Elderflower Cordial from Forest and Garden

The summer holiday's are now well under way and we have a new addition to our family. She is called Mathilde and she is an Old English Sheepdog who, at the time of writing, is just nine weeks old. All very sweet, cuddly and amazing with her besotted older brothers but not exactly the best addition to a houseful of boy energy at the start of the summer holidays. Only because she cannot come with us to the Zoo or because when we took her for a walk in the forest last week we literally had to carry her back. So we try to make adventures a little closer to home.

We planned to make Elderflower cordial and needed to gather flowers from the forest in order to do so. I find that any adventure involving a knife and a reason to climb tree's is a draw for the boys and we set off with great enthusiasm and a mission to collect forty flower heads. We quickly realised that actually a forest is not a great location to pick the flowers as they need sunlight to grow and in a dense canopy this meant they were mostly out of reach at the top of the trees despite our heroic efforts. Thankfully, we were making in tandem with a friend who happily realised that she had the perfect tree right there in her very own back garden, so we topped off our foraging treasures with some even better flowers from her garden.

We used a very straightforward  recipe from Trine Hahneman's Scandinavian Christmas. There are a few recipes in the book for Christmas that can only be made in advance using seasonal products at their very best earlier in the year and Elderflower Cordial is one of them. Having made a few of the recipes over the Christmas season very successfully I really recommend this book as a perfect introduction to the heart of Danish cooking.

The flower heads were checked for bugs and debris then added to a bowl with sliced lemon, citric acid and two litres of sugar syrup. I will gloss over exactly how much sugar but let's just say we brush our teeth very well afterwards. I am not a very patient cook and despite the recipe needing four days to steep I have to admit to giving up after two. I hope that we did not miss a vital stage of the process but we think the cordial tastes amazing just the way it is.

There is a bottle in the freezer waiting to be added to Champagne at Christmas as per the recipe book but I suspect that the rest will disappear pretty quickly. In fact the very next day we started on batch number two because it was so delicious. There are also four jars of strawberry and elderflower jam in the dresser curtesy of a trip up to the Pick Your Own fruit farm at Vejborggaard.

We will be making a lot more trips into the forest as the summer roll's on, there are raspberries to be collected, cherries and blackberries too. We just hope that puppy can manage the whole walk on her own soon!

Felted, furry, friends

After Christmas had passed and we were feeling slightly more healthy I ventured out into Copenhagen to get some fresh air and stretch my legs a little. In one shop I saw some beautiful Christmas decorations made of felt, all reduced due to physical ailments but inspirational non the less. I bought a pack of tiny little snowmen to add to our box of decorations for next year. I put the idea of trying to make my own on my 'must try one day soon' mental list and set about researching needle felting in closer detail.

A few weeks ago whilst perusing Pinterest for ideas, I saw a dog, it happened to be crafted from needle felt and made to look like it's real life self. I immediately emailed my husband and suggested we order two as a gift for his father and his father's girlfriend. "Hmmm" came the reply, "they are a bit expensive" followed by the highly annoying, frequently used, rhetorical question "don't you think?". Well, yes I did think so but better that they are expensive and accurate, after all, it's no good paying less for a dog and ending up with a dog's dinner.

I ordered a starter kit of felt and various colors to practice with, harbouring the optimistic idea that eventually I could make some passable Christmas decorations as a gift. The package duly arrived from the UK and I opened it up with curiosity, I had no idea how easy or otherwise it would be to felt having never tried it before. As this is my year of creativity I got straight to work, not giving myself time to doubt my abilities.

What a revelation, I can't remember the last time I loved something quite so instantly, my children aside. Within an hour I had made two snowmen, both of which will now live forever more on our Christmas tree. The children were excited too, they all wanted a turn with some felt and a needle so I let them have a try. You need a certain awareness so as not to stab yourself in the finger with the teeny tiny, sharp as lightening needle and it doesn't really come the first time you try. Our fingers are testament to that. Concentration and care become your best friend and after a while the boys became totally quiet, aside from the scratch scratch scratching of their needle going into their felt. They produced an apple and a strawberry on their first attempt and also caught the felting bug. Their next project is to create a little mouse to trick their Pappa with... they are boys after all.

I am not one to sit back once I have all the tools I need to get going on an idea and the bags of black wool were just teasing me from the depths of my art cupboard. It was time to try creating the dogs. There followed a very pleasant Sunday afternoon, I sat on the carpet next to the three year old who was playing cars and felted. It took some time but time was on my side thanks to the weather and the family happily engaged in their own pursuits.

