Posts Tagged ‘Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break’
How to Fika (A Zine You Can Print and Color at Home)
Happy book birthday!
Five years ago, Johanna Kindvall and I released our book Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break. In honor of our 5th book birthday, we decided to put together a zine devoted to the basics of fika.
Maybe you have our book on your shelf, maybe you’re a fika aficionado, or maybe you’re entirely new to fika, the Swedish coffee break. Regardless of what your fika background is, we made this zine so that you can easily print it at home, color it in, and add your own drawings. There’s a recipe for chokladbollar, Swedish chocolate balls, too. We wouldn’t want you to go without a fika treat.
Why fika?
In this time when a lot of us are at home and socially distancing, fika seems like a good ritual to remind ourselves to take a little break from the onslaught of news, and find a little space to just be present.
Slow down.
Take a deep breath.
Recalibrate.
Why not plan a virtual fika?
Fika is often a social affair, but you can fika and still practice social distancing. Why not use this as an excuse to call a friend and have a virtual fika? Call a friend, plan a time to chat (maybe on video?), and then each of you brings your coffee and treats. It’s that simple.
Make “stay home and fika” your new mantra—click here to download and print the How to Fika zine.
This zine is designed to print on a 8.5×11″ piece of printer paper.
How to Make Your Zine
If you’ve never made a one-page zine before, it involves a little cutting and folding. See where the dotted lines are? That’s where you are going to fold. Then you’ll cut and refold into the zine.
Here’s a video that breaks down the process, and there’s a visual guide here.
Planning a virtual fika? Share it with us! We have been using the hashtags #virtualfika and #stayhomeandfika. You can find us @johannakindvall and @annabrones.
Illustrations by Johanna Kindvall
Interested in other books? Here are a few more that I have written.
Happy Birthday Fika!
Three years ago today, Fika The Art of The Swedish Coffee Break came into the world. Over the last three years, it has been so much fun seeing all the places that this book ends up. I love hearing from readers when they bake a recipe or give the book as a gift to a friend. I think we could all use a little more fika in our lives, and I am happy to see so many of you doing exactly that.
In honor of Fika‘s third birthday, I am doing a special giveaway of signed copies of both Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break and my latest book, Live Lagom Balanced Living the Swedish Way, as well as an original fika-themed papercut (unframed).
This fika papercut was done as a sample for some new templates that I made for Paper Artist Collective (if you’re in the mood to try your hand at papercutting, you can snag them here) and I think it deserves a space on someone’s wall!
How to enter? All you have to do is subscribe to my newsletter. I’ll draw a random winner next Friday, April 13, 2018 so you have a week to get yourself signed up and entered.
Kanelbullensdag – Swedish Cinnamon Bun Day
In Sweden, the cinnamon bun gets its very own day: October 4th. Celebrate with a fika today!
I like making cinnamon buns (and more importantly, cardamom buns) with sourdough. Here’s a recipe for sourdough cardamom buns with pear and hazelnut filling to try out.
Or you can try the traditional recipe in my book Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break. Check out #kanelbullensdag on Instagram for inspiration.
Signed Books Available for Holiday Gift Giving {The Culinary Cyclist, Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break and Hello, Bicycle}
I recently launched a revamped shop for my books and other creative endeavors, and I have added in signed copies of most of my books. If you order, I’m even happy to personalize them!
So if you have been debating on getting a copy of The Culinary Cyclist, Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break or Hello, Bicycle, now is the time to hop on over and order a copy (or two, holiday season is the perfect book giving season).
I am also going to be adding in a few more items during the month of December, including original artwork, so keep your eyes on that space.
Holiday Gift Pack – Signed Copy of Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break + The Culinary Cyclist
I’ve put two of my books together as a holiday gift pack: you can snag a signed copy of Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break AND The Culinary Cyclist for only $25.
Here are some of the recipes you’ll be able to make with these two books:
Cinnamon and Cardamom Buns
Oat Crisp Chocolate Sandwich Cookies
Hazelnut Cake with Coffee
Raw Walnut Butter
Dutch Apple Pie with Cardamom
Five Seed Crackers with Olive Tapenade
Doesn’t that all sound good? You can purchase from the Foodie Underground shop. There’s only a limited amount of books, so if you want them, be sure to snag soon!
