The Answer is Pavlova!

The dessert I made for last night's dinner was a winter fruit pavlova, it turned out really good! Pavlova is a meringue that is chewy inside, topped with whipped cream and fruit. I used blueberries, physalis, kiwi and passionfruit.

We had such a lovely time with our friends, here's Sofia and Tove...

and Jonas who is making the starter.

Sofia and Arman.

We were three couples, and each couple made a course. The starter made by Tove and Jonas was delicious, hash browns with creme fraiche, onion, dill and red caviar.

Then there was lemon chicken by Sofia and Arman, with potato wedges and youghurt sauce and pumkpin seeds. So good!

And finally mine and James' dessert which also went done really well judging by everyone's empty plates!

Meringues and Physalis

Tonight we have been invited to dinner at Sofia and Arman's place. I'm bringing dessert, meringues and fruit are two of the ingredients. Can you guess what I'm making?

A Few Days in Sweden

We've had a lovely and relaxing time here in Sweden since Christmas Eve. On Christmas Day we had a yummy turkey dinner with my family, we read books and watched movies.

On Boxing Day we went to a cute little town called Mariefred.

In Mariefred there is a beautiful old castle called Gripsholms Slott.

Yesterday my friend Sofia came over with some home made truffles, which I have yet to taste since my parents are saving them for a special occasion!

In the evening we went to see "The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo" with Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara. I thought it was brilliant, Rooney Mara was superb in the role of Lisbeth Salander. But I would recommend reading the "Millenium Trilogy" books by Stieg Larsson first, they are amazing!

Christmas Eve

Yesterday we celebrated Christmas at my parents' house, there was lots of good food, pressies and family fun!

I decorated our tree, how cool is this dinosaur decoration?

In our family, we have a tradition of wearing silly christmas hats, the collection keeps growing each year!

In Sweden it's tradition to eat roast ham on Christmas Eve...

As well as smoked and "gravad" salmon.

James was very excited about the food!

Then of course we have lots of different types of amazing herrings...

My sweet cousin Julia.

I made more mintkisses...

As always, it was wonderful to come home and spend time with my family, that's the most important thing about Christmas after all!

Merry Christmas from A Piece of Lisa!

God Jul and Merry Christmas dear friends! I hope you all have a wonderful time with your loved ones!

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Cuddly Mini Christmas

Last weekend James and I celebrated pre-christmas with his family since we'll be in Sweden on the actual day. We got to cuddle and play with James gorgeous niece and nephews, so much cuteness!

Here's me helping little Rachel opening her gift...

she was more interested in the wrapping paper than the actual gift, bless!

James' cheeky nephew Sam with James' mum, aka Grandma Gloria.

I was so pleased with myself because I came up with the idea for the perfect present for James' dad Mike, a book that he absolutely loved and was so excited about reading. It felt like such an achievement because dads are impossible to buy for!

James with his littlest nephew Ben, such a cutie!

I made a chocolate cake that's gooey in the middle ("kladdkaka" in Swedish). I tried to decorate it like a snowflake, it didn't really work since I forgot that the pattern would be reversed, but at least it tasted delicious!

Mint Kisses {Homemade Gift Idea}

These sweet little treats are fun to make and so moreish! Wrap them in a cute box and they make a lovely homemade gift.

Ingredients:

• 2, 5 cups [4 dl] icing sugar
• 1/2 cup [1 dl] cold water
• A few drops of vinegar
• 10 drops of peppermint oil
• 100 g dark chocolate

Mix icing sugar, water and vinegar in a pot, bring to boil and let it simmer for about 10 minutes.

Check if it's ready by cooling a little bit of the mix in a glass of cold water, and then "roll" it between your fingers. If the mix becomes like a thread between your fingers it's done. Otherwise boil for a little longer.

When the mix is "thready" add the peppermint oil while stirring. Then let it cool down a little while continuing to stir. The mix should now be a white opaque colour.

Using two spoons, form small, round pastils on a sheet of baking paper. When the pastils have set, melt the chocolate and pour into a plastic bag. Cut a small hole in the bag and decorate each pastil. Let the chocolate set, and enjoy!

Awesome Vintage/Lomography Effect Software

I wanted to tell you about this really cool software I've found, it's called Toycamera AnalogColour. It's a cheap and fun software that instantly gives your photos a sweet vintage effect. You can make your photos look like they've been taken with a Polaroid or Diana camera, or just give them a soft retro look. You could probably achieve the same effects with Photoshop, but this program is just so much quicker and easier!

Here you can see what I mean, the first one of each photo is the original, second one is after I put it through the software.

The software costs $12 and you can download it here.