Advent Candle Calender

This year I made a simple advent calender to count down the 4 sundays before Christmas. The usual tradition in Denmark is to make a wreath and place the candles on top of it. Well, I didn't have the time this year to make a wreath, so i just used some bottles and candles, placed them in my old antique sewing machine drawer with some hazelnuts for filler. I covered the ``coca cola``  on the bottles just with some plain brown paper. I couldn't decide on what to wrap them in, so it just ended up like this. Kind of half done I think..but i now have an easy alternative to the Advent wreath for next year. Perhaps next year I will wrap with some jute or the like....

My children truly have LOVED this tradition, of lighting one candle every sunday up to Christmas. We light the candle /candles, than turn off all the lights in the house, sing christmas carols...and just enjoy the ``light`` these little candles bring.


Super easy....and I love it;-)

This is our song book we use. (Given to my husband and I on our first christmas` together, Thanks Farmor (Grandma)!

Next week by this time it will be CHRISTMAS EVE! Eeeeeee :-)

We are beyond excited in this house. :-)

Merry Christmas...

hugs
cat

Fastelavnsboller= Rolls for Lent

These are a danish tradition to make every Fastelavn. I am a bit early for these this year, because this year Fastelavn is on March 6th. Oh well...I just love this and have been craving them. They are sweet rolls with a baked vanilla cream filling inside.  A simple Chocolate frosting is usually drizzled on top, but I made a chocolate ganache instead for these, because I LOVE chocolate:-)

For the dough I used my bread machine that my hubby bought me. A Zujirushi...holy cow it makes the BEST bread EVER! This bread recipe is super close to my Farmors and it is especially for dough machines so just used this and lo and behold it tasts the same as hers:-) Her recipe I believe has more butter in it.

The Cream filling though is Farmors original recipe, because she makes the Best!

Here it is;

Dough;
1- 1/8 cups Milk
1 Large Egg
4-1/4 cups Bread Flour
4 Tbsp Sugar
2 tsp Salt
3 Tbsp Butter
2 tsp Active Dry Yeast

Place all in dough machine according to manufacturers instructions, and set it to "Dough".  Once it is done, roll out on a lightly floured surface and using a large round cookie cutter cut 12 circles. Roll each one out and place cold cream filling in each (abt. 1 tbs.) than close and pinch up edges. Flip upside down and place on greased baking pan. Let rise covered at room temp for about 30 min or until doubled in size. Bake for 15-20 min until golden brown in 400F oven. Frost the rolls while warm with Ganache

Farmors Cream Filling:


1/2 cup sugar
 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 and 1/2cup milk, scalded
 1 egg, beaten
1 and 1/2 tablespoons of butter
 3/4 teaspoon vanilla or lemon extract
 
 Here is how you do it.

 Mix, sugar, flour and salt in a double boiler.Gradually stir in 3/4 cup of the hot milk, stir until smooth , ad the remaining milk and cook over direct heat intil thickened, stir constantly.
 Stir a little of the hot mixture into the beaten egg: return this to rest of the mixture and place over boiling water, stir constantly for 2 minutes.
Remove from heat, stir in butter and flavoring. COOL completely. (The fridge is best for this).


Ganache:

• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 ounces good semisweet chocolate chips
•  Cook the heavy cream and chocolate chips, in the top of a double boiler over simmering water until smooth and warm, stirring occasionally. 

Merry Advent!

Its the first day of ADVENT today:-) Hooray!
YES, I do know it is a little early, but I have started the tradition of putting up all of our Christmas Decor the day after Thanksgiving. This all stemmed from my American In-laws, and I was a totally strict on when we should put our tree and things up; the first week or two of December.BUT...THAN I saw how cute and excited they all got, and well, I joined them (because of jealousy, I was like "Hey I want to do that too, they are so Happy"! And now I am Happy too!! :-) Lol)
Here is what I have been busy with this weekend. We have a little apartment that we live in. Well it is more like a condo. We want to build our Dream Home someday, but until than this is home. Our living room is SUPER, I mean SUPER narrow. Not even room for a coffee table so a big old Christmas tree just doesn't fit. (Oh Coffee table how I long for you to be part of my life someday!) We use instead these 3 small skinny trees.  They work and are super cute, plus when we do move I can use them as my front porch lighted trees:-) 

Next is my makeshift Mantle. No I dont have a fireplace, BUT I I have used this cute bookcase that I redid this summer instead as my focal point. And OHHH HOW I LOVE IT!  I really cant wait to have a real mantle with this antique cream color. Divine! :-) 

Who needs a mantle ANYWAYS, hehehe! No really, I want one, but right now this will do:-) A girl can dream right? :-)

And now last but not least my homemade ADVENT WREATH. I am sure you have heard of the ADVENT CALENDARS, but the WREATH is also something we do in Denmark as a special tradition. Here is the definition of what it is all about;

The Advent wreath, or Advent crown, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. It is usually a horizontal evergreen wreath with four candles. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, the lighting of a candle can be accompanied by a Bible reading and prayers. An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week until, by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit. Some Advent wreaths include a fifth, "Christ" candle which can be lit at Christmas. The custom is observed both in family settings and at public church services.

