she was perfect. goodbye dearest friend. see you on the other side.

cough cough… life with a dog THIS dog is…

• doggy treats in all possible pockets of our clothes and bags
• open windows 24/7 that he could breathe normally and not like someone is torturing him
• knowing the names of all neighbourhood dogs and none of their owners ( girl ”we met Hanibal today” boy ”WHO?!” girl ”Hanibal! And his owner” boy ”oh! Who is his owner actually?” girl ”that person… well, you know! Hanibal’s owner!” )
• long ( and i mean looooooooooooooooong ) walks around kronborg and barking on fishermen ( usually it’s not me barking… just sayin’ )
• girls attention every step we make ”oooooooooooh! He’s soooooooooooo cute!”… kinda feels like owning Brad Pitt ( sorry, Brad ;) )

• learning all round abouts and wonders in the tiniest streets of the town… to avoid previously mentioned attention
• cuddling in the bed for a nap in the middle of the day

• and totally lost look ”so you not gonna nap with me?! What is that?!”
• baking wedding cake while certain SOMEONE is barking at you or holds your foot with his teeth ALL THE TIME
• saying sit so many times, that when you hear SIT from someone else you sit down yourself and expect a treat
• finding your plate empty after you stood up to get more tea… do pears with gorgonzola and wallnuts sound good for dogs…?
• the boy being kicked out of bed at night. though it’s not always MISTER’s fault… ups :)
• being imprisoned in bed / chair… as long as you don’t move ALL DAY

specialists say he is in his teenagehood these days… i’d say it’s the antichrist phase!

NOMA!

i love fairy-tales! not sure i believe them all though… but i choose to believe this one :)

What is excellence? Why do some people stand out? What makes us wonder at their skill, the amazing things they create? What is that thing that sets some people apart?

Of course there is talent. Some people are more talented in certain areas. But a big part is also being picky and critical. To set some standards and keep working on getting it right. When a band goes to the studio to record a new song, they re-take it over and over and over again – you don’t see all the mistakes. For instance all would (or should) agree that Ernest Hemingway is a fantastic and talented writer. Did he just sit down and write novels like “The Old Man and the Sea”? Oh no. To quote him in a conversation with F. Scott Fitzgerald:

“I write one page of masterpiece to ninety one pages of shit,” Hemingway confided to F. Scott Fitzgerald in 1934. “I try to put the shit in the wastebasket.”

That is what is excellence for me. To keep trying and trying, and realising what is the crap you should get rid off. I also see this in the girl though she is hard pressed to admit to her excellence. Her pictures are phenomenal. That doesn’t mean every picture she takes is perfect, but she recognizes which are not and discards them. Making 100 attempts of getting something right doesn’t make you crap. Recognizing the one right piece and get rid of the rest – that creates excellence.

And not only in creative works, but also in life in general. If we all just got everything right at the first attempt, life wouldn’t be the roller-coaster experience that is cherished – it would be sterile. Life is an ongoing work towards excellence – excellence in living. You keep making attempts of creating pleasure and good times for yourself and many people unfortunately finds themselves not entirely satisfied. What you need to do is keep going at filling your pages in new ways, until you find the one that is just right for you. Few do that at first attempt, but i believe we all have the means for a good life within us. It is about discarding the crap that fills up your life, physically and mentally, so just the right thing will be left. It may not be much, but it will be excellent.

little noses covered in flour

foggy images of piggy shaped cookies

old wooden floor and naps on them

smoked sea salt crystal on chocolate cupcakes

my “ two-story” oven

sugar powder which looks like snow

sun bunnies on his white fur

cakes which comes out right

lunch and naps

new beginnings

today we’re scooping red cabbage salad with feta and fresh mint. Others, on the other hand, are licking cream from iron chocolate cupcakes and thinking that we are ku ku to choose salad over sweetness* :)

ps

*we think we’re ok, but that’s a whole new discussion :)

inspired by amazing Anna

to me it’s pretty… first of all :) i’ve heard it’s tasty too but i’m a bad judge here. Though i would LOVE to lick smoked sea salt from them :) Have you ever tried smoked salt? DIVINE!