Dog number one I finished that day in a three hour sitting, dog number two I made over the course of two evenings a little later in the week. I think they look like younger versions of their older selves but we all think the personalities of each dog comes through, the elder dog always loved chewing on his toys so he is lying down cuddling a turtle toy. My little versions now live with my Father in Law and his girlfriend up in Norway who both seemed to love the little creations. I am thrilled I gave them a try and so predictably is my husband although for slightly different reasons!

Order number two is sitting in the basket on the felting website, roving wool is really not very expensive. I would say the dogs cost about 100kr each and they are covered in 100% merino wool so they feel very soft. I want to try and make a hairband next, I have an idea, I just need wool. Plus, there is that little brown mouse to make for Pappa too...

I ordered my felting supplies from Cotton Patch and they were great quality, very quick delivery and excellent value.

The Art of Delicate Lighting

This is the time of year when I do not expect to see the sun. Not today, not tomorrow and possibly not even till next week. I don't even notice it's absence any more, after five years I know the seasons well enough and am accustomed to the grey skies that cradle the skyline. It makes me happy that I now notice the sun when it is out and will sit gratefully in it's light with my eyes closed trying to soak up as much of the brightness as I can till the clouds once again envelope it's piercing rays. Not something to take for granted, a connection to the present and to living. At this time candles take on a new importance, they bring warmth and a dancing light to our home. I always light a few, scattered around the living room to brighten the atmosphere through out the day. I have church candles in some extra large vintage Swedish Jam Jars that sit on the tables glowing as reassuringly as a lighthouse must in the darkness.

My comfort.

Tea lights I haven't mastered, I have never found the 'right' holders for them and they sit clumsily around the edges of our rooms. My efforts to light the gingerbread houses last week resulted in a shelf topped with caramel, a rather sticky reminder of the Christmas season.

So I was completely delighted when I opened a parcel containing these beautiful porcelain tea light holders. They are made by my cousin's wife, Sarah May Rogers in her studio in England and I love them. My Mother had seen them and knowing me as she does thought that I might like them and bought them for me for Christmas. 

Once lit I thought they were so lovely I just had to take some pictures to share with iScandineighbour! 

So "thank you" to my Mum for such a special present and "thank you" to Sarah May for sharing your creativity. I will treasure them.

I really recommend keeping an eye on Sarah May's website, she updates it regularly with some incredible pieces of work. 

www.sarahmayrogers.co.uk

A Real Taste of Home

The Holiday's have begun and it is time for us to get creating as we gear up for our first Christmas at 'home' in a long time. Last week I was really excited to find a Gingerbread House cutter in one of my favourite shops called Notre Dame. A homeware, kitchen shop Notre Dame is filled to the rafters with all sorts of wonderful items that either remind me fondly of days gone by, or fill me with excitement at future projects. The subtle brown plastic cutter at 48kr was too good an opportunity to pass by and I have been waiting patiently ever since for the children to finish school so that we could try it out.

I used my new favourite Gingerbread recipe from Trine Hahnemann's, Scandinavian Christmas. Filled with the aromatic spices that we are so familiar with at this time of year, the recipe produces a very crisp, tasty biscuit that is perfect for long lasting Gingerbread houses. We doubled the recipe in the book and took it in turns to mix the enormous bowl of golden brown, clove scented dough. The house cutter is designed to be used twice for each building and in an easy rotation we soon filled the kitchen with edible architecture.

Following a Christmas tree decorating interlude we started making the caramel to hold our houses together. The tricky part was not the construction of the house but trying to avoid burning oneself with the molten sugar *. This I did not manage and the results were less refined than I had in my mind but practice will make perfect one day.

The fun part was the decorating... of course.

Each to their own, it's Christmas and I turned a blind eye to the ratio of sweets to house/mouth as they diligently glued their favourite sweets to the house's using a royal icing. The one rule was that we did our own thing and that no one should feel their house wasn't as good as, or better than another's. A brotherly rule for harmony that I try to adopt in such/most situations. This is where having the two year old decorating his own house came in handy, the four sweets that made it onto his roof in an avalanche of icing set an achievable minimum for the others to follow. Obviously being two he will forget the premature eating of all his sweets when it comes to demolition so we added a few more once he'd left the table. Brotherly Harmony Rule in action, or enlightened self interest? I can take an educated guess.

There followed a very happy hour of conversation, concentration and negotiation. In an unexpected reveal, the flag of St George was flown proudly across the roof of one of our houses. A very timely reminder of the home and family we left behind and all miss so much at this time of year. The finished houses completely represent their proud designers and look lovely sitting up on the shelf safely out of the way of the now sugar addled two year old.

........."Mama, when can we eat them"


* Mum. No grandchildren were harmed during the making of the four Gingerbread Houses. Just their mother who had to pretend that 200 degree molten sugar does not burn intensely as it settles on the fold between the thumb and forefinger. In five minute intervals. Mostly during the chimney construction stage.

