Eats & Drinks

Thanksgiving is a day-long celebration and feast, for both Americans and Canadians alike. The US holiday is on November 22nd but isn’t usually celebrated here in Sweden. However, I’m finding that a lot of restaurants, turkey suppliers and other Americans are trying to import the tradition more and more. Which of course, I think is great. When I usually explain my family’s traditions for the holiday, a lot of Swedes find that what happens is very similar to what they do on Christmas. And, who could ever argue against having a second Christmas?! 😋

I suggest you grab your friends and/or family here in Stockholm and find a way to have a meal, share what you’ve been grateful for this year, and celebrate with us turkey-and-pumpkin-pie-crazed northern Americans! The day should hopefully leave everyone with full bellies, a sense of family (or community), and enough warm and happy vibes to get you all the way through the cooling temperatures of the season— until Christmas. 

If you can’t get around to hosting your own feast or finding an event (like the one Henrik and I did, that I will try to post more about later) you should at least go to a fun restaurant with a festive Thanksgiving dinner menu. I have found a few places that are celebrating the holiday in Stockholm this year, and have listed them below. If you are interested, I recommend booking your table at any one of these places as soon as possible. I hope you all enjoy this list and have a super happy Thanksgiving this year! 🦃🍂🍗🧡💛

Here are my recommendations to have a Thanksgiving dinner out in Stockholm:

Low and Slow Smokehouse
Luntmakargatan 98
Thursday, November 22nd (by pre-booking only)
Reservations made by email: [email protected]
Two-course meal for 350 sek per person.

Main course: smoked turkey, candied jams, green beans, stuffing, a kale, and cranberry salad and cornbread. 

Dessert: pumpkin pie!

Yellow
Jakobsbergsgatan 23
Thursday, November 22nd 
Reservations made on their website: http://yellowsthlm.com/thanksgiving/
Three-course menu for 495 sek a person

Appetizer: pumpkin soup with cream cheese, pumpkin seeds, and cranberries 

Main course: stuffed chicken, a side baked sweet potatoes filled with bacon, jalapeños and cheddar, a side of yellow beans with caramelized onions, chicken gravy, and cranberry sauce. 

Dessert: Pecan Pie, caramel, marshmallows, candied pecans, and chocolate

Austin Food Works
Norrtullsgatan 24
Thursday, November 22nd, 23rd and 24th
Reservations made on their website: http://norrtull.austinfoodworks.se/
Three-course menu, no price listed yet

AFW will be publishing more about what’s on their menu a little closer to the date. Stay tuned to their @austinfoodworks Instagram account for more info.

Kitchen and Table
In the Clarion Hotel Sign, Östra Järnvägsgatan 35
Thursday, November 22nd and 23rd
Reservations made on their website: https://kitchenandtable.se
Three-course menu for 495 sek

Appetizer: foamed pumpkin soup with pumpkin cream flavored with vanilla, sprinkles on panko fried rosemary, egg 63, roasted pumpkin kernels, pickled chili, peeled rose pepper, roasted pumpkin 

Main: turkey “to share”, lemon and thyme gravy, Karl-Johan mushroom cappuccino, roasted root vegetables, sweet potato, carrot, cabbage, fried green kale 

Dessert: apple pie burrito, dates, crumble of mixed nuts, apple chips, custard sauce 

Who doesn’t love fall? You have to be a psychopath or something, to not feel any joy at the turning of the season. Yes, I’m totally going to be one of those cringe-worthy people boasting about their love of fall right now. I have no shame. There are a million reasons to go crazy for it (and it’s almost over, so we have to celebrate it as much as possible, while we still can). I love the colored leaves, the sweater weather, the pumpkin spice everything (even the pumpkin spice haters), apples, scented candles that smell like food, the actual food, etc. I could go on for days, but I’ll spare you. 

Other than baking up a storm and lighting scented candles that smell like dessert, I had been really looking for something fun to do in Stockholm this time of year, that really felt like a seasonal celebration. Back in the states, my family used to take my sister and I to a pumpkin and apple farm for a whole day. We would pick out our Halloween pumpkins, drink warm apple cider, take a horse-drawn hayride, walk through corn mazes and purchase homemade sweets in a little old-fashioned country store. If we were lucky, we even got some caramel apples and cider donuts to take home with us. Those days made up some of my best memories as a young kid.

I searched around a little and realized that pumpkin farms aren’t a real popular thing around the Stockholm region. If you go down to the south of Sweden, it seems to be a bit easier to find one. Maybe it has to do with the climate down there or something? A pumpkin farm outing was out of the question unless we wanted to take a very long road trip. So, I had begun looking around at all the fall markets nearby instead (also known as a “Höstmarknad” or a Harvest festival "Skördefest" in Swedish). 

