Adding cosiness to a room with fairy lights

I recently wrote a blogpost about my new white metal daybed that I assembled and styled to fit my arty room in the house. This room is decorated with a lovely olive green hue, along with some dusky purple details, so the throw and the cushions on the bed obviously had to match these hues.

My latest addition to this room is a lovely set of fairy lights from Cable & Cotton. I realised when I got the bed that I needed some atmospheric lights in the room if I was going to have guests around – the ceiling lamp is just too bright – and Cable & Cotton came to the rescue.

The fairly lights are made of little handmade balls of thread, which you can custom order in the colours you want, so I opted for dusky colours of green, pink, grey and lilac that would match the rest of the room. You simply pop the balls on the light bulbs yourself, and can therefore decide exactly how you want your lights to look. If you’re not happy with your original combination you can just take the balls off and move them around until you’ve got the result you want.

I’ve also hung a couple of white wooden mini shelves on the wall this weekend. I’ve had them for ages but couldn’t decide where I wanted them, but once the lights were up I found a great spot for them. There’s not much you can keep on these small shelves, but they’re only really there to look pretty. I got the idea of placing some colourful books on them though, which I think looks quite cute.

Again, matching everything to each other. Lamps, books, cushions... (this cushion is from Primark's home section) 

...and my Swedish panel curtains as well, of course! These were a birthday present from my sisters a couple of years ago, and I absolutely love them. I also find it hilarious that my English friends don't see the point with them since you can't cover the window with them. But us Swedes are all about letting in as much light as possible in our homes!

This is what my Cable & Cotton lights look like when they're lit - very cosy, and I think any guests staying in this room moving forward will be very happy with the whole room in general. 

Meatball recipe with a twist

The dish Sweden is most famous for is meatballs. I mean, who hasn’t been to IKEA and tried their meatballs in creamy gravy with potatoes?

It’s a classic!

I’d say I will never get tired of meatballs, but to make things more exciting and get away from those everyday tastes, it’s great to experiment with some new meatball recipes.

Us Swedes tend to be drawn to Mediterranean flavours when we experiment with our food, and I’m not an exception – I absolutely love garlic, basil, feta cheese and sundried tomatoes.

Another way of varying the taste of your meatballs is to swap the standard pork or beef mince to another meat. We eat a lot of wild meat in Sweden as well, and I’ve grown up eating both elk and venison, so when I came across this video recipe by professional huntsman Mike Robinson I was hooked straight away!

Looks delicious, doesn’t it?!

There’s currently a whole series of Mike Robinson's Wild Kitchen online, with everything from wild meat to vegetarian mushroom dishes.

This particular recipe was recently tried and tested by blogger Foodsessed.

My own favourite meatball recipe with a twist is of the creamy kind, and this is the recipe for it:

Recipe for 4 portions

Ingredients

• 500 grams of minced meat (pork or mixed pork and beef)
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 3 table spoons of chili ketchup
• Butter
• 1 tub of reduced fat crème fraiche
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 teaspoon of dark soy
• ¹⁄₂ teaspoon of thyme
• 3-4 tablespoons of water

This is how you cook it:

Mix the minced meat, garlic, chili ketchup and salt to an even paste. Shape into approximately 8 meatballs (2 per person), and fry them in the butter – ca 3 minutes on each side. Take out the meatballs and put them to the side whilst you mix the sauce. Add crème fraiche, pepper, soy, thyme and water to your pan, and bring it to boil. Lower the heat, put the meatballs back in the pan into the sauce, and let simmer for a few minutes.

Serve with pasta or potatoes, and a fresh salad.

Delicious!

I usually find my food inspiration on Swedish recipe sites, but you can find lots of great recipes on sites such as Homemaking Hacks.

What’s your favourite meatball dish? The classic Swedish, the tomato sauce based Italian, or the garlicky and creamy Greek style?