Mit Milch Ohne Zucker

Pæne hvide drenge

2011-09-25T14:17:00.002+02:00

Dette one hit wonder med Black kan passende ligge i ryggen af mit forrige indlæg. Trods aversion mod saxofon, har han lige det look og den stemme, som jeg ikke kunne stå for i 1980'rne. Meget hvid og forstadsagtig smag egentlig, men det er jeg jo også rundet af, så pengene passer.

Top 5 Teenage Crushes (Mid To Late 1980's)

2011-09-24T22:16:00.000+02:00

Min kære ven, Mette udfordrede mig til at blogge igen og foreslog en blød landing med en Top 5 over teenage crushes. Og jeg skriver fremover på dansk, for det er jo mit elskede modersmål!

Det er faktisk lidt svært at finde 5 crushes, da jeg fx ikke rigtigt plastrede min vægge til i plakater fra BRAVO! (Men jeg 'læste' da selvfølgelig min storesøsters eksemplarer!). Derfor har jeg mere eller mindre rekonstrueret fortiden og rekapitulerer min følelser fra ca. 1985-90.

5: Andy Bell
Han er lidt et wild card, idet jeg i hvert fald med mine 2011-briller ikke er tvivl om, at Andy Bell spiller for det andet hold. Men jeg var i hvert fald meget inspireret af både sangen, Andy Bells stemme, hans lidt 'butchede' krop (han blev i øvrigt uddannet slagter før han blev popstjerne!), stil, outfit og ikke mindst dansen, som jeg stadig låner lidt fra:

Erasure - Sometimes by EMI_Music

4: Adam Ant (kunstnernavn)
Adam Ant er også lidt en tilsnigelse, for jeg vidste ikke, hvad han hed, og jeg var endnu ikke teenager, da jeg lærte Adam & The Ants at kende omkring 1982-83. Min søsters smarte veninde, Lene var medlem af Konservativ Ungdom, holdt sit værelse i grønt og hvidt, og så var hun vild med Adam & The Ants. Jeg syntes, at Adam var meget pæn, 'fræk' og sjov, og så var det jo dengang, at Dick Turpin red hen over de danske tv-skærme til stor succes, og så gjorde det jo ikke noget, at Adam også legede sexet landevejsrøver. Det kan man udmærket sætte pris på som 10-årig, selv om man ikke helt forstår det:

3: Rick Astley
Jeg har altid haft en ting for rødhårede, og Rick Astley var på en og samme tid rødhåret og 'cute'. Jeg ved ikke, hvorfor jeg er så vild med rødt hår, men hvis jeg har en fetish, skulle den stadig staves r-ø-d-h-å-r-e-d-e m-æ-n-d m-e-d f-r-e-g-n-e-r. Rick Astley havde en god og lidt kølig stemme og et look som en bankmand på en fridag, og det kunne jeg ikke stå for dengang:

2: Morten Harket
Jamen, han måtte jo komme... Ingen teenagepige med respekt for sig selv omkring 1986 ville kunne komme uden om Morten Harket fra broderlandet. Jeg var lidt inspireret af hans tøjstil og gik også med bandanatørklæder om halsen og læderarmbånd. Det prikker altså stadig, når jeg genser videoen, der desværre ikke kan indlejres, så I må nøjes med et foto af Morten med fønhår og et link til denne skønne sang: Stay on these roads

1: Dave Gahan
Min søster introducerede mig til Depeche Mode i begyndelsen af 80'rne, fordi en af hendes venner havde lavet et klassisk mixtape til hende. Så jeg kendte Depeche Mode ganske godt, da jeg en sen aften i 1988 sad alene foran husalteret og så DR. Pludselig blændede de op for en kæmpe koncert med Depeche Mode (den senere legendariske koncert fra the Rose Bowl i Pasadena), og jeg blev blæst bagover af Dave Gahan, der kastede sig rundt på scenen som en anden sexgud for piger født efter 1970. Jeg var totalt tiltrukket af den 'farlige' Dave Gahan og helt fortryllet af hans stramme hvide jeans! Den aften vidste jeg med ét, at barndommen var forbi, og jeg har stadig et skønt ømt punkt for Dave Gahan (selv om jeg til dato ikke kan li' hans smag i sko!):

Jeg håber du nød turen!

More Meringue, Please!

2011-02-21T16:07:00.004+01:00

I like just a little bit of kitsch but only from the right angle as I am a picky girl :) So when combining this lust for things over-the-top with an interest in folklore, I found my self both entertained and engaged in a Channel 4 documentary that I happened to come across at NRK this Saturday. Thus, I wanted to share with you.

The documentary depicts weddings in the traveler communities in the UK focusing mainly on the young girls, their dreams about dresses and the whole value system surrounding the weddings, the girls, the traveler families and the traveler society as such. Since almost forever I have found issues on parallel cultures and lifestyles immensely interesting as they co-exist next to the mainstream culture and you wouldn't necessarily recognize the little differences unless you're an insider or just very well informed. This I find very exotic if you know what I mean? However, there are no subtleties when it comes to the outfits here! This goes alongside with very strict moral values, especially for the girls, which is very interesting to me and I don't really understand it, basically due to the fact that I'm an outsider to the travelers. I have never seen dresses and costumes like this in real life, and when we in Denmark talk of a 'meringue bride', it does not even come close to the extravaganza of these traveler girl brides of the 21st century. I would say that the next 48 minutes in your life are well spent!

Edit: You need to have DivX installed to be able to watch this video. However, you can search the title of the documentary title if you want other options: My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding watch free/online.

Souvenir

2011-02-09T18:13:00.003+01:00

"My blogger had tonsilitis, and all I got were these party balloons".

A Day In The Life

2011-02-07T14:52:00.002+01:00

I thought it would be fun to post photos of a random Thursday in my life. However, I am not really showing you the people in my life so this would be a selected version of my day but still, this day actually represents my life as a hole. I like the everyday life as well as everyday photos where you find little curious details in the midst of your very wellknown daily routines and preferred points of view of the world. I present the photos in a 'chronological' order in case you're wondering.

A more or less monstrous pile of dish washing to begin with.

Shower :)

On my bike heading out to meet a friend.

I met with my friend and her daughter on this very nice café 'mo&fro' (short for breakfast and lunch) where I had a sandwich with fried beetroot which I like because it tastes good! The place is highly recommendable for both atmosphere and food.

Me looking up in the air as something fun caught my eye.

A lovely string of shoes on some kind of wire. Completely senseless and absolutely wonderful.

My friend, her toddler and I went to the local playground to have a go at the swings as well as admiring the goats and cute rabbits.

The tea shop where I go to buy my preferred green tea with quince.

During the past years H&M have eaten a fair bite of the city space in Aarhus. I went into the most distinctive and interesting of the H&M shops which is under reconstruction at the moment where you have the most beautiful view of the city center heading the Dome, Århus Domkirke.

Recently, I have grown very fond of printed socks, especially prints with leotard, hearts, stripes and dots. So I gave myself these socks from H&M.

I have a soft spot for 'The Royal' including Mr. Rose, Dr. Jill Weatherill and Dr. Ormerod. I particularly like the fact that the actors playing the two latter characters are married in real life. The subtext says: "It is just a struck of plain luck that he hasn't sued you. Have we reached an agreement?"

A bit of work and pleasure combined.

Dinner: tortillas with beef and vegetables.

A bit of studying accompanied by...

My favourite Ritter Sport, Neapolitan Wafer.

I suddenly remembered a Beatles tune with a relevant title. I have a bit of silly crush with John Lennon and I still enjoy the Beatles' music, although I not really into their most psychedelic stuff such as the songs from Sergent Peppers' Lonely Hearts' Club Band, where the song is taken from:

Nostalgia

2011-02-02T10:16:00.001+01:00

I went to Copenhagen last week to visit friends and have a look around. I went for some nice walks around town both alone and in company and I guess we can safely conclude from these photos that I must have been in a bit of a nostalgia mood (amongst others) that week. The photos are taken at Islands Brygge, Amager and in Tivoli at night. It's funny how photos reflect the mood you're in or the state that you aim to be in. I would not mind to let these photos serve as my guideline for 2011 onwards.

Accessories

2011-01-31T23:19:00.001+01:00

I went to my 'local' art museum ARoS yesterday and took a couple of snapshots. The first photo is the view from inside the museum as towers are one of my favourite city accessories (I love bridges too). The squared tower is the City Hall Tower done by Arne Jacobsen (and a lot of local craftsmen) around 1940. The other photo is from the Golden Age Department and shows us some 18th Century noble woman who most of all looks like a peculiar bird dressed up as she is with funny little hair accessories. She makes me smile big time every time I see her.

Prawns and lemons

2011-01-30T23:05:00.000+01:00

I did this a couple of years ago with the paint tool Tux and I still like it. Of course I'm displaying a lovely array of lemons as they are my daily base of vitamin C.

New Indoor Friends

2011-01-20T11:07:00.000+01:00

It is so nice and comforting to begin the year 2011 with not only one, but two new friends who will accompany me for a long time if I'm to decide.

New Outdoor Friends

2011-01-19T22:12:00.000+01:00

Found new friends (and actually met an old one) when I was out walking with my niece on a Sunday in January.

