A Fig in Sweden

have you hugged a guardrail today?

Those slabs of steel on the side of the road are highly under-appreciated until you see how well they keep you on the road. We found out today at about 7 a.m. A guardrail left its mark on the car, as you can see, but we're all OK.

We were on our way to Germany (plus a side trip to Paris) for Christmas when we hit black ice just outside Höör. Lewis said he couldn't steer as we slid out of control toward the guardrail going about 55 mph (90 km/h). The ice came out of nowhere. The roads had been fine, and the car thermometer said it was 40 degrees F outside. But as we later read in the local newspaper, that particular area had gotten quite cold overnight. The rain that had fallen on Saturday turned to ice and wreaked havoc for travelers until almost noon. There was a list of reported accidents, and most had injuries requiring a hospital visit.

No injuries for us, and the car seemed to be drivable, so we came back home. Sophie stared at me in silence for most of the hour-long ride. The dog wouldn't lay back down on her bed (so we know she was freaked out). And Lewis and I just felt – and still feel – incredibly fortunate. We were going fast, and were definitely going off the road. We just happened to do it in a stretch of highway that had a guardrail on our left and right, preventing us from swerving into oncoming traffic or landing in the ditch.

Our car deserves a lot of credit, too: a 2001 Volvo V40. I always knew my decision to trade in my Jeep Wrangler for this safe mom-mobile would pay off. I thought our whole front would be crushed, but the damage doesn't really reflect the severity of the impact.

Soooo... we just canceled our train tickets and apartment in Paris, and we're trying to figure out if we'll be able to make it to Grandma's house before Christmas. And we're all hugging each other a little tighter.

Merry Christmas, and safe travels everyone!!

the spirit of christmas knows no borders

You know how in the States it is customary to give a small gift to the mail carrier, garbage collector, teacher, etc? Well, I don't think it's very common in Sweden. I was reading another expat's blog, and she mentioned that her daughter's teachers were shocked that she gave them each a little Christmas gift.

Anyway, Lewis and I decided we'd spread some American Christmas cheer this year and do the cookies-in-a-tin thing. I baked three different cookies: honey spice bars with lemon icing, sugar cookies and chocolate chip meringues. The real inspiration for this comes from my friend Alisa, who makes the best Swiss cookies with her mom every year. The other source of inspiration is my aunt Anita's delicious meringue cookies, which I always looked forward to eating on Christmas Eve.

Today, we brought a tin of cookies to the lady at the pet store. She was so overwhelmed. She started turning red and came out from behind the counter to give us both a hug. It was Lewis' idea to do that for her. She is always setting aside our favorite food for Tilly (it's a small store and she usually only stocks one big bag of each kind). And she always says hello to us when we see her out and about in town. It feels nice to let her know that we notice that and really appreciate it. Ahhhh, the Christmas spirit...

(Stylie tin boxes and traditional Swedish Christmas ornaments can be found at your local IKEA.)

have a swedish christmas

Or at least a little taste of it. My friend, Anna, invited us over for glögg on Sunday. Homemade glögg! And she shared the recipe with me... which I am now sharing with you! This is the non-alcoholic kind, which is tastier in my opinion. But if the black currant juice is too hard to find in the states, you could make this as more of a mulled wine by using red wine instead. I am no Barefoot Contessa, though, so take that adaptation with a grain of salt.

Hemlagad Julglögg (Homemade Christmas Glögg)

8 dl vatten (800ml - or roughly 4 cups - water)
10-15 kryddnejlikor (cloves)
2 bitar ingefära (2 bits of dried ginger)
2 bitar kanel (2 cinnamon sticks)
1 tsk kardemummakärnor (1 tsp cardamom pods)
2 dl koncentrerad svart vinbärssaft (200ml - or 1 cup - concentrated black currant juice)
2 dl koncentrerad äppeljos (200ml - or 1 cup - concentrated apple juice)

Cook the water and add the spices. Let cook for 10 minutes. Add the juice and cook a bit more, and fill your home with a wonderful festive scent. Strain and serve with raisins and sliced almonds. And, of course, some pepparkakor (gingerbread cookies).

shake, rattle and roll (without the roll part)

My alarm went off at 6:15 this morning. I quickly turned it off and breathed a sigh of relief when I didn't hear Sophie stirring. I was relishing some extra snooze time, when all of a sudden I felt the bed shake (a lot!) and heard the windows rattle. I thought it was a logging truck or something passing really close to the house. This time Sophie did wake up.

I thought it was a truck – and hoped they'd find a new route – until I went to work and everyone was buzzing about the earthquake that hit southern Sweden. (!!!) Sophie's first earthquake was also the strongest quake Sweden's felt in 100 years. Glad the logging truck won't be back tomorrow to wake us all up!

HIPP alert

I know there are a few mommies in Sweden who read this blog, so I wanted to pass along some alarming news: HIPP just recalled its organic banana/peach baby food due to suspected botulism spores (at least I think that's what clostridium botulinum is). Thank god we don't have any in the pantry. Really disappointing. This shouldn't happen with baby food, especially organic baby food.

the best little rest stop in germany

Vegetarians on a road trip don't often have a lot of choices when it comes to fast food. Here in northern Europe, it's basically a choice between the home of the Whopper and the home of the Big Mac. Burger King has a new veggie sandwich, which is actually quite tasty. McDonalds has the McFish, which works for us since we eat sea creatures.

Driving home through Germany on Monday, we pulled off at a rest area that had a restaurant called Marché. Lewis went in to use the bathroom and came running back to the car with a giddy look on his face. He said this was our lunch spot.

As soon as I walked in, I thought I was in the middle of a Whole Foods or something. Tons of fresh food being made, and they had these cool high chairs on wheels. We pushed Sophie along as we picked out our lunch and then wheeled her up to the table. They even had a baby section where you could warm up bottles and let your kids play. At one point Sophie sat and played with a little German boy.

Marché is a Swiss chain with locations in Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Norway and Asia. And hopefully Sweden sometime soon!!

giving thanks in germany

Sophie and I sported the faux-fur look on Thanksgiving, carrying on a tradition my mother started regarding matching holiday outfits. We had a lot of fun down in Wiesbaden, taking in the German Christmas market with some warm mulled wine and Sophie's first merry-go-round ride (pics below). It looks like perhaps Lewis' uncle Dick and I had a little too much mulled wine...

P.S. Last week, someone from a design blog contacted me because they wanted to do a "drab to fab" post about our kitchen. How exciting! And here it is...