A couple of years ago, we went to the Skansen Autumn fair. It was well organized and had a good amount of vendors. I found a really good homemade jam stand that year. The Skansen festival is really a bit more than just a fall market. They have musicians and actors putting on a show at different times and everyone is dressed up in old-fashioned clothing. You must pay to get into the open-air museum, but then you also have access to a full day of fun activities inside (whether you stay in the fall market part of the park or not.)

More recently, we've gone to Zetas fall market. Zetas is a beautiful garden center and "White Guide" recommended cafe, just south of the city. The market takes place inside the venue and is free to attend. Unfortunately, I was a little late in looking it up, so we missed it this year. It was a really good event though and worth the trip. They had everything you could want; all the typical jams, fresh produce, and old-world food products one hopes to find at these type of events. I even saw a lot of fun craft items, clothing, and jewelry everywhere. The cute little red and white striped awnings over each booth made the whole market seem very fun and festive. It could possibly be my favorite one so far!

This year we decided to try something new. There was a fall market happening at a castle called Ulriksdals Slott (”slott” is Swedish for “castle”). I have a huge love for visiting castles, ever since my move to Europe. I find them absolutely fascinating to see in person. Especially since we grow up without that type of history around us in the US. Henrik, being an architect, also has a love of buildings that are both old and new. So, visiting castles and old manor homes has kind of become a little thing that we do together. (Which, is why we’ve even chosen to get married at one next year!) So, you can guess at my level of excitement, to see that one of the local castles was holding a fall festival.

Ulriksdal’s fall market was small but nice. It didn’t have as many vendors as I was expecting, yet it was fun to visit none the less. I think the most exciting part was really just to be outside in such a beautiful park on a sunny crisp autumn day.

The castle itself held guided tours (only in Swedish, unfortunately. However, they do happen to have English ones in the summer). At 1:00 pm and 3:00 pm, the small beautiful chapel nearby had a free music event going on as well. There were even cute little pony rides for children at 50 SEK a turn, making this quite the fun family event.

I think my favorite part of this festival was that it was in walking distance to Ulriksdals Trädgård; a garden center with a self-picking field, greenhouse, gift shop, and cafe. The cafe makes excellent vegetarian food and fika desserts year round. Often, using organic ingredients they grow on site. It’s one of my favorite escapes just north of Stockholm city. We frequently come here to pick vegetables and flowers in July and August too and it's absolutely wonderful.

On the day of the market, we all ended up walking over to Ulriksdals Trädgård and getting the best lemon meringue pie EVER! Hands down, THE BEST. Henrik always goes crazy for it. I have begun to consider it a favorite of mine as well. I’m a bit sensitive to dairy and gluten, so I can only have things like this in really rare amounts (I’m currently living by the 80/20 rule), but the pie here is so worth the sacrifice. This is truly one of the best fika places in town. (If they had a barista that could serve specialty drinks—like a latte or cappuccino—I would say it was “the best,” but still waiting on that.)

I would say this was the perfect picturesque fall day that I had been hoping for. Even the long hike back to our car and finding a delightful parking ticket on our windshield couldn’t spoil the mood. It was a great way end to the season. 

If you have any tips for other good fall markets or activities in the Stockholm region, please leave a comment below!!! I would love to hear more about what everyone else has been doing. 🍂

My sister, Hiliary, is in town from Chicago this week!!! This is like her sixth time visiting me here, so she is already pretty well versed in being a Stockholm tourist. No matter how many times she comes here though, we always find something new for her to see or experience. I think her love of Stockholm now far surpasses my own. She is definitely a Swedophile.

One of the things she finds really charming about life here is, of course, the traditional Swedish Fika. It's really the perfect tourist activity. Your guests get to satisfy their sweet tooth while feeling culturally elevated at the same time. That's what I call a win-win situation.

Today we indulged. BIG TIME. I have been following Stockholm's Swedish-American bakery "Mr. Cake" and their wildly good-looking pastries on Instagram, for a while now. With Hill here, it seemed like the perfect opportunity to test the place out. Holy MOLY, everything was so good! Apparently, we weren't the only ones who thought that because It was veryyyy busy.

First, we got lunch! I got the pumpkin soup. It was delicious and felt just like fall.

I saw that Sweden's official "Cinnamon roll" day (Kanelbullens dag) is going on tomorrow. I couldn't wait to try Mr. Cake's American cinnamon rolls until then though, so I got one today.😜 Swedes are probably going to hate me for saying this, but I think I might still prefer the gooey, sticky, American style cinnamon buns over the Swedish ones. 😋

The Red Velvet Croissants were a total show stopper.❣️❣️❣️

Not to mention... the donuts. 🍩🍩🍩👀👀!!!!

Afterward, we walked all the way down the beautiful Karlavägen boulevard (towards Karlaplan) to burn off some of that sugar.

Then we ended up going into a bookstore in Fältöversten, where I picked up this little gem, just in time for tomorrow! (I might still prefer American Cinnamon rolls, but Sweden's are pretty darn good too. I can't hate. 😘❤️)

Was this the most amazing Swedish summer ever, or what!!? I can’t believe how hot it was here. Like genuinely HOT! 🔥🔥🔥 That's not usually something you can claim about Swedish weather.

