Hello my friend!

I'm back in town after a lovely, long vacation back in North America - what I'm now calling the 2012 Atlantic-Pacific family tour. Was so good to be home and see the family, swim in lakes, walk in the mountains, and of course stuff my face with as much delicious food as possible. I know you will disapprove of my rampant seafood consumption – but oh, it was so good! Seafood and travel.... the environmental crimes that I really can't give up. Anyway! This year, our gift of choice to bring over for family was handmade toffees from Pärlans, a confectionary in our neighborhood. It's just such a nice example of fantastic all-around branding – the delicious candies are made from an old recipe from the 1930's, and everything is styled in the spirit of that period: the packaging, the shops, even the girls wrapping toffees in the shop window are dressed to a tee with perfect hair and makeup, like a live installation. The cafe serves tea and coffee with proper porcelain cups and saucers, they play jazz music, and the interiors make you feel like you're sitting in a Hercule Poirot film. It's all just done so well. And of course the toffees are fantastic, with flavours like lemon & vanilla, almond, raspberry, salt licorice, blackcurrant, chocolate, and peppermint. Lovely!