Winter excursion to Penåsa Ödeby

But we back the band a bit, because the excursion actually started already the day before when we went to Isgärde to buy Öland wheat to have for the baking of this very simple fake sourdough bread with wort that we had with us in the picnic basket. We ate the bread with our favorites from the Öland delicatessen pantry; tomato marmalade from Birgitta's Matbod and the cheeses Röd Alvar and Carla from Ölands Köksmejeri in Alby.

Isgärde is located on the road down to Stora Rör, and there you can buy Öland wheat and pay with Swish. Öland wheat is extra rich in protein and nutrition, and those who want to can read more about Öland wheat here on the website for Isgärde Kvarn.

Here you will find the recipe for fake sourdough bread with wort, and if you live in a part of Sweden where it is not possible to get hold of Öland wheat, the bread will be good with regular wheat flour as well.

The next day we spread our freshly baked wort bread, poured hot mulled wine into the thermos and headed to Penåsa.

After a short walk of a few hundred meters, we arrived at the rest area. In addition to fine old stone remains, there were also benches, a few fireplaces for barbecuing and a small outhouse. We each found a stick to grill marshmallows with over the fire.

Grilling marshmallows is part of winter!

In the United States, it is common to make S'mores and put grilled marshmallows between graham crackers. We squeezed freshly grilled marshmallows between two gingerbread cookies instead, and it tasted amazing!

At the old house foundations you could stand and count until twenty-fourteen before looking for your big sister.  If you don't play hide and seek, you can walk a balancing act on an old house foundation.

Then we went on, towards the deserted village. Because the fact is that the deserted village itself is some distance from the rest area, despite the old house foundations. The foundations of the houses at the rest area instead originate from a railway guard's cottage at the time when the Öland railway was in operation.

With children and a dog and a picnic basket, it probably took about ten minutes to get to the deserted village from the rest area. We chose to walk through the forest, but you can also continue on the wheel track road outside the rest area to get there.

The road through the forest was really nice, and we look forward to going here in the spring when the anemones bloom to experience the beautiful path along the stream even then. Every season has its charm, and the low winter sun spread a hazy and beautiful light over the Alvar as we crossed the The small bridge.

You can have a clementine break at any time, even if you have just had coffee. A couple of clementines later we went home and warmed up, happy to have found a new favorite place that we would like to go back to soon again.

More tips by Helena Elm can be found here!