The quote "there's a lot of beauty in ordinary things" which I've also posted here inspired me today to think of things I surround myself with on a daily basis that I find beautiful and inspiring. For me it's often small things like...
- the lining of my kimono which reminds me that there still is a lot of world to see and that I really would like to go to Japan
- my wooden stool "The Rockable" (designer Hans Sandgren Jakobsen) which makes me smile and reminds me that practicality doesn't have to be without humour (and believe it or not, it's quite comfortable)
- these small blue fish because I've started to like the colour blue and this little ensemble is from Ha Noi, Vietnam. My lack (laziness?) of planning forced me to stay there for a while and one day I bought this ... and decided that maybe it was time to return home
Last week we got plenty of snow and low temperatures to go with it. I found myself in northern zealand during the weekend, Fredensborg to be exact, which is where our Queen Margrethe II has her summer residence. It looked very pretty covered in white and I think this may be her favourite castle of all the castles she owns - but hey, who wouldn't love a cosy little shack like this? :-)
I talked to some people in the charming little town and they told me that seeing the royal family during the summer is a normal thing which, to the town's people, exudes an atmosphere of something very comforting and traditional. Maybe that's why the royal family is so popular - they are subdued but still strong personifications of all the values appreciated here.
I might as well tell you here and now that I'm the biggest consumer of clementines in Denmark during winter. It's actually nice to know that I help keep the Spanish orchards running. I've discovered a few facts about these amazing little fruits and also that I owe my life to a priest!!!
I'm usually not into details (like Jackie Kennedy said "let's not complicate things) so I, along with many others, make the mistake of referring to clementines as mandarins and that is not correct!! These tiny sweet citrus fruits we buy during winter are clementines and not mandarins.
The story goes that in 1902 Pierre Clément, a priest from Algeria, succeeded in crossing the mandarin with another citrus fruit; the Seville Orange - and thus the clementine was born. This lovely citrus fruit is immensely popular in Denmark.
I love everything about the clementine: the beautiful orange peel, the juicy pulp, the intensive, sweet and refreshing taste and that it's easy to peel. The clementine is almost seedless but if you do find a few in there the tree has most likely grown close to a lemon tree and been pollinated by it (isn't that interesting - I didn't know that!)
Each year we consume about 6 kg. clementines pr. person and half of it is around christmas. When you look for a bag of clementines make sure the peel doesn't have spots or marks on it and hold them in your hand as a perfect clementine will be heavy compared to its small size.
I sort of owe my life to Pierre Clément. I certainly will send him a kind thought when the pile of clementine peelings are getting sky high. Apart from orange being my favourite colour I also find it very beautiful against the grey skies which seems to be the dominant colour in Denmark right now.
Mette from Mettes Paris doesn't know this but I got so excited about a recipe she posted on her blog (click here) that I printed it out and tried it this evening - and it was so delicious and perfect for this time of year (it's still freezing outside.)
The salty soy sauce and sweet honey mixed with meat and apricots and the dashes of fresh coriander balanced the palate exactly to my liking. I won't post a picture of my scraped plate but instead say thanks so much (- Mette, you beat The Little Paris Kitchen - it's still standing nicely on the shelf) :-)
Make sure to check out her blog about life in Paris as it's become one of my favourites. Mette's useful advice from where to eat, what to see and do and which parisian purchases to make (her blog honestly has the best suggestions for souvenirs that I've ever come across) only added to my trip last spring. Oh yes, she also has a wonderful sense of humor which shines through and often makes me laugh out loud. I've never met her but feel I know her a little and is happy to think of her as a friend that I look forward to meeting one day.
Enjoy and Velbekomme!
