Bad Blogger

Yeah, that's me. 

I've been such a terrible blogger lately. It's not that I don't have anything to write about, I've got a lot of things I could post about. I guess I've just been a bit lazy. I've been busy with life, and I've neglected my laptop for a while. Recently, I've probably spent no more than an hour a day online. 

I am going to blame spring for this. 

There is something about heat and sun that makes me want to get off my rear and get things done. By the way, I use the term heat loosely. Denmark is not well known for it's high temps. I don't think we've even hit 60F/15C, yet. 

Hopefully with the cooler, more dreary weather coming this week, I will get some blog posts written. I've got a few recipes to share, as well as some randomness, and I even hit up Ikea yesterday. I love how you can buy a rug for $27 (149DKK) and a runner for $11 (59DKK). I returned home with a lot of  stuff, and plans to purchase even more when I go again in May. 

I hope you're all having a great week! 

I promise to return soon, weather permitting.

Joanniel Creations Giveaway Winner!

I am thrilled to see we had so many entries! Unfortunately, we could only have 1 winner.

The winner of this Photo Art Keychain

 from Joanniel Creations is:

Maegan M.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Congratulations, Maegan! I'll send you an email.

Raspberry Lemonade Cake

I am a pretty good cook, most of the time. However, when it comes to baking, I suck. It's not that I am a bad baker, but I am awful at making it look pretty. I guess I just have a knack for making foods look 'rustic' aka ugly. 

Today's fine example is this delicious, yet ugly Raspberry Lemonade cake.

Want another view?

Yeah. 

Underneath this layer of ugliness is an amazing cake, perfect for spring and summer!

This view is a bit better.

I decided on a whim to make it for some friends the other day, and it was a HUGE hit. There were 7 people who ate this cake and it was all gone in one day.

Cake:

2 cups (250 grams) all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons (7 grams) baking powder

1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt

1/2 cup (115 grams) butter

1 1/4 cups (250 grams) white sugar

3 eggs

1 teaspoon (5mL) vanilla extract

1 cup (235mL) buttermilk

2 tablespoons (12 grams) grated lemon zest

Filling:

1/2 - 1 cup (about 250 grams) raspberry jam

Frosting:

4 cups (480 grams) confectioners' sugar

1/2 cup (115 grams) butter, softened

2 tablespoons (30mL) fresh lemon juice

2 teaspoons (4 grams) grated lemon zest

2 tablespoons (30mL) milk

1 6oz. (200 grams) package cream cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F/175C. 

Grease two 8 inch pans, and line with parchment paper. 

Mix together the flour, baking powder and salt and set aside.

In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy for about 3-5 minutes. 

Beat in the eggs one at a time and stir in the vanilla. 

Add in the flour mixture alternately with the milk, mixing just until incorporated.

Pour batter into prepared pans and bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. 

Allow to cool in pans on wire racks for about 10-20 minutes.

After cooling enough to handle invert onto wire racks to cool completely.

Frosting: 

In large bowl, beat together confectioners' sugar, butter, lemon juice and lemon zest until smooth. 

Beat in milk and cream cheese, increase speed and continue to beat until light and fluffy.

To assemble: 

Place 1 layer, on a serving plate and Spread the raspberry jam on top.

Add the second layer, and spread with enough frosting (about 1/3 of the frosting) for a crumb coat. 

Refrigerate cake for at least 30 minutes, before frosting the whole cake. (This will help the crumb coat to set and allow the second coat of frosting to be applied smoothly.)

Frost top and sides of cake with remaining frosting, and refrigerate cake until serving time.

This cake was the ugliest success I've ever had. 

I didn't lighten this one up in any way, but I will work on that and post the lighter version, complete with calories. 

Hope y'all have having a great week!

International Baby Shower

I don't know a single American who doesn't know what a baby shower is, but in Denmark it's a whole new ball game. 

Many Danes don't even know what a baby shower is. Here it's regarded as bad luck to shower the soon-to-be mother with gifts. Instead, Danes wait until after the birth. Then, they have their babies baptised in the Danish Church. The Danish baptism is a cross between an American baptism and a baby shower. Guests shower the new baby (and at times the baby's siblings) with gifts of toys, clothing, and various other things like play mats and bedding.

This past weekend, Hans and I attended a baby shower hosted by our Australian friend and her Danish husband for our Japanese friend. 

The house was filled with people from Denmark, Sweden, Holland, India, Japan, Australia, England, Germany, and of course myself, the American.

We had cakes, cupcakes, cookies, buns, vegetable sticks, pretzels, and several different kinds of beverages. 

Sarah made a red velvet cake and cupcakes, and I made Cowboy Cookies and zucchini cake. It was a mass sugar consumption day!

