Christmas in London

December 19th

I'm all for Christmas traditions both old and new and a new one for us as a family began 6 years ago when we first trekked into London dressed up to the nines and partook in the Christmas Sing a Long at the Royal Albert Hall.  It was magical and fun and mad the four of us feel very Christmassy.  Every year since then and despite the fact the children are teenagers they insist we must go each year.  If anything we all enjoy it more and more.  Christmas hat wearing is a must!

Emerging from the underground to see people
enjoying themselves at the outdoor skating
by the Naturals History museum

Arriving at the Albert Hall

Such an iconic building in London the Albert Hall began construction in 1967 and was completed in 1871.  Originally it was to be named Central Hall and was the brain child of Prince Albert who wished to promote the arts and sciences.  Unfortunately Albert dies of typhoid fever in 1861 and did not even see the beginning of it's construction.  Everything was put on hold until his fiend resurrected the idea and it became renamed  the Albert Hall.  Queen Victoria was so overcome with emotion she was unable at the opening to speak, instead stepping in her place her son, Price of Wales spoke.

The building itself never ceases to amaze me but it is at Christmas that I think it is at it's most spectacular with light adornments hung from the boxes and the joyous feeling that can be felt within.  should you ever get the chance to visit, jump at it.  The exterior of the building which you see a glimpse of here is built from over 6 million red bricks and some 80 thousand blocks of terracotta, which includes a continuous 800 foot long frieze.
History of the Albert Hall

Song sheet all ready, the concert is a mix of
listening to the professional singers
and choristers and we singing a long too.

A tipple helps the singing voice don't you know...

A snippet of the signing...

Just magical

The whole event is so well thought out

People really do make an effort to 'get into' the festive spirit

Once the concert is over we are always reluctant to traipse straight home so it has also now become tradition to head over to Carnaby Street and eat at one of the best burger places we know.  This is doubly good as we then have a feel of the London Christmas spirit.  Life here in the city is so buzzy and busy, love it.

Carnaby Street lights

Oxford Street lights

Oxford Street

♥   Have you begun any new traditions in your family?   ♥

Scandinavian Hanging Christmas Hearts Garland

December 18th

I am definitely a starter and not a finisher.  If left to my own devices and not spurred on by this blog it's true to say my house could have become overloaded with WIPs, (works in progress) there's enough of them now if I'm honest.

In the summer when I return home to mamma I always chill and craft more than at any other time of the year.  It's my haven and my guilty pleasure, though not so very secret.

Each summer I choose to learn a new craft, until that was this year, when I knew I had to get a move on with Christmas makes.  Knowing that the first 10 days in December I would be away from home and so I needed to be organised.

Knitting Christmas makes in the middle of a Norwegian warm summer was odd but strangely satisfying.  When visiting the local library and asking for their Christmas craft books I had to wait a while as they dug them out of storage for me!  What fool would want Christmas books in July?  Me of course...

Initially fiddly to begin, but once you are past
about row 5 it becomes quick and enjoyable to knit

But back to being a starter and not a finisher. Neither the wine box cover [Wine box cover post ] nor these hearts were completely finished in Norway and so these past few days I have been frantically 'finishing up'.  And just in time too, phew.  It's never a good idea to leave something for a few months and come back to it as the flow has gone and it takes a while to get back into the swing.  But I must say I am delighted with the makes.

I will not share the pattern here now unless someone wants me to as I suspect it is too late for this Christmas, but ping me a message in the comments if you want it and I'll post it up in all it's glory for you in the New Year.  I'm actually thinking of making more in Spring like colours to hang on the door.

The hearts knit up quickly

A Norwegian summer and crafting always takes place

They even feel Christmassy here despite it being July

Finally having stuffed them and woven in the ends, joined them together and crocheted the hanging top loop, my vertical heart garland is ready for Christmas.  

What do you think?  Full of Scandinavian feel I think.

Vertical hanging heart garland

♥   Are you almost ready for Christmas yet?   ♥

Almond cookies Christmas Cookies 6

December 17th

Almond cookies and mulled wine

Christmas must literally be around the corner as somehow we are already on Cookie making number 6 during Advent.  By now you may have realised that Scandinavians love there ground spices in their Kransekake
cookies and they also love using nuts most especially almonds.  The below cookie is actually variation of the Norwegian Celebration cake made for special occasions, Christmas included.  I shall be making mine next week, for a peep at what a Kransekake is, click here ~

Almond Cookies

MAKES ABOUT 24 ~ begin the day before you want to make the cookies

blanched almonds 100g 
caster sugar 200g 

After adding egg whites the mixture is quite runny

egg whites 2
homemade marzipan (see below) 500g
walnut halves 24
dried apricots 6
tempered dark chocolate 200g

For the homemade marzipan: [or you can buy good quality ready made]
blanched almonds 500g 
icing sugar 100g, plus extra for kneading 
water 50ml



If making marzipan:
Whizz the blanched almonds in a food processor until they are finely ground.  Add in sifted icing sugar and a small amount of the water a bit at a time. You do not want the mixture to be sticky.  Place the marzipan in the fridge for about an hour or alternatively in the freezer for 15 minutes.  