cupcakes:

• 1 cup boiling water
• 42g good quality cocoa powder
• 150g + 2 Tbsp flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp smoked sea salt
• 112g butter, soft (make sure it’s unsalted) (112g)
• 200g + 2 Tbsp sugar
• 2 eggs ( from happy chicken ;) )

preheat the oven to170C or even 180C.

make cocoa from cup of hot water and those 42g of cocoa powder you set aside. Let it stand and cool down. You, on the other hand, do not stand or cool down – you keep working :). Mix together dry ingredients – flour, soda, baking powder, salt. Take other bowl and cream butter with sugar until they are one fluffy mixture. For that you can use mixer or your very own hand and a wooden spoon ( this i recomend only if you have such a… mmm… any sound sensetive neighbour like we have ). Now add eggs. First one and then mix. Second egg and mix again.

At this point you should have 2 bowls with dry and wet ingredients. And a cup with cocoa. Into butter and egg mixture pour cocoa bit by bit and flour with co. Mix. Don’t forget to mix :)

Pour cupcake batter into forms and bake them for 20 minutes or until they are baked :). I use old iron muffin form with cute paper cups in it. You can think “what a great idea that is!” and follow me or use silicone muffin forms and no paper cups :)

While cupcakes are baking you continue to work. Let’s make frosting!

frosting:

• 340g dark 85% chocolate
• 340g heavy cream

Break chocolate into pieces and put  them into the bowl. heat heavy cream in the pot until it starts boiling. Don’t leave it boiling for a long time! Pour it over the chocolate and mix. Mix it until chocolate melts into cream completely. Let the cream cool down and then put it into a piping bag.

Now let the fun begin! On the cooled cupcakes ( you did take cupcakes out of the oven, right? ) pipe cream and sprinkle them with crystals of smoked sea salt

expert’s opinion:
What a trip! As i took a bite of this cupcake, you feel the tasty strong dark bittersweet chocolate, put on top of the cupcake base – and after a moment the feel the true sea saltiness come rushing, giving a special treat.

i have an affair. A long time affair. Passionate. Never ending.

An affair with RED CABBAGE*!

• red cabbage
• pinch of sugar
• pinch of salt
• red onion
• handfull of fresh mint leaves
• some pumpkin seeds to sprinkle on salad
• lemon zest
• olive oil
• salt and peper
• feta cheese

cut cabbage into nice, thin and curly strings, put them into the bowl, sprinkle with sugar and salt. Mix it and leave in peace.

chop the onion and mint ( gather all mint leaves, roll them together like a… cigarette ( i know i KNOW! ) and then chop not lifting knife from the cutting board. This makes easy to cut any herbs. Learn it and use it ;) ).

heat small frying pan ( though i’ve heard that size doesn’t matter ;) ) and fry a BIT pumpkin seeds. Toss them into the bowl with red cabbage. Also add chopped onion and mint. Now pour some olive oil into the salad, add grated lemon zest, pepper, salt and crumbled feta cheese. Mix. Step back to admire the view and now DIG IN!

enjoy :)

ps

*i have few more affairs… with beets, cheese, sea salt… oh, don’t get me started here! :)

So, Friday evening i was out walking with Aragon. The usual trip around the streets and with him jumping up on every other person we met.  He is just a puppy after all.

So we were walking down the main shopping street, when a couple came walking past -and  the lady started talking with Aragon, who was mightily pleased to get attention. Then the man asked me, if i know Claus (Claus is our local antique dealer and the friendliest person ever) … “you know, him with an antique shop just down the street there”. I said yes, I certainly know him. “Do your wife bake?” he asked.

I answered definitely, wondering where all of this was leading. Had Claus giving them cake samples? What had he told about my wifes bakings? Who were these people?

