Mysig kväll (Cozy Night)

                                                  

When the daylight becomes shorter and the nights become longer many of my Swedish friends start to complain about the growing cold outside and their longing for the summer that has come and gone. Because the concept of the four seasons is so new to me I relish and enjoy each season and the new customs and activities that come along with them.

Thus far Autumn in Sweden is about collecting apples before they go bad, polishing all my silver so it can be enjoyed during the coming months that that will be spent mostly indoors and letting it rain on me when I run with my dog around the lake without giving it much thought.I have heard that there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothes....

My Husband's Hot Swedish (cinnamon) Buns

                

            My Husband is a Swede. We met in California and lived there together for ten years before we moved to Sweden. Never during all those years he did not express any interest in baking. All of the sudden, not too long after we moved to Sweden he started making many different types of delicious Swedish treats.When I told his family this they laughed. Turns out he used to bake all the time before he moved to the States and kept this wonderful skill a secret from me all of this time. The buns that are pictured here are his Cinnamon Buns with chopped almonds and marzipan. He also makes some Vanilla Buns of a similar type that are famous in our family.

          It seems to me that Swedes take more time and pride in their baked goods than the average American does. It seem like everyone over here has a special recipe for Kanelbullar (Swedish for Cinnamon Buns) that was handed down from a Mother or Grandmother. The Swedish Cinnamon Bun in all it's forms have been much better than any Cinnamon Bun I have had in the States thus far. I think it could be that Americans are working so much that we think we don't have the time it takes to spend on baking. I think if more Americans spent more time with more Swedish baked goods they would take more time and enjoyment out of making them themselves.

        If I think about it, some of the best memories I have as a child have been when I was baking with loved ones. I think somewhere along the way to the drive thru Starbucks we forgot about the simple pleasures that we no longer can seem to make time for.