Great package Nina. The bowls are neat and I bet the Dukka is a real treat that you can't get here in the states. And what do folks in Iceland eat? I would love to see some recipes from that cookbook. I wish we had more swappers from other countries and shipping wasn't so dang high. Very nice box Netla.
James

What a fun treat, Nina! I bet you can't wait to get into that cookbook and try some things out. I don't think I could wait till easter for that chocolate easter egg. The Dukka sounds so interesting, and the bowls are very cute. Good job, Netla.

Sally

Wonderful package Nina! Those bowls are adorable. You are going to love the Dukka spice. If you make your own pitas (don't know if you do), just before baking after you have rolled them out, brush them with melted butter and sprinkle liberally with the Dukka spice then bake as normal. When you roll the dough and then cut it out in three inch circles before buttering and spicing, they make great appy size pitas for soups or whatever. Our family loves them this way.
Would love to see some recipes from your cookbook, it looks so interesting!
Wonder what the mystery message says? Enjoy it all!

Shelley

What a great package from so far away. Netla you did a good job on this swap.

Stacie

OOOhhh - Dukka sounds good - love exotic spices...you can have an Iceland themed dinner! -maria

The bowls are pretty. The cookbook would be a great addition to any collection.

The spice sounds so good.

I'm glad you liked your gifts, Nina. Too bad about the Easter egg breaking, but at least you can still enjoy eating it...

(I can post a picture of it in one piece if anyone's interested).

Oh what a neat package! From Iceland no less! The dishes are really really nice. Love those!!!

Enjoy~

Shelley- I'll definitely try making my own pitas and using the dukka spice. I've never had it before and it sounds SO good. I have a bad head cold so I didn't open the spice last night because I wouldn't be able to really appreciate it but once this cold is gone, I'm in there.

I left the cookbook back home but I'll be happy to share some of the recipes. I love trying new things, especially unfamiliar things because you never know when you'll discover a new favorite. Plus my husband's father is of Finnish extraction so he'll definitely get a kick out some of the recipes.

That easter egg was so pretty, and I love the fluffy little chick that came along with it. It's not badly broken so I can still see how nice it is. But yes, waiting a week to tuck into it is going to be torture. But that'll just make it last a week longer than it would have.

Thanks again, Netla. This was really delightful.

Nina

Ditto what Jim said!

Nice package! I'd also like to see a few recipes from that book.

Nina, Enjoy your box o goodies!

Johanna, Great job!

What a great package, Nina. Can't wait to see what you make from the Icelandic cookbook. The bowls are so nice and cheerful. You will love the dukka. I made some from a recipe on another forum and love it sprinkled over toast, of all things! Great job, Netla!

Very cool. I am also intereste in that Dukka. I also love exotic or even "different" spices to try. Looks like a nice package to me. Sorry about the bunny, but it is a miracle if anything would make it that far without breakage. You did a nice job, Netla.

Lovely swap items, Netla. Your country fascinates me, and I really love your choice of swap items for Nina! I've never heard of Dukka, but I look forward to seeing what Nina's going to make with it. Dipping bread into it with olive oil sounds delicious. The bowls are pretty too, and they add a nice touch of spring with their flowers. Nina, good luck waiting to eat the chocolate bunny, chocolate has a very short life in our house:-) It's a beautiful box, for a very sweet recipient from a really cool gal!
DONNA

what a lovely swap box from netla. i have to agree with jim's sentiments as well.

nina, those easter eggs were also a tradition we have always enjoyed.

i never heard of dukka, sounds interesting and how wonderful that shelley was able to provide you with another way to use it.

way to go netla, enjoy it all nina.
maryanne

adorable little bowls! I love the shape and the little flowers in the middle..
Great giant Easter egg!

So now we all have to look for dukka? Sounds interesting. Great swap gift, Netla! The bowls are toooo cute.

Enjoy your goodies, Nina.

Yes, I want to see more of the egg! How did the fluffy chick come out of it?

Very cute bowls - I love square dishes and odd shapes.

I'm interested in hearing more about the dukka as well!

Wonderful package!

Lars

I'm with Lars, I want to see the egg too.

I love getting packages from "exotic" places, i.e. anywhere that isn't the Midwest, so I just love this box. Dukka? Now there's something I've never even heard of, I'm looking forward to watching for recipes and pictures of things you've cooked with your goodies.

Plus, how could you possibly go wrong with chocolate? (grin) A very nice box, Netla, good job.

Annie

Great job Netla! It's always interest to see things from other countries. Cute dishes and the spice blend sounds interesting.

Nancy

What a wonderful package - I love that there are so many "unfamiliar" things and can't wait to hear more about the cookbook items!

Stacy

Netla- could you please post your picture of the egg? Not only will the egg not hold together once I take it out of the plastic but there's also no way that it will last until Easter if I do that.

Lars, I think that little chick must have pecked his way out. Maybe that's what caused the egg to break?

Since I received Netla's wonderful box I've been doing a bit of reserch & it seems that there's no US equivalent for Skyr but I should be able to get some at Whole Foods. Whole foods supposedly carries Icelandic lamb as well (grass fed, Annie, no grains or growth hormones). I'm going to try cooking a few things from the book this weekend. My husband is delighted. We'll see what happens.

