar, som skiljer mig från mina grannar. Vi blir en del av varandras liv.
Vi hejar bara kort på varandra när vi möts i trappuppgången, men ändå känns det lite som om jag känner henne. Jag vet när hon går upp på morgonen och när hon går ut med sin hund. Jag vet när hon duschar och när hon tittar på teve. Jag vet när hon äter och jag vet, eller tror mig veta, att hon just nu går igenom något stort i livet, något som bara Elton John kan hjälpa henne att bearbeta.
Jag vet en massa saker om henne och lika mycket vet säkert hon om mig.
It’s a little bit funny.
There Would Always be the Spring
You expected to be sad in the fall. Part of you died each year when the leaves fell from the trees and their branches were bare against the wind and the cold, wintery light. But you knew there would always be the spring, as you knew the river would flow again after it was frozen.
- Ernest Hemingway, A Moveable Feast
