mimer's Profile

Sure, candy might be trash nutrition-wise, but it still requires a lot of energy to produce and ship around the country, etcetera. So while throwing it away might be good for your health, it doesn't benefit the environment. And since it doesn't go bad for ages, why throw it away? Just learn to control yourself instead. Or give it away.

I'm from Sweden, so naturally I'm very familiar with 'fika.' For me, the important part is not eating or drinking something, but socialising with my friends. We can meet up for a fika and sit for hours at a café, just chatting. I always drink coffee, but I don't often eat something. When I do, however, it's usually something sweet (i.e. cake, cookies, muffins, and such) or a simple open faced sandwich. I've never ever eaten pickles or vegetables and smoked fish for fika though. Nope. Maybe some people do, but for me that's definitely not fika.
Also I don't know why but seeing Swedish traditions brought into the spotlight always makes me sort of happy. :)

In Sweden the most common thing to use is "vanilla sugar" (vaniljsocker). I think it's basically like confectioner's sugar mixed with vanilla bean...things. It works really well though! But I prefer to use fresh vanilla beans. Vanilla extract, however, I've actually never used! But I've been thinking of making my own for a long time.

Lovely! I'm a Swedish smörgåstårta lover, and I would love to try this version. Looks delicious.

Also, to everyone who's wondering how you eat smörgåstårtas - you eat them like a cake. With cutlery. As simple as that. :)