"It tastes like home"

And a little robin...

Hejsa!

It has turned pretty cold. Frost on the roofs and the grass that lingers well into the day. Not quite as cold as in Denmark, mind. I spoke with my parents yesterday and they are having -5°C (23°F). Maybe we will actually get some snow at the weekend…

It’s all feeling a bit Christmas-y. I baked Danish Christmas biscuits earlier this week, and yesterday we put up our decorations. (Aside: the word biscuit sounds like it should be spelled bisquit…)

And this week I also made risalamande, the Danish Christmas dessert. It is a rice pudding mixed with chopped almonds and whipped cream, served with a warm cherry sauce. The cherry sauce is available from a couple of Scandi shops in the UK but it is kind of expensive with the shipping plus it is only me who eats it (and sometimes Tony’s dad) so it seems a bit wasteful to spend that much money on it. I also usually forget to order the sauce early enough so the smaller size is sold out by the time I remember. And much as I love risalamande, there is only so much I can eat before it gets too much!

But recently, I came across something that inspired me to look for cherry compote from UK shops. I found that Sainsbury’s has a Morello cherry compote. So I bought that to test it, before Christmas. Hence, why I made risalamande in late November. And guess what? That compote is not exactly like the Danish cherry sauce but it is pretty darn close! It is a bit more tart but that is ok since the risalamande is very sweet.

I am really happy that I have found this substitute for the cherry sauce. It makes it so much less stressful that I can just go to the supermarket and buy it!

There are a lot of memories and feelings caught up in food. Especially things like what we eat for Christmas or other seasonal celebrations. It has to be the same thing, in the same way, every year or it just doesn’t feel right. But of course that is not correct. I have many thoughts on that but I’ll save that for another day… ;-)

Yay for cherry compote! As a funny coincidence, the Danish comedian Sofie Hagen is in a freshly released YouTube video from Ottolenghi talking exactly about risalamande and they made cherry compote and it looked really easy so maybe I will try that next year. Watch the video and watch Sofie’s face when tasting it and almost whispering “it tastes like home”. ♥

Last week I said I’d share what that wee tiny book was all about. Thinking I’d actually have something to show. But I’ve only had about half an hour to sit down with the project this week:

I cut out the fabric bits for a wee robin. That’s all I’ve managed… And I think I am going to redo it, I’m not entirely happy with it. All part of the process of course!

Although there’s not much to show yet, I’ll tell you what it is anyway: a slow stitching style textile book which celebrates the Wheel of The Year. I’ve been thinking about/sketching ideas for this project for months and now it is finally starting to come together. I am very excited about it! :-)

I am planning on offering this as a stitchalong/class so if that is something you might be interested in, keep an eye on this here newsletter/Substack towards the start of January…

Speaking of the newsletter, it’s taking a wee break and will be back in two weeks.

I hope you have a lovely weekend!

x Carina

P.S. Over on YouTube I have shared my favourite quilting books. :-)

🍉🍉🍉

---

Some Things I Am Enjoying

Book: The Wild Places* by Robert Macfarlane.

Watching: For All Mankind. We have started watching the latest series. I like this show, I think it is really well done. But I also watch it with a sense of dread because there is always something Very Dramatic and Life Threatening happening (usually in space) and you never know when it’s going to happen. Well, sometimes you can see it coming. And sometimes you know it is coming because of the characters involved in the situation and you know from previous episodes how they let their egos get in the way of doing the sensible thing. I like the show but I don’t like that sense of dread. Maybe others find that edge-of-your-seat type of story telling compelling…

Music: My Spotify Wrapped playlist.

Food: Risalamande! And pebernødder! I have a feeling that the batch I made won’t last until Christmas… :-)

*bookshop.org affiliate link.

---

Pattern Lab Last Chance

Since the year is rapidly coming to an end, I thought I’d just share the Pattern Lab once more. It is a membership where this past year I have shared a weekly 3.5” embroidery motif.

Sometimes the motifs have turned into full patterns, which are also included in the membership. The Lab will not carry on next year and I will remove it from my shop in early January. So, time is kind of running out if you would like access to all the 52+ motifs and the full patterns. Below are a few recent motifs.

Take 10% off the Lab membership with the code DECEMBER10 until December 10th.