Coffee, Cinnamon buns, and yummy things!

So there are a few things Swedes really love! Coffee, Cinnamon buns, and meat balls!

Fika

A very popular Swedish tradition that is quite a delight to both natives and visitors a like is Fika! Basically, everyone in Sweden takes a coffee break...and not just a spur of the moment break, or a  "I have a few minutes break", this is something that always happens regardless of your schedule. You just do it. You go out with friends, have coffee and a pastry and hang for a bit. Relax, enjoy yourself! Sound good? Yes...yes it does. And since everyone does it, you dont have to feel guilty about doing it too! So go grab your favorite roast, cinnamon bun, and chat!

Now granted, you dont have to dress up in a suit and be as creepy as Johan is while sipping a dainty cup of joe...but just get your Fika on!

Kaffe (Coffee)

Maybe one of the reasons Swedes have this tradition is because they love coffee so much? Or maybe this tradition has promoted a love of coffee?...which ever the case, the Swedes definitely love their coffee...take a look at the picture graph below. It depicts coffee consumption by country and the Swedes are definitely one of the top runners.

I hope I dont set myself up for being shunned when I say coffee is ok. I wont go nutty over it but I do enjoy it on occasion! (typically only decaf since I am very sensitive to caffeine)

Cinnamon Bun Day (kanelbullens dag)

I guess Swedes love their cinnamon buns so much they gave it an annual holiday! Im down with that! I need more sweet buns in my life.... :)

The holiday lands on October 4th which is actually the day that I met my fiance (in person) for the first time! HOW PERFECT! I guess this means we will have to start an annual tradition of eating some cinnamon buns together every Oct 4th! 

Swedes have a particular way of making their Cinnamon Buns in that they are generally a lot more simplistic:

 "The Swedish cinnamon bun is much less sticky and sweet than the typical American cinnamon roll. Another essential difference in Swedish cinnamon buns is the cardamom spice in the dough, which adds another dimension of flavour.

The buns are baked for just a few minutes in a very hot oven, making them light and fluffy with a golden brown surface. They are then topped with grains of "pearl sugar" as opposed to frosting or glaze."

Here is a recipe I found if anyone was interested in making their own Swedish Cinnamon Buns (I know Im going to try!!!). You can find it here! The recipe is for 25 buns so unless you plan to make them for a party of people, you might want to reduce the ingredients! :)

Ill take pics of my first ever cinnamon bun attempt this past Oct 4th and let you all know how it goes...

Chocolate

So this isnt specifically Swedish related, but I enjoyed this correlation that is depicted below. The New England Journal of Medicine released a study where they looked at and found a huge correlation between chocolate consumption per capita of a country and their number of Nobel Laureates. There is no real way to know why this correlation exists, but maybe it implies that smart people eat chocolate more often? Sweden isnt the worlds highest chocolate consumer, but they are up there, thats for sure. 

Sweden is actually kind of the outlier on this graph since they dont appear to follow the nice linear trend. Looks like they have just as many laureates and Switzerland without having to eat as much chocolate. Maybe the chocolate in Sweden is more potent? Ill have to investigate! I will accept this quest! For science!

Swedish Meatballs! (köttbullar)

Im not sure what is more Swedish than Swedish meatballs (At least judging from my Ikea experiences) so I thought Id attempt to make those as well! Again, here is the recipe for some Swedish meatballs! Ive never made meatballs, before...so it will be a fun experience.