winter promises

photo by flickriver.

autumn have definitely taken over the entire city of copenhagen. yellow leaves are everywhere, it's freezing and suddenly all i want to do is cuddle up in front of my computer with my SAD lamp, a thick woolly sweater and a cup of roasted chicory and cocoa tea.
every autumn i get the weirdest feeling of misanthropy and can't imagine that summer will ever return.
but i also want to spend time with my friends, go out to visit museums, listen to tons of jazz and cook amazing dinners with mushrooms and pumpkin and cabbage.
yes, autumn have definitely returned.

i think the main reason i feel a slight dislike towards autumn is because i get SAD big time. last year was the first year i didn't feel like sleeping straight for 4 months, and even so it wasn't exactly FUN. but with a mixture of my SAD lamp, lots of exercise and nutrient rich food + spending a ton of time with my friends and generally staying positive, it wasn't all that bad.

this is why this year i am going to make a list of my winter promises to myself.
a list of things i want to achieve this winter. goals. things to do. i don't like floating around feeling like i have no purpose.

so here we go:

-i want to run again. not a whole lot, but 2-3 times a week.
-i want to get back into yoga.
-i have to use my SAD lamp religiously. every. single. day.
-i want to read books for fun! even though school is hard, i should still be able to manage a few books during the winter.
-i want to go to a bunch of jazz concerts. because jazz warms me up from inside. preferably with miss Kajsa and other lovely friends.
-i want to start having theme dinners. like a mexican dinners with real mexican food and a movie about frida kahlo and mexican culture. and a russian dinner with borscht, pickled mushrooms with dill and russian rye bread and a documentary about Evgeny Mokhorev or a russian movie about love. japanese dinner and a movie about contemporary japanese art. oldschool spanish food. food from african countries.
-i want to find a few good cafés where i can bring my computer and study.
-i want to spend some more time on making our apartment really nice. like finding a good shoe storage solution. and getting some art up on the walls. because a nice home is really important to my mood.
-i want to photograph more. i like the way you look at things differently when you think about them as a photo. it's really interesting and brings out the beauty in the little things.
-i want to get used to being all alone. not being in a relationship which is set in stone. to be me. learn to love the solitude. rely on my friends instead.
-i want to schedule my time better, so i can work hard in my study time and relax when i am not studying. i think it will be an important tool in order for me to get through school without stressing out.
-i want to do more projects.
-i want to spend more time actually doing stuff with my friends: going to louisiana, kunstindustrimuseet, charlottenborg, cinemateket, and basically use the city a little more, instead of always drinking coffee and talking.
-i want to go out for walks. it clears your head and can be the perfect setting for interesting discussions. and i really really like interesting discussions.
-i want to do more serious creative work. build stuff. think up stuff. prioritize my time so that i don't end up doing it inbetween other things.
-i want to find some sort of interesting class to do, maybe croquis or some other drawing class?
-i want to start writing again. i used to write a lot when i was younger, and i really liked it. and i am good at writing. i want to get back into it. maybe just as a journal and definitely just for myself, but i think it would be really interesting and healthy.
-i want to take my niece and her lovely mom out to do fun stuff for kids. go to the children's theatre or koncerts. or just play with playdough and bake cookies.
-i want to write more letters. i love getting letters and i love writing them. they're cheap to send and can be a great way to make sure people know how much you love and appreciate them.
-and for once i want to have a chilled out christmas. make handmade gifts, cook delicious food, get out of the christmas craze. just enjoy it.

so that's a ton of things, but i want to work on it all. even if only to try it out, see if it fits me. i don't want to let the cold and the darkness get to me. not this year. nope.

i'm interested - what are your plans for the winter?

xoxo

Vegan MoFo #1: how to make perfect pancakes

little brother + pile of pancakes

pancakes (or american pancakes as we say here - we call crepes pancakes. crazy world, huh?) are one of my favorite things on a lazy sunday. a bunch of steamy, soft, sweet pancakes with dark agave syrup or raspberry jam - nothing beats that! so what's a better topic for my first Vegan Mofo post?

it took me some time to perfect the recipe, because it's really a matter of a mix of things - but basically i found that in order to make perfect pancakes you have to
1) keep working with the pancake dough if it's not working for you
2) bake them at a low heat setting
3) use a non-stick pan (i use a greenpan or my crepe pan)

the last two things are really crucial on order to keep the pancakes from sticking to the pan and making a mess.

here's the recipe:

3 cups of soy- rice or almond milk
1/4 cup oil
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3 cups all purpose flour
2 tbs baking powder
2 tsp cardamom
2 tsp vanilla
(you can add some lemon peel or other flavourings if you want to - even chocolate chips, frozen berries or whatever. i'm a lemon/blueberry girl myself!)

mix the liquids, add in the flour, baking powder and spices. mix well.
heat up your pan at the lowest or almost lowest heat setting (depending on your stove). when the pan is hot you add 1/4 cup of dough per pancake - it should spread out as a perfect circle, creating a completely round and pretty pancake. if it doesn't, add a bit more flour or liquid.
when the dough has baked all the way through, you flip the pancake and let it bake for another minute or so.

repeat about a million times. serve with syrup, jam, peanutbutter, homemade nutella or whatever you want to. if you want to get fancy, make a lemon créme or some poached peaches or serve with some sliced tangerines.

this recipe makes enough for about 4 hungry people on a hungover sunday. you can halve the recipe if you don't feel like inviting over a bunch of people.

HUSH HUSH #7 - the pictures + the next HUSH HUSH party.

Here's the pictures from Hush Hush #7 at Skt. Petri Hotel, Bar Rouge.
guess what we just got with the mail last week? yes, it was in fact the invitation for the next Hush Hush party! it will be next saturday at Bar Rouge once again - read all about it here. Go register if you want to come!

I'm sure you can convince them to let you in if you're a little too late for registration but can't live without going.

We'll see you there!

xoxo

D & K.

The DJ's of the evening, Rob Davy and Dylan Barnes of Mutiny.

we had an entire interview written out, but due to miss K and her drunken writing i can't read it. what i CAN read is that Dylan describes himself as a bit geeky, a natural blonde who likes the football club Epswich and love the cats. He has 1000s of trainers and t-shirts and i'm preeetty sure it says he likes Adidas and cares about how stuff he buy is produced. also, he likes girls. (hello random notes..)

Rob told us that his favorite label is Diesel and he doesn't really care too much about fairtrade. He does not buy fur but "I eat everything". He kept insisting that he's not a deep person and that he doesn't feel famous, and that he is not into young girls.

see, we made an effort! although, mostly we just had fun with them, because they were really nice and they did an awesome job with the music. also, british people seem to know how to party.

art by: rahbek









Yara Monteiro & Menno Bosma
he is in a Dolce Gabbana suit with a white shirt and white sneaks. "white shirts and white sneaks are kind of like a fetish for me".
she is in a white Cloé dress. "i asked my boyfriend if i should do chic or sexy. he said "chic is always sexy, sexy isn't always chic"".






Andreas Ranch & Jacob Søndergaard Weile
"Alt det andet var til vask".

photo courtesy of Mads Damgaard and Signe Birck.