The Nordic Bedouin

When the wait feels too long

I love Korean food. Actually our whole family does and one of our favorite places to eat lunch in NYC is in Koreatown.

I have never really cooked it myself but I do love a good cooking challenge from time to time. I thought I would try to make my own Kimchi which might be one of the best condiment dishes around. But thinking about it and reading about it made my mouth water and I wanted some. Now. So when I bought the right kind of chili powder to make my own, I decided to get some store made while I wait for mine to ferment properly.

Afternoon jolt

Green smoothies is something I'm experimenting with at the moment. Every day I try a slightly different combo and test it on my two favorite guinea pigs, the husband and 5-year old son. It's a great way to get lots of extra nutrients in an easy, quick and delicious way.

This version had frozen kale, frozen mango, frozen blueberries, vanilla oat milk, flaxseed meal, coconut oil and banana. Yum!

Waffles

After picking my way through the black currant bushes, I made some delicious jam. What's great about making it yourself is that you can go easy on the sugar making it much healthier than the store bought version. Plus it's so easy!

This afternoon I made gluten-free waffles with the homemade black currant jam and topped with whipped cream. Perfect afternoon snack with a cup of strong coffee!

Morning in the woods

New shoes

My son's new favorite shoes. I wish they came in my size!

The clean 15!

We try and buy as much organic food as possible but some things aren't available in an organic version (for example most exotic fruits are impossible to buy organic in Sweden). This video provides great info about what foods are ok to buy in a non-organic form.

Plastics

I'm trying to remove a lot of plastic goods from our kitchen and replacing those items with glass, ceramic or metal instead. Here's a great informative video about plastic in the kitchen.

Foodie heaven

During our July trip to NYC we were spoiled with amazing food and drink (as usual). It really is a great city for us foodies! Here are a few pics with a fraction of the delicious food we had.

A 4th of July cupcake from the famous Magnolia Bakery. I'm so pleased they now offer a flourless chocolate cupcake (and on request can top it with my favorite chocolate buttercream). Yum!

Bareburger's ketchup & mustard bears. Bareburger has delicious burgers! If you're looking for a great veggie burger that is also gluten-free (with the best gluten-free tapioca bun I ever had) or if you're in the mood for bison, ostrich, wild boar, beef, etc.... meat in your burger, this is the place! Plus, any place where everything is organic makes my heart beat a little faster. 

Then, for the all-out meal at Docks:

West Coast oysters.

Maine lobster risotto.

Valrhona chocolate mousse.

Last but not least, NYC style sushi! We order sushi as our first meal every time we arrive and then as often as we can... Sushi is our 5 year old son's favorite food so it's kind of a staple go-to meal in our house.

NYC in July

So you'd think that we'd be regretting our decision to travel to NYC in July when the weather is super hot and hanging out in a big city doesn't seem like the freshest of environments. Well, you'd be wrong. Yes, it was very hot (major heat wave twice during our weeks there) and yes, I wouldn't say I felt "beach fresh" at the end of the day. However, we had a blast!

We've spent around 4 weeks every year the past 5 years in the Big Apple but ususally in the winter. NYC in the summer has a different beat. The sweltering weather makes people slow down just a little. If one stays away from the most tourist infested areas, it's really lovely to stroll around the neighborhoods and when the need to re-hydrate hits, sit down at a sidewalk table for a cooling drink. The city is full of ice cream and frozen yoghurt trucks which is a great way to keep little kids cool and happy too. And then there's always Central Park!

Here are some of the views from NYC in July.

My favorite building, the Chrysler Building.

The best time to see the various neighborhoods is around Christmas and in the summer where those interested in gardening have set up lovely arrangements of pots and plants.

The new World Trade Center is rising.

NYC is really a great city for kids. Here is one of the many playgrounds we hung out in. This one is in Tribeca and at the same time there was a free bluegrass concert for families and young kids. We saw the concert for a while and then hit the playground as the music kept playing in the background and the slightly cooler evening air swept in over the park.

This has been one of highlights of our past two NYC trips. It's the Start with Art program at The Met. An art program for kids 3-7 years old that introduces them to art and artifacts from around the world. I highly recommend this program! They also have another program for older kids which I hope to do in a few years. (MOMA also has good activities for kids.)

I love this cute video by Zooey Deschanel & Joseph Gordon-Levitt! They're both so talented when it comes to acting & singing.