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For a little Scandi spin on Christmas gifts, check out these gift ideas:

These tea candle holders are a real classic, and I have them myself in both blue and light green. Ittala Kivi votives from £9.50 from John Lewis.

Also from Ittala, these cute jars are a favourite of mine. I keep mine in the kitchen filled with whole cardamom and star anise. Pretty and practical. From £12 at Skandium.

Marimekko is another Finnish brand that I really like, their Unikko (poppy) is their most popular print and I love these teatowels with the print in sedated colours. £11.50 at Skandium.

I have a soft spot for Moomin, and find this cake server adorable, especially at a children’s party. £11.50 at Skandium.

Once we’re on the subject of Moomin, I also like to show you this Moomin cookbook. Easy recipes and very Scandinavian of course. £9.08 at Amazon.

Another cookbook that is a staple in every Swedish home is Swedish cakes and cookies. It has all the classic trusted recipes and I consult it often. £9.12 at Amazon.

Norwegian London-based food blogger Signe Johansen has a cookbook out as well, that is on my wish list. £11.40 at Amazon.

This navy and white jug is so pretty, from Design House Stockholm. £52.55 at John Lewis.

Since this from now on is more of a Scandi food blog than just a food blog, I will introduce a new series of posts. Once a week I will tell you about something wonderful from Scandinavia, may it be a book, a film, food, a shop, a restaurant or anything in between. Maybe even something news related if I feel like it.

First up is one of my favourote authors: Jo Nesbø. He is claimed to be the next Stieg Larsson and many of you have discovered him already. For those of you who haven’t – read one of his books! You will soon be hooked and read the whole series about Harry Hole; the unconventional cop solving murder mysteries. In the books you really get to now Norway and its capital Oslo, where the book is set. There will be lots of snow, WWII politics, the Royal Family and of course awful murders to read about.

The first book in the series about Harry Hole translated to English is The Redbreast.

Note: The pictured is borrowed from here.

Hello, new blog!

This blog address – Scandelights – is new as of today, but I have imported the content from my blog The Food Archive, so you find everything from the archive of that blog here.

From now on I will put an even stronger Scandi spin on this blog – hence the name, so I hope you’ll like it.

See you around!

Hanna

Westminster, April 2011

This week has passed quickly, I guess being out and about a few days make it go even quicker than usual.

It has been a good week though, with visits to two of my favourite restaurants in London. On Tuesday I met up with Swedish Kristin (who I know from Uni) at Terroirs and we talked about both the past, present and the future over oysters, pig’s trotters and some Muscadet. A lovely evening.

On Thursday I met up with two former colleagues at Opera Tavern for some tapas, and we had a great time, as always.

Tonight will be a quiet one with some nice pasta and probably plenty of wine. Tomorrow I am off to a course, and in the evening we have David and Gaby as dinner guests.

And this is what we will be eating next week:

Friday: Chrosizo meatball carbonara a’la Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall

Saturday: Scallops in saffron sauce; roast beef, potatoes au gratin and red wine jus; tarte tatin and icecream

Sunday: Pork belly

• Potato and leek soup
• Nice sausages and beans (not the baked kind)
• Macaroni and cheese with sausages

Have a nice weekend!

The past week has been quiet and I have spent every weeknight at home actually. The chores needed to be done, and I neede to prepare for tonight’s dinner party as well. Jess and Chris are coming over for dinner, and on a Friday night I prefer to be in the kitchen as little as possible, and at the dinner table with a glass of wine in hand as much as possible, hence the preparations. 🙂

Then early tomorrow morning I’m off to Sweden for a quick visit at my parents. I want to go for a walk in the woods, catch up with the parents and enjoy my mother’s cooking.

Because I am away, the weekly menu will be a bit shorter this week, Christopher can eat whatever he wants when I’m away (I’m nice like that) but I have a feeling it will be a big steaks and sausages.

The rest of the week we will be eating this:

• chicken breasts stuffed with smoked ham and mozzarella
• Chilli and corn bread
• potato and leek soup

Have a nice weekend!

Yay – that time of the week again! This week was a lot nicer than last though, probably because it started with a nice lunch on Monday, followed by a lovely winetasting on the Tuesday. The following days were calmer and the weekend will be a chilled affair as well. And tonight we’re having one of my favourites; lots of nibbles! Happy Friday!

It is very likely I will finish off the evening with one of these – Amarula on the rocks. Yum!

For a week onwards we’re having this for supper:

Friday: Nibbles galore: baked camembert, figs, parma ham, sourdough, chicken liver paté with cognac and porcini and cornichons.

Saturday: Topside of beef, bearnaise sauce and potatoes.

Sunday: Either pork belly with crackling or chicken au gratin.

• Carrot and coriander soup
• Fish gratin with spinach
• Jacket potatoes with bacon

Friday again. A day I normally get very excited about but less so this week when we’ve had all week off. Never the less, it is always nice with the weekend approaching.

We have spent this week in and around York in the north of England. It has been a nice break from busy London and we feel really rested.

Later today we’re taking the train back to the big smoke and although we’ve had a great time away I am quite looking forward to seeing my own kitchen again. 🙂

Next week’s menu is looking like this:

Tonight: homemade pizza

Saturday: Remsan’s girolle cannelloni (Swedish recipe)

Sunday: toasts (away for lunch)

• polenta with chorizo and mushrooms

• Tuscan bean soup

• chorizo stew with carrots and parsnips

The one thing we’ve got planned this weekend is to celebrate Anna’s 30th. Have a great day, dear!

And to the rest of you: Have a nice weekend!

Greetings from the lovely Yorkshire countryside.