Tag Archives: Ten Speed Press

CELEBRATING FIKA 5 YEARS

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Five years ago, Anna Brones and I released our book Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break. In honor of our 5th “book birthday,” we decided to put together a zine devoted to the basics of fika.

Maybe you have our book on your shelf, maybe you’re a fika aficionado, or maybe you’re entirely new to fika, the Swedish coffee break. Regardless of what your fika background is, we made this zine so that you can easily print it at home, color it in, and add your own drawings. There’s a recipe for chokladbollar, Swedish chocolate balls, too. We wouldn’t want you to go without a fika treat.

Why fika?

In this time when a lot of us are at home and socially distancing, fika seems like a good ritual to remind ourselves to take a little break from the onslaught of news, and find a little space to just be present.

Slow down.
Take a deep breath.
Re-calibrate.


Make a plan for a virtual fika
Fika is often a social affair, but you can fika and still practice social distancing. Why not use this as an excuse to call a friend and have a virtual fika?

Make “stay home and fika” your new mantra—click here to download and print the How to Fika zine. If you’ve never made a one-page zine before, it involves a little cutting and folding. Here’s a video that breaks down the process.

Trevlig Fika!
Anna (text) & Johanna (illustrations)


Please share your fika moment with us by tagging

#artoffika * #stayhomeandfika * #virtualfika
@johannakindvall & @annabrones (instagram)
@kokblog & @annabrones (twitter)

Selection of Fika treats on kokblog

* Cardamom Buns
* Cinnamon Buns
* Toscakaka (Swedish Caramel Almond Cake)
* Mazariner (A Swedish classic)
* Cardamom Biscuits
* Fyriskaka with Pear
* Struvor (Swedish Rosettes)
* Ginger Spice Cake
* Hazelnut & Cinnamon Cookies
* Lussebullar (Saffron Buns)
* Ginger Lime Tart
* Apple & Lemon Galette
* Joulutorttu (Finnish Christmas Tarts)
* Marängtårta (Meringue Torte)
* Semlor (Swedish Fat Tuesday buns)

March: San Francisco Book Events

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Illustration of Kantine, SF by © Johanna Kindvall

Big news! I will be in San Francisco for some book events (and some hiking, eating, and drinking) between March 10 to March 16, 2019. I will be doing a book signing with special treats at Kantine, special Fika & Smörgåsbord classes at 18 Reasons, and an author’s talk at Omnivore Books on Food. If you are in the Bay area and would like to learn more about Nordic treats or just say hi, please sign up or come by to any of my scheduled book events and classes listed below. I’m super thrilled and would like to meet you all. A special thanks to my dear friend and awesome writer Larissa Zimberoff who invited me down to San Francisco in the first place! And thanks to all the lovely people at Ten Speed Press (my publisher) for your constant support.

Illustration of Omnivore Books, SF by © Johanna Kindvall

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Sunday March 10
Special Fika & Smörgås event
at Kantine, San Francisco
btw 3pm to 5pm
The Kantine kitchen will create
Scandinavian dishes inspired by my books!
Come by for a bite and a chat.
I will be there with signed books.
Address: 1906 Market Street, SF

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Monday March 11
Flavors of Sweden: Cinnamon Buns, Three Ways
hands-on baking & cooking class at
18 Reasons – San Francisco btw 6:00pm to 9:00pm
more info & tickets –> SOLD OUT

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Tuesday March 12
Author’s Talk
at Omnivore Books, San Francisco
Talk & book signing
btw 6.30pm to 7.30pm
Its a FREE so come by and hear
me talk about Smörgåsbord,
Nordic breads & Fika.
If you are in the San Francisco area,
I hope to meet you there. Its FREE!
Address: 3885a Cesar Chavez Street
more info –> here

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Wednesday March 13
Flavors of Sweden: Smörgås & Fika
hands-on baking & cooking class at
18 Reasons in San Francisco
btw 6:00pm to 9:30pm
more info & tickets –> HERE

Illustration by © Johanna Kindvall

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If you don’t have any of my books yet, you can easily
get them in almost any online bookstore around the worlds!
Fika – The Art of Swedish Coffee Breaks
Smörgåsbord – The Art of Swedish Breads and Savory Treats

SMÖRGÅSBORD EVENT – JANUARY

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– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – EVENT 1 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Smörgåsbord tasting at OTWAY – Thursday, January 18

On this special evening, chef Clair Welle & the rest of the lovely team at Otway will, together with me, offer a special 5 course Smörgåsbord tasting addition to their regular menu. On the menu will also be my Open Faced Burger – which we in Sweden call Parisare (the Parisian). It’s a Swedish retro classic made simply with a beef & pickled beet pattie on toasted sourdough bread topped with a sunny side egg!
Signed books will be available at a special price!

