Winter Has Come.

Winter has officially arrived and as you can see, we now have some snow. I am still yet to really go out in it, just as it came, I got sick. Quite sick.. bleedy throat sick, but I am much better now, a couple of weeks on. Actually I got really sick just after the macarons.. did Pierre Herme punish me for not picking another type of macaron?!

The last few days I have been home alone, it was very quiet without Nemo sulking that his beloved Emma was gone so I was left sulking to myself that I had just me and my pulled pork. You see, Emma can't stand the smell of pork cooking so I leave it until she isn't going to be directly around before I cook it and stink up the joint so Tuesday morning, my job was to get my pork cooking! Now it is Thursday and I am so over pulled pork. I don't think I will need to eat again for many many months. I don't know how people eat meat every single day.. doesn't it hurt your guts?!

This weekend, I feel like a visit to see the pups is in order. One can always count on these cute faces to cheer one up. I just love it when Affe gets his mouth going [photo] and how adorable is this little guy?! [photo] Hjulle doesn't look like the terror that he most definitely is in that shot, but he certainly is a terror! The best kind of terror! Who goes all calm when I hold him. It's nice.

2014 seems to be moving just as fast as 2013, the beginning of Feb is about to begin and I feel like Jan had only just begun! Next thing I will blink and it will be Christmas again.. but not before Easter! I am very much looking forward to hitting up Berlin at Easter. Beer and Sausage! Flat whites from Antipodes! I want time to rush past so we can get there but at the same time I want time to slow the shit down! The faster the time goes, the faster my grey hairs appear. Maybe I will try and keep my inner kid in check by getting out on the weekend in the snow and build a snowman.. if I feel extra talented I may attempt an Olaf. 

 [YouTube - "In Summer" song from the movie]

It's That Time Again!

Yep, it's that time again! What time you ask? The time for macarons to celebrate my 2nd swedishbirthday! I have been a citizen of Sweden for 2 years now.. a resident for... 8? I will be heading into my 9th year here in March.. by golly how time flies!

I nearly didn't get macarons this year, they decided that they weren't going to release the 12 pack of the year's Jardins so I thought screw it, I will do something else instead. I was also a little peeved at the customer service about it but that is a whole different topic. Anyways, Emma convinced me I still should and that I should just pick a couple of them to try, so I agreed and picked two 7 packs of the different Jardins, I didn't overly want to have 7 of one flavour.. of any flavour really.. but I had to make do. So I picked only one from the previous year, which was.. in all reality the only one that was there that really appealed to have more than one of.. 

Jardin Japonais - Morello cherry, lemon and tonka bean.

Sadly, another disappointment happened in the macaron buy when I received a phone call from them to ask if I could pick another as they were now "sold out" of the one that I picked. I opted to just have the money reimbursed as, like I said before, I really didn't find any of the others enticing enough to have 7 of. Bummer really.

The rest was sent off, and then DHL turned something so simple as delivering my macarons into some kind of too much communication nightmare, but again.. that's a whole different topic.

Anyways, let's get down to business.. I present to you the macarons that were tasted tonight!

From the 2014 Les Jardins collection, I have this month's one which was...
Jardin du Liban - Lemon and Cedar.

You really can't go wrong with lemon with me, unless you go the toilet cleaner route and I am glad to say it was not like eating some toilet cleaner.. it was more like eating a delicious sweet, but tarty, yet earthy lemon. The texture was a little off tho, I am not sure why but it seems the 7 packs of the Jardins collection always seem to be a little soft/soggy.

We moved onto the 12 pack, which had 5 flavours.

First up we went with Infiniment Chocolat Pérou - Pure Origin Peru Dark Chocolate.

It was chocolatey, the texture was more right. We actually found that this is one of the better chocolate ones that we have tried. I think this one actually looked like it had bad teeth.. don't you agree?

Move over chocolate and head to the soap! There always has to be a soapy macaron included. The French and their love of soapy... goodness. 
Infiniment Rose - Rose and Rose Petal.

I took a bite of this one and was like, ummm ok! It's not soapy.. chew chew chew and then pow! Soap! Not a bad soapy, but still soapy. I will say that even tho they include these soapy ones, I don't overly mind them. I wouldn't purposely pick it if it wasn't included in the pack but I am happy to gobble them down on the occasion.

