Books, baking and knitting for a slow winter holiday
Christmas and the winter holiday has always been a time for slowing down for me. Before Christmas, there’s a hustle and bustle of preparations and last minute things, but after the celebration there’s that hush.
Everyone exhale and relax. The pressure is off, now the days up until New Year’s can become slow and quiet. Perhaps there’s a bit of snow for beautiful winter walks. Or maybe you just stay inside with a cup of hot chocolate and a book.
We have the rest of winter and the whole spring ahead of us, and we can do with some slowing down. So here are some tips for acts of slow living to light up the winter darkness.
Reading cosy winter themed books
I’m a seasonal reader. I choose different kinds of books depending on the season. I love when a book is set in a specific part of the year and I often have strong sense of which season is the right one for different reads.
This winter I’m reading Calm Christmas by Beth Kempton and The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey. They’re both gorgeous books and so far, Calm Christmas is helping me make this holiday intentional and joyful.
We Are Okay by Nina LaCour is a wonderful book I read a couple of winters ago. It’s set at a deserted university in the hush of Christmas time. It’s a beautiful read, strong and emotional. I warmly recommend it.
Knitting wool mittens
Knitting is such a meditative craft. If you struggle to be still when relaxing, hanging out or watching a movie, having a knitting project in your hands can be the perfect remedy.
This winter, my knitting project is a pair of mittens with snowflakes on them. I’m using a Swedish pattern you can find here, and you can find lovely patterns by searching on Google, Pinterest or Etsy.
Mittens feel like the perfect winter craft to me. And when they’re done, they can warm you on chilly winter walks.
Baking Swedish saffron buns “lussebullar”
Together with ginger bread cookies, saffron buns are the most common sweet in Christmas times in Sweden. We do love our Fika (having a cup of coffee or tea with something sweet) so lots of lussebullar gets baked this time of year.
You most often see our saffron buns in this S-shape and they are called lussekatter - roughly translated Lucia Kitties.
Here’s a recipe translated from Swedish, or you can find another in English here if some ingredients or amounts are confusing.
Ingredients
50 g fresh yeast
175 g butter
1 g saffron powder
2 dl sugar
5 dl milk
1/2 tablespoon salt
1 1/2 litre wheat flour (ca 900 g)
1-2 eggs
Raisins
Instructions
Crumb the yeast in a big bowl. Melt the butter. Stir the saffron into the melted butter. Add the milk and heat to 37˚C.
Pour a little bit of the butter and milk blend on the yeast and stir until the yeast has dissolved. Add the rest of the butter and milk blend, sugar and salt. Add most of the wheat flour and work to a dough. Sprinkle some flour over the dough. Let rest with a kitchen towel over the bowl for 30-45 minutes.
Knead the dough on a floured table. Knead in the last of the flour.
Divide the dough in around 30 pieces. Roll the pieces to snake form and then form into the S-shape in the picture. Put the pieces on sheet pans with baking sheet paper.
Let rest under a kitchen towel for 30-45 minutes. Turn the oven on 200°C.
Whisk an egg and brush it on the buns. Place raisins in the center of the S-shape swirls.
Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes until golden.
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