Handicrafts from Öland for Christmas

Join Helena Elm and her family on an excursion to Christmas shop for Öland handicrafts.

Just before the first snow fell over Öland, we went on an Öland tour to gather inspiration for Christmas gifts consisting of Öland crafts. The first stop was Kalm Taste of Öland in Kastlösa just south of Mörbylånga.

Kalm Taste is located in a classic, Öland 1800s farm that is really beautiful, and here we can really talk about farm gastronomy! It produces flavored oils, flower sprinkles, juices, marmalades and other edible products.

The flavor combinations are innovative and absolutely fantastic, and they have exciting products I have not seen before such as gingerbread sugar and Christmas sugar that you can sprinkle over porridge and pastries. Smelling their Christmas sugar is like smelling Christmas. Personally, I'm going to bake caramel slices with gingerbread spices in them and snow over this kind of sugar with a tea strainer. I'm convinced that it will taste amazing!

The first time we were here was at Öland's Harvest Festival this year, and it became a favorite place right away!

What a hearty sage! This is how big sage can get here on Öland if it thrives. Personally, I usually throw some sage leaves in the butter when I brown it, so they become completely crispy and add a fantastic flavor to the butter. It's easy to get inspired when you're at Kalm Taste!

Bolly little beds of thyme grow in the green garden and Kalm Taste can pride itself on having Öland's largest spice farm.

Evergreen plants such as black cabbage and kale create beautiful contrasts with the houses in Öland stone and the December sky. I can imagine that every season in this garden is an experience!

The farm shop with walls of Öland stone will be open until New Year, then it will be completed to be able to reopen in the summer again. But then a stall that you can go into will stand in front of the entrance, so it will be fine to buy the products every day all winter anyway!

At Ribes Läder in Tävelsrum near Torslunda you will find fine leather products, clothes and things related to hunting. I bought an apron like this for Olof over ten years ago here at Ribes, and he uses it often.

They also make bags, dog leashes and belts, to name just a few of the products. The leather they work with is Swedish and comes from Tärnsjö Tannery. Here you can also buy clothes from, among others, Fjällräven, as Ribe's Leather actually makes a lot of Fjällräven's leather details.

From leather to ceramics – the tour went on to Glömminge for a stop at Alséns.

Here you can also take pottery courses, and we got to watch when the company's founder Anders Alsén made a couple of the products. (Wearing an apron from Ribes, for sure!) Since his teenage years, he has managed to turn over half a million products and Alséns is now a family business with two generations. Here the opening hours are generous and when things get tough, you are always welcome to come in and have a look. The girls were very fascinated!

The marschall balls are the most popular products at Alséns, and the ones that are here are waiting to be fired in the oven...

...and then when they are completely finished look like this.

You can put fairy lights in them too!

Advent may be darkness and cold, but inside Eksgården in Gårdby, there is a fire in the fireplace that lights up the walls of Öland stone with a cozy glow.

We had an early dinner at Eksgården which is one of my favorite restaurants here on Öland. This summer, Lovisa and Gunnar, who run Eksgården, got a third co-owner in the form of chef Olle T Cellton, who is one of the founders of the popular Stockholm restaurant Babette, as he moved to Öland with his family.

At Eksgården there are both hotel rooms and a restaurant part, and both are open until Saturday 17/12, then they will take some winter break. But the booking for next year is open and I myself want to come here as soon as possible again to enjoy the beautiful, Öland environment and the absolutely fantastic food.

The places we have visited are all relatively close to Kalmar and Färjestaden and can be visited in one and the same day. But there are so many more craftsmen and traders here on Öland who are worth a visit! It is impossible to mention all of them in one post, but some farm shops where you can find very good food crafts are Lammbutiken in Äpplerum, Öland's Herb Garden in Stora Frö and Öland's Quality Products which can be found both in Bårby and Färjestaden.

More ceramics with Öland design, where it is open even in winter, can be found at Kookon in Borgholm and at Paradisverkstaden in Färjestaden.     Hand-cast candles are available at Stickobrinn in Kastlösa, and if you are still on southern Öland, it is nice to have a coffee at SöderBönor in Mörbylånga , which is open all year round.

When it comes to dinner even during the winter, I like Kalk i Löttorp a lot . (If you are in Löttorp, you can also stop by Ullcentrum for more Öland handicrafts.) The newly opened Epok in Färjestaden is open on weekends, and in Borgholm there are several restaurants that are open all year round. Personally, I especially like Brasserie Tack o Bock which has a great atmosphere and really good food. Kårehamns Fisk & Havskök is also a good tip, and not to forget – always dumplings in Arontorp!

Helena Elm, 14 December 2022