Kartoffelmad - Probably the Best Comfort Food in the World

Whilst I searched out photos for my Fear of Packing post the other day, I came across these. 

Eating out and wearing an Accessorise silk scarf, soft and light and with some nice colours in there to complement outfits.  

Eating at "home" in Denmark and wearing one of the Tie Rack Twin silk scarves, it's beige/grey/black version .

Yes, I like scarves!

But, dear reader, please take a look at what's on my plates.  Yes, there's a sausage on one but there is also something called kartoffelmad on both, which translates as "potato food" and it is the absolute ultimate in Comfort Food yet it is an obscenely simple dish. 

Perfect for a stormy day.  Or any day J.   And following my Probably the Best paraphrasing, this one ranks right up there so please give it a try. You will be thankful that I have shared this with you.  Your life will be richer for knowing how to make this dish.  Trust me.

OK.  Enough of the hyperbole, I think I've bigged this up enough so here's how it's put together.

My Kartoffelmad Lunch

Per person

Slice of bread, buttered if wished

Waxy potatoes, sliced

Red Onion, thinly sliced

Mayonnaise

Chives, snipped/chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Butter the bread, if liked, then spread with a thin layer of mayonnaise.  Place on plate.

Place sliced potato on top the mayonnaise, then red onion and top with more mayonnaise to your liking. 

It is traditional to top with chives and thinly sliced radish; I didn’t have any radish L. 

Vaersgo', tuck in, then say "tak for mad"!


You are very welcome.

A la perchoine.

I Love Scandiland - Its Hygge, Food and Language

I have to admit I got rather carried away with this post.  It became more than just a Dive Post (a longer than average post).   It became the Mariana Trench of Dive Posts.  Now I know you all lead busy and full lives, so I've split it into two bite-sized pieces.
So, go get a coffee, settle down in your fave armchair and enjoy the shorter Dive that is Part I!

My post was inspired by the lovely Leslie of Hostess of the Humble Bungalow.  Leslie wrote a beautiful piece recently about bringing memories of her holiday in Paris into her everyday life, here.  Do read it if you have the chance, it's inspiring and peaceful.

Leslie got me thinking.  I love visiting Scandinavia. Over the years, without realising it, I have brought little bits of it into my day-to-day life. 

I love Scandinavia,
or Scandiland as I like to call it.

My Danish friends say that I am a born-again Viking!

I love the food.

My breakfast is usually ostemad - a cheese slice (Havarti or Jarlsberg) on bread.

For special coffee times, fika, I serve fresh wienerbroed, Danish pastries. 

I make Scandinavian food, like kartoffelmad above, recipe here 

I make the food My Way, usually from my memories, not recipes!
I've already shared a few of my recipes with you in recent weeks, e.g. here.  I hope you try some out.

I love the spirit of cosiness, the "hygge" approach to everyday life.

I light candles, for special occasions, or for no particular occasion, to create hygge, mys (cosiness). 

I bring the outside in,

with flowers - holding on to summer with these dried hydrangeas;

with pinecones (which make lovely holiday momentoes), seen decorating this table set for drinks with friends;

with shells, like these seen on the right of my cluttered desk),

and with stones - my stone collection started years ago on beautiful Manapouri Beach, NZ.


I love the languages.

I am a voracious reader of Scandinavian womens' and housey magazines
for example, Danish mags Alt for Damerne and Bolig Liv

I especially love when piles of them are left around in peoples' houses for me to read :-)

I enjoy watching Scandinavian films and dramas.  So many are easily accessible these days.

I sometimes sing and dance in the language, like to this one here -  Granny, that's so embarressing!

I follow Swedish bloggers; as a result I'm slowly learning their language and more of their culture.



Do you ever re-live a holiday in your own home?
Maybe re-create a dish you enjoyed on holiday?
Perhaps making an aspect of a country's lifestyle or tradition a regular fixture in your life back home?
Is there a language you love that led you to visit or stay in its country?
Or a country that led you to learn its language?
I'd love to hear.




