Easter Calendar 2021 - Palm Sunday - knitting a bread napkin

Well, the first entire into my Easter Calendar 2021 is a home-made, but it is not an eatable treat in form of neither Easter marzipan eggs or cakes. It is knitted napkin for a bread basket, which is knitted from 8/8 cotton in the classic Easter colour of yellow. The knitting is done on knitting needles in size 4.5, therefore it takes no time to knit this napkin.

The pattern is free available (in Danish) from here: brød serviet, and it is knitted in a pattern called dandelion. I have brought the cotton from from Karen Klarbæk together with various other types of yarn. You need 2½ skeins to knit this bread napkin in the original size of 41 x 41 cm, so I spend 60 DKK on yarn to buy 3 skeins. 

Besides from knitting one bread napkin for myself, I have also knitted one for my mother. 

Welcome Easter Calendar 2021

  

Welcome to Easter Calendar 2021

Easter is just about to start. In Denmark we have public Easter holiday in form of 5 Easter days incl. two days in the week-end (Thursday - Monday). The schools are closed the three days just before Easter, so so many Danes will have  vacation as a family in this upcoming week.

Again, this Easter like in 2020 will be different compared to previous years due to the still on-going corona virus. It is almost  impossible to travel outside Denmark in connection with Easter, and many European countries are yet another lock-down.

So, while keeping distance to each, you can still spend time in your kitchen making various Easter treats for your family.

As usual I will be celebrating the Easter with a small Easter calendar, where I will share a recipe from my kitchen on each of the Easter days. I hope you will look from time to time, so I am busy with in my little kitchen. 

And the first blog post for the Easter Calendar 2021 will be tomorrow Palm Sunday :-)

Cinnamon buns

 

Recently I participated in an online Tupperware demonstration, where this recipe on cinnamon bun was was shared with the participants. Instead of making a fast raising process, I decided to make a slow raising process, as it was fitting better into my program. I also decided to do the kneading using my stand alone mixer. Therefore I added all the ingredients into the mixing bowl, before kneading the dough together.

I divided the dough into two portions. One portion was used for these cinnamon buns, while the other portion was turned into these buns with poppy seeds.

Cinnamon buns: - 12 buns

• 10 g fresh yeast
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 100 g butter - cut into medium pieces
• 100 g milk
• 1 egg
• 125 g sour cream, 18% fat
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 400 g wheat flour

Cinnamon filling:

• 100-150 g brown sugar
• 50 g butter - sliced finely with a cheese cutter
• cinnamon or cinnamon sugar
• 1 egg for glazing

1. Weigh all the ingredients into the mixing bowl, keeping the sugar & salt away from the yeast.
2. Knead the dough at speed 1 on the stand-alone mixer for 10 minutes.
3. Knead the dough at speed 4 for 2 minutes.
4. The dough will have a soft/sticky feeling.
5. Place the dough in a mixing bowl, which can be closed with a lid. 
6. Store the dough at 5-10'C for 6-8 hours or night over.
7. Roll the dough into thin a square.
8. Sprinkle the surface first with brown sugar, using a spoon to spread the sugar evenly. 
9. Sprinkle the cinnamon or cinnamon sugar on top of the brown sugar.
10. Slice the butter into thin slices, which is spread evenly on top.
11. Roll the dough with topping into a big roll.
12. Cut the roll into 16 pieces, which you place up side down on a square silicone form, which can hold the filling. 
13. Raise the dough warm for 20-40 minutes.
14. Glaze with the surface with whipped egg.
15. Heat up the fan oven to 190'C.
16. Bake the buns at 190'C for 15 minutes. Turn the buns around halfway during the baking process.
17. Cool down the buns, before serving them.

Spring risotto

 

Enjoying that the spring is coming to Denmark with small steps, so therefore I decided to make risotto. Risotto is a very easy dish to make, it takes time to make, but it is not complicated. And any left over can be enjoyed as an easy left over dish later on in the week.  

Spring risotto: 3-4 servings

• 1 onion - medium chopped
• 1 leek -finely sliced
• 3 carrots - peeled and finely chopped
• 20 g butter
• 200 g risotto rice
• 1 dl white wine
• 7 dl vegetable stock
• 100 - 150 g Edam beans
• 100 g bacon - fried
• Parmesan cheese

1. Chopped all the vegetable in the desired size.
2. Heat up the butter in a bigger cooking pot. Add the chopped onion, sliced leek and chopped carrots and fry them for 2-3 minutes.
3. Add the risotto rice stir them around for 1 minute to absorb the butter.
4. Pour in the white wine on top of the vegetable and rice and let the wine cook at lower heat, until the majority of the wine has boiled away. 
5. Afterwards add the warm vegetable stock little by little, let the rice absorb most of the liquid, before adding more vegetable stock. This part of the cooking process takes approx. 20 minutes. Keep stirring regular.
6. When there is 1 dl vegetable stock left, add this vegetable stock and Edan beans. Doing it like this means, that these vegetable will not do be over-cooked.
7. Season with salt and pepper.
8. Serve the risotto with grated Parmesan and fried bacon on the serving plates/bowls. 
9. Serve together with the white wine. 