Sarah and Dennis' bacon and cheddar cheese buns.

We played a few baby shower games.

Melanie and Demelza hid their answers under Mel's shirt, so they could move about without anyone stealing their answers.

Hans was totally lost trying to fill in the blanks on the nursery rhymes.

I stopped taking pictures long enough to help Hans with his nursery rhymes.  

 After the baby shower games, Hans brought out a travel version of Danish Trivial Pursuit. 

It took us about 2 hours to finish a whole 5 rounds, but in the end I think Edward and Dennis were the winners!

Though I was exhausted and stuffed full of sugar by the time we got home, I had a blast. 

I am very thankful to have all of these people in my life!

How was your weekend?

Giveaway from Joanniel Creations -Raffelcopter

I've got another giveaway to share with y'all from my friend Jo over at

I'm so excited! 

Jo's got a lot of new items in her shop that are perfect for your spring and summer wardrobes, like these hand antiqued turquoise and swarovski crystal earrings.

Or how about these gorgeous silver starfish earrings?

I'm totally in love with these hand painted turquoise earrings of hers, as well.

Jo's jewelry is always beautiful and affordable, and I am a HUGE fan!

Today, we are mixing it up a bit. Instead of giving away jewelry you can wear, I am giving away jewelry for your keys.

(Photo edited to reduce glare, color doesn't 'pop' as much in person.)

This item is a photo art key chain/key fob. 

It has a nickel toned metal heart shaped key ring, and a bird art decorative glass dome in a silver plated setting. 

The heart key ring and the bird art dangle are both approximately 1 inch in diameter. The whole piece is about 2 inches long. 

Retail value $12.99 USD.

(Photo edited to reduce glare, color doesn't 'pop' as much in person.)

Ends Saturday, March 17th, 2012 and is open to everyone, worldwide. 

Make sure to view the Terms and Conditions (at the bottom of the Raffelcopter widget) for more information on this giveaway.

Happy Leap Day

So, it's already the last day of February. I can't believe how fast this month has passed! Every day I sit down to write at least one post, and every day I feel so overwhelmed by everything I want to say.

This may be a long post, so bear with me.

First of all, I am going to be an aunt again. My oldest, little brother's wife is having a boy, due June 24th. I've known about this since October, but didn't think to mention it, until they found out the sex of the baby. They were hoping for a girl, and even telling Drake he was having a sister.

We spent Valentine's Day doing nothing, absolutely nothing. The Following Thursday we had Hans' parents over for a 3 course, candlelit dinner. (I apologize that most of the pictures are from my phone and a bit fuzzy.) 

Hans' parents brought me some snowdops from their yard

and some gorgeous tulips, that made me realize spring was almost here.

I've also been moving/changing/replacing furniture in our living/dining room.

The arrangement with the new TV is working out well. The sideboard/buffet/skænk is working out perfectly...I'm just itching to paint it and replace the hardware.

I also bought a bookcase. I really needed a place to store our ever-growing book collection, as well as display a few things. We got it for a steal at 250kr. ($45). The woman we bought it from paid 2000kr. ($364) when she bought it new, about a year and a half ago.

I finally replaced the old coffee table. It wasn't that I didn't like it, I just wanted something a little 'cleaner' and something much smaller. We bought the smaller of the two Lack Coffee Tables at Ikea, and I think it is perfect.

I also added some curtains, which I need to get creative an re-hang them. Right now they look like they're at a bit of an angle. That's because they are. When the warmer weather comes, I won't be able to open my windows unless I take the curtains down everytime. For now, I'm still trying to figure out how I should re-hang them. 

Now that I've got most everything a little more cohesive, I am working on some wall art, that I am excited to share, and those pillows on my sofa will be getting a small facelift. No, I'm not quite talented enough to make my own pillowcases. Yet. However, I have purchased some, and I am hoping they will fit into my re-vamped living area.

If only I had a curtain or screen to hide Hans' corner. Maybe one day when I hit the jackpot I will remove all the furniture (and his desktop monitor) and replace it with something a bit more modern.

What do you think?

A Trip to Sjelborg

About a week and a half ago, Hans and I went to visit his brother (and family) at a summer house they had rented in Sjelborg, a small town/village outside of Esbjerg.

The drive was beautiful, the skies were blue, the sun was shining, and the wind was nowhere to be found.

The frost on the trees was absolutely gorgeous! (Too bad we were driving too fast for me to get a good picture.)

Unfortunately, my foot was all messed up when we were there, so I didn't get to walk down to the beach, but judging from Jonas' face, it was mighty cold down there.

After all the excitement of jumping on the trampoline and going down to the beach, Jonas was ready to play cars with me,

and judging by this picture, Hans was ready to take a nap.