Beef stew in the slow cooker - reciepe from a Swedish follower

• Ox kött i stora tärningar
• En burk skalade tomater
• Lök (any kind, charlottlök är jättegott)
• Buljongtärning
• Friska saviablad (fr.trädgarden)
• Friks rosmarin (fr.trädgarden)
• Frisk timjan " (plantera olika pa balkongen. Jättegott och hälsosamt)

Vi skulle i stan sa den fick ta hand om sig själv. Först en timme HIGH därefter 3timmar pa den sista varm hallaren däreftr. lie High avsluta med LOW. JÄTTEGOTT, du anar inte. Konstigt nog var sasen ocksa ganska tjock
Rödvin om finnes, men först en kvart innan servering!

Story Hotel - nominated in 2 design categories!

Story Hotel -2 nominations in the design competition - European Hotel Design Awards

Get there before everyone else does!

The Broker - Bogstadveien, Oslo - sloppy, burnt and not expecting feedback on take out

I've been to The Broker many times, always leaving wondering why there are so many customers and why I ate there. Probably because it is close and I am lazy. If you get the burger - OK - it is good, and the small potato boats are almost tasty - however they taste precooked. If you get the wok and ask for no mushrooms, you receive information that it comes with everything before they cook it but they can pick out the mushrooms by hand. Ouch – maybe not the right thing to say to a customer who is allergic to mushrooms.
I never tried the take out until yesterday. I have tried earlier calling them, but they choose not to answer. Business is probably going “too” well or they have no organization. But yesterday one burger and one enchilada was ordered after having to go there and order. Laziness at its best.
The burger - as expected - OK. The enchilada was burnt on one end and filled with a disgusting chicken/paprika mixture on the other. Underneath there was mostly bitter salad, a minute amount of guacamole, sour cream and salsa. Since the enchilada was divided into two pieces, the one over the salad was burnt, stone hard and black. The other piece was lying in the salsa and sour cream with too much filling – so this half was just soggy, falling apart, and tasting terrible. Seriously terrible!
So, there is no quality check on takeout food, and the in-house food seems to be put together more like fast food rather than enhancing the customer’s experience and taste buds.
During a previous visit we sat by a table that vibrated so hard that our beers made jumping jacks – we asked why the table vibrated and the waitress said that they did not know why it vibrated... Instead of NOT putting customers at the table, the waitress was irritated when we asked to move. How can they not know why a table salsas across the floor?

So how do they fill up the restaurant on a Sunday afternoon? So many “lazies” out there like me?
Never again!

Service: 1/5 – Training new waitresses seems to be a specialty. Their phone bill must not be paid.
Food: 1/5 – 1 for the burger.
Drink: 2/5 – Beer is beer. The serving glass is usually chipped.
Price: 1/5 – For the food you get – the prices are terrible, but as prices go and you accept the quality for what it is – the prices are still stiff.
Environment/Atmosphere: 2/5 – Typical interior, but it needs a refreshment. Plastic fantastic on the benches around the room and some of them actually try and push off the guest by bending forward. Makes sitting quite interesting. Good way to rotate the tables.
Location: 5/5 – this I will give them – location is good and the lack of competition just around the corner probably makes up for some of the turn up.

Age of guests in party: 40 - 45.

12/30 – fair enough.

Cru vinbar og kjøkken - a second time around with the serious testers!

Well...second time around and the big boys are with us. This time we escalate the pressure!

Having changed my reservation 3 times in a week – I got a telephone call asking if we would prefer to sit downstairs at a larger table close to the fireplace. This would give all 7 of us more space. Wonderful I thought – I haven´t tested the downstairs.
Upon arrival with a wonderful blend of people – experienced people – we were seated downstairs at a table that could have taken at least 12 people. Hmmm OK let´s try this.
Our waiter – as always - smiling and happy. He asked about drinks before dinner – all is well. No menu board downstairs so I asked what was on the evening´s menu. In reply I received information that the chef has made a special menu for us according to our request. The thing was, I had made no request and it wasn´t possible to move the menu board from upstairs down to us. And telling everyone around the table about the different dishes was impossible due to the noise level. I love restaurants where this is the case since then people are relaxing and laughing enjoying their meal.
OK – quick decision – we´ll take the special menu – just a few adjustments and everyone was happy. In Oslo I have made aware that for parties over 6 people, the restaurant many times ”demand” that you preorder your food. This really irritats me since it feels like going on a field trip. It also makes me wonder if I am there for the restaurant or the right way around – the restaurant is there for me. At times, I have just cancelled the reservation. In Cru´s case, I decided to take this as a positive thing instead of a “keep it simple for the chef” thing. Let us hope this is the case.
All plates were amazing, the wine the waiter recommended fair in price and fitting to the food, the dessert consisting of apple in at least 4 different ways was a perfect ending to a wonderful meal. An amazing thing was the waiters silence running up and down the stairs. Every time a guest walked down (the WC was behind a wall downstairs), the room as filled with “bang bang bang bonk” as the shoes hit the stairs – but not with the waiters – once again they knew what they were doing.
So the old 28/30 still stands just with a difference of the missing 2 points! The reason this isn´t a 30/30 is the placement of this grand table downstairs – just under the stairway the “bank bang bang and bonk” was over our heads. Next to the grand table were shelves filled with V&B glasses and yes, a party member trying the be a gentleman, was able to bring down a few glasses when helping his lady on with a vest-and he was the sober one in the party this evening. Just the shelves being behind us were a theme during the dinner and made all a bit nervous when standing up.

