¡Fiesta!

Found a Mexican grocery close to our apartment and am so inspired to cook Mexican. Also I'm coming off the fast gradually and I want to make all the things I loooooove. So first up is Guacamole of course. I haven't had it really since Chiapas. Since guac became dinner most nights I needed some time off, but that craving was the first one to really hit me hard after I started eating again. 

Cumin makes all the difference in the best guacamole. 


3 avocados
1 lemon
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
cayenne to taste


2 Roma tomatoes
1 small white onion


I made the chips from store bought corn tortillas, by frying them in vegetable oil, but as soon as I get my hands on some masa harina from Tehuitzingo grocery I'm making my own. 

This Tzotzil woman was an extra in the movie and her business in the scene was to make tortillas. The tortilla press which is next to her is an essential tool and I'm dying to get my hands on one. Maybe Tehuitzingo can help me out there too.

I got to Clintondale last night after a very successful shopping spree at Tehuitzingo. They had all the goodies I was looking for and more! The above picture is of dried Guajillo chiles, an important ingredient in Sopa Azteca which is next weekend's project. I also bought Epazote leaves that go in the soup. They really DO smell like gasoline. 

They even had the crappy candy we had at crafty on the moive. It made me a little sentimental. As difficult and challenging as the The Blue Eyes was, I know I will never do anything like it again. Anyway, so I also got masa harina so I can start making my own tortillas. Until I get a press I will just roll them out by hand. 

And until I make my own I got a nice stack of their tortillas to use. I fried some up today and added to my black bean soup. Turns out this one is a great freezer/defroster. One of the best soups I've made, I think!

The floor wood got delivered this week. It has to sit inside and acclimatize for 2 weeks before installation.

They are 12" yellow pine boards from Willliams lumber. We had a whole shipment of white pine from Ghent in the house for about a week until we realized it just wasn't floor grade. So when we got rid of those boards, we decided to upgrade to yellow pine, which is much harder and better for floors anyway. It has enough color in itself that we will probably get away with just a white wash and then a water based finish.

We had to go to tub school the other weekend. We bought this guy in the summer and were shocked that we got away so cheap. It's a whirlpool by American Standard and we LIKED that it was so simple and small. We are shower people and may indulge twice a year with the jets. So our former contractors prepped for this tub and built a deck. Turns out a drop in tub is never a good idea when you use it mainly for showers. Many leakage possibilities and when water hits the deck it's got nowhere to go. But the deck was built and the floor was laid. Between our plumber Scott, contractors Jake and Brian and James and I we figured out a solution finally. One can purchase a vinyl flange that turns a drop in tub into an alcove tub by creating a seal between the deck and the tub. Only thing is, when using this flange - the tub has to be butted up against the wall. So without moving the plumbing and adding tiles to the floor, Jake and Brian built out the back wall and created a thicker foot wall that will end where the tile ends on the other two walls. It may look a little unorthodox but it will work and we can stay with our little tub.

I picked up the marble for the vanity today too.

The tiles came from Lowes and the backsplash was ordered from Terra Tile and Marble on Route 9. I was impatient (of course) and just laid it out to get an idea. We are getting SO CLOSE!!!

I painted a yellow patch on the bedroom wall and Rosemary is sowing Roman shades. SOOOOOO CLOSE!!!

This coming week I am off to Cleveland on a commercial. We are driving out there and right now that feels a little sucky but I have made really sick trail mix and downloaded some David Sedaris so hopefully it will be an alright ride. And in an interesting turn of events I'm continuing my mid western tour and fly to Wisconsin the week after. Fave DP Lisa Rinzler is shooting a documentary and we are heading out there for some B roll. 

But in between the jobs I'm making a pit stop in Clintondale to make Sopa Azteca. Stay tuned.

All hearts day

We celebrated Valentine's Day or as we call it in Sweden - All Hearts Day, on Sunday.

We treated ourselves to pink Bellinis with peach schnapps instead of the nectar. More fun that way.

And lox bennies with rosemary red potatoes. We all know how to make Hollandaise and that you need to grow a few more limbs to make it. The potatoes were tossed in olive oil and rosemary and roasted in the oven for about 45 minutes.

Writing this is actually torture since I'm on day 5 of a fast and all I want i s FOOOOOOOD. But I feel like a million gazillion bucks, I jump out of bed in the morning ready to go. I really hope I won't go back to my old coffee habits because feeling like this rules!

In case you didn't know, I kinda like this guy and I'm so lucky he's my Valentine! Skål James - here's to another however many years we've been together!

And so for a progress report...

Our very handsome bathroom floor.

The rest of the bathroom is coming together. Jake and Brian put the vanity in place yesterday and built out the shelves on the wall. We utilized a strange little cavity that was there anyway. The marble is ordered for the top of the vanity and we are very close to dropping the tub in place. 

I love this bathroom I love this bathroom! 