Knus og kram
A la perchoine.

Testing The Fluted Top

My dear reader, I think I'm looking like A Real Blogger today.

So many bloggers have been wearing this fluted sleeve type top.

I managed to scoop myself one in the Peacocks sale.

And at £8 I don't mind testing the water with this fashion item.

It has a raglan sleeve and the fabric has just a little stretch in it, making it a comfy piece to wear.

  But of course this top is all about the sleeves.  The fluting is crowned with little bows. 

And the great thing about this top is that the sleeves finish just below the elbow, so that the sleeves don't become a nuisance when you try to live your everyday life in them.

Although I plan to wear the top with white, black and grey jeans and skirts, I thought I might be able to pick out the coral in the M&S floral skirt through this top.

Do you have a view on it? 

Imagine it with proper shoes, like some coral wedged espadrilles (which I don't have!)

My view is that there is too much going on in both halves, both in the top and the skirt. 

The look is just too fussy.

The colour did seem to match some of the flowers in the skirt's pattern though, so I wasn't too far off-message.

The thing is, does a fussy top like this need accessories?  Or does it speak for itself?

Would you wear any jewellery with the top?  And if so, what would you suggest?

(I have to apologise for my hair, BTW.  Maybe Surfer Granny isn't such a great look after all!).

Anyway, as evidence that those sleeves are built for a lady who lives a normal life, I made this for lunch wearing the top, Kartoffelmad , made with my homegrown beefsteak (heirloom) tomato and chives, radish and beetroot.

The sleeves didn't dangle in the mayo, didn't get caught in the chives that I chopped off , didn't soak up the beetroot juice. 

I'd say that is a pretty thorough road-test of my fluted sleeved top in real life conditions!

So, what do you think, ladies?  Does the top need jazzing up?  Does it go with the skirt? 

And am I looking like A Real Blogger? 

Do I cut the mustard as a proper grown up fashionista with my fluted top?!!

And , so topical right now as my cruise packing pressure increases, is this resort clobber?  What IS resort clothing?!

 A la perchoine.

Inspiration and The Price of Frozen Chips

I'm feeling inspired.

On Sunday I dressed in M&S chinos and the ecru/ black stripey Magasin top worn over a Next ecru longline camisole (I've learned from my Sancte Hans Aften blooper).

The Photographer put together a kartoffelmad topped with dried fried onion, a new topping twist we picked up during our recent trip to Denmark.
Talk about yummy!!!  Do try it.

Later, after a traditional Sunday Roast with relatives, we watched Andy Murray win in the Wimbledon singles and that was topped by  our Guernsey girl, Heather Watson, winning the mixed doubles with her charming Finnish partner, Henry. 

Guernsey now has a Wimbledon champion.  Can you believe that?!!!

Her enthusiasm, cheerful and fun approach and her "we can do this" spirit was really infectious. 

I hope youngsters are inspired by her.  And not-so-young-sters.  For I was.

As today found me inspired to wear my Magasin top again, this time with a black longline camisole and white Peacock crops.  "What no shoes?" The Photographer commented.  Ooops.  Slip on the Birkenstocks ...

... fluff up hair, start "photoshoot" again.

Then,  inspired by Heather's enthusiasm, The Photographer  left to play a winning round of golf.

And I, feeling similarly inspired, channelled my quest for victory into a shop at Lidl.

My challenge, to totally re-stock the freezer which is now empty, bar ice cubes and citrus slices, after feeding us for many weeks.

My target, to shop sub-£100.

I continue to be amazed by the price of food off-island.  A weekly shop is £40-50 cheaper than back home.  Really.  

It is the stuff a housewife's fairy tales are made of.

And paraphrasing Marcellus in Shakespeare's fairy tale, something is rotten in the supermarkets of Guernsey.  Not literally, of course!

So, it's been a mixed day.  A day of inspiration, a day of feeling a tad peeved with the price of frozen chips back home.

Oh and in case you're interested, I bettered my target by £10.  

A new PB!

A la perchoine.