To wash out the soap, there was nothing better than to jump head.. errr mouth first into Infiniment Praliné Noisette - Hazelnut Praliné & Praliné Crisp. 

Now we all know that hazelnut isn't a top pick flavour of mine and this macaron is ALL hazelnut. If you like hazelnut then you will like this. It was a little too hazelnutty for little ole me but it was nice and Emma was in heaven. She compared it to a slightly sweeter version of the tub [link] we got last time. Emma gets to enjoy the one left over all by herself... she's good at taking one for the team.

What's next? Infiniment Vanille... no not Milli Vanilli! How's that for some memories.. perhaps showing one's age now, right? Anyways, back to the Infiniment Vanille - Vanillas from Tahiti, Mexico and Madagascar. 

Unlike Milli Vanilli, this flavour was all real! 3 types of vanilla packs a delicious vanilla punch! There was no lip syncing here as my lips smacked together and the macaron rolled helplessly around my mouth. Just delicious. thatisall.

And lastly, the reason why we picked this particular box set! 
I give you... Agapé - Lemon and Gingerbread.

This macaron did not disappoint at all. Once again the lemon was perfect and it was a great balance to the punchy gingerbread, I could eat this one all day and night and then all over again.. altho, I think my tummy would have a different idea.

So there we have it, the 6 macarons that I got to try tonight. It was well worth it, even if I didn't get to try the cherry one that I was so looking forward to. I am pretty darn spoilt. 

www.pierreherme.com

Slightly Amused!

So, yesterday I posted saying that we didn't even have snow.. in the evening that all changed with a sudden falling of the white stuff from the skies. We had a white soggy blanket cover our grounds. Emma went for a walk in it with a friend and it was a little on the slippery side, they both nearly died*. I was glad I didn't bother.. coz we all know how that would have ended up.. yep, nursing my buttocks.

It hasn't lasted long, as it is now, it is all melting and slushy yuckiness as its +5 today.

Weather Gods, you are one fickle set of mistresses!

In other news, I made lemon meringue pie..

*total exaggeration but it has a much better effect than nearly slipped

& So It Begins!

It is a new year, this year has a 4 in it and 4 is a good number so.. this year has to be a good year, right? We shall see. So far tho, it has been a little testy... weather wise, it is crazy 'warm'. Actually today is the first day of our winter so far that we have gotten to like -5.. which in all honesty didn't last long at all.. just long enough for Emma to have to head out in it in the morning on her way to work. The weather gods seem to have forgotten that it is meant to be winter. Here anyways. A friend of mine in Canada seems to have taken all the seriously cold and heavy snow fall for us.. as well as the falls. She is nursing a buttocks injury currently. Now that is a good friend! Right?! haha

We packed away Christmas on the weekend just gone. The Christmas break was a pretty decent one if I do say so myself. The worst thing to have come out of it is the neighbours on our bedroom wall got a new TV for their bedroom and they seem to watch some strange sounding stuff at odd hours. So really, that being the worst thing is pretty good going.. especially when you consider last year and the HGFH.

I destroyed the very awesome gingerbread house today and only wished that we had a wrecking ball so that I could have the epic snowman ride it as it demolishes the house! Miley, eat your heart out! Could have had a competition of.. 'Who wears it best?!' I dare say the epic snowman would have coz he was.. epic! 

All the goodies have been consumed.. not just by us of course. We grabbed the last of the gingerbread yesterday as we battled the wind to get home! Seriously crazy winds yesterday. We have just one bottle.. one lonely bottle of my beloved Julmust. I do have a hinkering for a little more of these..

But, Christmas will be upon us again soon enough.. it seems to come faster and faster each year. So yeah, I can have more then and in the meantime I shall fill my tummy with some more macarons from Paris, which shall arrive on Thursday to celebrate my second year as an official Swede. Yay me! I'm getting older! haha And I shall fill my time with hopefully some fun things.. like going to Berlin for Easter! Easter can't come soon enough! It will be coming up to a year (when we go to Berlin) since we have been on a trip.. seems far too long if you ask me! Trips = stories and stories = hilarity! Or well, sometimes not so much hilarity.. especially seeing as I can't get Gregory out of his 'library'.. Especially with his friend always there.

Oh and Emma was game enough to give the far too salty kettle corn seasoning a go again and the verdict... still too salty, even with a larger batch made. The popcorn seasoning people sure did drop the ball on that one! O wells.