How to Twist Swedish Cinnamon Buns (Kanelbullar)
When my friend Marissa asked if I might like to have a recipe from Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break featured on FvF, I immediately said yes. I like Marissa’s photography and since I rarely spend any time styling or photographing my own recipes I thought it would be fun to have someone come and do it for me. See, I am lazy in the kitchen!
Get a photographer in your (tiny) kitchen and you immediately realize how hard food photography and styling really is; I have a lot of respect for the people who make it look easy. But let’s be honest; there is nothing like someone doing the hard work for you. And it’s even better when you want to do a series of how-to photos. Instead of playing the awkward Tripod in the Kitchen with Self Timer Camera game, all you have to do is go through the steps and have the photographer shoot it for you. This is perfect for Swedish cinnamon and cardamom buns, which people often ask me how they should twist. Now I finally have a visual guide to share.
Fika on Heritage Radio Network’s Eat Your Words (Listen to the Podcast)
I was so excited to not only get to be a guest on a Heritage Radio Network show with Johanna recently, but also to check out their headquarters. Housed in a shipping container in Brooklyn’s Bushwick neighborhood, Heritage Radio Network hosts a variety of great radio shows that are all about advancing food culture. If you don’t know them, be sure to check them out, the programming is pretty incredible.
It also meant that we got to eat a pizza at Roberta’s right before recording the show, as the radio is housed in the back. A super cool restaurant with an oven in the corner and local craft beer served in mason jars. My kind of place. The Heritage Radio Network studio itself sits in a shipping container right behind the restaurant, so as you sit and chat you look out over the restaurant goers downing their pizzas.
Thanks to Cathy Erway, the host of Eat Your Words, who sat down with Johanna and I and talked all about fika.
You can listen to the full episode here.
Fika Book Events in NYC
I am so excited to be in NYC this week for some book events.
Johanna and I will be signing Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break at three different spots in town this week, so if you are in the NYC area, drop on by.
Monday May 4
Book signing at the famous NYC Fika chain. You better bet there are going to be Swedish treats on hand.
3 to 5pm, FIKA Tower’s Loft, 824 10th Ave, New York City
Wednesday May 6
Book signing and afternoon fika at Nordic specialty coffee shop Budin, with coffee by the lovely Stockholm roaster Drop Coffee.
5 to 7pm, Budin, 114 Greenpoint Avenue, Brooklyn
Thursday May 7
Book signing, cinnamon rolls and a beer or two (trust me, those two things go together quite well) at 61 Local
6pm onwards, 61 Local, 61 Bergen Street, Brooklyn
Fika in the New York Times
Thanks to my friend Lindsey for the lovely write up in the New York Times’ T Magazine.
The book is a delicious compendium of nearly 50 illustrated recipes inspired by Brones and Kindvall’s childhoods, equally fueled by Fika. The cookies, cakes and breads (including savory variants) tap right into a growing, universal quest to achieve a more laid-back European lifestyle. “As a Swede who lives outside of Sweden and who loves baking, it’s impossible not to think that the rest of the world needs Fika!” added Kindvall, who illustrated the book. To aid readers in integrating the practice into their own lives, Brones and Kindvall trace the history of the concept and cleverly lay out all the necessities from baking tools and methods to mastering the Fika vernacular, and include suggestions for where (anywhere!), when (all the time!) and how to enjoy it.
Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break is Finally Out!
There was a part of me that was a bit nervous that the release date of Fika: The Art of the Swedish Coffee Break would be a bit anti-climactic. I already received an advance copy of the book earlier this year, and after having worked on this project for the last two years, I know it inside and out. How exciting could the release date really be, particularly given that I’m not even in the US to celebrate it?
As it turns out, book publication day is kind of like a birthday. It’s exciting. And it’s worth celebrating.
I’ve got a behind the scenes post up on Foodie Underground today looking at all that went into publishing Fika.
If I am reminded of one thing today it’s that good projects take time, and that it’s always worth investing time in the things that you love, even if you can’t see the immediate payoff when you start them.
Now, to go and celebrate. Because life is short, and as my mother would say, you should celebrate often.
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