Travel theme: Tempting

8 mars, 20148 mars, 2014 / Leya / 37 kommentarer

Tasty…

Healthy…

Thirsty…

And for today, March 8, the thirsty ones are the two most lovely women I know!

For more tempting things, click here.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Perspective

8 mars, 20148 mars, 2014 / Leya / 34 kommentarer

Different perspectives are truly energizing…these are from one of my windows for the WordPress Challenge.

One Trip EVERY Month Challenge: Östersund and Maria

6 mars, 20146 mars, 2014 / Leya / 28 kommentarer

Marianne has begun a new challenge where you take one trip every month, near or far, and take photos or write all about it. Join her here http://eastofmalaga.net/2014/01/20/new-challenge-one-trip-every-month/

Here’s how:

Each month, visit somewhere and then write about your trip or describe it using photographs – whichever suits you best.
Don´t forget to title and tag your entry ’One Trip EVERY Month Challenge’, and link back to this page.
Display the Challenge logo on your post or in your sidebar.
HAVE FUN!

I should have gone before Christmas, but a storm closed down all transportation in the southern part of Sweden. My flight was cancelled only a couple of hours before take-off. I was finally going to meet one of my blogger friends, Maria, living in Östersund up north, and I can’t say how disappointed I was. And Maria too. We had been planning this for about half a year, and we both laughed in the phone at the disaster …there was nothing else we could do…

I had to book another flight – not until February was it possible for us to meet. I was looking forward to a lot of winter, snow and fabulous walks on their big lake, Storsjön. The trip turned out to be … something quite different, but maybe not less wonderful!

My room

The real thing – Yarri!

One good way of transporting yourself on ice

Östersund – on wet ice

Åre and the mountains

Studio glassworks – Storsjöhyttan

Hot chocolate and …..

Östersund by night

For more on Jämtland, see my previous posts: https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2014/03/02/en-pa-miljonen-one-in-a-million/

https://lagottocattleya.wordpress.com/2014/03/04/frozen-gems-ristafallet-och-tannforsen-a-john-bauer-and-j-r-r-tolkien-dream/

And MariaYarri who is the true source of Jämtland pictures and stories!

LIOLI#2

5 mars, 20145 mars, 2014 / Leya / 20 kommentarer

Foto: Martin Hanner, Spisa.nu

Fried liver anglaise or suédoise

2-3 persons

Ingredients

Liver 700,0 gram

Bacon 280,0 gram

Flour 0,5 dl

Butter 100,0 gram

Salt

Potatoes 0,8 kilo

Creme 4,0 dl

Lingonberry jam (fresh berries – not boiled)

or capers (pickled)

How to: (25 min )

Peel and boil potatoes.
cut the liver into fine slices, about a centimetre. turn in flour and salt.
Fry bacon and let the fat run off on a piece of paper.
Heat up butter in a frying pan. When no bubbles left, put in the slices – not too close to each other. Fry 2-3 minutes on one side and 1 minute on the other.
Warm the capers in the butter if ”anglaise”, or if ”suedoise” pour the cream in the pan and heat it up.
Serve with capers (anglaise) or with lingonberries (suédoise).

Frying tips: Important to fry the liver fast in hot butter and not too long ( we have all tasted ”rubber”, haven’t we…) , the slices should be pink inside.

Thanks to: Spisa.nu

This of course means that I like liver – when I cook it myself! I remember those ”rubber soles” we had to eat at school lunches…impossible for anything but shoes. But I always liked the smell and the creme sauce. My husband also loves liver, so when we’re alone I sometimes surprise him with it. And, not only for the smell. Our children are not that interested though…they were also served rubber soles at school.

So, it’s never too late – follow the frying instructions and enjoy!

And why not join in? http://margaretrosestringer.com/2014/03/04/lioli-2/

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge: Sepia tones

5 mars, 2014 / Leya / 22 kommentarer

Some photos are enhanced in sepia tones – this scene from a street in Tibet shows a couple looking at a variety of bells for their cattle.

A local market in Tibet

Frozen Gems – Ristafallet och Tännforsen – A John Bauer and J.R.R. Tolkien dream

4 mars, 2014 / Leya / 28 kommentarer

Maria guidade mig till två underbara vattenfall som jag bara sett sommartid, som ung i slutet av 70-talet. De är bedövande vackra båda – Ristafallet och Tännforsen. Och vintertid är de något helt annat – fullständigt förtrollande. Därav rubrikens Bauer och Tolkien.

Maria guided me to two wonderful waterfalls, Ristafallet and Tännforsen – the two of which I had only seen in summertime when I was young. During winter they are maybe even more beautiful, enchanting and enigmatic. Like something from the famous Swedish illustrator John Bauer or J.R.R. Tolkien. For more facts about Ristafallet, click the link to Maria’s post: Ristafallet

Vi började med Ristafallet, det mindre av de två. För utförliga fakta och fina sommarbilder, klicka på denna länk till Marias blogginlägg: Ristafallet

Fantastiskt vackert, men än mer fantastiskt skulle det bli vid Tännforsen. Tännforsen som ju är Sveriges största fors, fryser också till på vintern och bildar de mest spektakulära formationer.

