On beauty

Although I did not unfortunately have much time for shopping on my recent trip to Singapore, i still managed to stop by the local Sephora, to check out all the exciting  beauty products we are still missing in Denmark. Luckily, while scanning the store, I accidentally walked into the SK-II little oasis - and was sold. The absolutely brilliant SK-II consultant, Amanda, helped me try, sniff and stock on all the best products from the SK-II range, with a complementary face massage, and a goodie bag worth a trip to Singapore and back. If you have to invest in just one SK-II product, go for their bestselling SK-II Facial Treatment Essence that according to experts helps stimulate the natural renewal process of the skin cells, and is simply superb. 

Another great find at Sephora Singapore was Argan Oil by Josie Maran: just what the doctor ordered in the middle of the harsh Scandinavian winter. Your skin will be so grateful.

Copenhagen Fashion Week

Danish fashion sets world record in catwalk

Copenhagen Fashion Week is back in town again and will run from January 31 till February 3. If you didn't get an invite to any of the shows, do not despair: with Copenhagen Fashion Festival you will have plenty of opportunities: shopping nights, parties, art, music, bubbly, cool crowd. We are particularly looking forward to the events at Fashionistas - Evening of Sparkle, on Wednesday January 30, and Fashion in Film, running Friday-Sunday at Cinemateket. See you there !

A week in Singapore

This week while in Singapore, we will be posting mostly via our homepage in Facebook. Stay tuned and have a fantastic week !

Have a great weekend

Singapore river by hock how and siew peng

Any big plans for the weekend? If you are in Copenhagen, you may want to check out the HuskMitNavn exhibition at the V1 Gallery in Koedbyen (Meat Packing district), that is running from January 19 till February 16. Or, get a taste of Paris: check out these six french bistros with an unpretentious atmosphere and delicious food: well known L'Education Nationale, Davids bistro, Boheme, Gustavs, Pastis, are all on the list. Or, perhaps you would want to watch the latest Woody Allen's creation: a funny and sweet movie To Rome with Love (check out their catchy tune!).

Oh, and if you've got any cool tips for the things to see, do, eat, experience in Singapore (this is where some of us are going to be this weekend and all next week), please send them our way. Have a fantastic weekend  !

TED: Ideas Worth Spreading

You are probably familiar with TED, a non-profit with an objective of sharing the most inspiring ideas (originally) in the fields of Technology, Entertainment and Design (hence TED). Which ones are your top favourite TED talks? Which TED categories do you find most interesting: jaw-dropping, fun, beautiful or courageous? And did you know that there is a TED app, both for an iPhone and Android?

Here are a few of the TED talks we found inspiring. Or very much up to the point. Or provoking. What do you think?

1. TED talk by Brene Brown on Vulnerability

2. TED talk by Steve Jobs on How to live before you die

3. TED talk by Sheryl Sandberg on Why we have too few women leaders

4. TED talk by Simon Sinek on How great leaders inspire action

Movie nights

It's going to be a busy movie season this winter! The full list of Oscar nominees was announced last week, and we can't wait to a) watch all the movies, b) see who's going to win this year. Which ones are your personal favourites? We surely hope that the Danish drama The Royal Affair is going to win an Oscar for the Best Foreign Movie.  

Another critically acclaimed Danish film - Jagten (The Hunt), by Thomas Vinterberg (remember him from Dogma?), just premiered in Denmark last thursday. Don't miss it. Such an excellent, absolutely must-see movie, and Mads Mikkelsen is at his best. Bear with subtitles, you won't regret it. 

Hot yoga, anyone?

Photo of SenseS studio in Copenhagen, from www.aok.dk

Great news : the weekend has arrived. Hope yours will be fun, interesting and cozy. If you are in Copenhagen this weekend, you may want to join us at the SenseS Hot Yoga, PIlates and Barre studio. After intense CrossFit workouts earlier last week, we are in desperate need of some proper stretching, hence the whole hot yoga concept (have you tried it yet?) sounds very appealing at the moment. We will keep you updated next week. Meantime, have a fun and relaxing weekend !

