Yowza!

Check out the snow buildup on the window!

The snow finally stuck!

We've been getting some snowfall the past few nights, but it always melted by morning.

This is what greeted me when I looked out the window today.

My annual dose of inspiration

Squint really hard and you might be able to make out the three 2009 Nobel Prize Laureates for Physiology or Medicine.

Attended the Q&A at Karolinska yesterday and will post more about this soon.

[Photo taken at 1114 yesterday.]

Surprise, surprise

#1 Room makeover still not done.

#2 IKEA manufactures stuff in Denmark?!

Guess who gets to sleep on a mattress on the floor tonight

The brother and I worked on putting the bed together until well past midnight only to discover that the support beams for the mattress were sold separately. Crapola! Why didn't the salesperson who tried to sell me a mattress to go along with the bed mention that?

So much for trying to get my room makeover out of the way so I could devote Sunday to getting my med school ducks in a row.

My new bed has arrived!

Well, it's really more of a bed-to-be at this point with well over a hundred parts.

Finished at IKEA at 1430 and had to rush home because the stuff was going to be delivered between 1600 and 2000. Would have had to pay about 40% extra for delivery if I asked them to come after 1800.

Delivery truck arrived at 1940. Blurgh!

Swine be gone!

The whole household got vaccinated for A(H1N1) today. Was supposed to get vaccinated at school, but their shipment of Pandemrix vaccine has yet to arrive, so I decided to tag along to the clinic with the nieces and their primary minions (a.k.a. parents) instead. The big niece was such a trooper!

I've recently gotten BCG and Twinrix shots, so I was expecting this one to hurt more than it actually did.

I am always amused

...when the train has a chatty driver as opposed to those that just announce the names of the stops.

Why do people do that?

I was working on the crossword puzzle while on the train when the girl seated next to me urged her father who was sitting across from her to do the crossword because OMIGOSH SHE KNEW WHO THE GUY IN THE PICTURE WAS!!! Recognizing Robert Pattinson isn't really that great of an achievement especially for a tween.

They then started to solve the crossword aloud and I eventually decided to move to another seat. The encircled words are the ones I overheard them say before I'd written them. When I changed seats, the girl had yet to figure out the R-Patz clue.

Don't deprive me of the sense of achievement that solving the crossword puzzle gives me, darn it!

The best package of all

...is the one that's delivered straight to your door. No need to wait in line forever to claim it nor to lug it home.

["Utkörning till mottagaren" means "deliver to the recipient".]

A change of pace

Look, a green salad! That's not something I post everyday.

Breakfast food at 2200

Why not?

Chef D' Einalo

Was missing Chef D' Angelo's Shrimp and Spinach Pasta, so I thought I'd give it a stab. Needs a little tweaking, but not bad for my first attempt.

This dish was one of the many contributors to my extra college poundage. After ordering it numerous times, I one day discovered (or maybe I'd just repressed it?) that an order was meant for sharing and not as a single serving. Oops!

[Photo taken at 1827.]

How could I refuse chocolate at 80% off?

As much as I wish that I could chalk it up to will power, the answer lies in the expiration date. I was at the store on the 30th and these had officially expired on the 29th. Although, seeing as there's bound to be some time allowance, maybe it was will power after all.

I actually bought a box last week when they were still at 75% off. It was the perfect way to justify chocolate eating because:
1) chocolate being on sale is a rare phenomonen that one must take advantage of; and
2) I didn't have to pace myself because I had to beat the expiration date --- and I succeeded!

Am now kinda wishing that I'd bought a box yesterday and that I were eating it right now. About an hour ago, I had to relinquish my KitKat stash to trick-or-treaters that popped up unexpectedly lest they take the "trick" in "trick or treat" too seriously.

[Photo taken at 1525 on 091030.]

My first batch of croissants!

I've never tried making puff pastry before because it just seemed too complicated.

It turns out I was wrong. These croissants took less than 30 minutes to make from start to finish. Isn't that impressive?

[Please proceed to post below.]

Of course

...our friends at Sara Lee had already done most of the work for me.

