tiramisu: 2019

while the swedes celebrate on christmas eve day, we spend the twenty-fourth preparing for christmas day.

gingerbread cookies are baked, stockings stuffed and presents wrapped. the new animated christmas movie 'klaus' is on the television. its novel take on the origin of santa is very good.

the last tea from of my johan och nystrom tea advent calendar warms me up.

two new felt animals join the tree. the skiing mouse was gifted to me by a lovely friend. the dog with his coffee was a cute find befitting my coffee loving hubby.

'civilization' the board game is won for the third consecutive time by kai. as we play, we fill our plates with a buffet of goodness and there's wine and christmas beer too.

the relaxed and quiet christmas eve continued into christmas day.

a special breakfast with whole wheat scones, soldiers wrapped in prosciutto, cheese puffs too.

loki happily spent the morning inside a bag :)

fancy skincare products, warm socks, a cozy cat sweater and more unwrapped.

playing hours worth of 'terraforming mars', winning the first game after being defeated again and again in 'civilization'.

fun with the prettiest wooden cat pile game.

for christmas dinner, a meatloaf was served... not a very merry choice but kai and i were craving it and so stefan created the most delicious meatloaf ever accompanied with orange glazed carrots, the swedish jansson's temptation, and garlic fried broccolini.

christmas breakfast and dinner were just two of many... stefan spent many hours in the kitchen over these holiday days making amazing food for kai and i. and i am grateful beyond words.

ps. to get the above picture took several tries thanks to this guy who was having some fun on my behalf, here i am sharing a few zoomed in outtakes:

merry christmas from my little family to yours!

we walked the christmas tree home!

we visited a new to us christmas market at steningehöjden slottsby.

while the christmas market was small, there is always a stand for long licorice and i always buy a few for kai and i. the sour strawberry is a favourite.

in the barn, they have a couple of lovely boutiques and we couldn't help but pick up soaps, candles and a cute little pan perfect for frying up an egg :) the interior design choices are swoon-worthy.

the cafe in the barn is cozy and our meatball sandwiches with beetroot slaw, a very swedish meal, was delicious too.

then, we walked around the castle grounds before catching the bus for the long travel home.