Grate the marzipan

To make the almond cookies, whizz the almonds and sugar together in a food processor until finely ground. Add the egg whites and whizz again until you have a smooth, white mixture. Make sure the mixture does not get too hot in the processor, otherwise the egg whites start clotting.  

Now grate the marzipan and then blend it into the almond mixture  If the marzipan is soft

this becomes a nightmare of stickiness so do make sure it is good and hard before beginning. 

Transfer the mixture to a bowl, cover tightly and leave to rest in the fridge for a couple of hours or until the next day.

Shape the mixture into 24 rectangular cakes about 2cm wide and 6cm long, like shortbread fingers. 

Divide the dough into quarters and roll
each one into a log shape

Slice each log/quarter into six

Photo for size purposes

Press a walnut half on to one end of each almond finger, and two strips of dried apricot on to the other end.

Add walnut and apricot before baking

Preheat the oven to 190C. Place the shortbread fingers on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15-18 minutes. In my oven they took about 12 minutes.

Leave to cool on a wire rack.  

Melt the chocolate gently in a double boiler, then dip the bottom of each almond cake in the chocolate and leave to set on a piece of baking paper.  Eat and enjoy.

Adding the chocolate to the ends just adds the finishing touch

Eat & Enjoy ♥

♥  Hope life is not too stressful

 and you can enjoy the season too  ♥

A Christmassy Five

December 16th

We are now down to single figures before the big day and I am in my element.  This time of year brings extra work and I know that can be stressful and tiring but really for me, it's just the best time of the year.  The twinkly lights that you see everywhere light up what would otherwise for me be such a dark depressing time of year that just the lights lift my spirits without even all the other goodies. Over the past week I have continued to bake, entertain, shop, wrap and decorate as well as trying to live the day to day life.  I'm sure I'm in good company with you all, want to take a peak?



Slippers for Christmas

I have been making these slippers for years, a pattern passed down to me from Mamma.  Pop over to the post and see how to make the slippers and how to Christmas pimp them too!  Christmas slippers

St Lucia Day

This week saw the annual feast of St Lucia and I shared a classic saffron bun recipe with everyone. Eat and enjoy, this is a perfect bake for those who do not like to over indulge in the very sweet cookies around at this time of year.  St Lucia

Scandinavian Mulled Wine

The Scandinavian version of mulled I must confess to loving it,  much more than the mulled wine we are served here in the UK.  I share 3 different recipes with you on this post.  Gløgg

Let's hide the packaging!

Alcohol is expensive in Norway and the cheapest way to buy wine is by the box.  Siting a box on the dinner table is not so attractive and the Scandi's came up with a clever way of covering it up.  On this post I share with you my pattern for a knitted wine box cover.  Wine box cover



A taste of something different

Mostly in Norway Christmas cookies have some form of spice added to them from ground cardamon to cloves  and many in between.  so when i can across this cookie from Norway, I had to give it a try. Great for those not a spiced cookie lover Finger Cream Cookies

Joining in with  Amy sharing a Christmas Five with you all.  Apologies for not commenting on your blogs last week, I will endevour to rectify that and will be coming around for this week too, I love seeing what you have to share.

♥   Enjoying the days of Advent   ♥

Christmas wine cover

A wine box cover

December 15th



Have you ever been to Norway?  Do you know how expensive alcohol is over there?  You need to take a mortgage out to be able to even sip alcohol.  You can buy beer at the supermarket, but not on a Sunday and anything stronger regardless of the day, you need to go to the government controlled 'Vinopolis.'   The cheapest bottle of wine is about £15, last summer I ordered a glass of wine, not in the expensive capitol, it cost me £11, I nearly fell off my chair and not even from over drinking, who could on those prices!






That said the cheapest way to drink wine is to buy it by the wine-box, the most common size being a 3 liter.  Many Norwegian pattern books provide knitted wine-box covers and I thought it would be fun to design my own for Christmas, it does mean that I now need to go out and buy myself a box...

Wine box cover
Using double knit yarn
Colour A 100g ~ on the chart this is grey
Colour B    50g ~ on the chart this is white
Colour C scraps of yarn ~ on the chart this is red

Cast on 92 stitches in colour A
Knit 2 rounds, use a stitch marker to help keep track
Row 3 creates space holes for the elastic at the bottom of the wine box, to create this:

Make one, knit 2 together for the entire round. (I actually have not put elastic in my wine cover, I quite like the rolled up effect, but may add it in at a later date.)

The first row after will be difficult to knit, you will still have 92 stitches.

Place stitch markers in each corner after 17, 29, 17, 29

Knit until it measures 4 cm

Tap hole created

We now continue with the single colour yarn A but we need to make a hole for the wine tap.  This means that we are not going to knit in the round for the next 8 rows, but will be knitting backwards and forwards...

K6, cast off 5 stitches, K6 (this is the first short side and would equate to 17 stitches)  Continue the row in knit.  As we have now cast off 5 stitches we will have to purl back on the next row and the following row will be knit.  Continue to alternate rows, knit and purl back and forth for 8 rows in total.