So the man said “well, we have that cafe over there” and pointed to our favourite cafe (favourite without us actually having been there together, but still – it is a cosy cosy place), and we would really like to talk to your wife about baking for us. And then i was like “!!!!!”. So they just walked up to me on the street to ask if my wife could bake for them? I said that i would most certainly talk with my wife, and I started running with Aragon to get home and tell, and as chance would have it, i met them again as I arrived at my front door – they were walking to their car! Destiny?!? We talked a bit more, and i promised to drop by the day after.

The girl of course went into an elated overdrive and hardly slept all night, not believing what actually happened. “How? Really? Are you sure? It can’t be! Is it?” I mean, this is a dream she didn’t even dare to dream. It was planned to bake cheesecake for Saturday…

so that we did and then early Saturday we dropped by the cafe with it. Just talked shortly about it all, before we went down to Claus and looked around – he has an antique store with many interesting things. As we stood there, the lady from the cafe came running in.

“That cake is amazing! You know, we are now getting cakes delivered from this conditor, Mette Blomsterberg, who have won Danish and European championship and was number 2 at the world championship – and you know … you are just as good!” Then she ran back to the cafe, and we stood there in haze … what is happening?

So after some annoyance that they were closed on Sunday, the baking started for real. Mondays menu consisted of: chocolate pie with pecan crust, espresso truffles and ginger cookies with sugar coating. All day it was the girl in the kitchen, working her magic. Can’t remember her being so exhausted going to bed, but there wasn’t much sleep – it was all excitement. How is it going to go? Will they like it? Will anyone buy? And what about the money? So at least we agreed that i would deal with the finances. For now at least. She just focus on baking.

Monday came and we made the big delivery. A lot of delivery, so i went there two times first before i walked there with the girl. From then on it was waiting. Anxious as we were, the girl walked past the shop several times seeing if there were cut anything of the cake. As it was, when we drop by for a cup of coffee late in the afternoon, there had been taken quite a bit of it all – with many compliments from the customers, who first thought it was from the famous conditor. But no, it was our own little girl who was the mastermind!

This is just the beginning. Today we dropped off a test of her pesto (yummi), and have also agreed to make some yoghurt and granola, something they would like to add to the menu. It is all stacking up nicely!

ps

NO, we didn’t took this cake to the cafe! SOMEONE took care that it would stay at home :)

happiness. pure happiness that is. you know that feeling, right? when the morning comes and you open your eyes with no nowadays rush. they slowly start jumping around the tiny attic bedroom. grey cotton pillow case (i really should get my act together and stitch something on it! maybe a love letter to HIM? oh, how i love those… ), old wooden bed frame, cuddly white fur on it, blinking blue eye of our warrior… then your glance climbs up. a bit. and pops through the window – street lamp hanging above cobblestoned street ( is it cobblestones in our tiny street? have to check! ), sleepy neighbourhood windows and fading out moon above.

no rush. no annoyance. just you and the time. your time. and that pure feeling. clean slate. happiness? i’d say it is. here’s where my morning starts. how it starts.

the sound of a cracking eggshell. zip of hot black BLACK coffee. hand gently sliding through warm doggy fur ( it smells like hazelnuts! ). pen carefully laying down day’s plan on the sheet of calender. striped sheet. “8.30 walk with mister Aragon. 11.00 walk to the forest to pick up branch with pine cones. 13.45 start baking dark chocolate muffins with lavender cream. 18.08 pick HIM up from the train station”. and the day starts unfold. nice. and easy. happiness? i’m sure it is.

sun rises. and the magic begins. mixed up with slight smell of vanilla and lavender, keyboard rattlings, warmth from the kitchen, steps on the stairs and stilettos dancing in the snow. some rocky tune? i’d say so :) happiness? definitely. of my own.

it’s nice. and easy. that happiness of mine. filled with simple things. that pure feeling. and THIS. and cheese :)

today we’re scooping “smoked almond pesto”