There is something rather indulgent about staying in a hotel in your own town. Either that or your house has burned down. For us, luckily, it was the former. This past weekend all four of our kids were away. For the first time in a long time we had the house to ourselves. So naturally, we packed up and left; for one night, at least. Friday night in a hotel in Stockholm, complete with fantastic food: perfect. Read more » >>
Our Sundays have been in turmoil in recent weeks. First, I switched our sacred roast chicken for grilled, and now the last of the decent floury-potatoes for roast tatties have all but given up the fight against the armies of new potatoes that swamp the shops this time of year. Read more » >>
The connection between farm and plate is tenuous. It’s hard to imagine that all those neatly trimmed, film wrapped, skinless chicken fillets once had feathers and a beak. For most people, the closest they come to getting their feet muddy is playing Farmville on Facebook (give me a ring mum, I’ll explain what that means). Read more » >>
Last Wednesday was Sweden’s national day. I got a surprise text from my friend Risto on Tuesday evening inviting us to a barbecue; probably more to do with the fact that it was a work-free day than it was Sweden’s national day, him being Finnish. This was followed by an even more surprising text on Wednesday morning, informing me that he had a raging fever. The party was cancelled. Then it started to rain. Read more » >>
For those of you who follow major world events, you will know that this past Monday was my stepson William’s 12th birthday. It was also the Swedish King’s birthday and (here in Sweden) Walpurgis Night, a traditional celebration day loosely connected with the beginning of spring (A.K.A. the emergency services’ favourite day of the year) where much of Sweden spends the afternoon and early evening drinking copious amounts of alcohol before attempting to light enormous bonfires after dark (and you thought Swedes were a cautious bunch). Read more » >>
…is a British writer and editor who moved to Sweden in 2001. A former chef turned food and travel writer, he loves everything about food, but particularly the raw ingredients themselves. When not cooking, eating or thinking about food, he can often be found hanging around in butchers shops, fishmongers and grocery stores; a hobby he can pursue for hours on end. He hopes that writing this blog will take up so much time that it halves his food shopping bills.