I hosted fika at our apartment one afternoon and served glögg using the collection of cups that I collected from thrift stores around town.
A clerk at the Grand Deli advised me what to serve for the most traditional glögg party. She recommended lingon knäcke, a kind of flat bread/ cracker, along with ginger cookies and cheese. I bought the first two items (lingonknäcke älg, and some fancy ginger bread) at the Deli and proceeded to the grocery store for the cheese. I asked more people for help finding the correct cheese and several of them had strong opinions about the “best” ost… so I ended up with two types of blue cheese. To my surprise it is served on the ginger cookies, not the knäcke! The lingonberry flat bread is delicious (and so adorable) but not meant to go with cheese for some reason.
I didn’t take photos during the party so these were done after the fact and the cheese is long gone. The cookie cheese combo was not a hit. One person said it was OK and several enjoyed the cheese with the crackers rather than the cookies. No Swedes were present so we could be blunt!
After sampling the traditional foods and enjoying lots of Christmas cookies saffron buns and candies provided by the guests, we made Scandinavian woven hearts. Carole gifted me the Christmas plate from 1970. We’ve had fun searching thrift stores for 1966 because she wants that year for another friend. It was a nice way to welcome December. 
Soon nearly all the International ladies will leave Sweden for the Holidays. I could use more downtime here to get settled in the apartment. There have been so many projects to do. Bryant finished the kitchen island and spice rack installation! Both turned out really well and the kitchen is feeling more organized.
After the party I started feeling tired and run down. Sure enough I woke up with cold symptoms and had to cancel my plans for nearly a week. I missed cooking club, several concerts, coffee club, sewing club and other social events. I was able to continue my daily walk since the cold air helped clear my sinuses. I think it was just a cold…I had almost recovered by the time Bryant returned from India.
We’ve been getting lots of frost and even a bit of snow. Bry and L were happy to get out for a winter hike. We also started digging out the holiday decorations. We found most of the items we wanted except for Bry’s winter coat!!! He is making do with layers.
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