Thursday 17 November 2016

Creating the ideal 'julehygge'



Clementines and candlelight have taken over this household. I love it. I love this time of year when the Advent approaches and we think of ways to create the ideal julehygge, as the Danes would say (jul is their word for Christmas; for hygge see my post about The Little Book of Hygge). On my desk I keep a stack of December issues that I leaf through with my coffee, mainly to get decorating ideas for the Christmas table. For me, the Nordic magazines, for example Bo Bedre, represent the true spirit of Christmas and I wish I could buy them in shops here in the UK. When it comes to decorating we are minimalists and we like to keep it natural: candles, evergreens and pine cones. Our Christmas table is the only thing that changes from year to year, mainly the colour palette, which depends on the napkins and runners we pick. The photo above shows a decorated dining area in Milan that appeared in the latest Elle Decoration UK. At first my eyes were so fixed on the glass jars with the clementines that I didn't notice the tealights on each plate. What a wonderful idea!

By the first Advent Sunday, 27. November this year, our home will be festive looking because that's when we enjoy our first Advent brunch. I serve hot chocolate with whipped cream, Swedish braided bread with cardamom, and usually home-made confectionery. This year I'm going for my own nougat or marzipan. In my notebook I have scribbled down recipe ideas and I just have to test them the day before. If they go wrong my daughters will make cookies with cinnamon and cloves. Later, before sitting down for dinner, I serve the holiday season's first jólaglögg (Icelandic), or mulled wine, for my husband and me. This year I was thinking about making some adjustments to this Jamie Oliver recipe. [If you are looking for minimalist Christmas ideas you can check out my Christmas board on Pinterest.]

Do you have any Advent traditions?

image by me | credit: Elle Decoration UK, December 2016, p. 86 · Fabrizio Cicconi


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