Even more beautiful was Tännforsen, the largest waterfall in Sweden, when frozen into spectacular formations. The falls are iIlluminated in the night, but we visited in daylight. The path down to the water was very slippery and we had to use spikes to get there.

Länk till sommarforsen från Marias blogginlägg – Link to summer pictures and more facts from Maria’s post: Tännforsen

Avslutningsvis besökte vi ett litet iskapell vid Tännforsen. Mycket stämningsfullt och vackert – en plats att gifta sig på.

Finally we visited a chapel here, built in snow and ice. Very beautiful and popular to get married in.

Ese’s Weekly Shoot & Quote Challenge: Diversity

3 mars, 2014 / Leya / 20 kommentarer

We’re stunned by the diversity of rocks. This stuff looks like it was put into a blender.

Stephen Squyres

Travel theme: Ancient

2 mars, 20142 mars, 2014 / Leya / 35 kommentarer

Ailsa at Where’s my Backpack? asks us to present something Ancient this week. My choice is an animal, a survivor from ancient times.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Abandoned

2 mars, 20142 mars, 2014 / Leya / 42 kommentarer

Somehow I believe that this vessel is not totally abandoned – only for the moment. An owner will return some day. Hope is valuable to us all!

En på Miljonen – One in a Million

2 mars, 20142 mars, 2014 / Leya / 44 kommentarer

Två och en halv dag i Östersund med Jämtländsk gästfrihet av varmaste slag. Maria och Yarri bjöd både på sig själva och på det allra godaste i jämtländsk mat. Ren och älg, röding och västerbottenpaj… med mera. Frukost med hjortronsylt (egenhändigt plockade bär och hemgjord sylt) varje dag. Maria är också en mästare på såser. Nätterna tillbringades i en prinsessan – på – ärtensäng. Det går helt enkelt inte att beskriva mina dagar där med något annat än himmelska. Maria är En på Miljonen av värme och omtänksamhet. Tack än en gång, Maria! Jag vet inte hur jag ska kunna återgälda detta, men jag ska göra mitt bästa!

Maria öppnade sitt hem och vackre Yarri satt gärna hos mig på soffan och myste…Han vet att ta vara på livets goda den mannen. (Yarri – du är precis den man du är på bloggen du!) Jag blev guidad till allt vackert som finns att se både nära och långt bort. Vi började med Frösön och vackra Frösö kyrka (började byggas på 1100-talet), Wilhelm Peterson -Bergers ”Sommarhagen” och hans grav. Peterson-Bergers “Frösö Blomster” är i mitt tycke det vackraste en svensk kompositör någonsin har gjort.

Kyrkor är ett måste, men alla hanns inte med eftersom de vissa dagar inte är öppna och andra dagar stänger redan tre. Men, man ska inte hasta. Bättre att njuta grundligt i stunden av den man besöker. Stora kyrkan i Östersund och fina Hackås kyrka, den enda i sitt slag i Jämtland, är pärlor som jag hoppas få chansen att besöka en annan gång. Men, först vill jag ju visa Maria lite av vad Skåne kan erbjuda! Få en fin presentation, från Marias blogg, av Hackås kyrka här.

Fler poster kommer att handla om mitt besök i Marias Jämtland. Men, för att verkligen se och få veta mer om detta vackra landskap måste du gå till en äkta jämtska – besök MariaYarri!

Two and a half day in Östersund with the warmest hospitality I have ever met. Maria is One in a Million of warmheartedness. Maria and Yarri treated me with the most excellent, typically Jämtländska food: Reindeer, moose, char and Västerbotten pie. Cloudberry jam every day… (In the southern part of Sweden, where I live, these berries are very expensive.) Of course Maria picks the berries herself and makes the jam as well… My days in Östersund cannot be described as anything but heavenly. Thank you again, Maria!

Maria (and Yarri) guided me to so many beautiful spots in the vicinity – and far away – that I was afraid she might get tired of driving me around…but she insisted…We both like churches, so Frösö church (12^th C) was our first choice. My favorite Swedish composer, Wilhelm Peterson – Berger, was buried here. His most famous compositions are “Flowers of Frösö” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wilhelm_Peterson-Berger

Unfortunately the churches are not open every day, so the eldest and most special church in Jämtland, beautiful Hackås, and the church in Östersund, were not visited – hopefully I will get the chance another time. It’s better to enjoy what you see, slowly and thoroughly. But first, I hope to show Maria something of Skåne too! Visit Hackås from Maria’s blog here.

More posts will be about my visit to Maria’s Jämtland – but the best way to get to know this part of Sweden is to visit MariaYarri!