The Lederman Kitchen

I was so excited to spend the weekend with my good friend Becky and her  fiancé , Gar.  Becky and I worked together in Japan for 6 months, and we pretty much spent all of our time together.  When I arrived in Japan, Becky had been there for half a year already and she took me in and showed me everything. One of my favorite photos from Japan, our first trip we took together to Osaka We had a blast together, and I have so, so many great memories from Japan with her that I will never forget. Yep, we're in Japan Fast forward 7 years, and we finally met again.  A few months after living in Dublin, and a 40 minute flight later, I arrived in Manchester to spend a weekend with Becky.  Both a little older, and a little more settled into life. Visiting Becky in Manchester Becky and her soon-to-be husband Gar were lovely hosts.  We spent the first day wandering around downtown Manchester, stopping for a glass of wine here and there.  Our cul...

After our first and second day in Stockholm, we had really fallen in love with the city, the people, the lifestyle and the food. Before the trip, our only plan was to spend a day biking ( check ).  And a day on a boat, exploring the archipelago a bit more.  The boat tours of the archipelago were all day excursions, and we decided that being confined to a boat all day (these were loooong tours, like 8-10 hours) was not what we wanted.  Instead, we decided to take a 30 minute boat ride to the island Fjaderholmarna, which came recommended by several co-workers and friends. Heading out on the water Boating by the other end of Djurgarden, where we biked around the day before The plan in the morning was to grab some picnic essentials, head to the island and enjoy a nice lunch.  As it was Sunday, the food hall,  Östermalms Saluhall, that we planned on going to was closed.  We found the next best thing, a gourmet food shop under one of the big departmen...

After the perfect start to our trip in Stockholm visiting with My Swedish Family , we filled our weekend with biking, walking, picnicking, soaking up some sun, enjoying the amazing food scene, and swooning over the Swedish lifestyle. Just a little Red, White & Blue This photo below says a lot. The water is so clean in Stockholm, in the middle of the city, that people actually safely fish and swim. And you can believe it just by looking down into the water.  It's clear and there isn't any garbage floating in it.  Pretty amazing for the middle of a city. Just a normal summer's evening, fishing in the Riddarfj ä rden First of many bike rides along the water Friday night, we found a restaurant on Sodermalm island, which was the neighborhood we were staying in.  It was time to try some more classic Swedish dishes: meatballs with potatoes and lingonberries (they have a similar taste to cranberries) and gravlax (salmon cured in salt, lemon and dill) with potat...