Hanging in there

2011-01-16T20:25:00.002+01:00

During the past year I have had a growing 'faible' for nail polish and it turned out that eBay was my friend in order to get hold of new items. I do not wear nail polish each day - or even make-up for that matter - I just like my little colourful treats and treasures. I take a dive in them every other day and look at the bottles and think of outfits and events suitable for each colour. It is like a sweet little get away with constructive day dreaming involved. I thought I would share my bottles of nail polish with you, hopefully you'll enjoy my colour splash. I am not sure which colours I should add to my 'collection' now, perhaps you have a specific colour or item to suggest me?

Belated Happy Birthday(s)

2011-01-14T13:19:00.000+01:00

Elvis would have turned 76 last Saturday, the same day the Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark, Frederik and Mary, had twins. They are supposed to leave the hospital with the twins today, which is shown on live tv at 14.00 Danish time but I won't be attending. I am going to my sister's place to join in the birthday celebration of her son who just turned into his teens a couple of weeks ago. I found this stencil of Elvis on a light control box in my neighbourhood the other day. Have a nice day.

Sightseeing Day 1

2011-01-01T14:56:00.006+01:00

I went out for a short stroll 'around the block' today and I took some snapshots of the things laying around after an excessive New Year's Eve. Actually, I don't think I could find this 'sample' of motives such as empty oyster shells, silly hats, glitter and an empty bottle of Moët et Chandon on any other days than January 1st. Have a nice day.

The writings on the wall

2010-12-31T12:43:00.004+01:00

Soon we'll write 2011 on the wall and I wish you a Happy New Year and all the best for you and your dear ones (and the ones that you and I don't know as well).

The name on the brick wall says 'Bent Jensen'. I found it just outside my laundry cellar and I'm fairly convinced that it was written by a boy many years ago. Children nowadays do not learn to write in this style and still the signature looks like it was done by the hand of a child. On top of that, it is quite unusual to be baptised 'Bent' (from Benedikt, I suppose) these days. My building is from around 1930 and I imagine that Bent grew up as a child here, perhaps watching the events of WWII from the windows. Perhaps Bent is now preparing a traditionally prescribed New Year's Eve cod with mustard sauce for his wife and a couple of old friends?

I'm having a friend over for New Year's Eve and we'll be having a veggie-take of an 80's classic party menu, (the Indonesian turned into Dutch) Ristaijfel and hopefully silken tofu chocolate mousse which we debated having since forever. I like having a bit of kitsch when ever possible. Now is the time for it despite having a somewhat fleeing sneeze and all-to-soon up-coming exams in 2011.

Merry Christmas Everybody

2010-12-23T14:28:00.003+01:00

With a photo from my mom's pre-Christmas lunch table setting, I would like to wish you a merry Christmas. What are you up to this Christmas?

Count the snowmen

2010-12-22T14:17:00.000+01:00

I passed by a gallery in Vestergade, Aarhus on a cold December day 2010.

Purple pleasures

2010-12-12T10:49:00.001+01:00

I like the colour purple quite a lot so I was pleasantly surprised when I wrapped open my advent calendar this Sunday morning. My sister made it to me and she hit 3 of my soft spots: pretty tins, purple and my favourite candy!

She knows that I need a little extra tender care when exams are due so I am just thankful. Thank you, C.

Also, in order to get fit for studying, I thought I buy myself a present the other day: a Finnish Moomin cup bearing of purple as well as pretty motives:

This cup has it all as far as I'm concerned: beautiful colours, great sense of humour and more than a tiny glimpse of quirkiness. I'm always charmed by bugs and small creatures.

All in all, I should be ready to fight my exams now. I have the fiercest arms in town!

Winter accessory

2010-12-11T07:26:00.001+01:00

Perhaps an idea for Christmas? (Photo taken the other day in front of my local supermarket)

Give Away

2010-12-09T22:40:00.002+01:00

I promised to draw a winner of the cake heart and Århus postcard today - and I did. I wanted to make the draw a little special, so first I wrote the participators' names on small pieces of paper and placed them all at the back of my cat, hoping one would be left in the end. However, this method failed to work out as I hoped so I took one of my Ugly Dolls and placed the notes on her and decided to blow the notes away until only one note was left. This time it worked, and Cosas de Cocina is the winner! Congratulations, I will send you an e-mail and make sure to send the cake + card to you in time for Christmas.

Thank you for the good fun in Noema's Advent Calendar :)

December 2nd

2010-12-02T08:27:00.001+01:00

***La versión en español la encontraréis después del texto en inglés.***

Welcome to my day in Noema's lovely 'Advent Calender', Thursday December 2nd, 2010.

I am the Danish 'agent' who sent Noema 'Pålægschokolade' a couple of months ago which she presented on her blog to my ultimate joy, and now I am back again. This time around with just a little bit of chocolate (in the end of the post) as well as a couple of traditional Danish recipes for Christmas and last, but not least a visual visit to my local sight seeing spot in Århus, the outdoor museum Den Gamle By. We might just as well begin with me in my Christmas outfit chasing geese for the Christmas dinner. Welcome!

My friend Sandra and I went to Den Gamle By the day before the first snow arrived in Denmark and we had a lovely day walking around taking snapshots and getting in a bit of Christmas mood. Go and visit Sandra as well, she made you a special treat!

Den Gamle By is situated in the city centre of Århus, meticulously rebuilt of different old buildings and houses from around Denmark. The people on the photo are actually 2010-bin men collecting garbage from the audience from the day before.

Christmas tree as the tradition prescribes. Sandra's hair on the left.

A bit of ambience from Den Gamle By

Christmas' tableaux from provincial homes in Denmark from the 1920's and 1974.

Shopkeeper into socks and jam.

We went to the baker's and had a chat with the baker girls. They never heard of something like a camera before so they were a bit afraid, actually. We told them not to be afraid but just to stand still while I took a snapshot of them. The cakes are 4REAL and I especially like the sugary 'pretzels', but this time around I bought vanilla/almond cookies. Just before we left, a bunch of people came in and smelling all the freshly baked goods, they asked: "Do you take credit cards?" The baker girls did not even reply but gave Sandra and I a quick nod as if to say: We know and you know... Take a look at people's faces outside the shop.

They are building a new 'village in the village' in Den Gamle By which is supposed to take us back to Denmark in 1974. They decorated the shops for Christmas in 1974-style, of course. The posters on the gate propagate against male chauvinism, nuclear weapons and capitalism.

Time for 2010's last outdoor lunch, I presume. Both Sandra and I enjoyed it! Please remark the presumably ecological paper plates!

Now a bit cold, Sandra and I went home to my place where I had planned to make a few traditional Christmas treats for us. I had a sea of traditions and food to pick from but I chose just the two: 'Ris à la mande' and 'Fedtebrød'. Ris à la mande is adopted French for a simple rice pudding with vanilla, cream and almonds. 'Fedtebrød' would literally mean 'greasy bread' but this is just a lovely name meaning cookies with coconut. I have had these treats for Christmas since childhood (turning 37 today!) and although they are not exactly 'haute cuisine', they are both great.

On Christmas Eve, December 24, people celebrate Christmas with dinner, Christmas carols/psalms and presents for everybody (most people in Denmark are Christians and the great majority of those are 'naturally born members' into the Evangelical-Lutheran state church without perhaps considering issues of faith too much on an everyday basis. The general consensus seems to be soft obliviousness when speaking of religion and faith. Exciting for me as enrolled at the study of religion but I'll spare you the details this time).

People modulate the Christmas dinner from a basic template consisting of meat, potatoes, cabbage and ris à la mande (searching google just told me the pudding was invented around 1890). It is a bit of an unsolved mystery why the name is in French.

Most Danes would only have ris à la mande on Christmas eve and most would actually serve this as the one and only Christmas pudding even worth considering. In my experience, Ris à la mande has to be home made in order to deliver! Hence, I give you my version:

Ris à la mande

I make the pudding in two steps. This is not strictly necessary but it is just more tasty this way.

I start by making a rice porridge the day before I'm making ris à la mande:

Part 1:

300 ml of rice (rice suitable for a milky porridge)

400 ml of water

1000 ml of full fat milk

I would only use traditional 'Pama' rice for porridge from 'Quaker Oats Scandinavia' which has been presented in the same package at least since I was a little girl. They stack them up in the supermarkets now.

I let the rice boil in water in a solid pan for 2 minutes. Then I add the milk and let it boil gently for 10 minutes while stirring most of the time.

I put a lid on, wrap the pan in newspapers and tug the pan in my bed under duvets and blankets for 1½-2 hours - my cat Sveske watches the porridge - and the porridge is done while I saved precious stirring time and household energy!

Then I wake the porridge from her beauty sleep and take half of it and put it in the fridge. On a very traditional manner, I season the other half of the porridge with salt, pour it in a bowl and consume right away with a sugar/cinnamon mix and a nob of butter on top, having red berry lemonade on the side.

When Sandra and I came home from our trip, I took the cold 'left over' porridge from the fridge, and now was the time to prepare ris à la mande, again cold rice pudding with almonds and vanilla, served with lukewarm cherry sauce on the side.

The measures are not exact but depends on the texture of the rice and according to taste and the 'power' of the vanilla, I use.