They forgot to include one step in the instructions though and I only realized it after baking, do you know what it was?

I wonder if they also make a wienerbröd/danish version.

[Please read post above if you haven't already.]

Saw this outside the window

...and had to investigate. It's not a real piano, but apparently comes in handy as a home for misplaced gloves.

Not the optimal lecture hall

...if you're easily distracted. OTOH, there wasn't much activity outside.

Heading home

We got to wear blue tops and white pants at the clinic today as opposed to our usual all-white garb. The color change doesn't actually mean anything though.

Time for a confession

The leek soup project was supposed to last 48 hours. I started at around noon yesterday, but pulled the plug by 2100. Before that, I even managed to cheat at about 1700 by eating a banana walnut muffin.

In my defense, I did drink up all of the soup. I must not have added enough water though because there was only enough soup to last a day.

Still have about half of the boiled leeks in the refrigerator. Am thinking of dipping them in some batter and then frying them...my apologies to the author of "French Women Don't Get Fat".

Baked the WeightWatchers Cheese&Tomato Muffin seen above when I got back from the movie.

Who am I kidding?!

Of course, there was eating involved.

It's not everyday I see corn in a cup in Stockholm. Used to buy this at the canteen back in high school. Only they use grated cheese here whereas the school canteen used that orange cheese powder.

Pity had to throw it away with about a third left so I could get on the bus, but it was either that or wait 30 minutes in the cold for the next bus.

[Photo taken at 2012.]

Took a break from all the eating

...to go watch a movie. "Up" did not disappoint, but I thought it was rather sad for a children's flick...or maybe that's just me.

I think this is the first 3D movie I've watched that's 3D throughout (save for that deep sea documentary narrated by Johnny Depp and Kate Winslet) and at some point you just sort of get used to it and cease to be aware that it's 3D. Or did I just miss the prompt to remove the glasses?

This soup better be magical for real!

Bottoms up!

Wish me luck

Am cooking up some "magical leek soup" from the book "French Women Don't Get Fat".

Down pesto memory lane

The coffee shop/restaurant where I first ate pesto and whose pesto was "just right" as far as I was concerned --- why do many restos in the Philippines go crazy with the oil? --- went the way of the dodo once Starbucks set up shop nearby.

I hold no grudge against Starbucks though since I can make my own pesto, but not my own frappuccino.

If you want to make your own pesto, just google Giada de Laurentiis' recipe.

It's beginning to look a lot like din-din

...with chicken in apple (and rosemary) sauce.

Miss Piggy rules!

Finally started reading this last night and finished it this morning.

What struck me was that what little French I know apparently must have been learned from Miss Piggy.

In for a penny, in for a pound

Had to buy some tiramisu from Sbarro to take home of course.

Seizing the opportunity

Okay, so it hasn't even been an hour since I had breakfast, but there's only one Sbarro restaurant in Sweden and it's out of the way. Therefore, I must eat there when I'm in the area.

Have been wanting to try McDonald's pancake breakfast for a while

Mission accomplished!

It's that time of the year again

...when the moon is still visible when you head out for the day.

Calories for a cause

Went back for the brownies I mentioned 2 posts ago.

Supporting a cause is one way to justify purchasing and eating cakes and pastries, but days devoted to particular sweet breads also come in handy. For example October 4 is Kanelbullens Dag (Cinnamon Roll Day). Due to an oversight, we didn't get our cinnamon rolls until the 6th, but what's important is that we still honored and celebrated the cinnamon roll especially since it was the 10th anniversary.

As for the brownie, sorry Pressbyrån, but future brownie purchases will be made at 7-Eleven.

Stress relief or cure for boredom?

Got to draw a question for the oral exam and this was on the back of the paper.

[Photo taken at 1545.]

Aragorn vs. Brownies 1-0

Was at the counter when I spotted the elusive brownies. The store had been advertising them for days but they finally made their debut appearance today.

Decided to take a raincheck on the brownies, but will come back for them this afternoon. Hey, it's for a good cause! x% percent of the proceeds will go to the Rosa Bandet (Pink Ribbon; breast cancer awareness) campaign of Cancerfonden (Swedish Cancer Society).