And here is mine!; We add singing Christmas carols too when we light ours. So "HYGGELIGHT" =danish word for Cozy.

Well there u have it! Oh and if u want me to post a "how to" on the Advent wreath I would be more than happy to do so, I just get so busy around here with my kiddies and my growing photography business, I forget when I am creating to write and photograph for a tutorial as I go. BUT I would love to share if anyone wants:-)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE!

Fastelavn; The Danes version of Halloween

Thought I should post a bit about this tradition that I grew up with in Denmark. It happens around February. The children dress up and play games. They also eat lots of candy, but we dont go "Trick or Treating" for candy persay. They do it, door to door asking for money. (Oh the good times!)....Now that I am all grown up and live in the US, glad no kids knock on my door asking for cash! lol Anyhow, read about it, it is quite interesting. 

Fastelavn is the name for Carnival in Denmark which is the either Sunday or Monday before Ash Wednesday. Fastelavn evolved from the Roman Catholic tradition of celebrating in the days before Lent, but after Denmark became a Protestantnation, the holiday became less specifically religious. This holiday occurs seven weeks before Easter Sunday and is sometimes described as a Nordic Halloween, with children dressing up in costumes and gathering treats for the Fastelavn feast. The holiday is generally considered to be a time for children's fun and family games.

Some towns in Denmark are renowned for their large Fastelavn festivities and parades. Traditional events include slå katten af tønden ("hit the cat out of the barrel"), which is somewhat similar to using a piñata. The Danes use a wooden barrel, which is full of candy and oranges and has the image of a cat on it. Historically there was a real black cat in the barrel, and beating the barrel was superstitiously considered a safeguard against evil. After the candy pours out, the game continues until the entire barrel is broken. The one who knocks down the bottom of the barrel (making all the candy spill out) becomes kattedronning ("queen of cats"); the one who knocks down the last piece of the barrel becomes kattekonge ("king of cats").

There seem to be some small local traditions which are closer to the carnival traditions of other countries, including Ash Wednesday, Carnival parades, Pancake Tuesday and eating special food after Ash Wednesday, but they are not particular to Danish culture.In Denmark and Norway a popular baked good associated with the day is Fastelavnsbolle (lit. "Fastelavns bun", also known in English as "shrovetide bun" or "lenten bun"), a round sweet roll usually covered with icing and sometimes filled with whipped cream. Similar buns are eaten in other northern European countries, for example the Swedish Semla. Ísafjörður is the only town in Iceland that celebratesFastelavn on the same day as the Nordic countries, the day being known as Maskadagur (from the Danish word maske, meaning to dress-up or put on a mask).

Another popular custom (especially among the children) is the "fastelavnsris", with which children ritually flog their parents to wake them up on the morning of Fastelavns Sunday (Quinquagesima).

Fastelavnsris have many shapes and forms and differ from area to area. In some areas they are bunches of twigs, usually from fruit trees and preferably with buds. Those are often decorated with feathers, egg-shells, storks and little figures of babies. In other areas, they are a bent willow-branch, shaped like an ankh and wound with crepe paper that has frizzles cut with scissors. Both varieties may be decorated with candy as well.

The custom is known already in the 18th century in Denmark and it has several roots. There is probably no doubt the custom originates from an old fertility ritual, which has been absorbed into Christianity. The more serious one is that after the reformation, particularly pious people used to flog their children on Good Friday to remind them of the sufferings of Christ on the cross. A similar custom is mentioned in the book "Frauenzimmerlexicon", published in 1715 in Leipzig (Germany), which describes how bachelors and virgins "bid each other goodmorning" by flogging each other and spreading ashes on each other. This custom is also known in Denmark.

Earlier, it was mainly the young women and the infertile who were flogged. It was also common that a young man would carry his "fastelavnsris" and (of course gently) strike at young women he met on the street. Later it became the children's special right to flog their parents on this day. In any case, the reward given for the flogging would be a fastelavnsbolle.