Kristen81 - I have received, I posted photos on page 16. Varanda hasn't yet as far as I know  . Very worried about that...

Anyways, I forgot to post one of the recipes she sent me so here is a classic from Sweden. I requested it with all my vegetarian recipes.

The World-Famous Swedish Meatballs (serves 4-5)

3/4 dl unsweetened breadcrumbs
1 dl milk
1 dl thick cream
400 grams minced meat
1 1/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 tsp pepper, black or white
2 tbsp chopped yellow onion

1. soak breadcrumbs in milk and cream for 10 minutes.
2. mix minced meat wtih salt, pepper and onion. Add the breadcrumbs mixture and stir until quite smooth.
3. form into small meatballs of uniform size and fry them in butter. When the balls are browned lower the heat so that they have time to get thoroughly cooked.
Shake the pan now and then while frying so the meatballs become round and evenly fried.

Serve with boiled potatoes, brown gravy, green peas and lingonberry jam.

I think my family (dad and husband) will really love it so I'm going to use some free range bison meat to make it tonight for them.

  I hope my partner receives soon!

There some really great stuff here!!

I received today! Got an awesome package from varandra:








The treasury of swedish food is really interesting - and I really love the book you made for the recipe cards! It would be cool to know how you made it, because it would be perfect for my art/scrapbooking cards! Anyways, thank you so much, very cool package!

varandra, I really hope you receive my package soon, I'm starting to get worried! I always seem to have the worst luck with international shipping!

Craftypuppymom - WOW! Thank you so much. I just made a post in the gallery, so everyone go take a look at the goodies I got!

Yay, I'm first! I received yesterday, and I was so suprised since I hadn't checked the boards yet and I had no idea my partner was sending.

Here is a group shot:


Love this bag, I'm starting to get a good collection of totes out of these swaps!


Stitch Markers - really needed these too.


Ravenclaw bracelet.


Beaded rings.


Long scarf, really love this. I've always wanted a ravenclaw scarf!

Here it is hanging up on my jewelry rack:


Thanks so much craftypuppymom! I loved everything and thank you for sending so quickly! Thanks to fyberduck for organizing as well!

Well, I knew the recipe said two squares of baking chocolate. When I went to the store, I just grabbed a bar of baker's reserve  baking chocolate, which was divided into six thin rows with three squares in each row. I just didn't think two of those small squares looked like enough chocolate so I divided the bar into three smallers bars of two rows each and I used two of the smaller bars (which I guess would have been 12 little squares!). After melting it though, it seemed like the right amount of chocolate for the amount of batter I had going.

very cool idea! These are the sort of project perfect for that type of situation!

Hi everyone - yesterday was my dad's birthday and I made some homemade cupcakes. I'll be honest, I cook alot, but I don't truly bake alot. I usually just use box mixes, which in my family makes you a master baker lol. I've dabbled in breads before but not much else. Anyways! I made these chocolate cupcakes and couldn't believe how yummy (the batter could not stop finding its way to my mouth for some reason...) these are, not to mention just as easy as getting a box mix. So in the spirit of the swap, here is the recipe:

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 1/2 cups flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 pound butter, softened
3 eggs
2 squares baking chocolate, melted (I used more than two)
1/2 cup sour cream
3 tbsp. water
1 tsp. vanilla

preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Fill muffin/cupcake tin with paper cups. In large bowl cream together butter, sugar, and eggs until fluffy. Stir in melted chocolate, sour cream, water and vanilla. Add flour and baking soda to chocolate mixture and stir until combined. Pour batter into papers and bake for 15 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.
Frost if desired.

Mine actually baked for about 18 minutes - gotta love the toothpick test.
I didn't use homemade frosting  , but that's a recipe I'll learn later. I bought two cans of whipped frosting in vanilla and chocolate, which was nice and not too heavy.
Photos over at http://www.flickr.com/photos/danijohnston/ as well.

Meshell - I'm so so glad you like everything, I was a little worried! It was very hard for me to let go of those owl portraits because they looked perfect hanging on my green walls  !

Wiseowl - It's fabric paint. I tend to use that for everything lately, even on my collages and scrapbooking. I just love the texture!

Ok everyone, technically I received yesterday but I was busy getting the money back that an atm stole from me so I couldn't post. But let me tell you, this package totally made my day!!

Meshell - Thank you so so so much!

First off, a swap note along with some extra little odds and ends.


Some owl note cards, which is so great because I love collecting note cards so I have them when an occasion arises!


A beautiful owl print - I really love this and the orange is just so nice and bright. I'm going to frame it for my "art wall".


And lastly, this beautiful, wonderful owl tote and zippered pouch. I love love love these sooooo much! Before I left home yesterday I filled the tote with everything I was hauling around for the day and believe me it made it through awesomely - even with the crazy snow falling!

The pouch is so perfect because I was just about to buy something to store all my receipts and paper bits in!

Anyways, awesome, awesome swap - Meshell thank you so much and Avian Flight thanks for organizing everything!