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.

12 Days of Danish Christmas

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

A chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Two Marzipan pigs,

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Three Hot Chocolates,

Two marzipan pigs,

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the forth day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Four nisse hats,

Three Hot Chocolates,

Two marzipan pigs,

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the fifth day of christmas my true love gave to me,

Five Lego Men.

Four nisse hats,

Three Hot Chocolates,

Two marzipan pigs, 

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Six Danish flags,

Five Lego Men.

Four nisse hats,

Three Hot Chocolates

two marzipan pigs 

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Seven sticks of licorice,

Six Danish flags,

Five Lego Men.

Four nisse hats,

Three Hot Chocolates,

Two marzipan pigs,

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Eight caramel potatoes,

Seven sticks of licorice,

Six Danish flags,

Five Lego Men.

Four nisse hats,

Three Hot Chocolates,

Two marzipan pigs, 

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Nine honning hearts,

Eight caramel potatoes,

Seven sticks of licorice,

Six Danish flags,

Five Lego Men.

Four nisse hats,

Three Hot Chocolates,

Two marzipan pigs,

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the tenth day of christmas my true love gave to me,

Ten Christmas tales,

Nine honning hearts,

Eight caramel potatoes,

Seven sticks of licorice,

Six Danish flags,

Five Lego Men.

Four nisse hats,

Three Hot Chocolates,

Two marzipan pigs,

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Eleven Aeble Skiver,

Ten Christmas tales,

Nine honning hearts,

Eight caramel potatoes,

Seven sticks of licorice,

Six Danish flags,

Five Lego Men.

Four nisse hats,

Three Hot Chocolates,

Two marzipan pigs,

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me,

Twelve Wooden Soldiers,

Eleven Aeble Skiver,

Ten Christmas tales,

Nine honning hearts,

Eight caramel potatoes,

Seven sticks of licorice,

Six Danish flags,

Five Lego Men.

Four nisse hats,

Three Hot Chocolates,

Two marzipan pigs,

and a chop your own Nordic fir tree.

(Originally written for my final Kids Corner column in the Copenhagen Post)

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.