Weekly – Page 7 – Scandelights

Amazing dinner, ballet and cinema

Published on January 23, 2019January 23, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

When I got back to London I straight away had a busy week. Catching up on work, finding new routines, but also socially.

It was someone very dear to me’s birthday on the Tuesday so we splurged and went for dinner in The Shard. It was a wonderful evening. Great food, lovely company, excellent service and amazing views! Will tell you more about it in a separate post.

The following evening was equally magical with dinner at the Royal Opera House followed by The Nutcracker. This also deserves its own post.

Thursday I stayed in but Friday was another fun night out. This time a group of us tried out a new wine bar in Balham.

Saturday I had a lie-in followed by a little spa session at home. (Love that after a busy week) and a croissant for breakfast.

In the evening we shared this lovely whole roasted chicken and excellent mac ‘n cheese at the local pub before we went to the cinema to see Mary Poppins Returns. Sweet film!

New year, seeing friends and quiet days at home

Published on January 21, 2019January 21, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

New Year’s Eve was a quiet affair, with a visitor from London, my best friend and her husband and daughter. The guys played golf during the day and as soon as they got back we had wine, champagne and nibbles and chatted away until the little one went to bed. That’s when we tucked into our three course dinner, cooked by me. For a full report, click here.

The following day we had a lie-in and breakfast with our hosts before going back to my parents’ house in the afternoon. We watched a film in the afternoon (which feels so indulgent!) and in the evening I made pizza for us all.

The next day we cosied up on the sofa in front of another film and braved the cold for a very short (but beautiful walk) before having another nice dinner with my parents.

After dropping my guest off by the train to the airport I toured around seeing friends. First lunch with one friend outside of Malmö, then tea and a catch-up with another friend in Lund and finally dinner with an old school friend and his family in the evening; also in Lund.

The next few days I spent time with mamma and pappa. We had lots of lovely food, like lobster Thermidor one evening.

The next day mamma and I (but mainly mamma) made English scones that we had with tea, clotted cream that I’d brought with me from London and mamma’s raspberry jam.

In the evening we had dinner with lots of little bits; which we all love. It was ham and truffle salami left over from the pizza night, spicy chorizo, olive, cheese, bread and two different patées.

The Sunday was my last day in Sweden and to make sure we could have dinner together in the evening I had booked a late flight. I quite like flying late, making the most of the day.

Christmas celebrations and catching up with friends!

Published on January 17, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

After a hectic month with late evenings at work and a lot of social engagements I really enjoyed slowing down for Christmas. In Sweden we celebrate Christmas on Christmas Eve and this year we went to my uncle’s house for a big Christmas dinner.

Christmas Day was a quiet one at home; reading cookbooks and eating sweets. We had cod and the best sauce for fish for dinner, followed by ice cream with caramel sauce.

I spent Boxing Day with my best friend. We met up around lunch time for some sale shopping followed by fika and in the evening we had fish tacos for supper. The next day I met another friend for dinner in Malmö (review to come) and we had a lovely time.

On the Friday I met up with another friend, in Höllviken this time, at our favourite place. After a prawn sandwich and a nice catch-up I went to the hairdresser and did some food shopping for New Year’s Eve.

Saturday was full on with three social visits after each other. But I got quality time with everyone and for that I’m so grateful. It’s quite tricky to get to see everybody because of different work schedules, family engagements and of course, flu season throwing a few spanners in the works. But I managed quite well this time. Didn’t get to see everyone but I will be back in the summer again.

The last day of the week I spent at home, but not so leisurely as I had a lot to get done before my guest from London was arriving in the evening. Lots of tidying and preparations for New Year’s eve. Mamma and I also made a really nice dinner; venison (will post the recipe) followed by tarte tatin. So yummy!

Christmas party, drones and Sweden

Published on January 15, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

The last week in London before going home to Sweden for Christmas was probably the busiest week of all. Sometimes it seems impossible to plan things well no matter how hard you try.

So after a weekend in the country we drove back to London late on the Sunday night so I could be back for work on the Monday. That evening we cooked up a storm for the Christmas party the following evening. It’s not ideal to be away the weekend before hosting a party but we did best we could.

The Tuesday Christmas party was great fun and it was lovely to see everybody before going home. Wednesday was then my last day at the office and it was a real scramble to finish everything off at work and pack for two plus weeks but somehow I managed. In the evening I went home to pack after work, with lovely company and champagne to make it more fun, before going out for dinner.