Nina

Oh-- I love those little bowls-- so cheery!

And the spice sounds so good.

And it's so perfect Joanna to send a part of your country's Easter tradition-- surely it's "a favorite thing". Good job !

How sweet...you can pretend that you are in a far off land...the bowls are too cute!! Please share the recipes you make with us all..

Great swap package.

Linda P

That's a great package. I was just going to post a question about what to do with Dukka as I got a jar of it from a friend of mine who was visiting New Zealand. Now I know!

How cool is Nelta? I'm thinking very cool for sure. I'm very curious about this spice blend. I love when members over the seas play, interesting and new to me things shared. Great swap box for sure and I know that Nina will love and enjoy all of it.

David

You'll be sure to post pictures of the recipes you make this weekend Nina? I, too love a good unusual cookbook.
Johanna was extra "sweet" to include an easter egg so the family could share!

Here is the Easter egg:
{{gwi:1462393}}

These eggs arrive in the shops about 6 weeks before Easter, and are available in sizes ranging from duck egg to larger than an ostrich egg. They are decorated with Easter-themed stuff, like chicks, or with toy figures for children, filled with candy and there is a strip of paper in each one with a traditional saying on it. All the big candy companies make them and the competition is fierce. I read somewhere that over a million Easter eggs are made in Iceland each year - for a population of 300 thousand. We do love our chocolate!

Very cool indeed. Love the cute little bowls and the cookbook. And that Easter egg is my kind of egg. Looks like it is milk chocolate which is my favourite chocolate. I know it wouldn't last until Easter around here.

Ann

Thanks for posting that picture, Netla. It's a very pretty egg. I've hidden it in the closet in order to keep it safe until Sunday. I know that my mother will get a kick out of it's having come all of the way from Iceland.

My cold is holding fast so I didn't get to have any adventures in Icelandic cuisine this weekend but I do have a couple of questions for Johanna.

How is leaf bread decorated? In the picture it looks like there's almost a lattice pattern cut into the bread.

I'm really curious about how puffin tastes, since it's a fish eating bird. And it looks like it's all dark meat. Is it rich, similar to goose?

I did use the pretty, square bowls over the weekend. I still can't believe that they're melamine.

Thank you, again.

Nina

Nina,
these days leaf bread is usually decorated using a special cutter - basically a small, wide metal wheel with a chevron pattern that you roll along the flattened bread hard enough to cut through it. Then you gently raise and fold over every second chevron of the bread before you fry it. I prefer to hand-cut leaf bread - there are a couple of samples in the enclosed link.

You're asking the wrong person about puffin - the only time I tasted it had flavour like it had been marinated in fish oil and it was dry and rather stringy. It may just have been wrongly handled and overcooked - I have never had the chance to find out.

Here is a link that might be useful: Leaf bread

Thank you! The leaf bread link makes everything very clear and it doesn't look nearly as intimidating as the finished product leads you to believe.

I confess that it was my husband who's intrigued by the puffin. That shouldn't surprise me, he's game to try anything. It's not up there on my list of things to cook.

Thank you so much for answering my questions.

Nina

I'm not telling my Matt that people eat Puffin. He had a little stuffed Puffin when he was a baby. It was his favourite stuffed animal.

Ann

Oh Ann, you reminded me of the tragic bunny experience when we visited my grandparents in Italy when I was 3. They lived on a farm. I thought that the rabbits were pets. They weren't.

Matt doesn't need to know that puffin may very well be the other, other white meat.

Nina

For the first time, Wikipedia failed me on dukka! I think I even tried what I thought was Iceland wiki. Oh well! Nice package, Netla, I think melamine has come a long way. Riverrat send a beautiful piece the last swap, and I myself bought another as a gift from the same manufacturer. Thanks for reposting the Easter egg and the story!

Jessy,
here's a dukkah recipe for you

Here is a link that might be useful: Dukkah

...and can I just say that Icelandic chocolate is di-vine? Oh, it's just sinfully good! My mother was delighted with the Easter egg (I knew that she'd get a kick out of it) & couldn't get over how it had travelled so far. She loves things like this so that was a big part of my trying to save the chocolate egg for easter.

I also made vinarterta this weekend to place among the desserts on Easter Sunday. I'll post more over on discussions once I get the pictures uploaded. Vinarterta is like a layer cake, except the layers are more cookies than cake & each one separated by preserves (in my case, rhubarb). It was heavenly! Seriously delicious, easy & going into permanent dessert rotation. Also very pretty with the cream colored layers & the pink rhubarb.

Mind you, I may have made the vinarterta completely wrong since I was doing my own slipshod conversions from grams to ounces but the finished product was wonderful.

Thanks again, Johanna. We're continuing to enjoy your gifts.

Nina

I'm glad you liked the Easter egg. I usually try to include some local chocolate in my swaps, and an Easter egg was impossible to resist.

Vínarterta (an older version of the recipe in the book) is a signature dish for many Americans and Canadians of Icelandic descent. Everywhere I went when visiting my American cousins we were served Vínarterta, and the women, especially the older ones, loved to compare recipes.