Once Again ..

Welcome December .. hope youre not going to stress us out completely ... I for one have stopped with all and everything , who has to do with X-mas hysteria ...and this year I did the decision not to bring any red Christmas decorations into my petite apartment ... I feel like I might get an allergic reaction from all the red surrounding Christmas ... and another thing , I just want a few beautiful pieces , preferable in green , white , gold and silver ... but very few .. we can concentrate on chocolate and something nice to drink instead Xxx

I am anyway in a hectic mood .. doing Christmas food at the hotel , which I dearly love .. life behind the scenes at a hotel is amazing & fun .. all kinds of different people upstairs and downstairs and coming through the kitchen .. when I came the first day , they all greeted me with " oh when you are back it is truly Christmas time " so sweet .. and doing all the food for the holidays are quite relaxing for my mind .. even my back seems to like it .. knock on wood .. but it all works out fine !

If you have big families with small children this time of the year can be really hard ... I do remember it well and my daughter is born in December ... back then living on Aegina in Greece , her birthday and everything with the school celebrations , the restaurant , Swedish Glögg party , celebrating Lucia , the Christmas bazaar in the Scandinavian Church in Athens when Kiki always came from Myconos and much , much more ... it can honestly be too much of a good thing !!

Try to give yourself some self - care , half an hour every day , put on stress free music , get energy from super foods , get out doors , move your beautiful body & pamper yourself .. love yourself , take a moment .. be still in meditation some minutes ..

For me personally , there will be friends gathering , my daughter and some work , during the festive days around Christmas and New Year ... since my father & brother died we dont really see the rest of the family so often , and they are used to the fact that we are either in Greece or on Gotland ... so I am looking forward to a quiet & peaceful Christmas .. to relax in the company of good food and good books ...

For the ones of you who have followed me on GrammasKitchen and on the blog from the beginning , I do understand that you are wondering where all the recipes went ...

Well I have in mind to concentrate on healthy tips and maybe an interesting new recipe .. but mostly ways & ideas how to be the best version of you , mixed with stories from my crazy life ..

This piece of tapestry above are old and from Gotland , when I did see it I had immediately the feeling that it might be Greek .. but no .. it also reminds me in a way of Lilly Kristensens work , it is fantastic , how many ways Gotland reminds me of Greece .. nature , buildings and some history !

I must confess that I do love all the Kitchen Aid machines , and when I did see this little black beauty .. I knew immediately that it had to be my gift to myself .. perfect size , a strong little mixer , for all my different hummous and other dips or to help me out with a million things when I play around with my messy apron , it is in my kitchen now and I am extremely happy to see it !

Thats it for now .. all written quickly between work hours .. and it has been a crazy Sunday , celebrating the 1st of Advent ... we daughter and me have been doing Christmas table for more than 250 p today .. from the morning to late evening ... I just now did finish with some much needed stretching ... dear god what a day , a glass of my favourite green tea , maybe something sweet , but I dont really feel like eating after all the food business today ....a deep breath and to dream of my happy place ...

Be well , stress free , happy , beautiful , cook healthy , keep strong , listen to that oldie goldie music , dance , hug and most important be kind .. and love !

Chris

from GrammasKitchen

Situated in a cold Sörmland with some snow ...