The next morning I was out the door early and although I had heard about the drones I made my way to Gatwick as my flight hadn’t been cancelled. But it was, halfway to the airport and so I turned around in my taxi while frantically booking a ticket for the following morning. When I came home I went straight to bed and slept for hours, but when the airport was still closed in the evening I decided to buy a ticket from Heathrow for the following afternoon. Lots of flights were full and the remaining tickets very expensive but I really wanted to go home which made it worth it.

That third ticket (the flight from Gatwick in the morning was cancelled) got me to Sweden. Finally! A day and a half later than planned. I had to cancel plans with friends and rearrange things and although the last thing I needed it all went well in the end.

It was lovely to get home to my parents and have dinner with them that evening.

The following day (Saturday) I drove to Helsingborg to have lunch with a bunch of childhood friends and their families and it was a lovely reunion. On the Sunday I finally unpacked, wrapped gifts, had glögg (Swedish mulled wine) and gingerbread with friends of the family and in the evening we had some traditional Christmas food. Because I could see this drone thing dragging out and making it difficult for me to get home I think I appreciated this visit home more than usual. It’s so lovely to be surrounded by dear ones at Christmas.

Christmas party, steak lunch and a country weekend

Published on January 11, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

The second week of December was very busy and great fun! The office Christmas party was on the Monday night, at Smith & Wollensky as usual, and really nice.

And then the rest of the week followed in a similar pattern.

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On the Tuesday it was one of my colleague’s birthday so a group of girls went out for a nice lunch with steak and champagne at Flatiron. Wednesday night started with work drinks and after that I went to a lovely event at Tate Britain.

Thursday night was calmer and spent at home packing for the weekend. Because on Friday night we had a Christmas dinner in London (with turkey!) and afterwards we drove to the countryside to spend the weekend there.

It was Christmas carols in the village church, lovely dinners and time sat in front of the fire and on the Sunday we went out for a lovely dinner with entertainment before driving back to London again.

The week was pretty full on (avoid parties on Mondays if you can, is my advice) but great fun, and although it’s tiring I try to prepare myself that the three weeks in December that I spend in London and the UK are always full on like this.

Christmas dinner, Lucia concert and a nice weekend

Published on January 8, 2019 by HannaLeave a comment

The first Monday in December I woke up in Norfolk and stayed there for most of the day, had eggs for breakfast and a lovely day off work. Then we drove back to London in the afternoon, went food shopping and as soon as I got home I started prepping for the Christmas dinner with the book club the following evening.

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I really like our Christmas tradition; it’s so lovely to catch up with the girls before Christmas.

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We started the evening with a Prosecco cocktail and nibbles and then moved onto Swedish meatballs, Jansson’s temptation, a kale dish and this lovely butternut squash dish with pesto, feta and pomegranate seeds.

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To finish off the dinner we had saffron cake, clementines and sliced gingerbread with St Agur.

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Wednesday and Thursday I concentrated on work, early nights and eating leftovers. But on Friday night we went to a wonderful Lucia concert in Westminster Cathedral. So pretty!

Afterwards a group of us went for dinner at Hai Cenato nearby.

On the Saturday we saw friends and most of Sunday I made gingerbread but also had time to watch a film. I really wasn’t sure this film was for me, but somebody persuaded me and it turns out he was right. Such a sweet film!

Theatre, theatre and Norfolk

Published on December 12, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

I’m behind again. Sorry! Every year I feel prepared for a busy December, but EVERY year it feels slightly overwhelming. It’s great fun, but such a rush to fit everything into this extremely short month for me, as I leave on the 20th. By then I need to have packed, sorted out Christmas cards and gifts, made plans with my friends in Sweden to some extend (to avoid total choas) all while simultaneously working and eating and drinking my way through many a festive event. How does the calendar fill itself up like that?!

Anyway, back to the week before last. When it was still November and less hectic.

The Monday and Tuesday were lovely and quiet with chores and early nights in. That’s how I want every week to start if I’m honest. I’m not a huge fan of Mondays and need to ease my way into the week.

But by Wednesday I was ready for a night out. First an early dinner at an old favourite; Opera Tavern in Covent Garden, followed by theatre at Donmar Warehouse.

We saw Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure which I really enjoyed. Great performances all around! Afterwards we had a glass of wine at cosy The 10 Cases nearby to debrief.

The next evening I was in the office so late I almost missed a dear colleagues leaving drinks. It was ending as I got there so we had a late night supper at Barrafina Drury Lane instead to end the evening.

Friday I skipped out of work a bit earlier and we drove to Northampton to watch a play. A children’s play actually, called The Worst Witch, but we knew one of the actors and were there for support. Lovely play if you’re a little, but I appreciated it as a grownup as well. Afterwards we stayed and mingled as it was the premiere night and had supper at McDonald’s. So fancy but we didn’t have time to get anything beforehand because of traffic so no choice really.

