Countdown
Last year, I chose to begin to love November. It worked, and it’s working again this year.
November 2024
I have enjoyed every dark day until now. Enjoyed going for my morning run while the neighbourhood is waking up. Enjoyed biking to yoga class in the dark and returning home as the sun is rising.
Followed by breakfast by candlelight, which is another happiness booster. I am one of the many who have embraced green energizing smoothie bowls. I do not use any particular recipe but blend a little water, a dash of olive oil, a banana and half a lemon with whatever I find in the vegetable drawer. Generally, I am a big fan of breakfast. So big a fan, in fact, that for the next bookazine, which is about colours, I have photographed colourful breakfast smoothies in many different versions in combination with beautiful hand-crafted tableware.
Spending my working day at the computer, with a fire in the open fireplace and a cup of good coffee, has also helped me enjoy November. In November and December, I am finishing my work on bookazine no. 12, which comes out next March. I promise you, it will be a treat – if you have not preordered your issue yet, you can do it here.
Soon, the joy of November is going to turn into the joy of December. I was never a big fan of Christmas decorations, except for what nature provides: spruce and other tree branches, pinecones, moss and oranges, but I do love traditions. This means that spruce and other branches go into the same vase as last year – and all the previous years – I hang a wreath on the door, as always, and I am counting down to baking this year’s batch of saffron buns.
(you can find my recipe here) and, later, baking Christmas biscuits and making Christmas sweets.
As always, my countdown involves an advent candle from Alterlyset (The Altar Candle).
I got my first candle from Alterlyset in 2016, a beautiful Hyggelys (Cosy Candle) in a delicate green colour.
I have photographed the candles many times, and even if you don’t ask, I do praise their quality.
The signature altar candle was originally launched in 1950, when Jens Andreas Dahl Hansen founded the candle-making factory Hygge Lys in Copenhagen. The company soon became a leading supplier of altar candles for Danish churches.
Today, the company is run by Mille Marence, who is fourth generation of the family. Since 2015, she has called the coloured candles Hyggelyset and the traditional white ones Alterlyset.
The candles are made of 100% vegetable stearin based on RSPO-certified palm oil. Combined with a specially made pure cotton wick, this ensures a large flame and a stable burn that is both allergy-friendly and environmentally friendly.
Since January 2015, Alterlyset has been a certified member of RSPO/Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
Mille has the following recommendations: trim the wick to 0.5 cm every time you light the candle. Place it away from any draughts. Use an extinguisher to put the candle out. Only let the candle burn down to the top of the base.
Happy countdown!
Jeg besluttede sidste år at begynde at elske november, det virkede og det virker igen i år.
Jeg har nydt hver eneste mørke dag frem til nu. Nydt at løbe min morgentur, mens kvarteret vågner og nydt at cykle til yoga i mørke og hjem igen ved solopgang.
Morgenmad i stearinlysets skær, efterfølgende boner også ud på lykkebarometret.
Jeg er en af de mange som er gået om bord i grøn grød. Jeg benytter ikke en særlig opskrift, men blender en smule vand, lidt olivenolie, en banan og en halv citron med det som findes i grøntsagsskuffen. I det hele taget er jeg glad for morgenmad, så glad at jeg til næste bookazine, som handler om farver, har fotograferet farverige morgenmåltidet i mange forskellige varianter i kombination med smukt kunsthåndværk.
Min arbejdsdag ved computeren, med udsigt tillid i pejsen og god kaffe i koppen, har ikke gjort glæden ved november mindre. Jeg færdiggør frem mod nytår mit arbejde med bookazine 12, som udkommer i marts. Du kan godt begynde at glæde dig, det bliver et dejligt nummer. Hvis du ikke har forudbestilt, kan det gøres her.
Glæden ved november går om et øjeblik over i glæden ved december. Jeg er ikke den store ynder af julepynt, bortset fra det naturen forsyner os med; gran, kogler, mos og appelsiner, men jeg elsker traditioner. Det vil sige gran og grene skal i samme vase som sidste år og alle andre år, der skal være krans på døren som altid og jeg tæller ned til at bage årets portion safranbagværk (du finder min opskrift her), og senere til at bage småkager og lave konfekt.
Nedtællingen foregår som den plejer, ved hjælp af et kalenderlys fra Alterlyset.
Jeg fik mit første lys fra Alterlyset i 2016, et smukt sart grønt Hyggelys.
Jeg har fotograferet lysene mange, mange gange, og selvom du måske ikke spørger, så lovpriser jeg kvaliteten.
Alterlyset så dagens lys første gang i 1950, da Jens Andreas Dahl Hansen grundlagde lysstøberiet Hygge Lys i København. Virksomheden blev hurtigt storleverandør af alterlys til kirker i Danmark.
I dag drives virksomheden af fjerde generation Mille Marence siden 2015 har hun kaldt sine farvede lys for Hyggelyset og de klassisk hvide for Alterlyset
Til støbning af lysene, bruges 100% vegetabilsk stearin af palmeolie, der er certificeret af RSPO. Sammen med en specialfremstillet ren bomuldsvæge giver det lyset en fyldig flamme og en stabil brænding, der er miljø- og allergivenlig.
Alterlyset har siden januar 2015 været certificeret medlem af RSPO/Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil.
Mille anbefaler: Trim vægen til 0,5 cm, hver gang lyset tændes. Stil ikke et tændt stearinlys i træk. Sluk lyset med en lyseslukker. Brænd ikke lyset længere ned end til kanten af foden
Glædelig nedtælling!
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