Tonight, Mirinda and Denise, dressed Tubby 24. Though, this was only done after I generously made a batch of shortbread. To be fair, it was the price set by Denise, a price that was fully exacted.
I tried to get a photo of the whole 30 biscuits, but the shortbread didn’t hang around long enough. These are the final scraps.
I guess they tasted okay given their short life. In any case, they were well worth it given Tubby managed to get covered in our Christmas history.
Unusually, there wasn’t a lot of history chat during the process. Mind you, I was in the kitchen and they could have been whispering. One object that was discussed was the ballerina that appeared to have only one leg. “It’s tucked up beneath her,” Mirinda assured Denise as she, inadvertently, provided me with a title for this post.
It marked the end of a lovely day during which the fireplace people gave our chimney a clean bill of health and I went into Stockholm to meet Denise off the Arlanda Express. It was the first time I’d been into the city since spending the day with Lauren and gaining the wound that I’ve been pestered with ever since. That was over a month ago.
Obviously I started off by going straight to Fabrique where, rather than indulge in my usual cardamom bun, I opted for the delicious alternative of a saffron bun. Not a lussekatt, I hasten to add. No, a saffron bun, shaped and looking like a cardamom bun. I’m so glad I did. It was amazing. Jud would have had two, they were so good.
I also had a coffee from the little Italian vendor in the lounge area of the express. It was just like being back in Naples. The coffee was superb.
Then, of course, I met Denise and we travelled back to Trosa.
Mind you, the day wasn’t full to the brim with success. I had decided to pop into the market to see if they had any sumac and za’atar. I looked at about 3,000 packets of various herbs and spices but, of the ones I needed, there was nothing but disappointment. To add to the disappointment, there were also no preserved lemons. I must continue searching elsewhere.
I posted a couple of reels of the tree dressing. The second one, where Denise successfully crowns Tubby with Madonna, is here.
Oh, and we used the fireplace, given that we comply with regulations and can now claim the insurance if the house burns down.