We stayed the night in Northamptonshire and after a nice breakfast and puppy cuddles we drove to Norfolk. We had dinner out in the evening and a lovely lie-in on the Sunday.

After breakfast we went for a walk; half on the golf course and half on the beach, with sandwiches at the club house afterwards.

In the evening I cooked Boeuf Bourguignon and potato purée and made an apple crumble and custard whip for pudding. Proper winter comfort.

On the Monday (I had the day off) we had another lie-in, cooked breakfast and then I made sliced gingerbread (yum!) before heading back to London.

Pretty ‘lagom’

Published on November 30, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

Balance. That’s what I really try to achieve, but so far I haven’t been all that successful, until a few weeks ago when I had a nice balanced week with some early nights in and a few sociable events as well. But last week was pretty good too. In fact it was what we in Sweden call ‘lagom’. In Goldielocks’ words: just right.

Monday and Tuesday I stayed in after work. Did laundry and other chores, went to bed early and watched TV series. I’ve discovered another two really good ones; Homecoming with Julia Roberts and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. The former is a slow-paced thriller with great acting and I love the way it’s filmed. The latter is more fast-paced but also with great actors and the story is told from different angles which I really like.

Wednesday was a sociable evening; dinner with good friends before they’re heading to sunny Australia for two whole months! The dream!!

Thursday night a bunch of colleagues and ex-colleagues went out for drinks which was also really nice, but after two late nights in a row I was very happy to curl up with baked camembert for dinner on the Friday night and going to bed early.

After a nice lie-in on Saturday I cooked us dinner and then we headed to a 40th birthday party in the evening. I didn’t really know anyone there but met lots of nice people, including a few Swedes!

Sunday was a nice cosy day inside. I cooked (roast chicken, skin-on fries, broccoli cheese and for pudding Swedish kladdkaka) and we cosied up on the sofa watching some good TV. Of course The Handmaid’s Tale but also David Attenborough’s new seies Dynasties which is excellent!

Taking it easy

Published on November 20, 2018 by Hanna

I was ill again last week. So typical. So I stayed in bed Monday and Tuesday but felt better on Wednesday and could go to work. So the rest of the week I just took it easy after work, to rest as much as possible. I really don’t want to get ill again between now and Christmas (or on my Christmas break!), too much to do!

The weekend was quiet as well, which was nice. On my lunch break on Friday I went to Whole Foods to buy some nice things for the weekend. Love it there and it’s a treat to go now when I don’t have one close to me anymore.

I bought mussels that I cooked that night with white wine, cream and potatoes. So yummy!

On Saturday we slept until noon, had poached eggs for breakfast and then went for a walk around Wimbledon Common. It air was crisp but the sun was out and it was perfect weather for an autumnal walk.

When we got backed we watched a bit of the tennis and some rugby before going for a drink at the local pub followed by dinner nearby.

Sunday treated me to another lie-in and then I pottered around, making pudding for supper and prepping ahead. For dinner I made a lovely pasta dish I will post about later, and lemon posset for pudding. Then we cuddled up on the sofa watching The Handmaid’s Tale and when I couldn’t take it anymore, an episode of Stan Lee’s Lucky Man.

The next month will be busy, but I hope I can squeeze in another cosy weekend without plans. Sleeping until one wake up naturally is just the best!

Balance (for once)!

Published on November 16, 2018November 20, 2018 by HannaLeave a comment

Last week was actually pretty balanced. (Not often I can say that!) And it’s definitely I want to aim for in the future.

After work on Monday it took me ages to get home because of really bad traffic, so I had frankfurters and mash for supper. Not very exciting but perfect when you’re starving!

Tuesday was also quiet; I did laundry (which I actually love doing) and pottered at home. Wednesday was cinema night with the usual burgers before. The film we saw was Widows which I really enjoyed, despite the opening scene, ahem. Viola Davis was great, I loved the way it was filmed and the story was interesting and a bit unusual.

On Thursday I went to an event at Fortnum & Mason (aka heaven!) and had lots of nice food, drank champagne, mingled around and looked at their Christmas display. It was (of course) lovely and it really put me in the Christmas spirit.

I might have done a little shopping as well but didn’t go crazy with the ornaments, but it was tempting.

The weekend was super quiet, which was much needed. I slept in, finished two books (!), watched TV and cosied up inside with scented candles.

Yep – that’s what balance looks like for me. A few days out doing fun things, a few doing chores and a few for relaxing. More of that, please!