So Faded - first step of progress

I have been making some good progress on my version of so faded by Andrea Mowry. This sweater is another top-down style, so I have knitted the upper part of the sweater and I have placed the required stiches for the arms on holding lines made from thin plastic. Now, I am continuing knitting the remaining part of the body.

The funny part of the knitting it, that I am using hand dyed yarn in different colout, and that the colour with the individual yarn is changing colour from cm to cm. 

I started knitting in the very dark green colour, moved to light green and I have just finished knitting in white colour and have started to knit on medium blue. I am changing the colour after 10 cm, where I knit 10 row with the old colour and the new colour as the fading part.

Bun with poppy seeds

I participated in a recent online Tupperware demonstration, where the recipe on bun with poppy seeds was shared with the participants. Instead of making a fast raising process, I decided to make a slow raising process, as it was fitting better into my program. I also decided to do the kneading using my stand alone mixer. Therefore I added all the ingredients into the mixing bowl, before kneading the dough together.

You can divide the dough portion into two portion. Using one portion for these bund with poppy seeds and the second portion for these cinnamon buns.

Bun with poppy seeds: - 12 buns

• 10 g fresh yeast
• 2 teaspoon sugar
• 100 g butter - cut into medium pieces
• 100 g milk
• 1 egg
• 125 g sour cream, 18% fat
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 400 g wheat flour
• poppy seeds for the Tupperware donut silicone form
• 1 egg for glazing

1. Weigh all the ingredients into the mixing bowl, keeping the sugar & salt away from the yeast.
2. Knead the dough at speed 1 on the stand-alone mixer for 10 minutes.
3. Knead the dough at speed 4 for 2 minutes.
4. The dough will have a soft/sticky feeling.
5. Place the dough in a mixing bowl, which can be closed with a lid. 
6. Store the dough at 5-10'C for 6-8 hours or night over.
7. Divide the dough into 12 pieces.
8. Rinse the Tupperware donut silicone form with cold water.
9. Sprinkle white poppy seeds in the bottom of the donut forms.
10. Form the dough into a ring, which is placed into the individual donut form.
11. Raise the dough warm for 20-40 minutes.
12. Glaze with the surface with whipped egg.
13. Sprinkle the surface with black poppy seeds.
14. Heat up the fan oven to 190'C.
15. Bake the buns at 190'C for 15 minutes. Turn the buns around halfway during the baking process.
16. Cool down the buns, before serving them.

So Faded - starting on a new knitting project

 

In October I together with friend went yarn shopping in Nykøbing Mors, where I shopped yarn for a knit sweater called so faded by Andrea Mowry. I will knit the sweater in 5 different colours of Single Merino by itsyarn in the colour dark green, light green & blue to dark blue.

I have checked my knitting firmness. In the pattern it is describe, that the size of the knitting needle used is 3.5. However, as usual I have to use a smaller size, this time I have to use size 3 to hit the gauge size.

I see, this sweater as a piece of cloth, which I can during Spring & Autumn. 

One pot pasta dish

A pasta dish, where you prepare everything in only one cooking pot. I have located the recipe in the weekly magazine "Søndag". And I have made no changes to the recipe.

One pot pasta dish: - 2-3 servings

• 1 onion - medium chopped
• olive oil
• 1 clove of garlic - finely chopped
• 180 - 250 g minced beef
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 2-3 carrots - peeled and medium grated
• 1½ tablespoon sweet chili sauce
• 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
• 2½ dl water
• 200 g paste
• salt & pepper  - for seasoning
• 1 handful of fresh basil
• Parmesan cheese - freshly grated

1. Fry the chopped onion in the olive oil in medium sized cooking pot.
2. Add in the chopped garlic and the minced beef. Fry until, the beef has changed colour.
3. Stir in the paprika & oregano together with the grated carrot. Fry it for 4-5 minutes.
4. Add in the chili sauce, chopped tomatoes and the water. Add in the pasta as well.
5. Put on the lid on the cooking pot.
6. Let the pasta simmer gently for 15 minutes. Check regular, that the pasta still have water during the cooking.
7. Before serving, season with salt & pepper.
8. Serve on a plate, decorate with fresh basil and freshly grated Parmesan cheese.

 

Oblique Poncho sweater - ready to use

I have finished my knitting of this Oblique poncho sweater, where I brought this yarn at the knitting festival in Horsens close to one year ago. I paid 449 DKK (=59.40 €) for the yarn incl. the knit pattern.

The pattern was very easy to follow with options of adjusting making the poncho smaller or bigger. I adjusted the poncho with an extra 12 rows to have a bigger hole for my neck. With this adjustment I almost very all the meter of the brought yarn. The yarn is very nice and soft to knit with.  

I have already lined up my next knitting project as part of my Make Nine 2021 knitting project in form of So Faded.