Part 2:

75-125 g slightly cooked and peeled sweet almonds

1½ spoons of ordinary castor sugar

Vanilla essence, vanilla sugar or 1 vanilla beam, according to taste

App. 300 ml. of double cream

I give the unseasoned half of the porridge a good stir with a wooden spoon. Very important detail. I chop the peeled almonds in smaller bits - but not too small - and leave one almond (!) untouched and put it aside.

I mix the porridge and chopped almonds with sugar and vanilla. I like the pudding to taste sweet and vanilla-y but not too sweet to make my teeth ache.

I whip the cream gently and fold in the smoothly whipped cream into the porridge and taste again. Now it is time to add the single whole almond in the mix. I serve the rice pudding in a nice serving bowl, wrap it up in tin foil and put in the fridge until perhaps half an hour before consuming. This quantity would serve app. 6-7-8 people.

Just before serving, I heat up the prefabricated (gosh!) cherry sauce to lukewarm and serve it in a bowl to accompany the pudding. People would usually serve sweet wine to have with ris à la mande.

You should probably ask me why I put in the single almond?! My response would be: It's a part of the tradition! We have to eat the entire bowl of ris à la mande at the Christmas table and the game is that if you get the whole almond, you hide it in your mouth, lap, socks or whatever until the rest of the family are so full of rice pudding that they almost feel sick, and then you reveal the hidden treasure and you will be this year's prize winner of: 'Mandelgaven' [: Almond present] which could be anything from a comic book, chocolate or a pig made out of (bad) marzipan.

I also want to offer you a recipe of old fashioned Christmas cookies:

Fedtebrød

125 g flour

1/4 teaspoon of ammonium carbonate

125 g butter

65 g grated coconut (prefabricated)

65 g castor sugar

Glaze:

150 g icing sugar

1½ tablespoon of water mixed with a few drops of Rhum essence

Team Fedtebrød. Ready, set, go!

First, I mix ammonium carbonate and flour, then adding the softened (but not melted!) butter by hand. Last but not least, I mix in grated coconut and castor sugar. Then I leave the dough to rest for app. 10 minutes.

I cut the dough in three and roll them into sausages, put them on a baking plate with baking paper and even out the sausage rolls and put the tray in a preheated oven at 200C for 10 minutes.

I put on the glaze while the cookie bread is still warm and then I even out the glaze with a knife (preferably sharp!) in a slightly diagonal shape. I leave the cookies on the cooking tray to cool off before storing them.

Now was the time for Sandra to go home. She actually promised to bring home the cookies so I wouldn't eat them before time as is my habit. Thank you, Sandra!

As I mentioned before, it is actually my birthday today, December 2nd, and I am planning a dinner with family and friends for tonight. I am guessing that I might be 'gifted', but I wanted you to be gifted too. That's why I am doing my first give away. Just leave a comment on the post and I will pick a winner on Thursday December 9. I will send the gift everywhere in the world. The gift? Well, now the chocolate begins to talk again:

A honey cake heart covered in chocolate and a reprinted commercial art postcard, both from Den Gamle By.

I am well aware this was a looong Christmas rant but I wanted you to have a bit of buck for your dime or how to phrase it. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the tour and hope you did too. Have a merry Christmas!

* * * * * * *

Bienvenidos hoy, jueves 2 de diciembre de 2010, a mi día en el bonito "Calendario de Adviento" de Noema.

Soy la "agente" danesa que hace un par de meses envió "Pålægschokolade" a Noema, y que ella mostró en su blog para mi gran alegría, y ahora, aquí estoy de nuevo. En esta ocasión traigo un poco de chocolate (será al final de la entrada), un par de recetas tradicionales danesas para la Navidad y, por último, pero no menos importante, un paseo virtual por el lugar más famoso de mi ciudad Aarhus, el museo al aire libre Den Gamle By. Y ya que estamos, empecemos conmigo en mi indumentaria navideña y persiguiendo gansos para la cena de Navidad. ¡Bienvenidos!

Mi amiga Sandra y yo nos acercamos a Den Gamle By justo el día antes de la primera nevada en Dinamarca y pasamos un bonito día tomando fotos y ambientándonos ya para la Navidad. Pasad a visitar a Sandra también, ya que ella ¡os ha preparado algo especial!

Den Gamle By está en el centro de Aarhus y es una reconstrucción minuciosa de diferentes edificios y casas antiguos típicos de toda Dinamarca. Los hombres de la foto son en realidad los empleados del servicio de recogida de basuras 2010, limpiando las calles tras las visitas del día anterior.

Un árbol de Navidad como manda la tradición. El pelo de Sandra a la izquierda.

Un poco del ambiente de Den Gamle By.

Centros de Navidad como se encontraban en los hogares de la provincia en Dinamarca entre 1920 y 1974.

Vendedor de calcetines y mermeladas.

Nos acercamos a la panadería y charlamos un rato con las chicas que trabajaban allí. Como nunca habían oído hablar de ese invento que es la cámara de fotos, al principio les dio un poco de miedo. Les dijimos que no tenían nada que temer y que solo debían permanecer un momento quietas mientras les hacía una foto. Por cierto, ¡los pasteles y las galletas son de verdad! A mí me gustan especialmente los "bretzel" azucarados, pero en esta ocasión compré galletas de vainilla y almendra. Justo antes de salir, un grupo de personas entraron seducidas por el olor de los productos recién horneados y cuando preguntaron si aceptaban tarjetas de crédito, las chicas de la panadería ni siquiera respondieron sino que nos hicieron a Sandra y a mí un gesto de resignación con la cabeza. Echad un vistazo a las caras de la gente fuera de la tienda.

Están construyendo una "aldea dentro de la aldea" totalmente nueva que se supone nos transportará a la Dinamarca de 1974. Naturalmente, para la Navidad han decorado las tiendas al estilo de 1974. Los carteles en la puerta son campañas en contra del machismo, las armas nucleares y el capitalismo.

Tiempo para la que, supongo, será la última comida al aire libre de 2010 que ¡Sandra y yo hemos disfrutado! ¡Fíjate en los platos de papel que supongo serán ecológicos!

Después, Sandra y yo, con un poco de frío en el cuerpo, nos fuimos a mi casa porque yo había planeado prepararnos unas cuantas cosas ricas tradicionales de Navidad. De entre un montón de tradiciones y comida para elegir, finalmente, me decidí por estas dos: “Ris à la mande” y “Fedtebrød”. Ris à la mande es un término adoptado del francés para un arroz con leche sencillo que lleva vainilla, nata y almendras. “Fedtebrød” significa literalmente “pan grasiento”, pero esto es solo un nombre bonito para lo que en realidad son galletas de coco. Estas dos especialidades me han acompañado durante todas las Navidades desde que era pequeña (¡37 años ya, que, por cierto, cumplo hoy!) y aunque no son "alta cocina", son dos delicias fabulosas.

El día de Nochebuena, el 24 de diciembre, la gente celebra la Navidad con una cena, villancicos, salmos y regalos para todo el mundo (la mayoría de las personas en Dinamarca son cristianas y, de ellas, la gran mayoría son “miembros por naturaleza” del estado confesional de la Iglesia Evangélica Luterana, sin realmente haberse parado a pensar mucho en cuestiones de fe. Un cierto grado de ignorancia parece ser el consenso general cuando se trata de hablar de religión y de fe. Un tema apasionante para mí ya que estudio religión, pero os ahorraré los detalles esta vez).

La gente elabora la cena de Navidad a partir de un esquema básico de carne, patatas, col y ris à la mande (en una búsqueda en google acabo de descubrir que el postre se inventó en torno al año 1890). El nombre francés del plato parece seguir siendo un misterio sin resolver.

La mayoría de los daneses solo toma ris à la mande en Nochebuena y la mayoría sirve este arroz con leche como el único pudding de Navidad posible. Según mi experiencia, ris à la mande ¡tiene que ser casero! Por lo tanto, aquí tenéis mi versión:

Ris à la mande

Yo hago el pudding en dos pasos. Esto no es absolutamente necesario, pero está más rico de esta manera.

Empiezo haciendo un arroz con leche la víspera de la preparación del ris à la mande:

Parte 1:

3 dl de arroz (que absorba bien la leche)

400 ml de agua

1000 ml de leche entera

Yo solo uso el arroz tradicional "Pama" de "Quaker Oats Scandinavia" que se sigue comercializando con el mismo paquete, al menos desde que yo era pequeña. En los supermercados ahora los apilan:

Primero dejo que el arroz cueza en agua hirviendo en una cazuela de base gruesa y que hierva durante 2 minutos. Después añado la leche y lo dejo hervir suavemente durante 10 minutos sin dejar de remover.

Entonces tapo la cazuela, la envuelvo en papel de periódico y la meto en mi cama entre los edredones y las mantas durante 1½ a 2 horas. Mi gato Sveske es el guardián del arroz. De esta forma el arroz se hace y se ahorra un montón de valioso tiempo revolviéndolo, ¡además de energía!

Finalmente, despierto al arroz con leche de su dulce sueño, tomo la mitad y la pongo en la nevera. De forma muy tradicional, añado sal a la otra mitad del arroz con leche, la pongo en un cuenco y la tomo de inmediato con una mezcla de azúcar y canela y un trocín de mantequilla por encima. Todo acompañado de limonada de bayas rojas.