Service: 5/5 - smiles, properly attentive, knew their business, and made the best out of a miss in information. Polite smiles when at least 5 glasses “fell “ off the shelf.
Food: 5/5 – filled with flavors (as expected) and with a perfect ending with the different apple mini dishes.
Drink: 5/5 - champagne is champagne and the house champagne is very good. The wines brought out and recommended by the waiter were fitting and priced right.
Price: 5/5 – 7 guests in the party, champagne, wine and 4 dishes 785 NOK/persons is a lot of money but for what you get - I am a happy camper :-)
Environment/Atmosphere: 3/5 – here the 2 points are lost - not the best seating due to the staircase being over our heads and the traffic to the WC next to us. But the restaurants atmosphere and design/fireplace does not have many other alternatives for larger parties if the upstairs is full. And there the lighting is a bit too bright for hiding wrinkles.
Location: 5/5 - perfect - down town but quiet - perfect combination. And of cource, around the corner from me.
Age of guests in party: 40 - 70.

28/30 is great!

Next visit - the champagne anniversary week starting from the 24th of November! Maybe we´ll see each other there!

Champagne anniversary at Cru vin & kjøkken!

24th of November - for one week, they are celebration the 1 year anniversary. Table booked before company is invited - that means I love the place!

However - let´s see if they can live up to the last 2 visits I´ve had. It has now become so popular that they need to plan 2 seatings - no more come when you like. This could be a good thing, but it takes away the "I have a gourmet kitchen as my around the corner place". Let us hope that this is a seasonal thing. If we need to make a reservation 2 weeks in advance in order to get a table, I may need to find another favorite place to rave about.

For Cru, I hope they can handle the success, still keeping to the wonderful service, taste and smiles!

Skål! Happy Anniversary!

Is it called lying or cheating when 73% of all invoices do not have enough supporting documentation, the government knows of this and delays publication of the results?

The Norewegian sitting government made sure a devastating report was first made public after the election. I wonder why they timed this so well...

"Riksrevisjonen er kritisk til forvaltningen av Statens pensjonsfond - Utland, internkontrollen i NAV, Forsvarsbygg, store forsinkelser i nødnettprosjektet, Jernbaneverket og Statens Vegvesen. Dette er de kritiske rapportene regjeringen fikk utsatt til etter valget.
....Ved kontroll av drifts- og vedlikeholdsanskaffelser manglet tilfredsstillende dokumentasjon på 73 prosent av de kontrollerte fakturaene. "

Why is this called manupulation, lying or cheating in other countries, but when things like this happen in Norway - the person reacting is called the names.

It is amazing, if these results had been regarding anything else, heads would role, in other countries' citizens would demonstrate and of course the press would have a field day making sure that all citizens knew that their taxes could just as well have been used for fun and games at the nearby fair. Not to mention, we are already taxed 3 - 4 times on the same income. But in Norway, nothing happens.

Business as usual... Where is the opposition? Where is the peoples` voice? This is our money, so much and so badly managed, that it is difficult to grasp.

At NAV- one reason for the catastrophic handling of our money...is a 31 year old computer system. Hmmm that must be the world`s most intelligent system since, in all other systems, it is the human input that gives the commands, not the other way around. Artificial intelligence at its best!
And of course we have the 'cheats' - you know the ones making sure to get as much money fron the state for their disability as possible. Wake up - if the government had control of their own processes, nobody could cheat. Some lucky people would actually even get their honest share - and not wait for over a year to receive what they have a right to receive. And it is always interesting to hear that it is the people applying for the money who cheat - the ones handling the money, handling the paper work - they never cheat - they just have a 31 year old computer system which makes all the mistakes.

But then again - this is Norway, and the Norwegians do things in their own special way. And very successfully.

