macaroons with cece, a film

i had cece all to myself. with her parents and sister out of the country for work/play we happily took her in for a night. she's a baker so we thought it would be fun to bake something simple for a school night. 

macaroons!

they are delicious for such a simple recipe, especially when dipped in chocolate. as you can see from the mini film, cece thought so too :) between cece and stefan, i'm not sure who loves chocolate more. 

here is the recipe, make them!

chocolate-dipped coconut macaroons (from allrecipes)

what you will need:

• 3/4 cup sweetened condensed milk
• 1/4 teaspoon almond extract
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 1 large egg white
• 3 cups shredded unsweetened coconut
• 1 (4 ounce) bar semisweet chocolate, chopped, or to taste
• 
  

what to do:

1. preheat the oven to 350 degrees f (175 degrees c).
2. 
   
3. combine condensed milk, almond extract (this is a must!), vanilla extract, salt, and egg white in a bowl. whisk until thoroughly combined. add about 2 1/3 cups shredded coconut. mix with a spatula until mixture is sticky and holds together. form into balls.
4. 
   
5. roll balls in remaining coconut (we accidentally skipped this step but macaroons were still delicious). space macaroons evenly onto a silicone-lined baking sheet. 
6. 
   
7. bake in the preheated oven until golden, about 20 minutes. let cool to room temperature, at least 20 minutes.
8. 
   
9. meanwhile, place 3/4 of the chocolate in top of a double boiler over simmering water. stir frequently, scraping down the sides with a rubber spatula to avoid scorching, until chocolate is melted, about 5 minutes. remove from heat and stir in the rest of the chocolate until it melts.
10. 
    
11. dip the base of each cooled macaroon about 1/8 inch into the chocolate (as you can see in the film, stefan and cece took liberties here... cece says 'the more chocolate the better'). place cookies, chocolate-side down, on parchment paper. let chocolate harden completely (stefan and cece were impatient, so we set the cookies on the balcony to harden, stockholm has been cold lately). 
12. 
    
13. enjoy!

ximena, we will patiently wait for the next sleepover :) cece and stefan have already decided, for such seasoned bakers like themselves, next time they need more of a challenging recipe... with chocolate and just as delish. 

can't wait :)

sunday morning, a film

a mini handmade film of a sunday morning, that's all :)

stockholm weekend pics (and a film), apple pie and sunshine

the sun finally broke through the grey skies today.  since there hasn't been snow thus far, i'll happily take some sunshine to brighten up the dark days.

do you know what else brightens up dark days?

apple pie and dinner with ximena and family. stefan began his day preparing apple pie which is featured in the film below. there was braising and stewing going on too. and  an afternoon gin and tonic was enjoyed.

we managed to get outside, to feel the sun on our faces and fika. magnus johansson bageri och konditori is becoming a weekend regular ;)

then, finally, they arrived. with gifts. kardemon buns made by twelve year old cecelia, a sweet card written by livia (she's a newly 15 year old) and a pretty pink tray from ximena. lucky me.

the next morning, we feasted on cecelia's buns!

hope you had a lovely sunshine-y day too.

stockholm weekend pics (and a film), part two: out and about on father's day

we forgot it was father's day on sunday. but after a quiet day...

kai spent time away at the studio with his band mates followed by a pizza lunch and studying for a math test.

so, stefan was a good sport and joined me downtown for shopping and fika. we took the ferry to strandvagen and visited svenskt tenn, one of my favourite shops. i mostly peruse the pretty things but a pillow is affordable so we brought one home with us.

our fika at kavalleriet was lovely although loud with all the kiddos celebrating their papas. their earl grey tea is delish as is their rulltårta. stefan enjoyed his kladdkaka (a sticky swedish chocolate cake).

... we celebrated stefan with dinner at indian street food & co, they opened a location near us in sjöstad, and the food was amazing. perfectly flavourful and spicy. stefan was happy :)

i documented our out and about with a handmade film and a few photos.

it was such a lovely day and taking the ferry kind of makes me feel like i'm on vacation :)

stockholm weekend pics (and a film), part one: permanent residency!

after four years of living in stockholm, we get permanent residency :)

we spent our saturday travelling to and from the migration office, being fingerprinted and photographed for our new (and permanent) identity cards. woohoo!

we celebrated with fika, of course.  

and, i know a few of you will ask so i will answer right here and now...  no, this doesn't mean we are staying in stockholm indefinitely. we'll be coming home :)

a little handmade film documents our afternoon (minus the fingerprinting, they wouldn't let me film).

hope you had a lovely saturday.

sunday supper

picture from @idalauga, our host for the evening... visit her instagram for beautiful pics

i was so thrilled to finally attend a sunder supper - on a saturday. 

i have been perusing the sunday supper blog for years. i loved the simple foods cooked, the way in which the dinner parties were captured, the way in which community grew.

when the dinners opened up globally, i hoped someone in stockholm would host.  lucky me, not only did stefan and i have a delicious meal, the hospitality from @idalauga and her partner leo was beautiful. guys, they opened up their home to 12 total strangers and cooked a homemade meal - smoked ricotta and bread from scratch! 

to top it off, the other guests were a lovely and international bunch; french, american, australian, and swedish. their creativity was a bit intimating... a food photographer, a nose (she works in perfumery), a marketing director for marshall, a few interior stylists, an artist, a furniture maker.

oh, and you must follow @idalauga for beautiful pics of her work and personal life.

anyway, although i was nervous to attend - what if we were the only english speakers! - i'm glad that i did.  

stefan is thinking about hosting :)

a film: monday to friday

this is my third mini film!

the clips were compiled throughout the week, monday to thursday. preparing lunch, grocery shopping, laundry, not much else. 

living in stockholm - four years this week! - doesn't always mean exploring no matter how much i scheme to make it so ;) i like the ordinary and the comfortable as much as i like the adventures. perhaps it's the rhythm of our days that makes the adventures so much fun.

so, here's to the rhythm of the week. hope you all had a lovely one.  

the song, acoustic breeze, is free from bensound. 

stockholm weekend pics (and a film): an afternoon at bockholmen

a little off the beaten track, we found a picturesque spot to lunch. bockholmen is a small island connected to the mainland by a foot bridge and sits on värtan strait.

there isn't much to do on this little island, lunch and then take the hiking trail along its perimeter.

we enjoyed a buffet filled with delish choices... smoked salmon with cucumber and spinach, arctic prawns, crayfish salad, pea and leeks, crushed potatoes, fried sausage, glazed ribs and more. service was friendly.

sitting by the window, drinking wine and overlooking the water, we were very satisfied :)

and, i made my second film! i hope you enjoy :)

 

we would love to go back in the summer.