Cupcakes!! The Grand Konditori in Lund, Sweden

Cupcakes are popping up around Sweden. We were in a store yesterday in town and there were a dozen different kinds of cupcake liners in the cutest designs. My favorite was the cinnamon bun design. Some of the liners had statements like "eat more cake" instead of "eat more cupcake." I suppose cupcakes are a kind of cake- but they stand in a class of their own. They have a sexy little personality :)

Today Magnus and I tried two cupcakes from a local family bakery, Grand Konditori, in Lund. As we walked by the window we saw these HUGE bright pink and neon blue cupcakes inside the store. These cupcakes weren't even in the window and I still noticed them!

Of course, I made a purchase- one of each. The blue was a blueberry cupcake with coconut frosting. The pink, raspberry with something like a rose flavored icing. We thought the frosting would be way too sweet but they weren't at all. They were excellent and went perfectly with the cake. If we closed our eyes we couldn't tell where the icing was, just that it tasted amazing together. Usually cupcakes that look this gorgeous are for show and not for taste, but not with these beauties. The cake was moist, yet light and fluffy. When pinching the cake it squished together nicely- moist yet not too heavy on the butter. Overall this bakery scores very well. The only thing is the location, and the lack of variety, but that won't stand in my way. The prices were reasonable, 20 KR/each (about $3.50).

http://www.grandkonditori.se

The GREAT EIGHT! 8 daily activities to increase health

I make certain to incorporate these eight activities (the great eight) into my daily life. I can say that today, at 31 years of age, I feel younger, happier and more energetic than I did when I was 15. If I am traveling, stressed or short of time It means I need these eight activities even more, so I always incorporate these into my day- no matter what.

1. Meditate. I aim for at least 10 minutes of daily quiet meditation. Morning works best for me. I focus SOLELY on my breathing with the goal to slow down my thinking. SO often we live in our heads and the chatter of our minds. Inner peace and joy comes from being in the

present moment and this comes from a focus on something as simple as the breath. I also download meditation podcasts from Itunes and listen to those in the morning. They are free and are always being updated. Meditation Oasis and Oprah's Spirit Channel are my favorites.

2. Drink Water. I make sure to drink at least 2L per day, but usually drink about 3L. This is highly debatable as specialists contradict each other on this issue. A standard has been set that we should drink 1/2 oz of water per pound of body weight. Mayo Clinic says males need 3.7L a day and females 2.7L a day. Some say too much or too little water is unhealthy. Confusing!

Do your research and make your own goal of how much water you would like to consume a day and stick to it. Remember this is your life and you set the rules for yourself. Be cognizant that tea, coffee and alcohol dehydrates your body, so drink one glass of water for each of these drinks you consume. One sneaky way to incorporate more water is to set times when you will drink a glass or two. For me, every morning and evening I have hot water with lemon. And I always drink a few glasses of water about 30 minutes before my meals. I also sneak more water into my diet with fruits and veggies. Watermelons and tomatoes are 90% water!

3. Floss. This is the best way to prevent heart disease and keep your smile looking beautiful. People with gum disease are twice as likely to die from heart disease. My dentist would tell me, "Only floss the teeth you want to keep!"

4. Have gratitude. Say three things I am grateful for each night before I go to sleep. Gratitude brings positivity to my heart and it makes me feel young, radiant and joyful. It also brings increased prosperity to my day. You will shine from within and people will notice.

5. Get more active. Incorporate 30 minutes of daily activity into your life. Take the stairs, park farther away from the supermarket door, walk to the next-closest bus stop, walk home from the restaurant, whatever it takes to get your body moving. I just read a story about a 97 year old Japanese doctor that is still on his feet and working in a hospital. When asked wh

at he did to prolong his life he said he always takes the stairs and two at a time. Read more at this link: http://robertfoo.blogspot.com/2009/04/97-years-old-japanese-doctors-advice.html

6. Smile more. I say hi to at least one stranger everyday and ask them how their day is going-and, when I ask, I mean it. How often do you greet others and ask how they are and not really listen for a response? Having genuine concern for others is the best gift you can give to the world. I believe that if you bring happiness and peace to others it will come to you :)

7. Recycle. Every little bit counts and, if we all do a little, it adds up to a a lot.

Recycling is a responsibility we have to the environment, the community and most importantly for your children and your grandchildren. It personally makes me feel better about my role here on this planet. Most communities make this easy for us. All you need to do is get an extra bin and put it next to your trash.