Cuando Sandra y yo llegamos a casa de nuestra excursión, saqué “las sobras” de arroz con leche frío de la nevera, listo ahora para preparar ris à la mande (como ya explicamos, arroz con leche frío con almendras y vainilla, acompañado de una salsa templada de cerezas).

Las medidas no son exactas, dependerán de la textura del arroz y del aroma y la "fuerza" de la vainilla que se utilice.

Parte 2

75-125 g de almendras dulces, escaldadas y peladas

1½ cucharadas de azúcar (glasé o un tipo fino que se disuelva bien)

Esencia de vainilla, azúcar avainillado o una vaina de vainilla, según se prefiera

Aprox. 300 ml de nata espesa (double cream)

Primero remuevo bien el arroz con leche sin condimentar con una cuchara de madera. Un detalle muy importante. Pico las almendras peladas, pero no en trozos demasiado pequeños, y reservo una almendra entera (!) sin picar.

Pongo el arroz con leche y las almendras picadas en un recipiente para mezclarlo todo y añado el azúcar y la vainilla. Me gusta que el pudding sea dulce y sepa a vainilla, sin llegar a ser empalagoso hasta que me duelan los dientes.

Monto la nata y la añado poco a poco al arroz con leche en movimientos envolventes. Lo vuelvo a probar. Ahora es el momento de añadir a la mezcla la almendra entera que habíamos reservado. Yo sirvo el arroz con leche en un buen tazón, lo envuelvo en papel de aluminio y lo meto en la nevera hasta más o menos una media hora antes de tomarlo. Esta cantidad es para aproximadamente 6-7-8 personas.

Justo antes de servir el arroz, se calienta un poco la salsa de cerezas comprada (¡cielos!), lo justo para que esté templada, y se sirve en una cacerola para acompañar al arroz con leche. Por lo general, la gente sirve el ris à la mande con un vino dulce.

Ahora deberías preguntarme: ¡¿Para qué pongo la almendra entera?! Y yo os responderé: ¡Es parte de la tradición! Hay que comer todo el plato de ris à la mande durante la cena de Nochebuena y el juego es que, si te toca la almendra entera, la escondes en la boca, el regazo, los calcetines o en cualquier sitio, hasta que el resto de los miembros de la familia estén tan llenos de arroz con leche que casi les dé mal. Entonces puedes revelar el tesoro escondido y te convertirás en el ganador de este año del: “Mandelgaven” (= el regalo almendrado), que puede ser cualquier cosa, desde un tebeo, a chocolate o una figurita de un cerdo hecho de mazapán (del malo).

También quiero daros una receta de galletas de Navidad al estilo clásico:

Fedtebrød

125 g de harina

1/4 cucharadita de té de carbonato de amonio para hornear (o en su defecto una mezcla de bicarbonato y de levadura en polvo, tipo Royal)

125 g de mantequilla

65 g de coco rallado

65 g de azúcar (glasé o un tipo fino que se disuelva bien)

Glaseado:

150 g de azúcar glasé

1½ cucharada de agua con unas gotas de esencia de ron

El equipo del Fedtebrød. Preparados, listos, ¡ya!

Mezclar el carbonato de amonio para hornear y la harina. Añadir la mantequilla en pomada (¡no derretida!), yo lo mezclo con la mano.

Por último, agregar el coco rallado y el azúcar, y dejar reposar la masa durante unos 10 minutos.

Después corto la masa en tres partes y hago tres rodillos, los pongo en una bandeja de horno con papel antiadherente y los aplano. Los introduzco en el horno precalentado a 200° C durante 10 minutos.

Finalmente hago el glaseado cuando la galleta todavía está caliente y lo aliso. Después, con un cuchillo (afilado a ser posible) corto las galletas ligeramente en diagonal. Antes de guardarlas, dejo que las galletas se enfríen en la bandeja de horno.

Aquí es cuando Sandra tenía que irse, pero ella se comprometió a llevarse a casa las galletas, para que yo no me las comiera antes, como suele ser habitual. ¡Gracias, Sandra!

Como ya mencioné más arriba, hoy, 2 de diciembre, es mi cumpleaños y estoy planeando una cena con familiares y amigos para esta noche. Supongo que me harán algún que otro regalo, y me gustaría que vosotros os fuerais de aquí con uno también. Por eso, hoy voy a hacer mi primer sorteo con regalo en el blog. Todo lo que hay que hacer es dejar un comentario en esta entrada y yo elegiré a un ganador el jueves 9 de diciembre. Haré el envío a cualquier parte del mundo. ¿El regalo? Bueno, ahora es cuando le toca el turno al chocolate:

Un corazón de dulce de miel cubierto de chocolate y una reimpresión de una postal antigua, los dos de Den Gamle By.

Sé que os he echado un sermón de Navidad muuuuuy laaaaargo, pero quería ofreceros algo interesante a cambio de vuestro interés. En cualquier caso, he disfrutado mucho del paseo y espero que vosotros también. ¡Os deseo una feliz Navidad!

I'm waiting

2010-11-30T17:42:00.003+01:00

... for Noema's Advent Calendar 2010 to begin...

Oh, those choices!

2010-11-30T11:13:00.002+01:00

This is an ad from The Danish shoe fashion industry from one of my 1961 magazines. Two slightly different shoes are presented, the pointy toe and the so called carré toe, and I'm so torn between the two. It's obvious that I have to choose, and the choicehas to fall between pointy and carré!

Ask a man...

2010-11-29T19:34:00.000+01:00

I have a couple of Danish women's magazines from 1961 in my newspaper basket and they are the source to immense joy when I spend time with them, especially due to the ads. An awful lot of ads for under wear and when skin care is introduced, the ad says: Ask a man and his heart would answer: "You are prettier than ever..."

Do you remember September?

2010-11-28T21:45:00.000+01:00

I just wanted to take a trip back to a lovely day in late September with Sandra.

How do I like my coffee?

2010-11-22T08:04:00.001+01:00

The answer is simple: Mit Milch, ohne Zucker - but I don't drink coffee that often actually.

I pass this 'thing' every other day on my way to the my supermarket of choice and I can't figure out why I never contemplated taking a photo of the stencil saying 'coffee' three times in Danish for my blog. It was just waiting for me to notice and acknowledge it. I hope to come across much more obvious opportunities like this in the future.

Just when you needed it the most...

2010-11-20T20:56:00.005+01:00

Photo taken just down the road from the court house on Vester Allé, Århus, DK on November 20, 2010.

Magic Monday

2010-11-19T08:40:00.012+01:00

I went out to do a bit of grocery shopping the other day. I had a bit of the 'daily routines' blues' missing a bit of magic coming out of the blue. When going home from the supermarket contemplating how to spice up my day I looked up and saw something smiling at me and I moved closer:

I finally got a smile on my face. Not just because the artist is on top of MOAZ but due to the fact that I got what I asked for, a bit of magic. It seems to me that this wonderful cat face is a replica of the Cheshire cat from 'Alice in Wonderland', and what could be more magical than that on one of those days:

source

I actually saw another cat like this at ARoS today on an exhibition by Danish artist Julie Nord, but I didn't manage to take a snapshot.

Sweetest irony

2010-11-17T16:54:00.001+01:00

I just can't help falling in love with this scenario from Berlin-Kreuzberg.

Mad Woman

2010-11-12T19:04:00.000+01:00

Just thought I would post a 'Mad-Men-Yourself-Photo' that I made of myself the other day. I really do believe that I would have looked like that in those days... I have seen season 1 + 2 and I never saw such a captive tv-series though I have emmensely enjoyed shows like 'Spaced', 'The Riches', 'The Sopranos' as well as 'Sex and the City' and too many Danish shows and crime tv-series for me to mention (though, I really liked an Austrian show with a female police officer getting involved with her neighbour). So, I can recommend Mad Men like almost the rest of the tv-watching world. I did go out to buy a 1960's tomato red nailpolish but I eventually found out that I already have an almost exact dupe... so much for cravings then.

I'm not a songwriter

2010-11-06T08:26:00.001+01:00

...but if I was, I think I would make a song like this. Not so much because of the lyrics eventhough I like them but due to the 'temper' of the song. The lyrics are tragi-comic comments on depression or about having big dreams about making your mark on the world but in reality not even having the energy to walk the dog or clean your house or telling people what you 'really' think about things, for that matter. I do understand the apathy but to me, lyrics are seldom the most appealing messages of a song. I connect to the sounds, in this case the synth and the beautiful and experienced voice belonging to Bjørn Fjæstad (what an impossible name on a blog in English) combining into melancholic, delicate and grown-up popmusic. Which song would you do?

Neighbourhood

2010-10-31T09:19:00.013+01:00

I took a few mobile phone snapshots from my neighbourhood on a Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks ago. Since then, autumn has progressed even further and all I want to do is to buy tomato red nailvarnish and watch 'Mad Men' all day if I could.

People + Music

2010-10-18T22:20:00.002+02:00

Just wanted to share this song which I almost forgot about until I heard it in a Danish movie tonight. The song goes on forever and ever and they only sing one line:

"Folket og kun folket er drivkraften i skabelsen af verdenshistorien."
(The people and nothing but the people are the driving forces in the creation of world history.)