Ut på tur - aldri sur! As long as it happens after the election and a computer system is to blame.

Story (Hotel) Stockholm, Sweden

Want to experience living just as hip as where you go to be seen? Then Story is the hotel for you.
Situated on Riddargatan 6, 150 meters from Stureplan, you can´t get anymore hip than that. The hotel´s name actually fits the place. Everything has a story behind it, everything has a function - from an antique wooden door as your headboard (with the mailslot intact) to the tacky porselin statues on all the tables.

On your bed you find a picture of a man with a blackeye...he is the one you complain to ;-) - humor - I like that.

The rooms are everything the home page shows. The bathrooms exciting, wonderful combinations of styles. All access is done by pin codes - but you have to make sure you have it with you...after a few drinks you could risk not getting into you room. Why...well there actually is no reception, you check in by logging in on one of the Macs in the hallway downstairs between the "bar" and the "kitchen". Of course, if you stand there long enough and look lost enough (the hallway is approx 10 sqm ;-), then the personnel will help you.

Three problems with the room I got. 1) The TV did not work since the cables were loose 2) the wrinkle showing light could not be turned on in the bathroom (maybe that was a good thing actually) and 3) there was no way you could open a window at night, the room being on the 2nd floor (3rd in Sweden), you heard absolutely everything going on outside all night including the secret love words between two people that were NOT married with each other.

The bar was empty except for water - if you wanted anything you just phoned down and ordered - it was then delivered to your room, cold and ready to drink or store in the small frig.

Bed was perfect, pillows OK, clean, fresh, cool and very "big city weekend" feel over it.

Breakfast was a let down. Small, very standard, no "piff" anywhere to be sen. Knowing that at night the "kitchen" reataurant is actually a hip place, I knew they knew how to put a "piff" in the presentation and contents - but no. But it is good for dieting. They did, however, have green tea...

Checking out was as simple as checking in - and you did NOT have to remember your 5 number pin code. A print out of your receipt was not available - this I missed, but I mailed them and within 2 minutes they sent me what I needed. Very good service! The personnel is there...just not visible ;-).

This was a pleasurable stay, I felt good there, the water in the shower was hot - no bathtub ;-( in my room.

Service: 5/5 - when i needed help I got it quickly. Smiles on everyone connected to the hotel (not the "Kitchen but that is a different review).

Food: 1/5 - Dissappointing breakfast and no presentation but there was a breakfast so I have to give 1 point.

Room: 4/5 - Since there were things that did not work, I cannot give 5/5 but it was close anyway. Next time, I will ask for a room away from the street on a higher level. With all my travelling experience - I should have seen that coming when booking - my fault. It was clean (even behind the TV!). I did not hear my neighbor´s TV, which could mean good sound proofing between rooms and the hallway. Good!

Location: 5/5 - Perfect! Just perfect!

Price: 3/5 - For a hotel, right in the middle of the world´s most beautiful city - the price is OK. For my room, a few 100 SEK less would be more fitting.

Atmosphere/decore/feeling: 5/5 - WOW - they got everything right. And the fun thing is, not all the decore and things are new - many things were older, used and just re-used in a wonderful way!

Score 23/30 - this number feels low - but it is the breakfast that brings it all down.

I recommend this hotel - an extra experience when experiencing beautiful Stockholm!

Whiter teeth for under 10 USD!

Source: http://www.ws6alert.com/indexWX2.php?ntrk=1123000043 .
I have not personnaly tried this but found the tip very interesting! (Speak frankly)

Exploiting The Recession: A Mom's Trick to Whiter Teeth
Cathy's discovery works wonders for consumers wanting whiter teeth without breaking the bank. Having yellow teeth is embarrassing, can deeply affect your personal life and, like it or not, your career as well. People are turned off (in both a professional and personal sense) by yellow teeth. For years dentists have capitalized on this fact by charging exorbitant prices of $500 or more for "professional" teeth whitening procedures--most of which involve special tooth whitening trays with carbamide peroxide, and/or whitening "pens," that can turn the yellowest of teeth white. Products like Crest Whitening strips are certainly less expensive options (these products seem to hover around the $50-$80 mark depending on the exact treatment), but from our experience they usually don't get the job done. For decades the reality has been simple: if you want white teeth, you have to be willing to spend some serious coin at the dentist. Cathy, a mom from Santa Cruz, California, recently discovered a clever way of combining two different teeth whitening offers from two different companies--Dazzle Smile and Clean Whites--to get one full "super" whitening, comparable to what you might attain at a local dentist for $400 or more, using nothing but trial offers and paying just a few dollars in shipping charges.

