Travel & workshops

Iceland part II

October 18, 2014 By linda 17 Comments

As I mentioned in my last Iceland post, we were in Reykjavik the first day and for a few hours the last day. I was so tired the first day that I had to go to bed early so I didn’t get to see much. I was able to snap some photos the last day though.

I must say I was pleasantly surprised by the vegetarian options in the restaurants we went to! The first day I had vegan toast, not something you would find in my hometown exactly. Then in the evening I can’t even remember what I ate because I was so tired. The second day I had a “bygotto” (risotto but with barley instead of rice). Even in the lobster restaurant they had a vegetarian option. I was pretty impressed. It’s not often that I eat this good food whilst traveling. And in Sweden I’m used to having goat cheese and mushrooms in most dishes (ok, that might be an exaggeration but I hate goat cheese with a passion).

I also mentioned that we saw Northern lights. Twice. The photo below was taken the second time. The first time, we were outside for two minutes and I was thinking that we were probably NEVER going to see one. But suddenly, to my surprise, we saw the unmistakable green formation up in the sky (we literally had been outside two minutes). So lucky. I had of course forgotten my battery in our room so I ran in to get it. I was struggling with my tripod so those images came out a bit shaky. But it was so cool to see it for real. I was better prepared the second time but my tripod still didn’t want to cooperate.

Make sure to click the images to view them larger!

Iceland part I

October 12, 2014 By linda 74 Comments

I’ve seen mountains. I’ve seen northern lights, waterfalls, beaches with black sand and pink sunsets. I’ve seen long empty roads. I’ve seen more sheep than I could ever count. I’ve bathed in hot springs (and a jacuzzi!).
We drove in the highlands through water and gravel without seeing a single soul for hours. In the dark and through the thickest fog I’ve ever seen. For a few minutes I was quite worried, but we kept our spirits up in the car.
I’ve seen some unreal things that I never thought I would see. And in very good company. It has been a remarkable journey in so many ways and I will never forget it.
The beauty of Iceland has blown me away. It’s a place of magic.

The pictures of the turquoise ice blocks are from the ice lake Jökulsárlón. When we drove up to it my eyes started tearing up (and I was not alone) from the sight. It was unreal. I had never seen such beauty before. The ice blocks are constantly changing and when we were there they were relatively small. If you’re ever going to Iceland, I highly suggest you visit this place. We also went to Landmannalaugar, Blue Lagoon, Skógafoss, Seljalandsfoss, Vík, Gullfoss, Geysir and Thingvellir. And some places inbetween of course.

I went on this trip with Fotoresor, with a group of wonderful photographers. I’ve never done anything like this before in my life (and I never thought I would) but I’m just so incredibly happy that I did.
We didn’t spend much time in Reykjavik because there were so many other things to see. Next time I go there I need to spend more time exploring the city.

Did I see Björk you ask? Why yes. Yes I did (for real). For the complete Icelandic experience.

Click images to enlarge them!

Mallorca

September 29, 2013 By linda 22 Comments

I realized I never posted the rest of my photos from Mallorca. Honesty I didn’t take very many (I was on vacation, right!?) and I definitely didn’t eat enough dessert. I did eat croissants for breakfast though. Every day. That’s what I call a vacation.

By the way. Some of these photos are taken with my phone. I’ll definitely be using it a lot more for travel photography.

Homemade granola and inspired by Mallorca

August 17, 2013 By linda 53 Comments

I came home completely refreshed from Mallorca a week ago.
All the shades of blue, green and turquoise and the crystal clear water left me inspired and calm.
I would not describe myself as calm, ever. Never on the inside and rarely on the outside.
But blue seems to have that effect on me. I think I need more blue in my life.
Luckily (you don’t hear me saying that often) the wifi-service was expensive at our hotel so we only used it for two hours.
A week on Mallorca, or eight days to be exact and only two hours of internet use. It was wonderful to say the least.

I usually eat very little or no breakfast at all, but on this trip, I can tell you I ate as much as I possibly could.
Croissants, pain au chocolat, pancakes with nutella, you name it. As long as it was sweet I ate it. That is so not like me at all. I don’t know what it is about vacations, or hotel breakfasts, but I like this version of me. Totally relaxed.
Only thing I didn’t like was the constant.. hmmm.. perspiration.
35°C and no breeze at all. Not exactly what I’m used to. When we got back home it was 15°C. Don’t get me wrong, I loved Mallorca.

I definitely want to go there again, maybe in April/May or October when the temperatures are a bit lower. I would love to explore without almost fainting from the heat (yes, I know I’m super sensitive).
And it also made me want to make better breakfasts. So here goes. Cinnamon granola!

