Man this one was grueling... but what can you do? Must uphold tradition!

I've been eating these for something like fifteen years straight at this point, and I was of no mind to let this year be an exception, but it just so happened that I woke up this Tuesday feeling... not so great.

Mom was apparently down with a fever the weekend me and good buddy Bear were in Albania - the weekend before last, and I came home on Sunday after a tiring trip to an empty fridge, after midnight, with an early work day awaiting....

I set my alarm even earlier than I'd planned to fix up some lunch for the office, went on with a grueling day there, came back home, finally had a full night's sleep, and the next morning I had indeed caught that virus too.

It may have been (and still be) the flu.

Baking semlor turned out a more arduous task than I thought it'd be this year, but since mom was still incapacitated and I too sick to head out and actually buy something (which I tend to avoid doing anyway these days) I had no choice but to bake something!

I looked for a random 'gluten-free semla' recipe online, and found this.

Notice how the recipe doesn't say anything about how long said recipe takes to make? It probably took me around ~3 hours.

I whipped up fresh cream, melted the butter, thawed the yeast, ground the cardamom seeds, whisked the egg, warmed the milk, ran the almonds through the grinder, mixed 'em with honey and milk (recipe says sugar but FUCK SUGAR), added in sea salt and saffron, worked the dough like a mofo and let it thicken (10 minutes), rise (30 minutes) and rise again (30 minutes more) and then into the oven they went!

After two times the intended oven time (I think I made the buns bigger than intended + hadn't warmed the oven fully + the saffron paste I used messed up the flour/liquid ratio entirely but did end up making the dough even better than I'd expected) and voila (same semla - different angle)...

They tasted great. :) The recipe was aight after all! Possibly the best gluten-free variant I've tried so far - except maybe for the wonderful one I bought at renowned Bro cafe Mazarin before they closed down.

Anyway we got our semlor! I made one for all of us. Mom couldn't eat more than one half, so I had more, and there's more in store!

Then I got the fever for real and was totally out of it for three days.

WORTH IT. 👍✨

I'm a bit late with this post again this year thus, but know: These pictures were taken on Tuesday! And the foodstuff depicted on them was eaten then too. I haven't had an ounce of cream or sugar since, since I'm trying to get rid of this ongoing infection quick now cause this coming Friday:
Banja Luka. We're off again. Do wish I had a bit more recoup time...

Happy Fat Tuesday y'all!

After Göteborg there was this! A two day trip to Halmstad.

I have no idea what Halmstad is in English - if it's called anything other than it's actual name (as Gothenburg is), so I'll just roll with that this time! Halmstad, AKA the City of Hay.

Though it's really more a town than a city.

Ever been there yourself? Ever planning to go? If so here's a bundle of restaurants we considered on the train trip there.

We ended up going to the one of those with the shortest anchor text above, and this one, and they were great!

The place? Some pictures...

Read on...

AKA Göteborg!

I've been there now! To the city of... well I really don't know much about what this city is about. I haven't read up on its history at all, but I know it's a seaside city, of historical stature, with a big port and stone buildings, that I roamed around for a day yesterday.

It seemed to be a nice place.

Most restaurants had a lunch alternative with fish fresh off the market too, which Stockholm does not! I tried Bror & Bord (Brother & Table - though in meaning it's more like 'good friend and place to sit'), and would recommend it warmly. Affordable yet great food, generous servings, fresh salad, bread, butter and coffee. Chocolate too. And the cleanest bathrooms I've maybe ever seen in a restaurant! Plus hospitable staff.

One thing you commonly hear here about Gothenburg is how kind and courteous the people there are - to the point they've had issues with crime and violence, since they've welcomed in basically anyone, and it's true!

The welcoming part, I mean.

You might run into some pretty tough-looking guys on the streets, and so many redheads I'm wondering if this particular port is where most of our Viking descendants assimilated, yet if you happen to interact with them you get all but the cold and callous call-outs you'd expect. They're nice. Don't judge manners by the banners, as they say.

Though I assume I also fortunately didn't run into the wrong people.

I get the impression Stockholm's still way worse, but what do I know after but a day here. People did seem to be staring at their cellphones unusually much though, walking around without looking up at all, that surprised... considering how social they seem to be otherwise even with strangers.

The sidewalks were different too. Almost all were in cobblestone, with lines of larger, smoother rock in the middle. Oldskool, yet with a flare for the ergonomic, modern and more easily walkable.

I bought home some locally brewed Två Feta Grisar (Two Fat Pigs) beer as a souvenir (for my parents - I'm not a fan of bitter brews), made good use of the free WiFi on the VR trains - first time traveling with them too, and had a good five and a half hours to eat and explore the city.

Here's a glimpse:

Read on...

Went shopping today... well hey!

Once again! It was a good trip...

Rode up feeling like I was on the verge of getting a cold... but didn't! Came back home tired AF, and currently I feel like I'm on the verge of another.

Can't get a cold right now though. I've no time. Heading in for some Naprapathy tomorrow (a hopefully more beneficial form of Chiropractic treatment), little Christmas party on Saturday, a little Christmas thing at work on Monday, a long session of Christmas Bingo-Lotto that night aaand actual Christmas the day after that.

I still need to get my presents in order. I still need to get a couple collaborations finished too. My gawd I have things to do. I can't let a cold best me *atchoo*.

Anyway Östersund this time around looked a bit like this:

Read on...

Barcelona was nice.

Read on...