Merry Christmas!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

The Hunt for the Perfect Christmas Tree

Last year we thought about getting a real Christmas tree, but we couldn't find the time because we had just moved into our new flat. And we probably wouldn't have found the box with Christmas decorations in time for the holidays anyway as we had a lot to unpack and find a place for after our transatlantic move.

So we settled for a miniature plastic tree.

But this year we were determined to get that perfect Christmas tree! And there's only one place to go for Christmas trees around here - Santa's Tree Farm!

Christmas Tree Valley

We drove down to Half Moon Bay and navigated through what can only be described as Christmas tree valley. 

Everywhere car we met driving in the opposite direction had a tree mounted to the roof, and everywhere we looked we saw one tree farm after another - but we kept driving until we found Santa's Tree Farm. We had seen their website and we were sold on choosing and cutting our very own American Christmas tree!

That Perfect Tree

Back in Sweden and England, there's not that much choice in terms of what actual type of Christmas tree to get, at least not in central London or Ronney! You see the tree at the supermarket and you buy it. 

You have no idea what type of tree it actually is, and in all honesty you don't really care. Its a Christmas tree and the main two choices are plastic or real.

Here we had a choice of no less than six types of trees to choose from (including Douglas Fir, Concolor Fir, Montery Pine, Noble Fir, Grand Fir and Redwood) and acres and acres of tree plantations to walk through and search for your own perfect tree. 

We weren't quite sure which type of tree we'd like so we decided to walk around and get a feel for them. Secretly I hoped we'd like the Redwood trees the most - because I just loved going to the Redwood forest and seeing the 2,000 year old giants. But of course I wasn't sure what they'd look like as tiny little Christmas baby trees!

Anyway - we found the entrance to Santa's village, they gave us a saw and off hunting we went.

First Sight

As soon as we parked our car I ran into someone who was loading a tree into their truck. The tree looked so special I had to ask about it - and no surprise, it was a Redwood tree and he pointed out where we could find them.

After that, our first stop was the Redwood plantation and I was ready to saw one right there and then, but Jelte wanted to see the rest of the trees before making a decision. 

How 'bout this one?

I've never seen so many trees. There were skinny ones, round ones, fluffy ones, white ones and shaggy looking trees all around and after about an hour Jelte had spotted and chosen probably ten trees that he liked. 

So many trees!

But there was something not quite right about any of them. 

After a while I realised what the problem was - they had all been pruned into perfect Christmas tree shapes! I thought that made them look a bit like shaved Golden Retrievers - perfect shape and smooth to the touch, but incredibly unnatural and wrong looking at the same time!

I guess growing up in the countryside has made me pickier than most when it comes to trees.

Jelte realised I wouldn't budge and he agreed to us getting a Redwood tree - hurrah! :-)

Back to the Redwood Plantation we went in search for our perfect tree.

How 'bout this one? Whoops, not a Redwood!

Found it!

It looks easier on TV

Success!

It was heavier than we thought!

Obligatory selfies

When we got the tree home we weren't sure it'd fit in the elevator!

Turns out it was the perfect size!

Keep your fingers crossed Alfie won't confuse the baubles for balls! :-)

Vineyards, Nosework and a Fortune in Sand Dollars

Someone just gave me a friendly reminder that I hadn't blogged for a while, and looking back at the last post I realised that indeed, I haven't blogged since September 6th! We've had a couple of incredibly busy months with friends and family coming to visit. So, its about time for a little catch up!

September in Pictures

Jelte's parents came for a two week visit and I think we managed to cover most of the tourist sights during their time here.

We took Jelte's parents to the Redwood forest

....and to see the Golden Gate Bridge

We took the ferry to Alcatraz

At the island we received a warm welcome...

And we all made it back home without ending up in one of these cells

We went for a walk on Ocean Beach, where Wim photographed a million bird species 

And Inga collected a small fortune in Sand Dollars

We also took them to see some Vineyards in Napa Valley

And we tried almost all of the wine!

We celebrated my birthday at the Sutro restaurant, with a beautiful view of the sea

And Alfie passed his nosework level 2 class with flying colours

Okay so that was September - now lets see when I have time for the October update :-)

A minor kitchen disaster

With all my Paleo cooking, I was just about starting to feel really confident in the kitchen - when disaster struck.

Okay, so perhaps it wasn't really a disaster. In all fairness it probably wasn't even my fault.

But still!

I was baking some plantain crackers and the recipe called for them to be in the oven for quite a while, 60-90 minutes.

At the 60 minute mark I checked them and decided they needed at least another ten minutes so I set the timer. At 70 minutes, same procedure. Before the timer went off again I started to smell smoke so I went over to check on the crackers.

We have a one of my grandmothers hand embroidered kitchen towels hanging on the handlebar of the oven door so I couldn't see what was going on inside.

Luckily I decided to slide the towel to the side instead of opening the oven door because there were massive flames eating away the crackers.

Fire alarms

At this point the fire alarm had gone off in our flat and Alfie was getting really stressed, running around with his tail between his legs crying. I tried to tell him to stay out on the patio as the alarm wouldn't be so loud out there but of course he wouldn't listen - he had to stay close to me.

I opened all the windows to let out the smoke thinking that the best way to kill the fire would be to simply starve it of oxygen inside the oven.

The fire alarm in our flat is of the type that you cannot switch off and its really, really loud. The sort of noise you could use to torture people.

I also wasn't sure at which point the building's main alarm would set off and alert the fire department - or at which point the sprinkler system would kick in so I was starting to feel a little stressed to say the very least. Especially since the smoke just kept filling the flat!