8. Eat more fruits and vegetables and avoid packaged, processed foods. If you can not pronounce the ingredients on the food label or do not recognize the ingredient it probably means it is not good for you. Always have fruits greens with your meal- always! At dinner I make sure that 50% of my plate is green.

Honor your health and well-being by incorporating the GREAT EIGHT

into to your daily routine. Start today!

Gravad Lax and Gravad Lax Sas- The recipe

The recipe to the Swedish classic! This can be purchased at IKEA in the frozen section (along with the gravad lax sauce) but we are making it from our own kitchen- including the gravad lax sauce, a sweet, honey mustard. You must use fresh salmon for this recipe. Don't forget to kiss the chef for making this recipe- this is a delicacy!!

Recipe for 4-6 people

Gravad Lax:

700-1KG FRESH salmon (not previously frozen)

3 tsk white pepper

1/2 DL salt

1/2 DL sugar

1 DL fresh dill, very lightly chopped

1. Put FRESH salmon in a plastic bag and put in freezer overnight

2. Day 2, defrost salmon and poke ten small holes on backside of salmon (in skin)

3. Mix together pepper, sugar and salt in small bowl

4. Place salmon in a large bowl and add mixture from small bowl- massage well into salmon on both sides

4. Transfer salmon to a new plastic bag and add dill

5. Put in refrigerator for 2 days, flip once or twice per day

6. Before serving make sure to rinse well with cold water, so that salmon is clean

7. Cut into very thin pieces and serve with gravad lax sauce

Gravad Lax Sauce:

2 msk dijon mustard

1 msk sugar

1/2 msk vinegar

2 krm salt

1/2 krm white peppar

1.2 DL oil

1/2 DL fresh dill, finely chopped

1. Blend together first five ingredients

2. Slowly add in oil, little at a time, whipping till blended well

3. Fold in dill and refrigerate

*Sauce can last for at least one week

6 Ingredient Meatloaf

Magnus's famous Swedish Meatloaf (kottfars limpa):

600-700g natural ground beef

1 apple, grated

2 large carrots, grated

1 medium/large onion, diced

1 egg

1.5 DL natural ketchup (mild-spicy)

Salt and Pepper

(Side Dish: 2 crowns of broccoli)

1. Put first four ingredients in a large bowl and blend together with hands for about one minute. Add egg, ketchup sauce and salt/pepper and blend, another minute or two, until meat holds shape easily

2. Form mixture in the shape of a loaf on a baking pan and bake at 175C for about 40 minutes, take out of oven and drain au jus from the bottom of the pan (keep for later if you wish). Return meatloaf to oven at 250C for last 5-8 minutes to brown the top

3. Cut crowns off the top of broccoli and steam for 5 minutes in a colander. (Note: Steaming is one of the best ways to prepare your veggies because your body can better absorb the nutrients! You are also able to preserve the color, taste and texture of the vegetables.)

* If you want to serve with sauce you can use the au jus that will come off in the pan during baking. BBQ or chili sauce are other options. This meatloaf is rather moist so sauce is definitely optional.

Magnus's Swedish Kram

Swedish kram is similar to a fruit puree and is something I fell in love with as a little girl. Kram goes well on fruit, ice cream or milk, muesli, porridge, pancakes, yogurt (especially filmjolk-sour milk) OR it is great to eat just as it is!

Magnus and I made our very own batch today with a large bag of frozen raspberries. Here is the traditional recipe (with slight modifications):

Magnus's Swedish Kram

750 g frozen raspberries

5 DL of water

1/2 DL of sugar (we only used 1/3 of the sugar the recipe called for, you can add more if you like a sweeter kram)

3 MSK of potato flour, which we ran out of so we used corn starch (Note: it is recommended to use potato flour as most corn is genetically modified. I am a bit more trusting of cornstarch as we are in Sweden where genetically modified foods have been mostly banned. If you are in the States and use cornstarch definitely buy organic.) You can add more or less flour depending on how thick you want your kram. I like mine more natural so I use a little less water and a little less flour=more berries.

Rinse berries, put in large saucepan and add water and sugar. Bring to a boil for about 15 minutes. Temper the flour with some of the hot berries in a separate bowl and then add the flour-berry mixture to the saucepan (otherwise the flour will clump). Continue to simmer for 15 more minutes until the mixture thickens.

We also made a batch of strawberry and raspberry kram (sans everything but a splash of water). We will be comparing the two tomorrow for breakfast!