Beginning again on the short side K6, cast on 5 stitches and continue to knit to the end of the row. Continue to knit in the round for a further 2 rows.

Then begin your pattern or follow mine!  Remember that you will need to repeat the pattern twice on each row so that you have the short side pattern (in this case the hearts) followed by the long side pattern (in this case the deer) and need to repeat each again.

Chart for the long side
29 x 42

Chart for the short side
17 x 42

Here you see one long side and the front short side
(it has a red heart, the back short side does not)

Here we see the second long side with the deer
and the back short side, no red heart

Once you have completed the chart we need to begin to knit the top of the wine box cover.

Checking for size is very important

So to begin the decrease on the top of the wine box:

*K1, K2tog, K23, K2tog through the back loop, K2, K2tog, K11, K2tog through the back loop, K1* This completes half of the round, is one long side and one short side.  you now need to repeat between ** to complete the row, (88 stitches)

We are now going to repeat the above procedure on every row BUT where we have a run of knitting ie above K23 and K11 we need to reduce each one by 2 stitches each row, so the next row will be K21 and K19.

Continue with each rowing decreasing by 2 stitches until you are left with 7 stitches on the short side.  Cast off and if desired single crochet and the edge here where the handle should be and also around the tap hole on the short side.

Stitch markers so I knew where the corners were

Having made this during the summer I am delighted to bring this out now for the first time at Christmas.  I get pleasure every time I go to fetch myself a sneaky drink or three, hic ;)

Christmas  knitted wine box cover 

♥   We are almost into single figure count down to Christmas, yippee!  ♥

St Lucia Saffron Buns Christmas Cookies 5

December 14th

Free download of St Lucia vintage
images  St Lucia images 

Yesterday in Scandinavia was St Lucia day a day when young children dress in white and carry candles singing in parades.  All school children take part and it is sight and scene full of community spirit as many of the children's parades will take themselves along to old people's home and day centers.  It is a day when many are thankful for what they have and a tear is truly often shed.  It's an emotional and happy sharing day.  But what is St Lucia day?

According to many sources Lucy was a young christian girl who used to take food to persecuted Christians in Rome who were hiding in the catacombs of the city.  In order to carry the food and to be able to see in the dark catacombs it is thought she wore a crown of candles on her head to light the way.   In 304 AD she was killed for her beliefs and thereafter became a martyr.

On December 13th all over Scandinavia the St Lucia song is sung, lussekatter (saffron buns) are eaten, usually at breakfast time, but often throughout the day, parades take place and pepperkaker are handed out to one and all.
To listen to the St Lucia song:  St Lucia music

For a great explanation with bit of tongue in cheek, check out the Scandikitchen blog post all about St Lucia:  here

This year I tried a different recipe, because why not, it's from the Dane Trine Hannemann and was featured in The Guardian in 2011.  She is also topping the Hygge best seller book list at present, so I thought I would keep things current.

Lussekatter (saffron buns)

Adding saffron to the warm milk

MAKES ABOUT 22
fresh yeast 40g  not easy for those in the UK to get hold of so instead use  15g dry yeast
lukewarm milk 500ml 
saffron 5g
butter 200g, melted
plain flour 1kg 
caster sugar 100g 
raisins 75g

To finish:
raisins 
egg 1, beaten

Method

Yeast begins to froth

♥  Follow the directions on the dry yeast packet for mixing up the yeast.  Any liquid used at this stage must not be in addition to the milk, so it will therefore be necessary to reduce the milk amount accordingly.  

♥  Add saffron to the warm milk and stir until yellow.  When ready add the yeast mixture.

♥  Add the melted butter.

♥  In a separate bowl sift the flour and salt and then stir in the sugar.

Dough should come
away from the sides

♥  Pour the yeast mixture mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until the dough comes away as cleanly as possible from the edge of the bowl.

Adding the yeast mix to the dry

♥  Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface for 10 minutes, I find this really take it out of me, hard on the arms!  The dough should be shiny and not sticky at the end.

♥  Place the dough back in the bowl and allow to rise for 1.5 hours at room temperature.

The dough should be shiny
and not sticky after kneading

Let the dough rise for 1.5 hours

♥  Lightly knead the dough again and divide it into 22 equal parts.

 ♥  Roll each section into a sausage shape and then place on lined baking trays in the shape of the letter 'S' or other s think the shape looks like the number '8', making sure to tuck both ends under the bun itself.

♥  Place a raisin in each center of the 'S', see photos for clarification.   This is a very traditional shape for St Lucia Day, but others are also used.

♥  Leave to rise for a further 30 minutes covered with a clean tea towel.

♥  Brush each bun with beaten egg to glaze.

♥  Bake in the oven on 175 degrees for approximately 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Saffron buns ready for the second rise

♥  You can eat them as they are or spread with cold butter.

Lussekatter ready to eat

Along with the lussekatter it is traditional to eat pepperkaker on this day and to drink Gløgg, with friends, acquaintances and family,  what a great combination, what a lovely day.

For recipe click link:  Pepperkaker

For recipes clink on link:  Gløgg

♥  Keeping the Scandinavian traditions 

alive in the UK  ♥