Hi everyone! My name is Gunilla. Welcome to this blog with my recipes that bring together the tastes from my Swedish home and the different phases and places of my life. It is mainly a gluten and dairy free, vegetarian “cookbook” and a place to keep and share my favorites with family and friends.

A little about me: I was born in Sweden, grew up in a big family (youngest of 7) and lived there the first 35 years of my life. After meeting my American husband in Africa, we moved to Asia (Sri Lanka and Indonesia) where we lived for 10 years before settling down in Pennsylvania, with our two kids, while spending our summers in Sweden. 

About this blog: Home cooking is our normal, for every day and special days. That is the norm in Sweden, still today. 

When my daughter Lena started college she asked me to create a cookbook with my go-to recipes. The closest I came was a small pile of index cards with the good intention to turn them into a cookbook one day. 

Over the last decade many things have changed. Lena, a nutrition conscious, competitive runner, was diagnosed with severe gluten intolerance after many doctor’s visits, medication prescriptions and possible diagnoses ranging from IBS to depression and everything in between. 

That was when the gluten free challenge in the kitchen started! I suddenly needed to alter my recipes to make sure Lena could tolerate while continuing to enjoy my cooking. We learned together.

Then in 2019, I became lactose sensitive, so time for further adjustments to my recipes. 

My cooking and baking are based on recipes from my mother, family, friends, the places I’ve lived, the internet. I’ve tweaked many of those recipes to be gluten and dairy free (after many attempts with different gluten free flours, milk alternatives, etc…) My husband and son, who have no dietary restrictions but are willing to be constructively judgmental, have been totally supportive and enjoy sans gluten and dairy food! 

I myself don’t have any strict dietary restrictions.  Since I don’t want to be a complicated guest, I eat and deal with most anything served when visiting family and friends.  But I now know what makes me feel best and know what to avoid and what to eat when I have the choice at home, which is vegetarian, gluten free, dairy free food. 

I’m not taking sole credit for any of the recipes. This blog is just a way for me to gather, share with my daughter and hopefully inspire other people as well that the GF/DF life really can be good! I’m still adjusting recipes and exploring new possibilities, so I appreciate all suggestions and ideas as I hope this site will be interesting for new and experienced home “chefs”!