Granola

1 1/4 cup / 300 ml rolled oats
1 1/4 cup / 300 ml spelt oats
1/2 cup / 125 ml oat groats
1/2 cup / 125 ml hazelnuts, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup / 125 ml almonds, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup / 125 ml walnuts, coarsely chopped
1-2 tsp ground cinnamon
pinch of salt
1/2 cup maple syrup

Optional
Roasted coconut chips
100 ml raisins or optional dried fruit (I didn’t have any at home)

Heat oven to 175° (350 F). Mix all ingredients except coconut chips and raisins in a large bowl.
Spread on a baking sheet and bake for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add coconut chips and bake for another 5 minutes. Add raisins if desired when mixture is completely cool. Store in an airtight jar.
Serve with your favorite topping such as berries and milk or yoghurt.

A long weekend in Stockholm

May 9, 2012 By linda 58 Comments

De senaste veckorna har troligen varit de galnaste i mitt liv hittills. Helt galna verkligen.
Som ni märkt så har jag inte synts till så mycket här.. boken har nu kommit ut, jag har bakat en sisådär tio tårtor, åkt till Stockholm med sex väskor (och en sisådär tio tårtor) och så har jag varit med på tv. I nyhetsmorgon för att vara exakt (här kan du titta på det). Jag har även träffat massa roligt och intressant folk; författare, fotografer, stylister, formgivare och såklart några kära vänner. Inte en helt vanlig vecka precis!
Här nedanför delar jag med mig av några bilder från min vecka i Stockholm. Tänkte även passa på att berätta att jag snart är tillbaka med fler härliga blogginlägg!

In English: The last couple of weeks have probably been the craziest weeks in my life so far. And I really mean crazy.
As you may have noticed I haven’t been around much. My book is now out (no English version, but I’m working on it..), I’ve baked like ten cakes, travelled to Stockholm with six bags (and ten cakes) and I’ve also been on tv (now that is crazy, you can watch it here)! I’ve met lots and lots of interesting and talented people such as writers, photographers, stylists, graphic designers and of course dear friends. Not exactly a regular week.
Below are some photos from my stay in Stockholm. I thought I’d share and let you know that I’ll be back with more delicious blogposts very soon!

Chocolate liquorice cake and raspberry ice cream!

May 1, 2011 By linda 17 Comments

Jag köpte lakritspulver häromdagen för ett alldeles speciellt bakprojekt som jag hoppas kunna dela med mig av snart. Tills dess kände jag att jag ville experimentera lite eftersom jag aldrig någonsin har bakat med lakrits. Man har ju hört att det ska passa bra till choklad, så jag kände att det var ett säkert kort. Hallon blev det bara för att jag tänkte på sånt där godis ni vet, döskallar som är hälften hallon (om man nu kan kalla det hallon..) och hälften lakrits. Inte för att jag äter sådana, men av någon anledning kom jag att tänka på dem. Hursomhelst blev detta en väldigt lyckad kombination, men tycker man inte om lakrits går det självklart lika bra att utesluta det ut receptet.

Tryck för större bilder!

Scroll down for recipe in English!

In English:

I bought liquorice powder the other day for a very special project that I hope to share with you soon. Until then I wanted to experiment a bit with liquorice, since I have never ever used it in baking before. I’ve heard that chocolate and liquorice is a match made in heaven, so that was a safe bet. For some reason I also thought of those candy skulls which are half liquorice and half raspberry (well, I don’t know if I would call that raspberry..). I never eat them but for some reason I thought of them. Anyway, it was a perfect match, but if you for some reason don’t like liquorice you can always exclude it from the recipe. Raspberries and chocolate make a pretty darn good match too.

Raspberry ice cream

•3 dl heavy cream
•3 dl milk
•200 grams raspberries
•1,5 dl sugar
•1 vanilla bean

Heat the milk in a saucepan. Split the vanilla bean and scrape out the seeds and put them and the whole bean in the milk. Stir in the sugar until it dissolves and then let cool. Whip the cream in another bowl until soft peaks form. Mash the raspberries and push them through a strainer to get rid of seeds. Mix them with the cream and then add the milk. Mix well and pour into a pan or a bowl. Put the pan in the freezer. Mix every 20 minutes for 3-4 hours. Remove from freezer a while before serving.

Chocolate liquorice cake

•100 grams melted butter
•2 eggs
•2,5 dl sugar
•1,5 dl flour
•4 tbsp cocoa powder
•1-2 tsp liquorice powder
•2 tsp vanilla sugar
•1 pinch of baking powder

Mix the butter, sugar and eggs. Mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder and liquorice powder in another bowl and then add it to the butter mixture. Pour batter into a pan (or several small ones). Bake for about 16-18 minutes in 175 degrees C.