Make sure to get a seat by booking your table here!

time: 5.30pm to 10.30pm
address: Otway, 930 Fulton Street, Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, NY
subway: C to Clinton Washington
phone (917) 909-1889

Otway was recently announced as one of the best new restaurants in 2017 by New Yorker and Village Voice, and their Uni Crepe was listed by the NYTIMES. And their Yeast Semifreddo with Huckleberry & Rye is magnificent!

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – EVENT 2 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Smörgås baking class at Archestratus – Wednesday, January 24

Want to learn how to make Danish Rye Bread from scratch? Now’s your chance!
On this special evening at Archestratus you will also learn how to make stove top fresh cheese, chicken salad with curry, and intense horseradish fish salad with quick pickles.
Beer & a signed copy of Smörgåsbord are included in the ticket price ($80)! The meal will also include a few extra condiments from my book and something to bring home to share with your loved ones. It will be a hands-on cooking experience as well as a tasty meal with some new friends. Looking forward to cook with you!
Looking forward to bake and cook with you!

Get your ticket here.

time: 7pm to 9.30pm
address: Archestratus Books + Foods, Greenpoint, 160 Huron Street, Brooklyn
subway: G to Greenpoint Ave.

Archestratus is one of my favorite places here in Brooklyn. It’s a cookbook shop that also offers delicious Sicilian baked goods, coffee, tea, beer, & wine. And it’s also a space for classes, talks, book clubs, and more. And I love Paige’s arancini (Sicilian rice balls)!

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Smörgåsbord – Art of Swedish Breads and Savory Treats,
Ten Speed Press 2017

Food52 – How to Get Your Smörgås On 

read more about the Smörgåsbord book here

find more events here

Smörgåsbord in NPR

Smörgåsbord review by Tara’s Multicultural Table

 

 

Smörgåsbord – My second cookbook

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cover-smorgasbord-blog2

This week my forthcoming book, Smörgåsbord: The Art of Swedish Breads and Savory Treats (Ten Speed Press) is on its way to the printer and will hit the bookshelves on September 26. Yay!

The book is a celebration of the Swedish tradition Smörgåsbord which is a festive buffet with dishes like cured herring, gravlax, cold cuts, pickles, salads, and meatballs. This table with its well balanced flavors of sweet, sour, and salt is an excellent display of Nordic cuisine.

As the word Smörgåsbord is composed of two words; smörgås (open-faced-sandwich) and bord (table), the dishes are always served with several different types of bread, butter, and cheese. A smörgåsbord is most often set up in a separate room and the table can sometimes be several meters long and consist of over 100 dishes.
johannak-smorgas-03
At a time when we have too many things on our minds, it’s hard to find the time to prepare a whole smörgåsbord. The intention of this book is to inspire you to make smaller portions as festive starters or individual smörgås bites. Every dish in the book includes pairing suggestions so you can easily create your own personal smörgåsbord spreads. The dishes can be as simple as deviled eggs, or more ambitious with freshly baked rye bread paired with hot smoked salmon, homemade pickles, and marinated mustard seeds.

Thanks to my editor Kaitlin Ketchum for believing in this project. It’s always a pleasure to work with you and everyone at Ten Speed Press.

If you like, you can already now pre-order the book in several bookstores online: Random House, Barnes & Noble, Indie Bound, Amazon (US), and Amazon (UK). The book is also listed at the Swedish bookstores Bokus and Adlibris.

johannak-smorgas-2

related links

Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break (my first book)

Smörgåsbord chapter pattern on fabric at Spoonflower

 

my second cookbook

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johannak-WRITING-DRAWING

I’m finally ready to tell you, I’m working on my second book. It will be, like the first one, an illustrated cookbook with recipes and stories inspired by my Swedish roots.  But instead of being on the sweet side I will be sharing savory treats. Right now I don’t want to reveal more about the subject, but stay tune I will share more details soon.

It all started about one year ago when I sat down over a fika with my dear editor Kaitlin Ketchum to discuss some initial ideas for a potential book.  The meeting was followed by a few weeks of intensive thinking, drawing, writing and cooking while looking over a walnut orchard in Chico, California. The final proposal ended up in a contract and was followed by an extensive amount of recipe tweaking, research and writing. And when I couldn’t lift more pots or fit another bread in my belly, I sat down to draw.

I’m now working closely with the Ten Speed Press team to get all the pieces in place. Later this Spring it will be off to the printer and the book is scheduled to be published by Ten Speed Press, September 26, 2017.

Some other exciting news is that Fika has been translated and published in both Chinese and Korean. And the book is about to be translated to Simplified Chinese. Hurrah!

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Related links

Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break
by Anna Brones and Johanna Kindvall

Behind the Scene of Fika
more about my first book

Fika on National TV in Korea
(in Korean)

johannak-bakar