All posts tagged: happiness

Find Your Inner “Bad Mom”! “The Perfect Mom” doesn’t exist anyway…

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What is it about being a mom that makes us feel like we have to be completely perfect? As soon as you give birth, you are under some sort of pressure that never existed before. Just the title “mom” comes with so many demands, so many opinions and so many critics – most of them probably from ourselves. And not only do you have to be perfect in how you dress your kids, raise them, feed them, interact with their schools and arrange after school activities, no you have to be perfect in every single area of your whole entire life! For example, before I had kids I had no problem having friends over when my house wasn’t just cleaned that very same day. Now, everything has to be almost spotless before I will let anyone in. I even have to convince myself that five year old kids won’t tell on me to their parents if they notice it has been a week since the bathroom was cleaned! We probably all want to look like …

Healthy Hygge Foods and Natural Cold Remedies: An Interview with Superfoods on Main

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If there is one place that always makes me feel great it is the Superfoods on Main cafe in Mount Airy, Maryland. And I do not mean the kind of “great” that lasts for about thirty minutes, I am talking about feeling great for days! Superfoods on Main is a cafe with a homey cozy atmosphere that reminds me of some cafes in Copenhagen. Meanwhile, their drinks and foods are mainly raw, organic and vegan which means you get both hygge and healthy energy there. Maybe even better is that my two young children love going there for a colorful smoothie and time in the play corner. So on this cold and snowy morning I decide to venture out to meet raw foods chef, Darlene Union, and nutritionist, Elina Jelena-Kopic Myers, co-owners of Superfoods on Main to talk about healthy hygge foods and how to be healthy in the Winter months. Darlene and Elina always seem happy and energetic – the living proof that a raw or vegan lifestyle really works and I am eager …

Happy Foods

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Our January started off with constant colds and coughs and the Arctic blast with many snow days stuck inside. So my hope of kicking off the new year with a healthy and active lifestyle has been on hold. The result is that I feel like “a hanged cat” (a Danish expression) being dragged around from the kids wake up at 6:30 am till I crash on the couch as soon as they go to bed. Being a couch potato was not exactly my new years resolution and I am determined to find a better way to get through the cold Winter months. All the hygge foods I have been advocating on this blog, like cakes and hot chocolate, bring me a sweet momentary happiness. This is why I have decided to give me, my family and this blog a healthy vitamin shot with foods that provide the energy we need to be happy and active all day long. I will also discover healthy hygge foods that won’t send us on a sugar crash shortly after …

Interview with Iben Sandahl: Play – The Danish Way

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It is a beautiful sunny day in August and I am going to meet bestselling author Iben Sandahl for cafe hygge and an interview about her new book Play – The Danish Way. Excited to finally meet one of the two authors behind The Danish Way of Parenting I show up early at Cafe Mig og Annie in Lyngby, Denmark. Before I even begin to get nervous if she has forgotten about me, I see her arrive outside right on time. Even though I have never met her before I just know it is her. There is something radiant about her – the way she carries herself. She is stylish and beautiful yet relaxed and friendly and I immediately feel comfortable knowing that this is going to be a pleasant and interesting interview. We find a table outside in the late-summer sun. While we warm up on big cups of cafe latte and green tea we start talking. Mostly about me. Iben is so engaging and warm that I almost forget that we are also …

Realization upon Returning from Denmark

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  Just returned from Denmark and I wish I could have brought back all the people and places I love there, the beautiful design and local foods. But upon recovering from travel fatigue I realize that I am bringing home something far more important… a realization you can call it. That every place has its qualities and weaknesses and that being in Denmark is no guarantee for happiness. In fact, I feel happy to see my home in America again, my friends and my town that welcomes me back. Maybe the most important thing I am bringing home is this realization that the perfect country does not exist anywhere. Happiness is more of an attitude to life. An appreciation of what we have and a letting go of the yearning for what we do not have. This is something the Danes, generally speaking, are pretty good at. Taking time to enjoy things and people they love. Doing something joyful and relaxing is important to people of all kinds and ages. It clears our minds, we …

Danish Pancakes

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It seems that every country has its own version of pancakes – Denmark included. Some would say there is nothing more Danish than pancakes and that Danish pancakes are certainly a way to Danish happiness. Danish pancakes are typically an afternoon treat that often end up becoming dinner as well because the kids will eat so many that there is no room for anymore food that day. They are very similar to French crepes, topped with whatever you like but strawberry/raspberry jam and powdered sugar is the most classic version. I guess the Danes just love their red and whites! I enjoy a summer version with fresh berries and powdered sugar sprinkled on top. Banana slices and nutella works too.   Danish Pancake Recipe Ingredients: 4 eggs 8 deciliter/3 cups whole milk 400 gram/14 ounces all-purpose flour 2 tbsp sugar 1/4 tsp salt 1/4 tsp vanilla extract Butter for frying How you make them: In a medium sized bowl beat together the eggs and flour while adding the milk a little at a time. When the …

Friday Cake: Lemon Cake

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Friday is back and it is time to get in the mood for the weekend and hopefully lots of hygge! These last couple of days the bright Spring sun has been hiding behind grey clouds. So my daughter and I have decided to make a little piece of sunshine in a cake. Here is our lemon cake as yellow as the sun and the daffodils. Its tartness will energize you and bring that Spring vitality back! I love cakes that you have to cut. They just seem more hyggelige because they are ideal for sharing and togetherness – unless you plan on eating the whole thing by yourself of course… My mother-in-law remembers how lemon cake was one of the cakes they had at the coffee table on the farm on Funen in Denmark. The recipe is based on one of those old family recipes and I have just made a few adjustments to it. Originally the cake is baked in a bread form but I think a round cake will give more of that sunny feeling …

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 – by a Dane in America

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As a Dane living in America I could not be any happier about the recent invasion of hygge to the United States and a lot of other countries! I love American culture and Americans. Especially their openness to new cultures and immigrants and their willingness to embrace what is new and different. But there is one thing I have been missing during the seven years of living here and that is a slower pace, more family time and the ability to just enjoy the moment – in other words: hygge! Many Americans are very busy, their kids are very busy/active and I believe a little more down time would do us all well. This has become of extra interest to me as I am raising my children in America and I want them to be as happy as the Danes. My favorite example of the difference between Americans and Danes is how coffee is mostly “on the go” over here while in Denmark it is typically something you enjoy sitting down, preferably while talking with a friend. I had …

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!