Fine Dining


 Certainly we ate a lot of our meals (and fikas!) in cute/memorable
restaurants out and about while in Sweden.
However, the most memorable meals were spent in homes as guests of our hosts.
It is just the best to get inside these lovely homes and take in all the Swedish-ness of these special tables. I purposely will not name our hosts to protect their privacy (except for our relatives)
and here wish to send out a huge THANK YOU/TACK for inviting us in and serving us delicious foods and providing us with sweet and much-appreciated fellowship!

 AUGUST
In this home, we were served a delicious salmon meal and were introduced to a group of very interesting people who shared our love of travel.

SEPTEMBER 
We started the month off with a much-needed dose of family togetherness- not our family exactly but 
one very lovely family who had us over for the best fika to date!




ONE WEEK LATER:
We were treated like royalty when visiting the cousin of Wes's mother.
This was a bit of a drive for us to the southern coast of Sweden and well worth every kilometer!
The scenery along the way was lovely and we were glad to take the trip before the seasons changed.

 


 If you have ever heard of the sculpture THE EMIGRANTS in Karlshamn, this is where Wes's relatives live.  Of course, we had to go take a look!

OCTOBER
 How truly wonderful it was to find our hosts had gotten out to pick chanterelle mushrooms for soup fixins for our visit to their home!  We were in umami bliss!



NOVEMBER
 Being serenaded by this budding trombone player was such a charming addition
to our next invitation out!  
His parents were every bit as charming as he was...and were foodies to boot.
This mealtime was memorable and we look forward to continuing this friendship when they are soon to visit the USA! 
When Anne was visiting us with her daughters, we made sure they met this future trombonist at our apartment for a time of fika.



 With Anne and girls here, we were, once again, invited to this special home we had visited in September. The meal included homemade Swedish meatballs and they were the best we've ever eaten - sorry, Mom and Grandma!  The girls so enjoyed figuring out how to interact with kids not speaking their same language.
 

The next week, with John and Kari visiting us, we were invited into another home
with a young family as residents.
And what a residence this was out in the country!
Lit candles beckoned us from the driveway as snow softly fell on the ground.


 Inside was so cozy and inviting...and these kids define the word adorable.
 

DECEMBER

 We have been in the home of this lovely couple before and we were thrilled to get an invitation 
to be their dinner guests this time, too.  They are delightful conversationalists and charming hosts.
Our meal included appetizers of pepparkakor spread with blue cheese (mmm!) and a salmon quiche.

The following week, we traveled beyond our hometown of Jonkoping to the countryside about 45 minutes away.  We were having a Jul party! I was so excited to enter this charming farmhouse with sheep and horses housed in the barns nearby. Here I became a bold American and asked if I could photograph their cozy candlelit home:





 A bonus of this Jul party was making boxwood wreaths from the "leftovers" of Lucia head crowns.



This was such fun!

Our final invitation was with the students in the College Line program to the home of one of their teachers.



 To all of our hosts for these experiences of fine dining, I'd like to say a huge
Thank You!
Your invitations meant the world to us and, in return, we'd like to invite you to be our table guests 
if you ever come our way. Please come our way!

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