Floors and walls

When we first moved in, this is what the pastry shop looked like. We kind of fell in love with the dark blue wallpaper and were always intending on keeping this room a little cavey like that.

Rosemary helped us narrow it down to one color - Ralph Lauren's Club Navy. James got started on painting this week and it looks amazing. Everything is only 1 coat so far but it's already just out of this world. There's something not real about it. Like who does this? You've only seen it in some extreme interior decorator magazine. Yikes! Subtle we are not.

Kevin came in and did our bathroom floor. There is grout mess covering the tiles still but this is a first glance. That also looks amazing. 

Everything is coming together. The vanity, this vanity:

will go in next. Since we now have radiant heat in this part of the house we don't have to mess with radiators, which makes this bathroom even bigger. We are taking bets on when we are taking our first shower in here. And it will be a wrestle match to the death to figure out WHO will get to take that first shower.

We are ordering the floor wood very soon. This weekend we are experimenting with stains and finishes.

We picked out 4 possible colors. The 5th square on the board is clean of stain, so that we could try whitewash and poly on a just board. The board on the right is stained only. The board on the left is stained and whitewashed. We used a small amount of white latex paint and diluted with lots of water. Then used a brush to put it on and wiped off immediately. This week James is finishing the boards with water soluble finish on one side and oil on the other. Hopefully we will be able to make a decision after that.

We made Skagen baked potoatos. We mixed sour cream, mayo, dill, lemon juice and chopped up shrimp (or whatever other seafood we have handy). Some salt and pepper. Then we put some extra shrimp on top and some roe and we have a loaded baked potato Swedish style.

For desert - kladd kaka. Sticky cake. Or just a BROWNIE. My sister is on the path of finding the perfect recipe for sticky cake and this one is a winner for sure. Here is the Swedish version. Great thing about it is that you make it all in one pot and reduce the mess greatly!

Melt 1 1/2 sticks of butter in a saucepan. Let it cool off slightly. Add 1 cup of sugar and mix together. Add 1/4 cup of cocoa, some vanilla extract, 2 eggs (one a a time) and 2/3 cup of flour. Butter and breadcrumb a baking pan.

Heat the oven to 350 and bake for about 20-30 minutes.

Weekend in brief

Scott laid our radiant heat this week and only needs one more day to finish up.

Downstairs.

Upstairs

Bathroom. Kevin, our tile guy, is going to start laying the floor this week. It's starting to shape up. Here's the tile we settled on!

We got closer to a decision on our yellow wall this weekend. We looked at swatches at different times of the day and narrowed it down to this one. It's still up for discussion a little bit. This room gets very bright in the morning and the rest of it is white so the yellow has to be soft and non abrasive and I think DALILA fits the criteria but we want to get our decorator friends involved in this one.





It was a short weekend and I wanted to make food but didn't quite have the energy for a long-cook or anything super involved so we decided on cheese FUN-due which we ate while playing cards.


Boil 1 cup of wine


Melt 1 tbsp butter
Mix in 1 tbsp of flour and cook and stir for a few minutes.


Combine the two.


Start adding cheese in cubes. I used 7 oz of Gryuere, 7 oz of Emmenthaler, 7 oz of sharp cheddar.


When it's smooth add 1 teaspoon of dry mustard and 1 tbsp of lemon juice.


We dipped toasty bread, ham cubes and sauteed mushrooms. 


It's hard to go wrong with cheese. Lots of cheese.


For sunday brunch I used the left over fondue and made Croque Madames, with english muffins, ham, cheesy goo and a fried egg on top. 


In other TERRIFIC news. Looks like I'll be heading home to Sweden for the month of April to shoot a short film that Lovisa is directing. It was just announced at the Gothenburg film festival that ORANGERIET is one of the chosen projects to receive funding this year. Sara Bergmark Elfgren wrote the spooky screenplay. It's super exciting and I'm watching movies like crazy to get inspired for the look. It's a very visual script and an awesome privilege and challenge for me. The film will premiere at the festival next January, so that's another trip to look forward to. 2011 - you rock so far!!!

Whose that behind the camera? John Shim is the keygrip on the feature I am currently working on and I get to play operator a little bit.

Gotta go to work!

Random Snaps

Yo Svenska! We got snow too.

Just felt like sharing some random thoughts. Firstly, the tapestry I bought in the market in San Juan de Chamula found a home this weekend.

It will probably move around a whole lot but for now this corner is very suitable!

On our month long trip in Baja we stopped in Cabo Pulmo for a few nights. Cabo Pulmo is known for diving and snorkling. We also swam with sea lions and did some top notch whale watching.

James and I like the zoo and a bunch of years ago we encountered this guy at the Bronx Zoo. 

The illusive, mysterious and super cuddly snow leopard.

My Christmas ham became green split pea soup right before I left for Sweden. I soaked the peas for a few hours as I boiled the left over ham bone in 1 gallon of water. After that we got the goodies off the bone and I boiled it all together. Added marjoram, salt and pepper. There may have been an onion in there too. 