It is a 'drop of wisdom' from Mao which he turned into an ugly truth by his Chinese Revolution around 1976.

Well, the song is from perhaps 1982 by Danish band, Kliché who were not communists, I should mention. They were more or less conceptual artists making popmusic, actually just a few blocks away from my place, turning the 'eternal truths' from the 1970's into 1980's synthetic but still warm sound and by that turning the truth upside down. I just really like the tune.

Pålægschokolade ud over metastepperne

2010-10-04T18:05:00.002+02:00

Der kan komme noget rigtig sjovt ud af at hænge (lidt rigeligt) ud på nettet. Både i form af fine eBay-neglelakker og alskens 'udvekslingsmuligheder'. Jeg byttede min lejlighed i sommerferien via homeexchange.com, der også har en (nogenlunde) dansksproget lillesøster og var på den vis en uge i Berlin-Neukölln. Her mødte jeg Noema og fik lyst til at gå hjem og blogge igen om stort og småt (mest småt). Jeg mangler godt nok et godt kamera, men så man jo sno sig, sagde ålen.

I og med at jeg skriver om små ting og er meget glad for pæne ting, måtte jeg jo skrive om pæne, små ting. Herindunder falder Galle og Jessens 'Kæmpe Pålægschokolade' på grund af indholdet, men sørme også indpakningen, som er retro, når det er bedst:

Kilde

Noema har siden gjort mig opmærksom på eksistensen af en amerikansk (NY) morgenmadsblog og så fandt jeg på at sende pålægschokolade til Noema, så hun kunne smage og måske blogge om klassisk dansk morgenmad, måske mest markedsført til børn, men i realiteten også spises pålægschokolade jo også af mange voksne, i hvert fald os under 40-50 år, der er vokset op under og efter velfærdsboomet i 1960'rne.

Idag er stafetten gået videre, således at Noema har skrevet om Kæmpe Pålægschokolade på sin mad- og fotoblog, hvorefter jeg så har blogget om hendes indlæg, og så må vi se hvem der ellers tager depechen :D

Måske skulle jeg maile fabrikanten for at fortælle, at 'Kæmpe Pålægschokolade' nu har fået sit eget liv, hvis den da ikke altid har haft det. Hvorfor: Det kunne være sjovt (læs: Chokolade).

Info-boks:

Toms sælger hvert år så meget pålægschokolade, at det kan dække over 300 fodboldbaner. Bliver de 650 millioner stykker lagt i forlængelse af hinanden, kan de nå hele vejen rundt om jorden. Ca. 30 % er mørk chokolade, mens ca. 70 % er mælkechokolade.'

Kilde

Mantelpiece

2010-10-03T13:17:00.000+02:00

..as I do not have any fireplace in my fourth floor apartment. However, I do have a stone age TV-set bought just before the flat screen format obstructed taking advantage of the top of the TV as a mantelpiece. As a matter of fact, the top of my TV is my mantelpiece where I display little treasures both for my guests to see what I am about but perhaps more importantly to remind myself of creativity, playfulness and happy days whenever I feel a little stuck at my desk reading endless articles on developmental psychology and what have you...

Talking developmental psychology we have to mention toddlers. The objects on my 'mantelpiece' attract toddlers as honey bees. I bought the apple house with the snail and the angry bee for myself a couple of years ago. They are staples in a toddler tv-series around the flower girl, Fifi. The cat is a classic souvenir from China or Far East which I bought in Hamburg last year. It is supposed to move the arm up and down with some kind of flag or paper symbolising luck, abundance and happyness but I just keep it quiet. Both objects make me feel good and internally smiling.

What do you have on your mantelpiece (take mantelpiece as a metaphor here) ?

Somewhere over the rainbow...

2010-10-02T13:40:00.005+02:00

Kitsch is the little extra to spice up my every day life. Quirky colours or music makes me smile - a lot. Kitsch is much more I guess but what is definitely kitsch is the cake above.

This Monday, I met with a friend of mine to make a rainbow cake that we saw here. We made more or less detailed plans for the making, went shopping and I brought red, green, blue and yellow food colours. From then on, we just needed good luck and an eye for detail.

All what is needed for a fabulous and over-the-top rainbow cake.

Dough for the cake layers

We wanted to make six layers so we bought 6 circle-shaped baking tins and made a dough out of 400 g flour, 400 g sugar, 2 tsp. of vanilla sugar, 1 large tsp. baking powder, 400 g butter and 8 eggs. All was put in a bowl, the dry ingredients first, then eggs and butter and a lot of handhold wisping as we did not have any electrical equipments. One should take care not to stir too much in the dough, though.
Then we took 6 small bowls and distributed the dough evenly and mixing in the colours. The tins were put in a 175 degrees celsius oven for app. 15 minutes. We opted for classic rainbow colours, such as bright purple, blue, green, red, orange and yellow but the actual result was more like blueish violet, berry-red, rose-pink with a hint of grey, fair yellow, pistachio green and turquoise.

This was supposed to be bright purple

Turquoise dough (supposed to be blue)

Supposed to be red, but turned out slightly different

Baking tins in the oven

Baking tins just out from the oven

We made a cake cream out of butter, icing sugar, water and vanilla sugar to put in between the layers of cake.
For topping I went out from Nigella Lawson's recipe on 'royal icing' but we did not exactly follow her measures and ended up grabbing a lot of icing sugar and whipping it with egg whites (by hand!) and adding a bit of lemon juice in the end to achieve something like this:

Royal icing

Now was the time to put the elements together. What fun it was!

At last, it was time to decorate the cake. We used both a spoon and a fork to create the spikes.

Just in case you are wondering: I deliberately wanted to make an over-the-top photo documentation of this over-the-top sweetie of a cake. Las Vegas does not exist in vain.

Green, Yellow, Århus

2010-09-29T18:26:00.000+02:00

Just a few snapshots from my neighbourhood, taken with my mobile phone a few weeks ago. I especially enjoy the colour combination of bright yellow and verdigris. The building with the verdigris tower used to be a goods station but it is now being rebuild to become a cultural hotspot of some sort. The house with the color splashes used to be the home of some kind of brothel but I think it is closed down by now.

Hå & Em Beeep

2010-09-27T09:55:00.004+02:00

Det er efterhånden blevet nemmere at finde ok eller ligefrem interessant tøj i store størrelser. Jeg har ikke mange penge, men nok til, at jeg kan tillade mig at have en holdning til hvad jeg kan li' og ikke. Som noget relativt nyt eksisterer vi nu også i damebladene/modemagasinerne, hvor jeg således flere gange har fundet 'plussize' shoppingguides. Alt i alt er der måske efterhånden håb forude og grøde i bolledejen for os tykke damer, som jeg foretrækker at kalde mig selv, hvis jeg skal kaldes noget (= en anden historie).

Sidste år begyndte jeg at i stigende grad at fravælge fysiske butikker henvendt til os såkaldte 'pluspiger' til fordel for relevante danske og udenlandske online alternativer, for jeg var ikke tilfreds med udvalget. Hjulpet på vej af google fandt jeg Evans (UK), Carmakoma (DK), Dorothy Perkins (UK), Charlot and me (DK), Curvety (UK), New Look (UK), Elena Miro (IT), Asos Curve (UK) og for nyligt Lindex Generous (SE).

Jeg vil anmelde et par ting fra online HM BiB (>54). H&M, fordi jeg egentlig var træt af deres venstrehånds 'plusdesign' og Lindex, fordi jeg først nyligt fandt ud af, at de overhovedet findes. Jeg synes stadig ikke, at H&M gør det til et 'A', men mindre kan også gøre det og så tror jeg måske, de mærker presset fra et marked i vækst, fx Asos Curve, der blev lanceret i januar 2010. Der er nok intet bedre end tabte markedsandele til at få lidt gang i de små grå.

Jeg viser ting jeg kan li' (A) og som passer til mig, foruden boblere, som jeg har forskellige ankepunkter imod (B), og så tilsidst ting, jeg ikke bryds mig om pga. design, farve eller form (C). Jeg køber tøj efter min kropstype, og da jeg er et skønt æble, har jeg stor barm, flad numse og go'e ben fordelt på 161½ !) cm, så alene af den grund fravælger jeg en mængde ting, såsom tunikaer med meget markeret talje eller empiresnit foruden bandeautoppe.

Først A, som jeg godt kan li':

HM, 129 DKK

Jeg har købt alle tre. Ikke fordi det er et sindsoprivende design, men fordi de gør det godt til pengene. Den mørkeblå er god til jeans, den mørkelilla er god til min leopardplettede nederdel (Asos Curve, £20) og hvide jeans (Asos Curve, £14), og den koksgrå er god til det hele. Desuden dækker den numsen, falder flot ved barmen, har en åben hals og asymmetrien giver klædelige former. HM sælger også en luksus-udgave af denne tunika-t-shirt i et lidt andet asymmetrisk snit og et let skinnende og lækkert stof til 179 DKK i farverne camel, mørklilla og koksgrå.

