an unplanned holiday

nothing better than having an extra unplanned holiday :) Nothing planned and a lot to do - visiting my friends and family.

I went to this 'let the cows out on summer grass and see them dance' event with my friend and her three kids. It was a lot of fun to see the cows go crazy and the smell of cows, straws and barns brought me back to my childhood and classmates homes. After we had lunch in my aunts summerhouse garden, enjoying the view and spring flowers.

I also went to my parents place, we worked in my moms vagetable garden and one day mom and I went on a trip to the west coast - it was really windy and beautiful. And in the middle of everything was a large shop, filled with clothes and a lot of really nice yarns - inspiration heaven - the pics shows the view from the first floor cafe. 

Near by was a farm shop with food made from the best ingredients and also some local produce. The owner was so sweet and explained what you could do with the ingredients. Mom gave me two bottles of balsamic vinegar, one with figs and dates which was thick and one normal one with pomegranate - mmmm they are so good, not easy to choose, my mom bought a thick one with blood orange, it was so cool cos we got to taste them before buying. I also got a can of liquorice powder, a brand I used often at my friends place, it's raw liquorice powder and small lumps of liquorice that cracks when you eat it.

I also had a sleep over at my grandmother, she is so cool living in a small apartment and almost 88, and so much fun to be around joking and discussing what goes on in the world. Thankful to what she experienced and able to be happy about the small things in life. She is my hero :)

At my parents place...

my parents friends new house, with the most stunning view

ice ice baby

The newest addition in my tiny, but well equipped, kitchen - an ice cream maker. And it's already a love-love relationship :) The first try was pomegranate flavoured frozen yogurt, which turned out amazingly delicate, then followed by raspberry frozen yogurt with chocolate chips. Then I tasted licorice ice cream at a farm market, just had to try it out. My first attempt was made with egg yokes, whipped cream, caster sugar and tons of licorice powder and lemon zest added as a twist. The taste was spot on, but the texture wasn't quite what I had hoped for - but then today I got it right, I made gelato, the Italian ice cream which is my all time favourite. It was surprisingly easy. I made it with tree different flavours: coffee, vanilla and licorice, and it turned out absolutely fantastic :) I used a recipe from www.iselsker.dk for a basic gelato, and then I added the flavours by using measurements from other types of ice cream, and tasting of cause :)

Gelato - base

2 dl cream (38%)
4 dl milk (1,5 %)
4 egg yolks
100 g caster sugar
a pinch of salt


Whisk the egg yolks and sugar into a light and fluffy egg nog (takes about 2 min.).

Pour milk and cream into a pot and heat up to just before boiling, 85°c (small bubbles will occur along the edge) and put the pot aside.

Add 1/3 of the milk/cream mix to the egg nog while whisking. Pour this mixture back into the pot and heat this up slowly until it thickens (max. 85°c) To prevent lumps in the ice cream, sift the mixture before leaving it to cool down. To draw flavour leave it to cool for at least four hours before using your ice cream maker to make the best gelato.

This is a gelato base, so experiment with your favourite flavours :)

I made these :

Liquorice: 25 g of raw liquorice powder, 25 g of crushed liquorice drops.

Vanilla: (½ a portion of gelato base) 1 vanilla pod - seeds and the empty pod. Its a good idea to put these ingredients in, before the second heating.

Coffee:  (½ a portion of gelato base)10-20 g of instant coffee powder - dissolved in a little warm milk, the amount of coffee depends on the strength of the powder, so try as you go along.

a flower headband

I crocheted this headband for my 'niece' for her 5 year birthday. I never learnt to crochet, but I've decided to let youtube help me, so thanks to all the people uploading videos showing and telling what to do :) I just made a lot of different looking flowers, some from the videos, and some from my own imagination as I got the hang of the techniques. I made a narrow band, with a wider piece where the flowers are attached. It was really easy, it didn't take long, even to a rookie and it brought a lot of smiles and happiness along, she really liked it :)

three coloured scarf

Phew - finally done, started this project just after Christmas, and have been working on it on and off for months. But am really satisfied with it - love the colours and yarn, got two of them from my moms stash, she didn't know what to make of it, so she passed it on to me :) It looks complicated, but is really easy, it only took a long time cos its thin and I had to continuously untangle the yarns, cos they cross while knitting the pattern. I knitted from what my mom told me, but later I found the recipe on www.knittingfool.com under T - tricolor fabric, and it looks as if its the same. Now I just have to find out what to do with it, cos even though I love the colours, I can't wear them myself - wonder who around me deserves a little extra appreciation :)

with flash - colder

a family celebration

This summer my parents decided to celebrate that my younger brother and sister finished both their educations, and since we were all very busy it ended up becoming a fall party instead :) If you know anything about the danish weather, you'll know that your lucky if the sun shines the day you choose to invite 16 people, but we were lucky. And even though it started with rain, it ended up being a beautiful and sunny day. All the guests arrived at one, and then we had a big and long lunch, and since my parents live in a big forest, we all went for a long walk, enjoying the sun, fresh air and fall colours and smells...oh how I love fall, when the sun shines, the sky is blue and clear and all the senses is activated. When we got back we had the best lime cake, cranberry-liquorish biscuits with coffee and later we had a little leftover feast. It was nothing less than a wonderful day with the family.