Planning for the bedroom. A yellow wall? 

We stopped by Iceland on one of our Sweden trips. That was the most magical place I have ever been. We got a recommendation of a place to eat by a guy on the plane. The Sea Baron. Not the guy, the restaurant. Best lobster soup in the world. Even The New York Times says so. I saw a fancy sea food place in my mind so imagine our surprise when we stepped into this hole in the wall. Awesome. 

Stitched together our bedroom in photoshop. It's so... BIG. I cannot wait to move into this space.

This is the potential yellow wall. Yellow paints have the happiest names. And tasty too... Safari Sun, Peach Butter, Instant Delight (hm, doesn't really give a clue to the shade but who doesn't want instant delight???), Hawaiian Passion (yes please, I may paint every room with that one!), Refreshing Mimosa (oh, now I have to build an addition to the house), OPTISMISTIC YELLOW, or simply CHEERFUL, Gusto Gold and

 Social. Butterfly.

I went to Sturgis bike week on a job, an HBO show called Family Bonds. It was quite insane. I even broke my foot. Shooting was pretty much non stop.

But there was some room for play too.

We are going back to work. Looks like Scott will come in this week and start the heat. Then it's bathroom floor time!

Good night Erik (1914-2010)

So I went home. I left on January 5th. Took a bus from New Paltz. Then another bus to Newark. Then a 7 1/2 plane ride. Then a 3 hour bus to Örebro. Sweden is in the middle of another record breaking winter and I was all about it.

On friday night we drove up to Goat Valley, Getingedalen, where Kajsa and Gizmo live. 

An insanely gorgeous winter wonderland.

Getingedalen.

The old workshop.

The new workshop. Which also has a boutique and a garage. I did some late night "shopping" during my stay. For instance this handsome wood carrier that has already found a home by our fireplace. Handy!

We had Gizmo's home made pizza, baked in their wood burning stove. Heaven.

I spent the night and woke up to more snowing.

 Idun (only the coolest dog in the world) and I ventured outside.

Idun is a fetching fool. She would run herself into a coma if you just kept throwing. The item of choice this fine day was a frisbee. I really tried to stick to the shoveled path but sometimes it would take off unexpectedly. She tried to get it once or twice but after that this is the look I got:

Really? Really. So I got it myself and then we went back inside.

Where we plonked ourselves in front of the fire to watch a movie. A Somewhat Gentle Man with Stellan Skarsgård. Entertaining. 

If you go for a fika (coffee break, preferably with a baked good on the side) in a kondis (sit down pastry shop) in Sweden and you order a sandwich this is what will likely appear. Ain't she a beaut.

It's almost Semmel time! Fat tuesday is the correct day to start eating them but these days we cheat a whole lot. Semla is something that was traditionally served at the end of lent. Only bread was to be eaten during lent so people started digging holes in the bun and hiding goodies. A Semla today is a sweet bun with the top cut off. Then you dig a little hole and fill it with almond paste. Then whipped cream and you place the top back on and then sprinkle powdered sugar on it. I like it best served in a bowl with warm milk. If you follow the wiki-link as I did you will also learn that Semlan partly killed our King Adolf Predrik in 1771. So be careful.

Tuesday the 11th is the reason I came home. Grandpa Erik's funeral. 

It took place in Längbro church, the church where both Kajsa and I were baptized and confirmed. We also spent many years as part of their choirs, and Erik had asked for the service to be held here.

It was a very beautiful ceremony and we all got to say a special last good bye to our dad, husband, grandpa, brother, father-in-law and uncle. We were a small party, 15, another last request from Erik, only the closest family was to attend. 

Erik's little brother John (88).

We gathered at my parent's house for dinner. Erik had asked to be here after the ceremony. He considered Flugis his second home.

My sister Kajsa.

Grandma Annalisa with her kids. My mom Agneta and little brother Pererik.

Annalisa will be 95 this May. On April 12th she and Erik would have celebrated their 70th anniversary.

Little cousin Anna, Pereriks's daughter.

Dad reads telegrams at dinner. Erik asked for people to not buy flowers but instead donate money to doctor's without borders and a foundation that plants trees in Africa.

Guests also included Perra's wife AG, John's 2 sons, Lars and Per with wife Irene and son Kristoffer and Gizmo.

We play croquet once a year in my family and this is the group photo from 2008. Erik was 94 but still took part.

My very own special memory of grandpa is that he accompanied me to NY for a week when I was in college. He was 85 and he still had an urge to travel and loads of curiosity about the place that had become my home. He also started teaching himself English late in life, translating National Geographics with the help of a dictionary, calling it his crossword puzzle. He followed James around Flugis when we visited and would strike up random conversations, just so he could practice speaking. You had to be a bit of an interpretive listener, but yikes - A for effort gramps! 

He will be missed by us all. It's a beautiful thing we have such great memories of him!

Hej då lilla morfar. Sov gott.