How does the trick work? Basically, the idea is to combine the two different products to get one full strength whitening using just the trials.

The coupon codes reduce shipping costs to under $3 total ($1.97 for the first, $0.97 for the second, as of 09/12/2009):
Step 1: Click here for Dazzle Smile (Use Promo Code: bedazzled)
Step 2: Click here for Clean Whites (Use Promo Code: save)

Cathy's story and more - read more on the source link.

Restaurant Riche, Stockholm, Sweden - living off it's name is dangerous

Riche - wow, full of people, Tuesday evening, expectations high. High "be seen" factor...maybe not on Tuesdays.

Table for two - yes, in approx. 15 minutes. Smiling host, I felt welcome and I was starving. One glass och champagne and one glass of water. Water was served in a whiskey glas without ice, lemon, flare. Just tap water. The champagne was champagne. The bar housed many wandering eyes, many longing eyes. Reminded me of the bar at Sturehof, 150 meters up at Stureplan.

Table ready - YES! FOOD! 2 starters, 2 main courses. Smiling waitress. This will be good. 30 minutes later the starters came in. It is good that a starter is called a starter since this was more of an appetite teaser.

An interesting variation of guests, from "la familia" of 30 men and 2 women along the back wall to business men showing off their new toys. Most younger men were in the bar, most younger women were eating with older men.

Where was the main course? We asked and asked. One hour later the main course came in. My wine had been served 2 minutes after my second champagne glas. Maybe it was a new way of airing the wine at the table.

I had chosen the entrecote - the most expensive meat dish. Looking around, I guess I made the wrong choice - most women were eating the salmon sallad. My meat was very rare as I had asked for, however it had probably been sitting out waiting to be served at the appropriate time after the starter.The meat was cold, the sauce had skin on it. Meat I can eat cold, but not fat. It was late now, so there was no reason to ask for a new dish - waiting another hour for another cold piece of meat did not fit well - I was starving. My guest' s dish, a traditional Riche hamburger with bacon, had boiled bacon, cold meat and after that I did not want to know more.

After putting down my knife and fork, the waitress was quick to clear the table. No smile this time, just efficiency.

Except for the food not living up to the expectations, I cannot really understand the hip factor. The lighting at the bar (integrated in the restaurant) was far too light. All my wrinkles were clearing showing. Regardless, during my dinner, a handsome younger man had made an effort to catch my eye. He liftet his glas and "skålade" with me across the room. Now I get it! This is the hip seeking bar - not a hip bar.

It was fun having been there, but next time, staying in the bar area, checking out the dishes standing at the bar after a hard day of shopping, will probably live more up to my expectations.

Service: 2/5 - until the waitress understood we were not extravangant eater and drinkers, the service was very good. After that, we were not interesting. Just me understanding this, shows how obvious this was. The host had charm, thus 2/5 can be given.
Food: 1/5 - nothing special, cold, long waiting time. If you want something else than a ready made sallad, do not go here starving.
Drinks: 2/5 - The champagne was champagne but serving a wet glas of tap water to my guest was degrading. Airing the wine (Côtes du Rhône) at the table was a new twist and serving it in no logical order.
Price: 1/5 - For what you got...terrible.
Environment/Atmosphere: 2/5 -  The lighting too bright. Felt a little like Sturehof in style, a look-a-like. The facilities were not clean, smelly and this was early on in the evening. If you cannot keep them clean on a Tuesday, how does the kitchen look?
Location: 5/5 - Situated in the Stureplan area, you are where it happens.Close to everything, perfect for taking a drink after hard core shopping.

Ages of guests in party: 40 - 45 but the rest of the guests between 25 - 70.

13/30 points.

Customer service, Taxfree, Terminal 5, Arlanda Airport, Stockholm, Sweden

Many times, a large chunk of your travel start budget is sucked out of your wallet by the time you have walked through the taxfree of your outbound airport. If you are really smart, you tell yourself "I will buy what I need in taxfree on my way home - less to carry". But no...usually things happen from when your have your thought (often waiting in the security line) to the taxfree shop.

This time I almost managed holding myself to this thought. I "only" got the necessities on the way out...and would get the heavy things on my way home. This actually translates to - double the amount spent at the local taxfree.

On my way through the Arlanda Airport, Terminal 5, brand new and gigantic taxfree, I was surprised. People allergic to scents, people trying desperately to stop smoking or loose weight, thirsty people, really have a challenge here. Everyone checking in at desks 71 - 90 with SAS, must walk through at least the cigarette, alcohol and part of the perfume/makeup area and cut hard to the left (through the candy department) in order to get out of the taxfree store on one piece. This can be a devastating and very expensive experience. I think I saw at least a few travellers “lost in the taxfree zone”. Poor souls. Usually airports have alternative ways around the taxfree area. But not here.

