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Review: The Little Book of Hygge

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I began reading Meik Wiking’s The Little Book of Hygge in the waiting area of my daughter’s dance class and it instantly brought me to the country of beautiful design homes with the perfect hygge lighting and warm drinks on dark winter days. That is what hygge is all about! Transforming an ordinary event like waiting at a dance class into something pleasant that brings us a dose of simple pleasure and appreciation of life every day. Hygge can be found in most places, even in your work place by bringing in i.e. a nice couch for meetings, creating traditions of cake or shared meals on Fridays or just some flowers or tea candles on darker days. The Little Book of Hygge is definitely one of my new favorites – a classic that shall always stay on my book shelf for my Danish-American husband, children and myself to be reminded of the best part of Danish culture, hygge. Just by looking at the cover and browsing through the beautiful simple illustrations you somehow feel hygge. As a …

Hygge, Coffee and Cake in the Good Old Days

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The old photograph above from the early 1900s captures the essence of what hygge (togetherness/coziness) is. My Danish mother-in-law found it in an antique store in a town called Ørbæk on the southern Danish island Funen where she is from. Growing up on a farm on Funen she experienced this kind of hygge herself. She told me that they used to get coffee and cake three times a day! First at 11 am they would have coffee and cake, then at 3 pm they would have coffee, cake and cookies and at 8 pm they would have coffee, cake and cookies again!! And they did not just eat a piece of cake while doing something else. No, the family would sit down together for coffee and cake three times daily and of course also for the three main meals! Imagine all this togetherness/hygge throughout the day? I cannot help but wonder how they found time for this but maybe that would be the case if we got rid of all electronics? I bet the total …

International Hygge Day February 28

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The British hygge blog Howtohyggethebritishway.com has nominated this upcoming Tuesday February 28 2017 to become the first International Hygge Day! People are encouraged to have some hygge on that day and maybe share hygge photos on their social media followed by #internationalhyggeday You can read about the new hygge day on this blog post from howtohyggethebritishway.com International Hygge Day I am pretty sure International Hygge Day here at our house is going to involve lots of pastries (preferably homemade), hot chocolate, coffee, candles, flowers, nature, books and just hanging out together. So get your hygge on and do something nice and hyggeligt on Tuesday!

Hygge on On Point Today!

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Today’s topic on WBUR’s On Point is Hygge! I cannot WAIT to hear what my favorite radio host Tom Ashbrook (except for maybe Frasier) has to say about Danish happiness and hygge:-)) Here is the link: “Forget Your Troubles, Come On, Get Hygge” On Point So go grab your favorite cup of coffee and enjoy when you get a chance!

Happy 1st Sunday of Advent

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    Today Danes celebrate that it is the first Sunday of Advent before Christmas Eve. They do this by turning on one candle in an Advent wreath of four candles because it is the first Sunday of Advent out of four. This is a wonderful excuse to get cozy with your family around the lighted Advent wreath and to let the Christmas hygge begin!      

Danish Bakery and Restaurant in NYC

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I am so excited about the new Danish bakery at Grand Central Station in NYC! It is called Meyers Bageri and is run by one of the best and most famous Danish chefs, Claus Meyer. He recently received nothing less than three Michelin stars for two of his newly opened restaurants in Manhattan and Brooklyn! As you can see on the photos the bakery is full of charm and atmosphere in the Great Northern Food Hall, Grand Central. My food loving husband was able to go there and had froesnapper and tebirkes – some delicious flaky pastries with just the right amount of sweet cream and poppy seeds on top. He bought a half dozen each for a  wonderful customer of his and reports back they tasted excellent and were just like in Denmark. When I go there within the next month I will definitely try those, plus the cinnamon buns and rye bread and probably much more… Maybe I will just try everything 😉  

Happy Thanksgiving – the Danish Way

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  At this time of the year American magazines are full of articles with advice on how to get through Thanksgiving without conflicts and how to handle difficult family members. I think Americans could use a little of the Danish cultural concept of “hygge” (coziness/togetherness). If there is one thing Danes are really good at, it is to enjoy festive events with family and friends because we have this tradition of hygge. Last night I visited thedanishway.com website and read an article about how the world is taking on hygge. Hygge is first and foremost about having a good and relaxing time together. There is almost an unspoken rule in Denmark not to let family strifes and disagreements ruin social celebrations like Christmas and birthdays. Disputes, everyday stress and negativity are left on the front steps and saved for later. Link to “hygge” article Another great article about Danish “hygge” So when you get together with your family and/or friends this Thanksgiving focus on having a good and relaxing time and save whatever bothers you …

Scandinavian Christmas Gnomes

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Most of us love the kind of Christmas we grew up with and of course I think that Danish Christmas is the best! There are so many cozy and old-fashioned Christmas traditions throughout the whole month of December in Denmark, many of them originating from old farm life. Like the Christmas gnomes (“nisser” in Danish) that used to tease farmers if they didn’t give them any rice porridge. To avoid nisse-mischief Danish farmers used to put a bowl of rice porridge topped with cinnamon and butter up in the hay loft for their own little gnome. To this day, Danes decorate their houses with little gnomes in December. Scandinavian Design Made By Trine & Angelica makes the cutest little Christmas gnomes and forest animals. Each little gnome has so much life and personality that they will definitely fill your Christmas with some good old mischief!  The company is owned by a talented Swede and Dane living in America and they design and produce everything themselves. The gnomes cost between $25 and $55 and can be bought …

Day Trip to the Countryside

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I just remembered that it was farms like Knill’s Farm that made us move to Maryland… They just have a certain old charm. You can buy many fresh farm foods there while kids can try a lot of fall activities for free. My son really enjoyed playing with farm vehicles in the kettle corn but there is also a hay teepee and a hay maze. And just to see all those pumpkins and breathe some fresh country air made me happy.