Of Berries And Fruit

Which is the most summery-est of all summery fruits and berries?  (Pause to think ... ) Maybe the blackberry? It has a mysterious hue and tastes like summer ...

Or, does the strawberry taste more like summer? Or peach?


Maybe only the berry and fruit that one has the most pleasant summer memories associated with taste the most summer-y ...  :-)


Anyone from the part of Sweden where I grew up would probably vote for the strawberry. Why? Because there are many strawberry farmers in that area! In face, my mom and dad sent me to a strawberry farm to pich strawberries over the summer when I was only thirteen ... Why?  Because that is what mom and dad did when they were that age!


But, what flavor do I vote for no ... when I have lived in the South long enough to prefer Southern flavors?  Well, I like my strawberries as a shortcake and my peaches ripe, juicy or simply grilled served with ice cream ... or in a cobbler of course! Still served with vanilla ice cream ...


Here is the traditional way to serve strawberries in Sweden:

Strawberries with whipped cream and sugar.

And here in the South, we serve our peaches like this:

This:

And this:

Borrowed this picture. Link with recipe here https://iheartrecipes.com/grandmas-southern-peach-cobbler/

A Musical Landmark

My signature song "Singing My Blues Away" was recorded at a studio in Hudiksvall, Sweden. My audio engineer and co-producer Henrik Mangseth of Mangseth Music Maker, and I worked on the recording here:

Norra Kykogatan 9, Hudiksvall, Sweden. The place where Kriz Rogers (former Kriztina Aahs) recorded her "Singing My Blues Away" at. The picture is from google maps's streetview. Link to map Brandgaraget, Hudiksvall on google maps

"Singing My Blues Away" can be downloaded on iTunes, Amazon etc.
"Singing My Blues Away" on Amazon

Places I've Played II

As I was searching for a file on my computer today, I came across something entirely different from what I was searching for: a poster from a gig me and my band did in 2008 along with the Sun Records artist Rayburn Anthony. It was extremely fun!  The crowd was cheering, clapping and singing along. Some of the songs we did were "Storms Never Last" and "Jackson"  And in the midst of a song, the strap to my guitar broke! Lol. As I was standing up and playing and singing, I pushed the guitar as best I could against my body with my right arm while strumming.  After we had played the song through, I asked my bass player to entertain the audience while I fixed it good enough to hold together for the rest of the show. Crazy memory ...

Country Festival Poster from 2008.

Places I've Played

As International Women's Day was this past Wednesday, I was thinking about one particular place that I was invited to perform at and the reason I was contacted.  The lady in charge of the Women's Day Celebration events at a very prominent venue in Sundsvall, Sweden, contacted me becuase she had read about how I was bullied at school and of my journey to redemtion through music. So, this is where I played at:

"The Hall of Mirrors". Sundsvall, Sweden.

My Dad's Birthplace

It's in Bergsjo, Halsingland, Sweden. He and his family lived here until he was seven years old. The farm house is long gone, but not the magnificent view!

En Dikt På Sveriges Nationaldag - A Poem On Sweden's National Day

En Skål För Sverige

Jag skålar för Sverige i fläderblomssaft
För sommar’n och ljuset och glädjen vi haft;
För språket och ord och fred på vår jord
Och fortsatt gemenskap och kärleksfull livskraft.

Cross culture thing ...

A co-worker asked me once what I missed the most from my old home country. My answer was "Besides my family, I think I miss a Chinese dessert called Fried Bananas the most". I think it puzzled him as much as it did me :-) It's kind of funny ... I live in the US, come from Sweden and miss a Chinese dessert!

In Swedish/På Svenska:

En arbetskamrat frågade mig en gång vad jag saknade mest från mitt gamla hemland. Mitt svar var "Förutom min familj, så tror jag att jag mest saknar en Kinesisk dessert som heter Friterade Bananer". Jag tror att han blev lika förvånad som jag :-) Det är ganska lustigt ... jag bor i USA, kommer från Sverige och saknar en kinesisk dessert!

Bananas, dipped in batter and fried. Served with Vanilla bean ice cream and syrup. Oh, it's sooo yummy!!!

The Move - Flytten

Moving from Chattanooga to Nashville may not be a big step in a physical sense since I moved from Sweden, Europe to Chattanooga, TN, USA not too  many years ago. Nashville is a much larger city though. Let me put things into perspective: Chattanooga metro has 520,000+ residents and Nashville metro has 1,700,000+ (source: Wikipedia). A pretty big step for someone that lived in a rural area in Sweden where the population in the county is about 9,600.

I do like the conveniences of living in a big city: there are so many stores at almost a stone's throw's distance and the largest ones are open 24/7 and if you don't "feel like" cooking dinner, there are dozens and dozens of restaurants - fast food and others - to choose from very close by. Tonight we ate at a Pizza Hut only a few minutes from where we live. Now, to be fair, in Sweden, something there is not a lack of  are pizzerias. Every small village has at least one. No Pizza Huts though, only in the major cities. Hmm, how come I started writing about food again ...

Anyway, we have found our closest grocery stores and some of our favorite fast food places, unpacked almost all of our boxes, hung pretty much most of our pictures and bought a few new things to decorate or new home, so ... life is good. Thank You God.

In Swedish/på Svenska:
Att flytta från Chattanooga till Nashville kanske inte är ett stort steg på det fysiska planet eftersom jag flyttade från Sverige, Europa till Chattanooga, TN, USA för inte så länge sedan. Nashville är dock en mycket större stad. Tillåt mig försöka sätta saken i perspektiv: Stor-Chattanooga har 520 000+ invånare och Stor-Nashville har 1 700 000+ (källa: Wikipedia). Ett ganska stort steg för någon som bodde på landsbygden i Sverige i en kommun där invånarantalet är omkring 9 600.

Jag gillar verkligen bekvämligheten av att bo i en storstad: det finns så många matvaruaffärer i stort sett bara ett stenkast bort och de största är öppna dygnet runt. Om du inte "känner för" att laga kvällsmat så ligger det dussintals och åter dussintals restauranger - snabbmatsställen och andra - att välja mellan i närheten. Ikväll åt vi på Pizza Hut bara några minuters bilväg från där vi bor. För rättvisans skull så måste jag säga att en sak som Sverige inte lider brist på är pizzerior. Varje liten by har åtmonstone en. Inga Pizza Hut-ställen dock, bara i de största städerna. Hmmm, hur kan det komma sig att jag började skriva om mat igen ...

I alla fall, vi har hittat de matvaruaffärer som ligger närmast oss och en del av våra favoritsnabbmatsställen, packat upp nästan alla våra lådor, hängt upp i stort sett alla våra tavlor och bilder och köpt lite nya saker att dekorera vårt nya hem med så .... livet är gött. Tack Gud.

 All packed and ready to go ... Packat och klart för avfärd ...

There we go ... sådärja ...

In our new home ... I vårt nya hem

 A good investment (assembled it myself - born and raised in IKEA country as I am). We will probably hang the guitars on the wall.

En god investering (monterade den själv - född och uppvuxen i IKEA-land som jag är). Vi kommer förmodligen att hänga upp gitarrerna på väggen.