My fiancé, Henrik, and I have typically taken on the habit of spending some of the summer break months abroad; however, by an unusual stroke of luck, we didn’t plan anything this year. It was the first summer we have spent entirely in Sweden, and I couldn’t be more happy about it! We are currently planning a very extravagant wedding and really needed to save up. So, we decided to have a “staycation” here in Stockholm. At the beginning of July, when all of our friends left for a bunch of awesome Instagramable destinations and we stayed home, I have to admit that I did have a little FOMO initially. Yet, something in the universe must have been on our side.

Henrik and I had the most awesome summer together. We became home-town tourists and explored Stockholm like never before. WE DID IT ALL! We hiked, swam, picnicked, picked our own flowers at Ulriksdal's Trädgård (pictured above,) and walked all over the whole city. We even escaped on several fun day trips.

Norrköping is one of our favorite day trips to take outside of Stockholm—year round! It only takes about a two-hour drive from central Stockholm to get there. This pretty river walk view (above) is just one many of the fun things to see.

Norrköping also has one of our favorite burgers ever! If you ever make it to Burgers and Bangers, try "The Coolio," It has Swedish Västerbotten cheese on it and is insanely good. The owner told us that it used to be on their regular menu but they took it off. Then, people kept asking for it, so it's now on their "secret" menu.

This cute little outdoor garden inspired summer bar in Norrköping (above) is called
Trädgår'n. It's the perfect location for drinking a crisp summer rosé while
sitting outside in the sunshine. I highly recommend a visit!

After this glorious summer, I’ve realized that sometimes you should just take things as they come. Say “Ç'est la vie!” and move on with your day (or month) and make the best of it. Occasionally the universe does have your back and things can turn out for the better. Thanks, universe! 💫✨

💖Kramar 💖

Hej hej allihopa! (Hi everybody!)

This is the first official post on my blog! WhoooHoo!!! I am so excited to go on this awesome blogalicious adventure and share with you my everything! But, before we get into all that, let me first introduce myself.

My full name is Heather Ann Murphy. I am an art director and designer, originally from the United States. Growing up, I have been blessed to have lived in about 12 different places, from all over the US; a few of them including Kansas City KA, Dallas TX, Atlanta GA, Orange County CA, Iowa City IA, Chicago IL, Long Island NY, and Manhattan NY. Whew! I know, it’s a lot. 🙃 Both of my parents and my sister still live in the US and I miss them a TON. ALL THE TIME! They have their own busy lives in Minneapolis and Chicago, respectively. My grandparents come from mostly Irish and Finnish descent (so, I do happen have a little Nordic blood in my veins!)

About ten years ago I met a wonderful Swedish architect named Henrik. We fell in love and I eventually followed him back here, to his hometown of Stockholm, Sweden. So, you can now also add it to the growing list of places I have called “home.” When I first decided to move here, a lot of Swedes would ask me stuff like “If you were living in New York City, why in the heck would you move to Stockholm!?” (Like it was a shocking decision to come here.) Aside from the obvious Swedish fetish with NYC, that I would come to learn, I have always been a bit surprised by that reaction. I just saw a cute, quiet, kind of old-world town that was such a lovely departure from the “rat race” I had just come from. Things moved a little more slowly, but that wasn’t a bad thing. I felt like I was initially just going on a great relaxing extended vacation adventure. Who knew I would eventually enjoy it here enough to stay for the long haul!? I even more recently became a fully fledged Swedish citizen. I still can hardly believe it. 

My Swedish citizenship was approved on Valentine's day! How cute is that?

I have really seen this little sleepy city transform into a booming metropolis over the seven-plus years I have been here. Soooo much has changed! There is this old joke about Chicago, that there are only two seasons; “Winter and construction.” That has now totally become Stockholm!!! Way to make me feel at home.🤣 This city can’t seem to build new places fast enough. The restaurant and tourism industry has just totally exploded. What I once thought of as a quiet old-world city has also transformed into one of the more forward-thinking tech capitals of the world. Not to mention, how much of Scandinavia is so #trendy right now! I mean, people had no clue where I was moving to all those years ago. If I had a dollar for every time someone said I moved to Switzerland…#%@?! And, yes, that cliché still lives on a bit, but not as much now that Sweden has become such a fashionable economy. 

There are a million architecture projects in motion in this city every day. Because Henrik is an architect, I get to hear all about it. Check out this new Skyscraper being built on Stockholm's northside! It's so gorgeous!

There are also new restaurants popping up in this city nonstop.
Check out the new Bonnie's restaurant inside the Bank Hotel. It's so pretty!

I look forward to sharing with you more about me and all of my experiences here in Stockholm. I hope you tune in and share all of your comments and feedback regularly.

You can also find me on newly created Instagram account @slightly.swedish, for more updates and extras!

💖Kramar💖