Home-made peanut butter

If you are a fan of the peanut butter, we hope you would be as excited about this genius and easy home-made peanut butter recipe as much as we were when we first came across it at Texanerin Baking blog. All you need is a couple of packs of roasted salted peanuts. And a blender or food processor. Voila. Tastes better than a supermarket variety, promise.

when HE cooks: Home-made Lasagne

Who is a better cook at your household? Be honest. And we are not talking about baking for pleasure, but some serious heavy duty cooking.

When it comes to a home made lasagne, the answer in this particular household is pretty obvious (you guessed right), and we are happy to share the recipe for this mouthwatering  dish in our first post of the new 'when HE cooks' theme.

We would love to hear about your favourite recipes mastered by your boyfriend, husband, Dad, brother or friend, either via the Comments field under this post or on our Facebook page.

Our version of the home made lasagne

Meat sauce:

In a large saucepan, warm up 0,5 dl olive oil + half clove of garlic + chilli oil, at a high heat.

Add 400-500 g minced meat (8-12% fat) at a medium to high heat and cook until browned, then pour about 1 dl red wine and cook until the wine is absorbed.

Later on add 250 ml tomatopaste/sauce and a can (500 ml) minced (hakkede in Danish) tomatoes, plus 200 gram sweetcorn. Continue cooking, and add salt, oregano, ground pepper and chilli to taste.

Stir well for 5 min and then let it simmer at just below medium heat for about 30 min.

Meantime, warm up the oven to 180C.

Bechamel sauce:

When the meat sauce has been cooking for about 20 min, start working on your béchamel sauce:

Melt 50 gram of butter; once it's ready, add 3 tablespoons of flour. Let the butter bubble up and stir well for a minute.

While stirring it, slowly add 0.5 liter of high-fat milk (3,5%) (be careful it is not too hot or the milk will get burned!). Continuously stir, well until the sauce gets smooth.

Pasta:

Now, place the pasta (lasagne) sheets in a medium size rectangular baking dish (deep-ish). In our case we had three layers of pasta sheets. 

Layer one: add 40% of your meat sauce and top with 25% of the bechamel sauce

Layer two: another pasta sheet, 40% of the meat sauce, topped with 25% of the béchamel

Layer three: the last of the pasta sheets, 20% of the meat sauce and the rest - 50% - of the béchamel.

Pop it into pre-heated oven and bake for 30 min.

Buon Appetito !

Z Rizdvom! Merry Ukrainian Christmas

Ukrainian Christmas card

To everybody in Ukraine, Greece, Cyprus, Russia, Romania, Belarus, Serbia, Bulgaria, and everywhere else, where the Orthodox Christmas is celebrated today - Merry Christmas! If you have never heard of it before, here's a brief introduction to Ukrainian Christmas that would help you understand a little more about the traditions and the difference in the dates (December 25 vs January 7).

And Smachnoi Kuti! Kutya is a must-have first dish at the Christmas Eve dinner on January 6, and we hope you enjoyed yours a lot last night. Z Rizdvom = Merry Christmas !

Our home-made kutya in London

CrossFit in Copenhagen

Image found on Pinterest here

To balance off all the baking and over-indulgence at Christmas and New Year's, we have signed up for a month of free CrossFit training, which is taking place at Fields' branch of the FitnessDK: if you are already a member at the FitnessDK, remember to do that by January 15 at the latest. These hard-core no-nonsense classes will get you in shape (with mega 'krepatura' at the beginning) in no time. CrossFit Copenhagen is now running free intro sessions, too. Good luck and have fun !

THE Rum Cake

The recipe for this mega moist, utterly delicious, outrageously buttery and boozy Rum Cake is from our favourite Texanerin Baking: and it is everything the author has promised, and more. You will love it, as a stand-alone dessert, with coffee, or adding to your favourite ice-cream. And you might want to go to the gym, for a cross-fit class or something, once you finish this rum cake. Just saying. 
P.S. If you do not yet have a bundt pan (we did not, here in Copenhagen), then we strongly recommend investing in one. Or, use only half the portions provided in the original recipe. Otherwise, just like us, you will end up with a banana bread-shaped rum cake, and about 10 extra muffins. Not that we are complaining anyways. Bon Appetite !

New Year New Page

Chocolate dipped strawberries, found on Pinterest here

Happy New Year! With an arrival of 2013, our blog has expanded our communication channels a little, and we have got a new page: you can now find us on Facebook. Please have a look and stay in touch. Have an easy, and thankfully short, working week !