HM, 249 DKK

Igen er der ikke tale om epokegørende design af den anden verden, men mindre kan også gøre det. Den lilla farve klæder mig rigtig godt, snittet er klassisk og bindebåndet gør, at taljen kan antydes, men ikke markeres (igen apropos æble). Jeg vil nok især bruge cardiganen til skinny jeans, men den skal have lidt quirkyness for ikke at blive for nedtonet og damet, trods alt. Jeg har købt nogle lidt fjollede stribede halvvanter fra HM Divided, som jeg kunne peppe den op med til vinter, eller også skifter jeg måske knapperne ud med nogle i guld, brun, "diamantert" eller rød. Knapudskiftningen er i hvert fald en effektiv måde at gøre en cardigan som denne mere uformel.


HM, 249 DKK

Jeg husker ikke, at HM BiB før har lanceret klassikeren 'den korte, sorte kjole' i store størrelser. Kjolen er ret billig og består da også af en del polyester, men jeg er rigtig glad for at HM BiB er hoppet ud af joggingtøjet, snart sagt. Jeg kommer ikke til at købe kjolen pga. den markerede talje, men selve kjolens eksistens får tommelfingeren op herfra.

HM, 699 DKK

Dejligt at HM laver en uldjakke, som også fåes i camel. Jeg er ikke sikker på, om den er varm nok som hverdagsvinterfrakke, for den har vist ingen lynlås, men derudover synes jeg, at det er fin frakke uden så meget pjat.


HM, 249 DKK

Disse sorte leggings i skinnende stretchdenim ser ikke ud af noget særligt, men jeg tror de kunne gøre det godt som basis i en afslappet festgarderobe, lidt i stil med de meget lækre (men også meget dyrere) bukser, som carmakoma.com laver. Godt nok er en elastiklinning ikke så god for pasformen, men jeg tror nu sagtens, at de kunne fungere godt med en flot tunika ud over, så tak for dem.

Nu kommer så B, boblerne:

HM, 149 DKK

Der er lidt Brigitte Bardot sexappel over denne bådudskæringsbluse, samtidig med at den er casual elegant, og det kan jeg kun synes om. Især den sorte udgave er flot, men jeg prøvede den stribede, og den gjorde ikke noget særlig godt for mig. Hvis HM nu lavede striberne meget smallere, satte dem på skrå, gjorde halsudskæringen v-formet, gør pasformen rundere og skifte striberne til lavendel/kaffebrun og lilla/meleret grå, ja, så købte jeg den da med det samme.


HM, 599 DKK

Jeg overvejer faktisk at købe denne vinterfrakke fordi jeg med en HM-kode kan få den for 450 DKK, men jeg har visse anker imod den. Jeg er vild med khaki, men farven skal tilføres lidt varme for at blive rigtig flot. Jeg tænker lidt oliven. Nå, men denne frakke mangler altså lidt glød i farven, så den har fare for at blive en tand for 'mus', synes jeg. Derudover har HM valgt at placere skrå lynlåse henover barmen, og det klæder mig ikke. Når det så er sagt, er frakken så enkel, at den godt kan tåle et hindbærfarvet tørklæde eller sågar ditto møs, og det kan jeg vældig god li'.

HM, 399 DKK

Jeg ved ikke lige med den her. Den er lidt fin og stadig blandt de gode ting, men jeg tror ikke rigtig den er noget for mig. Måske lidt for mange folder, selv de bestemt går den rigtige vej.


HM, 199 DKK

Den kunne da måske være sød og rar til en kold vinter, men sådan en gang 100% akryl ville for det første ikke holde sig særlig pæn, og så er det også lidt for strikvare på én gang til mig, fordi der ikke er noget til at bryde linierne med. Hvis jeg finder den i min lokale HM BiB, vil jeg da prøve den for at se om jeg tager fejl.


HM, 199 DKK

Jeg kan rigtig godt lide farven på disse fløjlsbukser, men er ganske sikker på at deres firkantede pasform ville klæ' mig ret dårligt, som HMs bukser plejer at gøre. Udover farven, er jeg dog glad for at HM tilbyder noget andet end 'smarte' combatbukser, som bare gør en æbleformet mademoiselle 'butchy', for nu at sige det lige ud. Hvis HM havde lavet disse fløjlsbukser i en smallere pasform med et lille svaj nederst, havde de haft en kunde i mig.


HM, 199 DKK

Jeg kan vældig godt lide leopardting, så jeg har prøvet denne cardigan i butikken, men det var lidt for meget med både dyr og skulderpuf, så jeg synes at HM skulle lave cardiganen uden puf og med en graduering af leopard, cardiganen fx 'endte' i en koksgrå/brun nuance.

HM, 249 DKK

Sort med små hvide prikker kan jeg rigtig godt lide, udskæringen er også ok og ærmerne er ikke for flagermusagtige. Jeg har prøvet den i butikken, men den manglede desværre noget form og så er jeg lidt for praktisk til så meget chiffon. Jeg ville hellere, at de havde brugt mønstret på et tungere stof, der falder pænere.

Jeg kan rigtig godt lide denne sarte lyserøde farve og stoffet er også lækkert og lidt 'koldt', men stropperne! Det duer altså ikke rigtig med så tynde stropper og så relativt kort top, når man både har mave og barm, der også skal ha' det godt.

Så er vi nået til C, som de er de sager, som jeg ikke rigtig bryds mig om.

HM, 149 DKK

Jeg synes at designet er noget ubehjælpsomt, og desuden har jeg set den i butikken og kvaliteten virkede lidt ringe. Den er lavet af 80% acryl, og jeg siger nej tak.


HM, 249 DKK

Mønstret er lidt kedeligt, og så er den firkantede pasform ikke så attraktiv for mig, men værst af alt er, at stoffet er meget stift og ikke falder så pænt. Her har designerne bare tænkt: "Kamel og sort, kamel og sort" og ellers haft hovedet under armen, hvis du spø'r mig.


HM, 249 DKK

Denne tingsmedut-sweater ville klæde mig rigtig dårligt fordi linierne ikke brydes, toppet med en voluminøs krave ud over det hele. Det bliver et tak, men nej tak her fra.


HM, 299 DKK

Farven er fin, men formen er helt godnat til mig. Igen forstår jeg ikke helt en sweater som denne med tykke, vandrette striber og store, brede ærmer til store størrelser. Måske vil den dog klæde damer, der er noget højere end mine 161½ cm...

This is a post on HM's line Big is Beautiful and my remarks on the latest collection. First the styles (A) which I like, next on the styles (B) which I semi-liked and last up, the styles which I disliked (C).

All photos belong to HM

More Mormor

2010-09-26T14:19:00.003+02:00

Yesterday the weather was excellent in Århus so I went out on a little photo safari with my friend Sandra and her beloved camera (I don't have one, only a relatively okay cam-cellphone). We found more of Mormor and even a beautiful street hand by some one who's name I have forgotten.

I need to do some studying today but first up, some more Mormor followed by the hand.

Mormor:

The hand - on top of a piece by Mormor in fact:

Please share street art from your area with me sometime if you like.

Enjoy your Sunday :)

Girlfriend

2010-09-25T19:40:00.000+02:00

Cuddly Punk

2010-09-24T14:41:00.000+02:00

My niece at 14 drew this almost Prince-y guy when she was on her way home from her summer stay at my place. We were sad to say goodbye and then she drew this in her sketch book on the train and sent it to me right away. I enjoy him and the fact that she send him to me as well as the little discrepancy betweens his radiance and the text.

Technology does bring us closer in many ways, I think. What are your thoughts?

Dreaming of Mormor

2010-09-23T23:21:00.003+02:00

Mormor is 'grandma' in Danish and 'tag name' for a nameless street artist (supposedly male in his 20's). He used to hang around the streets of Århus glueing his pieces of art made of pale yellow paper on doors and brick walls, all in all places that he found needed a kind human touch. This meant that he would usually put up his art where you would find a lot of tags, such as in my gateway. Unfortunately he is not likely to pass by with his paper and glue as he moved to Copenhagen earlier this year (he told in an anonymous interview), so the following is just a dream. Me dreaming about having joyful drawings in my street.

Beat this, MOAZ and Smask.

Do you like Mormor's work?

Try again, Moaz and Smask

2010-09-21T19:59:00.001+02:00

Please be creative next time around, Moaz, Smask and the rest of you tag people. Here are some recent photos of the gateway next to my house in the city centre of Aarhus. I like street art and I actually like some of the colour combinations which were left on the brick walls. However, in terms of creativity, they do not really get A's from me when it comes to making use of our brick wall. Next time around I will show you some quality street art from Aarhus. I actually hope to inspire MOAZ who put his tag name up all around my neighbourhood.I do realise that he might not read my blog but... you know...

This is not the meat packing district

2010-09-11T21:00:00.001+02:00

- I just like this retro packing of a chocolate 'topping from the Danish firm Tom's Confectionary Group. It says in Danish: Kæmpepålæg Mørk Chokolade or Mælke Chokolade, but I am not sure how to translate it into correct English as I am not sure you can buy anything similar outside good old DK. I can sate that the procuct consists of thin layers of dark chocolate or milk chocolate that you put on your morning bread. Off course, children were meant as the main targets when it first came out in the 1960's or 1970's but as I am born in 1973, I grew up with Tom's Kæmpepålæg, and I still enjoy having it on occasion. Most of all, perhaps, I enjoy the packing which is wonderfully retro both in color and style and I just hope it will stay that way forever. When retro works, you just can't beat it.