Bad idea

A couple of minutes later I checked the oven again - the flames were gone but the smoke still kept coming. I thought I could take the crackers outside to get the smoke out of the house but that turned out to be a bad idea - the fire re-ignited the second I opened the oven door.

By now our flat was completely black with smoke so I decided to get the fire extinguisher and kill the fire once and for all.

That was possibly a good idea (fires inside your house is never a good idea) but what I hadn't considered was the mess the extinguisher would leave behind. It was a dry powder type of thing and it left behind a fine layer of sticky dust that clung to each surface so hard that it was impossible to hoover up.

After two hours of dusting and hoovering I decided enough is enough and called our cleaners who spent another three hours scrubbing our flat clean. Just in time for the inlaws to arrive :-)

I'm still a little confused over why the crackers caught fire in the first place - they were not *that* dry ( I did just check on them before they ignited) so I wonder if perhaps there was some cooking oils at the bottom of the oven that caught fire? And more importantly - should I try and bake those crackers again? :-)

Alfie helpfully brought some toilet paper to clean up

My European Super Tour

Jet Lagged and Sleepy

Nothing beats going to bed when you're really jet lagged. I got home just after 7PM last night, after a terrifying cab ride from the airport (my cab driver decided looking in the rearview mirrors was over rated - better see if the other lanes are free through trial and error technique!).

I was welcomed by a really sleepy Alfie who decided I wasn't allowed back in the house unless I played tug with him first. Then he sniffed my suitcases to see if there were any presents lurking in there (thanks to his buddy Archie he found a toy in there!).

Then Jelte and I ordered Pizzas (gluten free - can pass as paleo food with a little imagination!!) and crashed in the sofa. I managed to keep my eyes open until 9:30 and slept like a brick until 6AM. I'm not a morning person - but waking up early because you're jet lagged is actually quite nice.

Oland Adventures

I spent a lovely couple of days at the north of Oland. The weather was so sunny and lovely and we drove around the island to take in the local sights and wonders. Among other things I saw the troll forest, a ship wreck, raukar, and more antique shops than I can list here.

We also came across a field full of lovely mushrooms and of course we cooked them in butter - so yummy (and very paleo!).

Found shipwreck

Found rock art

Climbed rauks

Took artsy photos

Chilled on the beach

Picked mushrooms

and cooked them

London Visit

After the usual train ride to Kastrup airport, I flew to London to catch up with some friends there. I'm pleased to report that our flat is still standing and looks in good shape - even though Putney looks pretty changed with lots of new shops, a refurbished train station and temporary closed bridge leaving the whole place nearly deserted of traffic.

Couldn't resist a tourist snap flying into London

Archie looking good

Ollie with his new toy

Holland and the Inlaws

Then followed a quick hop over to Amsterdam to see the inlaws and meet our brand new little niece Sara. I had the honour of seeing her first introduction to real food - she tried a spoonful of mashed carrots only to throw up shortly after.

While in Holland I also met up with some friends from the Entlebucher community - and our little niece had her very first introduction to big barky dogs.

It was really great seeing everyone and catching up.

Proud parents and a reluctant baby trying carrots

Learning to 'read'

Heavy baby

Selfie with Sarah and Bella

Paleo tour

Everywhere I went I tried sticking to my Paleo diet as closely as possible - and I think I even managed to convert a couple of people along the way (you know who you are!). I also found out that airport security scanners don't pick up on freezer elements even through they are essentially a bottle of water. Great news for me as it meant I could keep my food cold - not so great news from a security point of view though I guess.

I promised to share some paleo links so here you go:

Blogs

• Paleo Nom Nom Blog: What is the Paleo Diet
• The Paleo Mom Blog: Starting on a Paleo Diet articles explaining the science behind it all.
• Swedish Paleo Portalen: recept mm
• Under vart tak: Hur man startar med Paleo
• Yummy Paleo Bread

Books:

• Paleo: Naturlig mat och livsstil 
• Practical Paleo: A Customized approach to health and whole-foods lifestyle
• Against all grain by Danielle Walker
• Paleo Nom Nom - food for humans

Swedish Paleo book with great recipes

Carrot patties, sausage and spinach 

Banana and avocado 'yoghurt' with berries and sunflower seeds

Crayfish with salad and beetroots

Pint sized dogs, heat wave and trying Swedish Paleo

It took nearly 18 hours to get here, flying from San Francisco via London and Copenhagen - but the lovely Swedish summer is worth the long travel. We're having somewhat of a heat wave and it's much warmer here than in SF! Apparently it's been like this for a while and the locals are getting a little fed up.

Getting my Paleo fix

Continuing with the Paleo lifestyle I've started introducing my mum to paleo eating. So far we've cooked Sweet potato hash and beef patties for breakfast, whole roast chicken and carrot hash for dinner and a handful of other recipes. Oh and of course paleo banana pancakes!

Going to the Swedish supermarket was a 'new' experience. I think I must have gotten used to the good quality meat options and  huge variety of fruit and vegetables available in our local SF store - because although Swedish ICA offered an enormous selection of ready made meals, the fruit and veg department was looking pretty sparse and the meat isle consisted of mostly ready marinated and flavoured meats. Additives, and bad fats aplenty.

There were lots of 'ekologiskt', or organic options but as far as I could see there was no labelling for grass fed or pasture raised meats - so either it doesn't exist here, or all farm animals live better lives in Sweden!

Of course we did find some real whole foods though - and our meals so far have been great.

Getting my dog fix

I've been walking and snuggling with Stina, my mum's cute little mini pincher/ chihuahua cross. She is a pint sized little sweetie - and I barely notice when she pulls on the lead as hard as she can, I guess that's the advantage with tiny dogs!