Well, again fully clothed after the security check, belt in place, shoes on feet, PC in bag and all liquids put back in place, it was now time to get the “heavy stuff”. Cigarettes to a colleague (check), deodorant for the husband (alternative brand check) – they are always “soon receiving a shipment for just the type I want” – this shipment has taken a few years now. I should know better than to ask actually since the deodorant doesn`t even have a place anymore on the shelf. A sucker for bargains, I stroll over to the 3 for 2 alcohol area…not too heavy, I am already struggling with what I have and my shoes are too high to walk with any more real weight. Slowly moving down to the 3 for 2 perfume area, I pass the candy racks. Here too they have 3 for 2 Haribo winegums. Dangerous. Oh well, we are in the testing phase of our development process, and we always have testing goodies within the team, so why not. 3 kgs later (but actually for the price of 2!) I stand in line to pay. I realize that I could have had 2 bottles of alcohol for the same weight and approx. the same amount of calories…no comment.

During my trip down taxfree lane, I was approached 2 times by beautiful perfumed girls asking if I needed help in a certain area. Since most of these girls were more interested in gossiping among themselves, looking up every now and then to see if a customers was getting too close, I politely said “I wouldn`t want to disturb you ;-)”. Honestly…this did not help the service level I got.

At the cash register, a woman, my age was holding here credit card waiting for the credit card machine to show the correct sum in the window before swiping in through and accepting the charges. She had been quietly waiting for some time. Nothing happened. The girl at the register sat with her head lowered and picked her nails behind a divider. Finally she looked up and snorted “ what are YOU waiting for”. The woman and myself jumped backwards. Oups bad hair day or something I thought. No she was too young, probably just irritated that we actually wanted to pay for “the heavy stuff”. The woman answered, “I am waiting for the sum, so I know what I am paying before I accept the charges”. The girls answer…you will not believe this…”if you can’t count, you shouldn’t be buying”. When spoken to that way, out of the blue (it turns out that the girl hasn’t finished the sale and pressed credit card payment), you are at a loss for words. This poor woman, paid here “heavy stuff” and actually said she was sorry for taking so long before she packed her stuff. She did ask if there were any plastic bags, and the girl pointed.

I was next. I had now had time to figure out the best way to make my shopping experience as good as it could get, for me at least. I had time ;-) I started by smiling big and asking what I should do to be able to pay, in English. She looked at me as if I were an alien. I played the part well. She answered “boarding card”. “Oh so I pay with my boarding card – OK, here it is”, handing over my boarding card from my previous flight. She tried scanning the barcode, over and over again. I commented, “I am in a hurry, that flight left 36 hours ago”…she kept scanning. Finally an alert hit her brain cells. She looked at me, and said “this doesn’t work”. She handed the pass back to me. Now I really had trouble controlling my face. “Oh really”. She now asked me to get in another cashier line and try there since she did not have the time for this. There was no one behind me. Is this girl stupid or just so lazy and bored that she can’t even be bothered to listen to the customer or even look at the boarding card. The system had obviously stated this boarding card was not active, but she didn’t even look at the text. This I had to keep testing. I now told her “Nein”. Without any recognition that I had changed my language, she just said “eh”. Now she was very irritated. I just smiled still having all my taxfree items in my cart, waving my correct boarding pass. Since she was more interested in looking behind the divider than letting me pay, I asked her in German if I could help her with something behind the the divider. Now she just waved my away. It was now time to pin her.

I smiled, put all my items on the register, put my boarding card on the items, and asked in Swedish, if I could see here manager. I had seen that the man in the cash register next to us was beginning to react on our situation, but his line of customers was too long. Now I escalated my tone, looked around, waved my hands. “Help, may I have some help here?” Another taxfree lady appeared. Asked if she could be of assistance. In English, I told her clearly what I had witnessed with the previous customer and how I had been serviced/not serviced/attitude. I told her honestly that I had tested this girl, and asked if this was the way to treat customers, regardless if they fly through Arlanda again or not. The woman now asked the girl what had happened…she answered “this woman lies, I tried helping her, but she refused to pay”. I now changed English to Swedish and commented “if that was the case, why is nothing registered in the cash register?”. Suddenly the previous customer appeared. She had been watching us from a distance. This time she was very clear and did not apologize.

The result – I got to pay, was discounted the candy, the girl was asked to wait in the coffee room and I was bought a cup of coffee by my new friend.

I could not help myself – I know this was a bit mean, but maybe she will respect the customer a little bit more in the future. She will not get fired, no one does in Sweden.