And it was even better cos I got to be in charge of all the preparation and cooking. My siblings and I decided on a buffet menu, and then I calculated how much we needed and when to buy it and what to perpare when. And thursday night my sister and I did most of the shopping, having a lot of fun with it. And then we spend most of friday in the kitchen, but we also went to pick up all  the tables and chairs needed and cleaned the house. Saturday was started with a early breakfast, and then the whole team started cooking.. we just managed to finish when the guests arrived.
We ended up buying a long piece of fabric and used it as tablecloth, which now is being turned into a shorter version, and a lot of scarfs. The table ended up being so beautiful, it was like it changed colour after how the light was, and it underlined the colours my parents allready uses in their livingroom. But tried to capture it in the pics below, which also shows the buffet and stunning nature :) In time I'll try to post some of the recipies, cos this food is ment to be shared, so please try it out.

brunch the next morning :)

the first Christmas party .... this year

That was it, a blazing success with wonderful food and friends. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed myself that much in a kitchen :) And now I've successfully made ​​all the stuff you need for a danish Julefrokost; patty with chicken and asparagus, marinated herring, bread, pate, fried meatballs, pork roast with sprinkles and instead of the mandatory white and brown/sugar potatoes, pickled red cabbage and gravy we made three fantastic crispy salads. You should try them out :)

Beetroot Salad

- Beets, very thin slices, like cut on mandolin iron.
- Coarsely chopped flat-leaf parsley
- Feta cheese, preferably a block of feta broken / cut into pieces
- Balsamic vinegar or fruit vinegar
- Salt and pepper
- Elderberry syrup
      - 2 dl concentrated elderberry juice
      - ½ dl sugar

Mix the beetroot slices with a little vinegar, salt, pepper, the parsley and about 2 tablespoons elderberry syrup. Taste the beets, if they are really sweet, don't use too much syrup.
Let the salad rest for about 30 min., it should still be crisp.
Just before serving sprinkle with a little extra parsley and feta placed either on top (takes much colour from the beets) or served on the side.

Elderberry syrup: Pour elderberry and sugar into a pot and boil until is gets like a syrup. Be careful that it doesn't burn or get too thick.

This salad is a variation from here: http://saesonforgodsmag.dk/opskrifter/hyldebærsyltet-rødbedesalat

The best Green Cabbage Salad

300 g green cabbage
3 apples
hazelnuts (we also used some pecan nuts) you choose how many, I like a lot of crunch
8-10 dried dates
dries cranberries, about a handful

juice from one lemon
juice from one orange
1 ½ dl cream
salt
pepper

Finely chop the cabbage, the pieces need to be small otherwise some might struggle to chew it ;) Chop the apples into squares about 1x1cm. Also chop the nuts and dried fruits, and mix all of the stuff together.


Whip the cream, not to be too hard, and squeeze the lemon and orange into the whipped cream and add salt and pepper before stirring. Afterwards pour it over the salad, all of it needs to be coated.

Dress with a little extra nuts and berries.

This salad is also very nice the next day :) and if you don't want to use cream you can replace it with sour cream, but the taste won't be as rich then.

this recipe is made with a lot of inspiration from Suveræne succeser, which is a fantastic danish cookbook


Red cabbage salad

red cabbage
pomegranate
oranges

oil
balsamic vinegar
salt
pepper
lemon

Slice the cabbage very finely and chop the orange (without peel) in eating size chunks. Mix all the the ingredients for the dressing and pour it over the cabbage, pomegranate and oranges.

summer in Denmark

 Yes the summer is back and I like it. Vacation, summer, the best friends, beer and wine, blue sky and music - does it get any better.

Went to my friends place to help out in their garden, and they had the roses in this wonderful color, it just makes you happy J

Also went to see a camp with around 35.000 scouts, and later the same day we had a small bbq with this fine view, we even had marshmallows and when we left we saw an amazing sight..even though I’ve seen it so often it still takes my breath away - all those beautiful animals.

Stunning right..?