Heather's Thing-A-Days

Day 17: Homemade Oreos

The sickness! It will not leave! I've been sniffling and aching and groaning for days now, and so haven't posted. "Excuses!" you may say. I say, "Tell that to the trashcan of dirty tissues next to the bed." Today I'm still sniffling and aching and groaning, but my spirits are a bit higher, so I baked (washing my hands all the while).

All of the baked goods I make are lactose-free, and this one's no exception. It's pretty easy to come by lactose-free milk, butter, and cream cheese here, and none taste any different than the regular stuff. Something to keep in mind if you have a guest with a sensitive tummy.

This recipe for homemade Oreos is amaaazing. I'm telling you, it's not just a cute title. These things *really taste like Oreos*. It's uncanny, actually, since they look so innocent and cute, but are, in truth, harboring extreme sweetness. And yet, they're still much better for you, since there isn't any high fructose corn syrup in them, or any of those other weird flavors and colors.

Oreos are among the few items of junk food I crave, mostly, I think, for the nostalgia. Whether it's real nostalgia or just something I learned from the commercials, I'm not sure, but either way it gives me a nice feeling. I won't buy them, though, because of how awful they are for you. I'll go for Newman-Os instead if I just must, but I haven't done even that for more than a year. Because of all that, baking these and enjoying them after was a real treat. These beauties were a breeze to make and are so, so good. Be sure to have some milk on hand for dunking. It's a sin not to dunk an Oreo.

Note on the recipe: I substituted butter for the shortening, which worked just fine.

Day 12: False Friends Number Three and Four

Two more editions of the False Friends series, in which we uncover the unsettling differences and similarities between Swedish and English.

False Friends Number Three

LEG: In English, this is a limb located below the hip, which helps one to ambulate. In Swedish, it's short for "legitimation," which is the word for "identification," as in I.D. So when you go to the liquor store, they ask to see your "leg." (The Swedish word for "leg" is "ben," which also means "bone.")

BED: In English, this is a piece of furniture upon which one rests or sleeps. In Swedish, it means "pray." The first time I saw "bed" in Swedish was in the title of the song "Bed För Mig" by Avner. I knew a little Swedish at the time, and thought it was Svengelska, but, no, it means "Pray for Me." (The Swedish word for "bed" is "säng.")

False Friends Number Four

BARN: This false friendship turns "barn burning" into a much more sinister phrase. In English, a "barn" is a building used for storing hay, grain, livestock, etc. In Swedish, it means "children." (The Swedish word for "barn" is lada.)

DOG: I learned about this one while reading Swedish subtitles on an English DVD. In English, a "dog" is a domesticated canid. In Swedish, it means "died." (The Swedish word for "dog" is "hund.")

And there's more! Coming soon.

 

Days 10 and 11: False Friends (upcoming) + Corporate Acquisition Humor

I've been getting progressively sick this week, so I'm not quite
keeping up with my thing-a-days. I again did two things today to count
for both.

The first is another in the False Friends series, drawn but not yet scanned, so you'll just have to
trust that it was created today. I'll post the image along with a new
one tomorrow.

The other thing from today is this image, which I put together after
learning that the social gaming company Zynga acquired another similar
company, called Serious Business. Their two logos were just begging to be mashed up. And so, having nothing better to do on my
sick day, I mashed 'em.

Day 9: Brownies

Baking may not seem like much of a "thing" to some people. My
boyfriend's mom, for instance, bakes about three times a day on
weekends. But it's a new adventure for me.

These are my first not-out-of-the-box brownies. They were made from
the Best Cocoa Brownies recipe from Smitten Kitchen. Quite good.

Days 7 & 8: Project Noble + Vanilla-Cardamom Scones

I forgot to do a thing yesterday, so I did two today.

The first is work on an ongoing collaboration with a friend. It's
top-secret for now, but the screenshot is a hint.

Second is one of my favorite things to bake: scones. These are an
improvised expansion on a Swedish recipe. You can use Google to
convert the measurements if needed. Just type "2 dl to cups," for
example, and it'll calculate it for you.

4.5 dl flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cardamom
1 tsp vanilla sugar
Few dashes of powdered ginger (fresh is extra-yummy)
1/2 tsp salt
50 g butter
2 dl milk or yogurt

Mix and split into four portions. Bake at 250C for 8-10 minutes. Best
served with jam and clotted cream or cream cheese.

Day 6: Drawing from Life

My boyfriend and I are spending this weekend at his family's house
near Lysekil.
Today his sisters and I spent some time drawing each other from life.
It's the first time I've spent any serious time doing that in about
four years. I'm so glad they came up with the idea. It was fun! I did
these little bits with pastel while watching TV later on.

Day 5: Carrot Cake Cupcakes

The baking continues.

Today I went for carrot cake, via Smitten Kitchen, which is an absolutely adorable food blog with great
photography.

The recipe was for cupcakes, but mine were just carrot cake in cupcake
form, since I forewent the frosting. They were perfectly sweet and
yummy without.

The last pic shows you a bit of the view outside our kitchen window. A
pleasant day, at -1C.

Day 4: Vanilla-Coconut Cupcakes

Taking a break from False Friends to do a little baking. Last night it was Almost-Vegan Balsamic Fudge Drops, which I highly recommend!

This afternoon I decided to make use of some coconut milk that I had
leftover from making Thai curry. I was curious about what kind of
baked goods could be made with it, and found this recipe on Epicurious, which has a "four forks" rating. I used half
the recipe, which it says would make nine, but I'd do closer to six.

The cupcakes are really moist, which is nice. Taste-wise, they were
good, but not fabulous. They felt a bit more like muffins than cake,
and didn't taste much like coconut (both of which are mentioned in other comments), but I wasn't much expecting them to, so that was OK. I
wasn't at all a fan of the frosting. It had a weird thin consistency
and tasted far too much of the sweet coconut milk (also mentioned in
some comments). I tried playing around with the ingredients to cut it
a bit, but wasn't successful. Unfortunately, I didn't have any coconut
flakes around for garnish. That could have made up for it.

So, I don't think I would recommend this recipe. But it was still fun to make :)

Day 3: False Friends, Installment Two

The second installment of False Friends, a series that illustrates
some of the tricky differences between Swedish and English

In this installment:

BRA: In English, that's a supportive device used to keep one's breasts
in place. It means "good" in Swedish. (The Swedish term for bra is
"b.h.," which is short for "bysthållare," which means, essentially,
"boob holder.")

KISS: Lots of potential for embarrassment here! In English, that's a
touch or caress with the lips as an expression of affection. It means
"pee" in Swedish. (The Swedish term for kiss is "kyss," which is
pronounced "shiss.")

Thoroughly confused yet? There's more to come.

Day 2: False Friends, Installment One

I've been living in Sweden for the past eight months. When I came
here, I had no knowledge of the language. Luckily, I have my boyfriend
to help guide me through the treacherous linguistic landscape that is
Swedish (along with beginner's books, children's stories, street
signs, menus, and overheard conversations).

There are a lot of words that are spelled the same in Swedish and
English but have *completely* different meanings. This is called a false friend.
I've been compiling a list of them, and thought it would be fun to
draw pictures illustrating their respective meanings. I am by no means
skilled in this department. I may collab with someone later on to make
it into something more proper.

Covered in this installment:

MAT: In English, that's a small sturdy carpet used for wiping off
one's shoe soles. It means "food" in Swedish. (The Swedish word for
mat is "matta.")
MITTEN: In English, that's a knitted covering for the hand that
encases one's four fingers in one compartment, and the thumb in
another. It means "middle" in Swedish. (The Swedish word for mitten
is "vante.")