Day 66: August 19, 2016 (Stockholm, Sweden)

We arrived in Stockholm a few days ago and are excited to be staying with Nils and Sharon, extended uncle and aunt on Daniel’s side, who have so graciously welcomed us into their home for the next two-weeks!  Our friends, Kaitlin and Rick, are on a Scandinavian vacation and arrived in Stockholm today.  They have an open night, so they joined us for a Swedish meal at the house this evening.

Each morning was a delight while we stayed in Sollentuna, a town just outside of Stockholm.  We each had our routine, be it exercise, reading the news, yoga, walking Siri (their 25lb Norwegian Spitz with plenty of energy to walk off), or managing a few emails; after which, we would prepare breakfast together, complete with medium-boiled eggs, fresh bread, a selection of absolutely delicious cheeses, yogurt, granola, and Swedish jams.  It was how a family breakfast should be and we loved it.

Our visit to Drottningholm Palace with Sharon, Nils, and Siri

In the afternoon, we went grocery shopping with Nils, stopping first at a local produce shop for specialty mushrooms that I was eager to try in our meal. One of many new flavors in store for us. We then went to the large supermarket close to town.  Have I mentioned before how much I love grocery stores?  It says so much about an area.  I happily wandered the exceptionally large meat and cheese area, the wall of muesli that put the US aisle of cereals to shame, and my favorite, the produce section.  We got incredibly lost in the dairy section trying to find heavy cream.  Nils had to step in and translate the endless containers, all slightly different, but we found what we needed. Our last stop was the Systembologet (liquor store) for some wine, where we took a few recommendations from the information tabs that explained each bottle (complete with a measure of the fullness, roughness, and acidity, as well as the region, grape, and suggested pairing… simple enough for even ME to pick out a nice bottle).

We returned home to a light lunch of spinach soup and homemade bread, so simple and healthy.  I picked up a lot of inspiration from Sharon and Nil’s cooking and stories throughout the two-weeks we were there that I will certainly take home with me. I have a feeling we’ll be emailing often when we get back into a kitchen!

Our delicious appetizers
(photo credit: Kaitlin)

Our Swedish dinner plate
(photo credit: Kaitlin)

Our afternoon was spent cooking and talking about food.  It was fantastic.  I prepared the dessert, an apple lingonberry cake with fresh whipped cream.  Nils and I talked about their backyard garden and some of his favorite food memories growing up as we prepared mushrooms and potatoes, and later, Sharon and I swapped stories of things happening with family in the US as we layered sprigs of dill onto the appetizers.  

The apple lingonberry cake

I stuck the cake into the oven as Daniel left for the train into Stockholm to pick up Kaitlin and Rick, and I’m sure he was thrilled to see it in one piece upon his return (I’m not so great at following recipes).  We started the evening with some delicious appetizers and a glass of champagne, saying cheers to Kaitlin and Rick’s recent engagement and Sharon’s recent retirement.  It was a night to celebrate. Plates of smoked salmon with fresh dill on Swedish crackers, thin-sliced reindeer meat and cream cheese pinwheels, pastry cups with cream cheese, roe, fresh dill and fresh chopped onions, and garlic crispbread all made their way to the outdoor patio table.  The pastry cups were divine, one of those flavors so good that I was eyeing the last one, hoping that no one objected to me having it. No one did!  We stood and talked for a while, mostly about traveling, Scandinavia, and what everyone has been up to for the past few months.  

We made our way to the dinner table for a fun first course of bright red crayfish paired with local beer and schnapps.  Crayfish are in season in August in Sweden, so it was not only perfectly fitting, but they were delicious and meaty and I enjoyed the work put into eating them.  It only took me a few tries to get down the appropriate cracking technique.  No songs were sung around the table, as we learned would traditionally happen with schnapps in Sweden, but all of us were having a great time!

The main course was a Swedish treat for all of us, featuring reindeer filets that were tender and flavorful topped with a red wine sauce that I couldn’t get enough of.  I may have had a sauce-heavy ratio on my plate, but it was just so good!  The meal was completed with shredded potato pancakes, chanterelle mushrooms, and peas.  The mushrooms were the little yellow ones that we had picked up at the shop earlier in the day, learning that they are a specialty in Sweden, and they were a perfect creamy side-kick to the reindeer.  All of this, paired with a nice red wine that Sharon had in the basement.  Not surprisingly, we waited a bit before indulging in the dessert, accompanied by plenty of lingonberry jam.  

Daniel and me with Kaitlin and Rick the next day touring Stockholm

We never ran out of things to talk about and with this group, talking politics was welcomed.  We learned a lot about Swedish politics and government, which was enlightening and interesting to compare with the challenges the US is facing during the election.   

Daniel and I cleaned up the table and kitchen while Sharon dropped Kaitlin and Rick back off at the train station.   When she returned, we were apparently still on the hype of the night, so we sat at breakfast table and continued to share great stories of family and friends late into the evening.  

NOTE: Happily, Daniel and I were so caught up in the celebrations that we didn’t think to take any photos of the dinner--so a big thank you to Kaitlin for capturing a few! 

This story is part of our first 300-days of international travel, shared from my daily journal.