Once you pop...

I know my last post was about food, but I'm hungry and there's 2 1/2 liters of ice cream in the freezer and I just can't help myself, okay?

So last May, we moved to the north shore of a lovely island called Kungsholmen in central Stockers (not sure if I wrote about that bit of happening, but now you know). Anyways, we happen to live dangerously close to one of the best ice cream stores I've ever been to. I'm talking 12 flavors of fresh, homemade ice cream every day. Fryst it's called (frozen in Swedish). And it takes about 23 seconds to walk there, our door to theirs. 

our first trip to Fryst this summer

With this in mind, you'll probably be surprised to know that it was over 3 months after we moved that we first indulged in Fryst's creamy goodness. But since then, it's been hard to resist. Once you pop...

And so it's come to be that I have one half liter of toffee and another of cardamom rhubarb. The flavors may sound a bit random, but Swedes love their cardamom and rhubarb's in season, so here we are.

While I'm on the subject of toffee, I must let you all in on another discovery I made around my office on Stockholm's Södermalm island last week (see #3 in Vogue's list of the coolest neighborhoods in the world). 

I was wandering around and came upon a tiny, dark shop connected to a glass-front candy laboratory. Walking in was a time-warp to the 1950's - a typewriter on the table, a scalloped sofa in the corner, a Fats Domino tune on the radio, and - tons of toffee. Hard and soft, jarred and wrapped. They even had free samples (a true rarity in Sweden). It was Pärlans Konfektyr, and their product did not disappoint.

I brought home a small paper bag full of different flavored toffees, and miraculously, they lasted until yesterday when we finished them off. I would go back every day if it weren't for the price tag .... or maybe I will anyway... 

Is it dinner time yet?

Quenching our thirst on a summer night

Stockholm is shining brightly in all it's glory right now. If you're here, you know what I mean. Everything is glittering, sparkling, glowing. Everyone is smiling. Strangers are whistling on park benches. The sun is out and it's not been this hot in a year at least. That's a long wait for a day when it's warm even in the shade. Of course in Sweden, this means that an extreme heat warning is in full effect. I'm certainly not complaining.

Hallelujah!

And so I made summer smoothie. The ice cream place, Fryst, next-door to our apartment (which I know you'll be shocked to find out I haven't been to yet even though we've lived here for 3 months now!), was just closing it's doors for the day by the time we cycled up last night after an evening swim. And so, I decided to use all the fruit I could find in our kitchen and make my own creation thanks to our lovely landlord's juicer.

It consisted of exactly what you see here:

Plus some crushed flax seed and chia seeds. And a spoonful of vanilla kvarg (translates to quark in English - it's yogurt-esque with low fat and high protein).

It was quite tasty - refreshing, cool, and full of nutrients. Which our ice cream would not have been. Still, I'll admit I'd take the ice cream over smoothie any day.