Aarstiderne Christmas Market

æbleskive

Yesterday the two youngest children and I took a quick trip up to Aarstiderne's Krogerup farm, for their annual Christmas market. Obviously, with snow on the ground it was cold, so we took our time to wrap up warm before we set off to investigate the delicious smells wafting their way across the car park and meet our friends.

Immediately our eyes were drawn to an apple press, the juice from which was the principle ingredient for a deliciously spicy warm apple drink. We ordered a cup to go with the two servings of freshly prepared æbleskive that we simply could not walk by. Having just bought the special pan in which to try and make my own I was more than happy to watch an expert at work turning the balls of mixture, each stuffed with a piece of cooked apple. They were very delicious and quite different from the frozen version we have tried so far. Æbleskiver finished, the children looked to the next stall and I was soon dispatched to purchase some soup that was cooking over a log fire. They devoured the contents of the cup with such great satisfaction that I must try to recreate the flavor at home. This is one reason why I love coming here, the team that create the wonderful array of dishes on offer do so using produce that we can all find.

After meeting our friends we went inside the farm shop to have a look around and warm up a little. The children then had the chance to bake large spiced honey hearts and while they were cooking in the ovens we took a look at the rest of the activities on offer. There was an adventure trail outside for the children that looked fun, pony rides and a Christmas story time. It was all in Danish of course,  no problem on a warmer day but translations in the snow with an unhappily cold toddler at my feet required more commitment than I was warm enough to muster. So we returned inside to decorate our hearts and heat our insides with delicious Julkringle (a yeasted dough filled with an amazingly spiced fruit and nut mix) and coffee.

Before I knew it we had been there for three hours, eaten most of the food on offer and had a lovely time with lovely new friends enjoying the extra special introduction to Danish Christmas culture. 

Tummy's full it was time to return home, peel off the layers and read a book by the fire, a perfect start to December.

 

Orange Aid

The last few weeks have been made a little tricky as I keep becoming unwell, nothing serious thankfully but a virus followed by a stomach virus followed this week by a throat infection. By Monday I had really had enough. Nothing stops as a mother of three when you are the one who gets sick. Which is the opposite if one of the children or indeed the husband feels unwell, is feverish and quite understandably needs love, care and attention. It is business as usual interspersed with kind words from caring friends who understand with a look the effort it has taken to get to school for eight thirty, children, bags, coats and lunch boxes all present and correct.

Step by Step

I knew I needed a quiet week, I was really very tired and yes feeling sorry for myself, just a for a minute in between the packed lunches and finding missing gloves. Yet I hate to waste time, I really need to be creative. I didn't feel it was a week for writing, not when I felt so exhausted but I wasn't feeling inspired to do anything else. On Monday the fruit box arrived from Aarstiderne bringing with it five enormous oranges and on Tuesday I got to work.

First job scrub the oranges, organic which I think important for this particular project. Then peel back the skin in quarters, very carefully before slicing into long thin ish strips. I was following a recipe so it stated six oranges into a pan with two litres of cold water, bring to the boil, simmer for five minutes then discard the water. Begin again with a litre of water this time, bring to the boil then simmer for forty five minutes with five hundred grams of white sugar. Leave over night.

The next day, children safely at school and Julie and Julia waiting to be watched on the laptop I returned to the orange peels. They didn't look so great, in fact they looked like the fruit equivalent of how I felt. Mushy, grey and lacking in oomph. Still, I persevered and added the hundred ml of glucose syrup as instructed before gently boiling the peel till it was coated in an aromatic syrup.

Then, in an impatient three day recipe moment, I put the now spread out peel into a low oven hoping to omit the twenty four hours in an airing cupboard. There followed three hours with Batman and a duvet, the most mundane version of that sentence! Peel still not done and children collected from school I returned them to the oven for a couple of hours of heat before switching it off with them inside for the night.

Antibiotics kicking in I felt a lot better today, thankfully, as it is Saturday which means a house of boys. Two young helpers and I melted half a kilo of chocolate and one by one dipped the jewel like fruit into the bowl, gently enrobing the pieces in a warm chocolate coat.

One by one

I actually think that the result is one of the nicest things I have ever eaten. An absolute treat at the end of a week I never thought would end. The perfect recipe for a slow week, a recipe I have wanted to try for years but didn't have time for. Well, I gave it time and it gave me time in return. Time to sit, time to sleep and time to recover. Oh and Batman, don't forget Batman.

Now it is time to simply enjoy in peace and quiet with day one of my advent tea calendar.

Bagged and ready to give