Look, look! It's Asta!

If you know me, then you know how dearly I love the Thin Man films. And if you know that, it won't come as a surprise to you that I couldn't resist buying this brooch when I came across it on Tradera.

I mean, it's Asta; down to the very last bristle!

My grandmother's family actually had a fox terrier in the 30s and 40s. She was called Trickie and my mother claims she was highly neurotic (this probably says more about my family than fox terriers, actually). Remind me to dig out a photo and tell you some stories about her some time!

Recipe: Salmon Pudding

I cook a lot, especially what we in Sweden would call 'husmanskost.' I suppose you could translate it as 'old-fashioned food', but there's more to it - the word carries connotations of everyday, no-fuss, rustic food. It's 'slow-food' in that it often takes long to make, and it's based on the sort of ingredients traditionally found in Sweden.

A typical, traditional dish is 'laxpudding', which means 'salmon pudding'. I made that recently, but I updated the recipe a little and gave it a few twists. First, I made it with smoked salmon rather than cured salmon as is traditional. I also added fennel for taste and texture and I ate it plain, rather than pouring melted butter over it, which is the traditional and super-yummy, but, frankly, appallingly calorific, way to serve it.

For me, this was 4 servings, but you should be advised it's 4 rather small servings, Vintage-sized portions, if you will.

150-200 g smoked salmon, sliced and diced
8-10 boiled potatoes, sliced
3 dl milk (1.2 cups)
2 eggs
1/2 - 1 fennel, sliced
1-2 handfuls of chopped dill
a little butter
salt & pepper

Take an oven safe dish and apply a little butter to it. Cover it with a layer of potato slices. Follow up with a layer of salmon. Spread the dill evenly over the fish and cover with fennel slices. Finish with a final layer of potatoes.

Whisk the eggs with the milk and add a little salt and pepper. Pour the mix over the potatoes and salmon.

Put a few small pieces of butter on top of the dish and bake in the oven for 40-55 minutes at 200°C  (~ 400°F).

What's In Your Vintage Handbag?

Yesterday, Black Dahlia challenged other bloggers to post the content of their vintage handbags on her blog Oh, for the love of Vintage!

Mine's not vintage, but here goes.

My bag:

I need a big shoulder bag, see, because typically I carry around books, my knitting, snacks and, often, a laptop. And I love this one because it's red and of genuine leather and quite like a magic Bag of Holding – it is much bigger on the inside than on the outside.

So,what's in there today?

Surprisingly few things, actually! Whew, you caught me on a good day...

From top down:

1. Red lipgloss from H&M
2. Earphones for my iPhone
3. Bottle opener – you never know when you might need it
4. Shiny red strawberry-flavoured lipgloss
5. Apple-scented hand lotion from H&M
6. Solid perfume from sivletto.com, supposedly smelling of lychee
7. Keys
8. Lip balm, tropical fruit-flavoured
9. Travel card for Stockholm Public Transport (SL)
10. Mirror with Millais' Ophelia on the back - I got that at the National Museum when they had a Pre-Raphaelite exhibition last year
11. Crocheting needle (but oddly, no yarn)
12.  Comb
13. Black gloves
14. Mascara from Clinique
15. A perfume "bullet" - a small, metallic container you fill with perfume so you can keep it in your handbag and top up as you go
16. Wallet in grey leather

Sámi álbmotbeaivi!

I totally forgot - today is the Sami National Day! The Sami are traditionally nomadic gatherer and hunters who with time migrated towards keeping herds of reindeer. Their native lands stretch across northern Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia, although today they are found all over the globe and only a minority still engage in reindeer husbandry.

Since my father is Sami, I would like to wish you all a very happy Sami National Day (or, with a twist of Northern Sami: a happy sámi álbmotbeaivi)!

And then she discovered internet shopping...

Lately, I've become addicted to Tradera. As far as I understand, that's the trademark eBay operates under in Sweden – it's owned by eBay anyway, and works the exact same way.

It's not really that I buy all that much, and what I buy is rarely very expensive; it's more the endless possibilities that have opened up to me. I can spend hours trying to find the perfect brooch or debating whether or not to to get those mint condition, alligator '60s pumps or not.

Here are some of my finds lately:

A vintage faux-pearl necklace. I'm addicted to pearls and I've been wanting one of these double row necklaces where the pearl size grows towards the center for ages. And honestly, can a girl have too many pearl necklaces?

An issue of a weekly Swedish magazine ("Hemmets veckotidning") from 1936. I haven't read it yet, but I leafed through it and already spotted some gems I need to dig into.

A brooch with some sort of spiky flower/fruit and leaves. I have no idea when it's from but it's big – it doesn't fit in the palm of my hand – with a curving stem, and a real eye catcher without being bling-y. I think I fell for it because of the combination of curves and strictness; it appeals to the art deco-fan in me.

Now excuse me while I go contemplate whether or not to buy an art deco sugar bowl in silver or not. I'm thinking it might be perfect for keeping cotton pads on my dresser...

"I do NOT vant to be alone"

I read this wonderful post over at  a cat among the pigeons about Greta Garbo, and that reminded me of an unexpected encounter I had a few years ago.

I was waiting for the bus, when a very, very old man sat down next to me and started talking. He was quite clearly very lonely and soon he was telling me all about his life and how he used to work as a cabin boy on a big Atlantic cruiser. He'd met tons of famous people, and he told me all about who were nice and who weren't. And then he said: "But my favorite was always Greta Garbo. Such a lady! She'd always ask for me the moment she got on board. People think she didn't like company, but that's not true. She loved chatting; she just didn't like all that fuss and being treated like a star. We got to know each other quite well, and when she was in New York she used to go eat Sunday dinners with my sister's family in Brooklyn. See, she'd get a little homesick every now and then so she liked being able to speak Swedish and not being treated like she was anybody special. A lovely lady, she was; warm and very well-mannered."

And then his bus arrived, and I thanked him for his stories and he got on board and I never saw him again. But I can't help thinking that if a former cabin boy remembers you so fondly 70 years or so later, you really must have been something rather special.

New Wave?

I'm currently recovering from a super-short pixie cut I had this summer. It was cute, but you couldn't really do that much with it so I decided to grow it out again. I want a middy, or at least a proper bob!  In the meantime, I have an ugly in-between hair that is pretty hard to get to look good.

I've been experimenting with waves, and I'm slowly improving. I do a wet set with about 30 foam rollers every night and then I take about 10-15 minutes of brushing out the curls in the morning. I've also cut back majorly on washing my hair. I used to be a compulsive "once or twice a day"-washer, but now I only wash it about twice a week. On the nights when I don't wash it, I use a light conditioner, which is enough to spruce it up.  I've noticed my waves look best on the third day after I wash my hair; smooth and easy to style, but not the least bit greasy. With the waves it looks OK, but honestly, I can't wait for it to grow a bit!