LET’S HYGGE JULY 2022

Let's hygge Lindbjerg Graphic Journal Blog

[definition of hygge]

a quality of cosiness and comfortable living that engenders a feeling of contentment and well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture).

Let's Hygge July 2021 Lindbjerg Graphic Journal Blog

Add a little hygge to each month

This time last year that I wrote my first ‘let’s hygge’ letter whilst we were in lock down at our house in the mountains. We are totally off grid there with solar power, water from the river and two woodfired ovens as the only heating. We began every day by collecting enough wood for the night ahead. We were not very well prepared for this long stay and we ended up being there for 4 months! I look back at this time now with great joy and gratitude. It sparked a lot of new ideas and the ‘let’s hygge’ journal was one of them. I love creating my monthly letters to you and sharing the things that make me smile. We have created a lovely community together and I cherish your kind responses and generous feedback.

As I send out this month’s letter, I am on my way to Denmark for the first time in 3 years. It’s very special to be visiting my homeland and something I can’t wait to share with you. Please enjoy a little taste of the things I am looking forward to seeing, eating and creating and a link to the Danish national anthem which I cannot listen to without getting teary.

I wish you a wonderful month of July. I am looking forward to sharing even more Danish hygge!

If you have been subscribed to my journal for a while, you will know that I have a huge admiration for and love of birds. I am forever drawing birds, making birds in clay, sewing linen birds filled with lavender and creating these decorative birds that are cut out of paper – William Morris paper of course as I adore his work and eye for colour immensely. These paper birds are lovely to make and can lighten up any dull corner in your home. I attach them to the wall with double sided tape in only 2 to 3 spots because I find them even more elegant as they get a little curl to their wings. It makes them seem as if they are really flying…

ALL YOU NEED:

template
scissors
pencil
double sided tape

Please press on any of the images below to get the template of the swallows

If there is one thing from my homeland that I have truly missed eating, it’s the Danish Koldskaal with kammerjunker. It is a cold soup with biscuits broken into pieces and drizzled on the top, eaten either for breakfast or as a treat in summer. It’s the flavour of my childhood. When my mother asked if there was something special we would like, we all answered unanimously “Koldskaal med kammerjunkere”. Here’s my recipe – it is very simple and delicious!

KOLDSKAAL

Serves 4

1.2 litres buttermilk (2 x 600ml cartons)
juice and rind of one lemon or lime
1/3 cup caster sugar (please adjust to your taste)
seeds from 1 vanilla pod

Halve the vanilla pod, scrape out the seeds and then mix these with the sugar. Add the rind, juice, sugar and vanilla to the buttermilk and mix together. (Keep the vanilla pod in a jar with sugar to make you own vanilla sugar!) Leave the koldskaal to rest for 1 hour in the fridge before serving with strawberries or kammerjunkere – a Danish vanilla biscuit!

KAMMERJUNKERE – DANISH BISCUIT

Makes approx. 75 biscuits

150 g caster sugar
2 eggs
50 g butter, melted
300 g flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt

Pre-heat oven to 175°C. Beat eggs and sugar together for approx. 4 min. then add the melted, cooled butter. In a separate bowl, blend together the flour, baking powder and salt then add the combined eggs, sugar and butter and mix into a dough. Lightly knead the dough together and let it rest, covered in the fridge, for approx. 1 hour. Divide the dough into 3 portions and shape into logs (approx. 35 cm long). Place the logs on a tray lined with baking paper and pre-bake at 175°C in the middle of the oven for approx. 25 minutes. Let the logs cool for for 1-2 min. Cut each log into ½ cm thick slices and return the slices to the baking trays and finish baking the biscuits in the middle of the oven for approximately 15 minutes at 175°C. Cool biscuits on a wire rack and then store in an airtight cake tin.

If you would like to know more about the Danish phenomenon HYGGE, I would like to recommend “The Little Book of Hygge – the Danish way to live well”. I have given it as a present many times and I think it describes HYGGE very well. It has many practical steps and tips to becoming more hygge.

I thought I would share with you the Danish National Anthem “Der er et yndigt land”. The lyrics were written by Adam Oehlenschlager and it was composed by Hans Ernst Krøger in 1823. When hearing both the Australian and Danish anthems, I feel very grateful to be a citizen of both countries, their culture and diversity. Please enjoy – press the image to listen.

Catching up with friends and family is the thing I have been looking forward to the most. One of my dear friends Pernille Folcarelli is a very talented textile designer. I adore her unique work. She makes beautiful nature prints, textiles and accessories. I am attending one of her plant print workshops, while I am in Denmark. I am lucky to have some of her work – both the pillows and prints in the images are by Pernille. Press any of the photos to view her website. Enjoy!