Religion is science

2010-09-10T15:33:00.002+02:00

This Danish band played in a concert hall more or less across my street yesterday. I did not go - I am not really an avid concert goer to be honest - but this tune turns me on. One reason is the sheer sound with background noise and cozy rattling with some kind of object and last but least the title: "Science is Religion" which I am bound to love as my main subject at uni is the study of religion, and you just don't find that many songs dealing with the point of study of religion namely, religion is treated by scientific means. However, I do not science as the new religion. They are so and so many subjects which science has not or cannot deal with so the only thing left is to include as many aspects of reality as possible and never let yourself or others believe that you have finally found THE answer. So much for my Friday nonsense. Enjoy the music. Here er the William Blakes.

While I'm at it, I would like to post another youtube video on The William Blakes. They do a cover of my oldtime favourite, 'Running up that hill' of Kate Bush, together with Danish band, Spleen United. It is taken from an 'alternative' music show shown on DR2, non-commercial tv-station trying to introduce the less known to a wider audience. This time they really succeeded because Kate Bush's wonderful song did not suffer any harm during the cover 'treatment', almost the opposite.

Healthy Heartbeat

2010-09-05T16:13:00.000+02:00

In Denmark as perhaps many countries through out the Western world women are over represented in the statistics concerning heart diseases, apparently due to the fact that most research in this area is carried out using male-material so to speak. These days the Danish lobby organisation (in need of a better word) Hjerteforeningen campaigns in order to enlighten this mismatch by giving female Danish celebrities a moustache and a bowtie under the motto: "If you get a heart disease - wish yourself to be a man". Here I am exemplifying with my own moustache photo and then you are asked to put it on your Facebook profile. You can make one yourself here


My friends tell me that I look like the little clever man from Belgium, Monsieur Poirot here

I was the never the type to wear the yellow rubber band to show support for Lance Armstrong when he had cancer. Not that I don't care about cancer or do not like the colour yellow. In fact, yellow is wonderfully bright and beautiful. I just did not care to wear a rubber band. However, I like the fact that you get some sort of token for supporting a cause - such as a very delicate moustache. I found out that the lobby organisation also sells beneficial merchandise by which you support research in female heart conditions - and bought a nice bracelet which is actually beautiful and the message they carry is not necessarily: See-what-do-gooder-I-am, which I like very much, as well I would never wear a logo-bag from Gucci. I just like nice things. The bracelet cost me 25 DKK and can be bought here


Photo is taken from http://www.elskhjertet.dk

So, I actually like to support a good cause but I would not sacrifice my taste on the alter for the 'greater cause'. I hope that future campaigns for honourable causes would consider the aesthetics when trying to 'win' us over. As much as I will support them, I do not want to be a living walking commercial for any cause.

September equals books

2010-09-02T09:15:00.043+02:00

In a few days from now I will be heading back to some good old university education at the Aarhus Universitet. To celebrate or just point my finger to the fact that my seemingly eternal summer holidays will soon be over, I took a few snapshots on campus the other day. Enjoy.

Outside the main canteen and student area, Stakladen (Built around 1950)


Nobel Park, home to humanities and psychology. Built around 2000.


The main canteen, Stakladen had a facelift during the summer of 2010


One of my university homes which used to be an orthopaedic hospital until sometime in the 1990's.


The Faculty of Theology which is actually home to the study of Arabic and Islam as well as the study of Religion. Quite an usual combination I guess but it works.


Art wall seen from the 1st floor

The sun always shines on campus. The tower in the background is the so-called 'Book tower' which is part of the state library. They do serve quite an impressive amount of cakes every Friday afternoon, although they have a weird tendency to give the cakes just a teeny bit too much time or heat in the oven. Being a cake/cookie-lover, this kind of behaviour is not exactly up my alley but I will survive.

Outside the oldest part of campus. Some parts of the surrounding buildings housed members of Gestapo during WWII. Hence, the buildings were bombed by the RAF but something apparently went wrong so quite a few local craftsmen lost their life while they were doing their job.

Shopping på dansk

2010-08-25T13:36:00.002+02:00

Screenshot fra on-line magasinet C'est

Courtesy: c-est.dk

Så tager jeg lige et indlæg på dansk, det er helt dejligt :) Jeg læste bloggen SidneyLise, hvor de to sjove piger refererer til at de har fået et indlæg om deres yndlingsting i onlinemagasinet C'est. Magasinet ligner så meget andet i både layout og indhold, og er derfor hverken mere eller mindre originalt end de mange glittede månedsmagasiner rundt omkring. Men altså, jeg kiggede lidt rundt og fandt en shoppingguide til de gode gamle kendinge, København og Århus, men næsten endnu bedre, også shoppingguides til steder som Aalborg, Roskilde og Helsingør. Der er ikke noget bedre end skjulte juveler (altså, skjult for mig) og så giver det en eller vis fornemmelse af, hvor jeg måske kunne finde noget interessant, hvis pengene brænder i lommen.

Jeg kiggede lige i guiden over Århus og godkender den. Ikke fordi guiden nødvendigvis leder hen til byens allermest hippe steder, men guiden henvender guiden sig til et publikum på 30+ med en vis orden i pengepungen, synes jeg og flere af steder ville jeg selv gerne anbefale udenbys-typer eller turister, fx Boutique Marie i Borggade, som er de bedste i byen til tykke damer og 1 + 1 Textil i Grønnegade, der bl.a. sælger nogle skønne porcelænssmykker. Jeg har hermed tillid til at shopping guiden kunne fungere godt til at give et førstehåndsindtryk af shoppinglivets glæder i fx Helsingør og Malmø, som jeg kunne tænke mig at besøge igen inden alt for længe.

Courtesy: 1+1textil.dk


Courtesy: 1+1textil.dk

My first post in Danish for my own convenience :)

I have been reading the mainstream on-line magazine 'C'est' which offers an elaborate shopping guide (targeted urban women 25 years of age an up, I would say), not only covering Copenhagen (København) and Aarhus (where I live), but Roskilde and Helsingør (app. 35 km weat and north of Copenhagen), as well.

I have checked the guide on Arhus in order to review it and I approve. I would recommend at least a couple of shops selling women's wear from UK16+ and art crafts such as jewellery made of porcelain. Hence, I conclude that the shopping guide is an easy and cheep way to get a first hand's approach of the joys of shopping in different parts of Denmark.

Chubby Comfort

2010-08-23T09:22:00.004+02:00

I do belong to the chubby side of town and it takes me a bit of work to find clothes that I really like. As a consequence, I buy most of my clothes on-line from UK. However, I have managed to find a couple of Danish web shops where I certainly would not mind spending my pocket money. One of them is this shop and the other one is carmakoma. The latter really delivers in the segment 'LBD', little black dress and this without being formal and office-y. Actually, I do not think that the bigger ones among us should stick to wearing black but a bit of black in the closet does not hurt.
This posting is just an acknowledge of carmakoma (I already own the dress/tunic on the photo) as well as I would like to show my window shopping (I would like to buy the black pants some day).

If your size is somewhere between EU 42-52 (UK14-24, US 12-22), I would recommend you to take a look at carmakoma.com asoon as they have a number of (mostly) black items for sale (save up to 70%) until at least September 1, 2010. Postage is 49 DKK to Denmark and 20€ outside Denmark.

I am not commercially involved with carmakoma of any sort but I just wanted to pass on the good news. I would be thrilled if you have chubby shopping-suggestions for me (in the EU)?

Photo belongs to www.carmakoma.com

Comenius Garten

2010-08-22T10:53:00.003+02:00

When in Berlin-Neukölln, I went to the Rixdorf neighbourhood which was partly a Bohemian village in the old days. You will also find a garden project, the Comenius Garden
which is a little gem inside a kiez (Richardkiez/ Böhmischer Rixdorf) which is inside a bigger kiez (Neukölln) in the south of Berlin, Germany, Europe... the Universe. Well, I took this photo of a newly nailpolished finger nail and a semi-ripe plum, just for the sake of lovely colours.

I.K.E.A Citizen

2010-08-21T10:34:00.003+02:00

The IKEA catalogue just came by post the other day and I spent quite some time befriending it, I must admit. Planning what I might need the coming year and making notice of bargains to look out for and so on. I might add that I am a student and thus, still celebrating time off from university studies :) Oh well, I do not really need much, just bits and bobs and silly little details to clutter my home like a sheep skin to put on the bedroom floor and the likes. However, I will have to go to IKEA to enjoy the Swedish kitchen: Köttbullar and pie. They even offer a new pie each month so now I know what to do on one or two of those dull winter afternoons. Perhaps one of you would like to join me?

New Quirky Balance

2010-08-20T09:11:00.003+02:00

I like to balance a bit of quirkiness with everyday comfort when I dress. I want my shoes to look good according to my taste not compromising comfort, and this is not an easy match I should say. I do not wear killer heels, ballerinas, pointy shoes and what ever is in fashion, so I am very pleased when I am able to find footwear which meat my demands of both looks and comfort. New Balance, the athletes' supplier, also have a line of everyday sneakers for both sexes with a bit or an awful lot of retro-feel to them. I like the men's line the most because they have the most daring colour combinations as well as a wider design. I have not yet succeeded in finding the ones on the photo in my size (EU37/38), but I just like the photo, so far.