Anyway, having resisted the brownies and on my way out of the store, I spotted Viggo Mortensen on the cover of Reader's Digest and just had to buy it.

So Viggo, you beat out the brownies! You have no idea what a great honor that is in my world.

P.S. I also considered buying the Reader's Digest issue with the Obamas on the cover a few weeks back, but didn't. Still, trust me when I say that the win over the brownies is a much greater compliment coming from me.

Dylan McKay, is that you?

Did a doubletake when I saw that Luke Perry was in the cast of this Swedish film.

Proof that I am worse than a kid when it comes to sweets

Chocolate sauce AND candy sprinkles

Healthful lunch?

:p

Also at the toy store

Creepy dolls!

[Photo taken at 1507.]

Lookie what I discovered at the toy store!

An ATM piggy bank which recognizes your coins and bills and keeps track of how much you've saved, your savings goal and how much more you need to save.

Love the concept, but am resisting (for now) because I can do the keeping track part on my own and I would probably be better off saving the 299 Swedish crowns that this costs. I reserve the right to change my mind though.

I've never come across this before, but a search for a cheaper one on Amazon revealed that there are several on the market. Have since realized that I can't buy one from Amazon though because it won't be able to recognize Swedish currency...duh-uh!

[Photo taken at 1506.]

A good deed

Not by me though. Was at the school restaurant and my debit card was acting up, so the person next in line insisted on paying for my stuff.

To my good samaritan, you will most probably never read this, but thanks so much!

Now, to pay it forward...

Cute things come in small packages

Couldn't resist buying these 100 mL packages of EVOO and balsamic vinegar at the supermarket yesterday.

How cute a thesis cover is that?

Saw it at the Huddinge library on Monday, but wasn't able to snap a photo then. Spotted it again at the Solna library today.

To deface or not to deface

Had a period when I would highlight practically all the text and then progressed to underlining in pencil so I could erase my markings if needed. My quirk when underlining was that the grammar had to be correct even when you only read the underlined parts (for example, two separate underlined phrases had to be connected by a conjunction or separated by a punctuation mark).

However, I kept my college books pristine in order to preserve their resale value.

Writing on my med books would save so much time compared to jotting down the important stuff in a notebook and resale value is not a consideration because I plan to keep these books...and yet...I just can't bring myself to do it.

It all depends on how you look at it

Was scanning the bulletin boards and spotted this ad which made me smile. The used book being sold is described as new and in good condition (but) with highlights added by the previous owner. The highlights would normally be a turnoff, but the seller urges you to "see it as a bonus!"

The last dessert?

You would think we would have been all dessert-ed out at this point, but the brother and SIL insisted we stop by a coffee shop to buy some cake to take home because a birthday isn't a birthday without any cake. I must admit that a slice of cake is a perfect way to round off the day.

[Photo taken at 2254.]

P.S. The brother also brought home cake from a party this evening.

Free dessert #2

You can often spot the kids that have just been to McDonald's because they're toting balloons. The big niece wanted a balloon, ergo we went to McDonald's.

We all had ice cream (save for the little niece, of course). When everyone had eaten up their ice cream but the brother and I were still drinking coffee, one of the crew approached and asked the big niece whether she wanted ice cream. Do you think you can guess what her answer was?

[Photo taken at 1528.]

Free dessert #1

To make up for the looong wait, we were given two chocolate truffles for free.

The dessert was a big hit with the big niece. Even though the truffles were quite firm, she dug into hers --- or the one formerly known as the truffle she was supposed to share with her mom --- industriously and with impressive determination. Ha, this from a kid whose ice cream we have to slice!

[Photo taken at 1405.]

Birthday lunch

Had risotto and it was good, but it would have been even better if we hadn't had to wait over an hour for our main courses.

The appetizer was purrrty, but I didn't even think to take a picture of it until after it was gone.

Muchos thankies to Team-Boch-now-fortified-with-Chucky* for taking me out for my birthday!

[*That means the SIL, the brother and the nieces for those not in the know; photo taken at 1345.]

Time to head home