Snack and pølser

What do people eat on the go in Denmark? Pancakes? Kebabs? Well, sure but that is not the most typical option, which is pølser (hot dogs). How can you cook this monument of Danish cuisine yourself?
Well, very complex indeed ;-) You will need:
- Sausages
- Hot-dog rolls
- Danish style mustard not too strong and a little sweet
- Ketchup
- Grilled onions (can be bought already prepared, it's easier and it smells so bad when you cook it yourself, they are very strong those Danish!)
- Slices of pickled gherkins, "Russian" style
- Optional: chopped fresh onion. Sorry, we did not have any for the photo!
Preparation: Heat the sausage (possibly also the bread), open the bread lengthwise and place the sausage inside (and everything else...)
You will say: "Okay, but everything will fall when you eat it!". Well yes! That is the funny part!
Bon appétit!

Candles, candles...

Candles are a big part of everyday life in Denmark. This is especially true at this time of the year that once we get home I start by lighting up the dozen (at least) of candles stanging on my window ledges. In design shops, the choice of candles and candle holders is endless ... You can also spots huge candles or lanterns in the streets, they are used to frame the entrance to shops and restaurants. Big oil lamps as well, which is sometimes a little dangerous for the tourist wearing long coats! In our first flat (rented furnished), there was 5 candle holders and a bag of 100 candles (the biggest bag I have seen in a shop so far had not less than 500 candles in it), that explains a bit how important this is to the basic Danish survival kit.

Pølsehorn

Well, I have two ways to start this message.
The first: here is a typical Danish recipe that is very suitable for children!
The second: as I am a real sucking cook, I am only cooking when it is level 0 cooking (remember the cake for dummies!)
The recipe of the day: pølsehorn!
Ignredients:
- a specially tailored and precut pølsehorn dough
- a few sausages


Open the package, flaten the dough on a clean surface, wet the edges of the dough. All the recipe magic is in the way you'll manage to wrap the sausage in the dough as a croissant ...

You can also try the ketchup alternative (more messy) or the cheese one (more calories).


Bake as indicated on the dough packaging. The hardest part is to wait until the cooking is done...

And voila! Within minutes, you managed to cook a typical meal Danish (1)that will delight children (even some adults!) (2) that nearly any cooking beginner can manage!

Blog action day: water

Why the "Water" theme for Blog Action day 2010?

Right now, almost a billion people on the planet don’t have access to clean, safe drinking water. That’s one in eight of us who are subject to preventable disease and even death because of something that many of us take for granted.

Access to clean water is not just a human rights issue. It’s an environmental issue. An animal welfare issue. A sustainability issue. Water is a global issue, and it affects all of us.

Bottled Water: Even though people in the US have access to clean water from their taps, they drink an average of 200 bottles of water per person each year. Over 17 million barrels of oil are needed to manufacture those water bottles, 86 percent of which will never be recycled.

Here in Denmark, I have stop using bottled water and bought a "Drikkedunk" for a while now. You can find them in a lot of shops, including pharmacies, and they come in different colours. The plastic they use is free for toxic elements, of course probably not all of them, but at least I don't feel responsible for creating hundred of kilos of extra trash every year.

Compulsive snacking options

As everyone knows, the Danes are craving for snacks. You just have to look at the assortment offered by kiosks, candy merchants, sausage stands, and so on ...
Recent example at work: as if all the sugar that my colleagues have on their desk wasn't enough, a box of candy and chocolates appeared with a help yourself system - a little money box on its side (this also illustrates how much trust people have in each other here).

Of course, Danes realized that this sugar extravaganza might not be so healthy after all, so healthy options are also heavily available. At work, it is easy to get its hand on the classic carrot and mini cucumber, alongside more traditionnal fruits...

Other healthy treats are also commun, like the knækbrød (a kind of very dry toast) or peas.
Healthy versus sugar: the fight has just begun! Wonder who is going to win ;-)

Floating hotel

Are you looking up for an original hotel for your next trip in Copenhagen? Well, if you are not sea sick, you might consider staying at CPH living, a boat hotel!

Even if this idea is well know already, as for example in Holland, the idea of the hotel boat only appeared in Copenhagen in 2008. After a few years, the hotel is still there, but it doesn't seem the idea has been copied, at least not yet.
Of course, hotels in Copenhagen aren't cheap and a room there will cost you at least a 1000 dkk, but for that price, you will get a unrivaled view on the Copenhagen harbor! And on a sunny day (maybe next summer!), you can enjoy sun chairs on the deck...

You can find the hotel close by Langebro, nearly opposite of the Black Diamond. It is practicly the beginning of our New architecture in Islands Brygge walk.

Is it safe to cycle?

Copenhagen City also uses another argument in its Let's cycle campaign: Safety!


Translation : "You are safer on your bike than on your sofa!". And the small prints add: "The lack of physical activity affects your health, whereas physical activity maintains your body healthy and in good shape".
Yeah right, but at least, I never fell off my sofa ;-)