So 80's

2010-08-19T21:41:00.000+02:00

Holy smoke II

2010-08-18T16:50:00.001+02:00

Cookie tin from the mid-1960's when crown princess Margrethe and count (?) Henri got engaged to be married (1967). Yours truly is the happy owner of this tin which is actually the crown piece in my growing collection of retro tins. I just cannot help to take pride in possessing a tin which was one full of buttery cookies with sugar coating. I guess a woman with pointy glasses and a colourful but still neat skirt consumed the cookies while consuming every detail from the wedding from the glittery magazines. What ever the story is, I will keep the tin close to my heart for as long as I can.

Holy smoke

2010-08-18T09:07:00.008+02:00

Queen Margrethe and Prince Henrik having a smoke in the 1960's

I never saw this photo before this weekend and wanted to post it in spite of being a photo of a photo from a Danish gossip magazine as I recognize the forbidden pleasures it represents.

And the winner is...

2010-08-17T08:32:00.002+02:00

My favourite of all things green (yellow) must be the lemon or the splendid Danish name: Citron. In my single household I use app. 3 lemons a week and I do not really understand why this is not the case for everybody else :) Hence, I will use this opportunity to promote the lemon and what I use it for. I should mention that you really do need a lemon zester to get the most of it. I have got my lemon ideas from all over and I am still looking for great ways to take advantage of this great fruit.

First, one should scrape the zest from the lemon with a specially designed tool, hence getting nice curly straws of lemon zest. The zest tastes good in creamy pasta dishes, on top of vanilla-scented cupcakes, in oil/vinegar dressings with garlic, honey and mustard as well as in dishes with coconut cream, pancakes and naturally to decorate salads or almost anything you like. You would need your lemon to be organic.

The juice is great for icing, yoghurt and crème fraiche dressings, in soya dips for sushi and tempura, on top of any kind of pizza (!), in pasta-rice-bulgur-chickpea-lentil-dishes, on top of open sandwiches (rugbrødsmadder) with potatoes, mayo and chives, when serving spaghetti bolognese or - carbonara. Lemon is also an obvious choice for anything with chicken, for example an oven roast chicken smuddered with crème fraiche and oat flakes while being stuffed with an ecological lemon in 2 halves. I am actually using lemon to all of this, and more which I have forgotten about at this moment.

In the household, I have made a hand bath with lukewarm water, olive oil and lemon juice to soften the hands and nails or rubbing ½ lemon on my elbows to soften the skin before a bath. Last, but not least, I have used leftover lemon juice to remove remains of chalky water from my kettle and bathroom sink as well as cleaning the kitchen sink with ½ lemon as the very last thing before you throw it out.

I cannot think of any more obvious ways to utilise the golden lemon, but feel free to approach me if you have any suggestions?

Edit, August 18: I just got a gift from my sister who went to Sweden for the summer and thought of me when stumbling over lemon stuff when out shopping in the streets of Göteborg:

Centrepiece

2010-08-16T09:01:00.015+02:00

I have been a fan of Depeche Mode for a long time. Not fanatic as in hunting them down, but nevertheless keeping them close to my synthesizer heart which means that I prefer listening to them on my own to dwelve in my private mental images created through the years when listening to a Depeche Mode tune. However, I have not been too fond of their art work the past years, if ever. They do not really have a strong visual profile, except for the front man, Dave Gahan who has an impressive stage presence. He is definitely a very strong and sexy card but this is so obvious that it is not really interesting for me to focus on here (sic!). Instead, I will show you the art work from their 2001 album, Exciter:

Courtesy: http://www.spydersempire.com

I think the photo of the agave is strong and focused as well as being well-balanced between masculinity and femininity which is also reflected in the music of Depeche Mode.

I went to the local botanical green house the other day and found myself taking close-up photos of plants with my cellphone. At first, I did not recognize the inspiration but as I approached an agave plant, I recognized what I was doing:

The difference is perhaps something like Mexico and a university green house on a grey summer's day in Denmark.

Snapshot from 'Kreuzkölln'

2010-08-15T08:40:00.044+02:00

I was in Berlin last week and stayed in the 'kiez' Neukölln and actually did a bit of what my host would call a 'Kiez Urlaub' as I did not spend an awful lot of time in the centre of Berlin but went to local sight seeing spots and cafés. More or less pretending to be a Berlinerin myself, actually.

As a natural consequence of being situated in Neukölln I wanted to get to know the place or at least be more familiar with the neighbourhood than I was before - or than the guidebooks would tell me. I can divide guidebooks in two classes from my Neukölln experiences: The ones which do not even mention the neighbourhood or only care to tell that Neukölln is a rough place. The other books tell of a neighbourhood of a little dubious character but seemingly up-and-coming as a consequence of the rise of housing market costs in many areas of Berlin. I have seen a bit of both the rough and very pleasant sides of Neukölln and as a relatively careful newcomer I felt safe and good everywhere, except one place and can recommend the kiez, especially for all the different kind of people to encounter here.

The kiez in the kiez around Reuter Platz, 'Kreuzkölln' is the new, hip and still affordable hotspot of Berlin, made obvious by all kinds of signs such as cafés and 'creative' cars. It is always interesting to watch something change, much more than just seeing the final actual change. I took this photo in 'Kreuzkölln' which - to me, at least - shows the changes taking place in the neighbourhood. Not every change is to the best per definition but then again, change is inevitable and the only thing we can be sure of and so on. I just hope that the locals will continue to enjoy their kiez while it changes rapidly around them.

Edit, August 14: When I took this photo, I was quite amused by he fact that it says 'Änderungsschneiderei' in the window. I am not sure how to translate this into English or even the correct word in Danish, but it some kind of tailor workshop where I can have my clothes altered to the better. Well, from the look of it, I am not exactly seduced to go in there but at same time, that is the beauty of it.

Edit, August 20: I just found this article from New York Times (Autumn 2009) describing the wow-factor of 'Kreuzkölln':

Mom 68

2010-08-14T18:17:00.032+02:00

I am blessed with a mom who does not mind me playing around her hands and she even allowed me to post it on my blog. Perhaps I should add that I prefer one colour at a time on the hand of an adult and I am most fond of the colour on the second finger when reading from the left while I prefer darker or more dramatic colours for the toe nails. I have 'invested' in a number of nail polishes during the past year and I will definately post on my lovely colour gems here again sometime. Now you are warned. I am perhaps not your beauty salon stereotype, but as I am maturing, I am finding all sorts of womanly affairs more and more appealing. I find great comfort, joy, creativity and playfullness in playing with all sorts of colours, and if somebody invites me to 'do' them, I am the first one around to drag out my box of colours.

Heading out of my window

2010-08-14T11:42:00.000+02:00

It is fairly true to claim that the localities behind these snaps are in fact just a snail's daily walk away from my immediate surroundings.

Narcissists United

2010-08-13T21:47:00.002+02:00

Can you guess my full name? If not, you probably should have been sleeping in this writing minute. I could not find a live location for my last family name, so I had to borrow a bit from Gitte Nielsen's autobiography on her marriage with Sylvester Stallone and her former but very intimate friendship with a guy called Jack D. Not perhaps the most flattering choice for my persona, but then again. I guess she is the most well-known Danish woman by the family name Nielsen. Do not hesitate to follow my example.

This is Danish, it's funny!

2010-08-13T18:40:00.003+02:00

This is from the Danish comedy show Casper og Mandrilaftalen (Casper and the some-kind-of-monkey deal) from the noncommercial tv-channel DR2 around the year 2000. I always stayed up late to watch the show and especially this crazy man, Claes Gynhjalter who is the lover and protector of bees and self-admitted mentally challenged has caught my eye. The host, Casper Christensen (wearing glasses) is the most famous stand-up comedian and funny-man in Denmark these years and might I just add, dating an actress, Iben Hjejle. Well, I thought that even non-Danish readers might enjoy this, if not only for the excellent facial expressions and the open sandwich with an alarmclock. If you do get the feeling that these guys might have watched an episode or more of Monty Pyton shows, you might have a point, I guess. Enjoy:

Edit August 13: I just took a photo of a photo of Casper Christensen and Iben Hjejle in a gossip magazine, BilledBladet:

Follow me, I am blind

2010-08-11T12:05:00.000+02:00

Street art from Hamburg, Germany, August 2010

New kid on the blog

2010-08-11T02:17:00.002+02:00

I guess this would be a classic headline in the blogosphere for a newcomer, especially for those who are old (or young) enough to have witnessed a certain American boy band come and go without really paying them any attention, except for the name. I am talking of New Kids On The Block but ok, nevermind. I like to pay attention to the little and seemingly insignificant details in daily life, which for my turn takes place in Århus, Denmark in a 36 years old mind and body, which was baptized Henriette a long time ago. However, I am not going to limit myself by only addressing all things minor, I might as well prefer a birds eye view on things if needed.

My mother tongue is Danish so I will change a bit between English and Danish, perhaps on occasion adding a bit of German as well as just the tiniest glimpse of French, just because words and the sounds of them sooth me. Blog-visually I am not exactly a wizard but I am aware that a blog demands at least a relatively attractive visual side to bear any claim of existence. For the time being you will have to do with a photo from Hamburg. See you again soon.