Cabin Time: the tree house!

Somewhere in Quebec, Canada..... a cosy stay in the trees!!

Hiking in Norway....

Leaving Skogadalsboen, there are many ways to go........

Poem time #4

If    by Rudyard Kipling

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are loosing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream - and not make dreams your master;
If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build ' em up with worn-out tools:

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ' Hold on!'

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings - nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And - which is more - you'll be a Man, my son!


For my son and for my daughter: this poem is one to think about/over !

Music from Dalarna, Sweden

Traditional music from Dalarna....

'Gammal Fabodspsalm' was composed by Oskar Lindberg in 1936, based on a traditional Swedish   tune. Abba used to play it.

 

Same melody but played by other artists: Sofia Karlsson & Augustifamiljen. I like this song!!

Very Basic Bread: Sourdough

Sourdough is one of my favourite bread taste. In a village next to the little town where I live, there is a bakery where they sell it. So sometimes, I buy some dark rye bread.

But after my first bread experiments with dry yeast, then with poolish, I wanted also try to make a sourdough - bread.

I surfed the net for a recipe to make a sourdough starter. I made 3 different starters with an interval of 3 days. I kept it very small: the first with 1 tsp white flour and some water. The second with 1 tsp of rye-flour and the third with a mixture. Every morning, I stir them and in the evening, I feed them with some flour and water.

What I have learned: 1. the rye-flour works the best; 2. a broad jar works better than a narrow one; 3. the feeding with bio-flour (white) is much better than the flour from the supermarket; 4. best is to cover it with a plastic, perforated foil .

I am so happy with the result: after a few days, bubbles are visible and after 10 days (and a lot of lovely attention), the smell changed to a fruity, a bit sour but agreable smell and the texture is very airy with even more bubbles.

After a few days, the first bubbles appear 

This is the rye-flour starter

More bubbles

More and more bubbles

The smell and texture are amazing! Time for bread-baking!

The dough before rising

The dough after rising (3 hours)

Look at that!!

 I made this bread with the first starter:

Before rising

              

After rising (1 hour)

My very first 'sourdough - bread (a little out of shape)

The shape gets better ...

The taste is wonderful!

Hiking Norway in summetime....

A great joy for me is hiking through the Norwegian mountains, especially in Jotunheimen. I like all about this region with its lovely, cosy cabins. Most of them are owned by DNT (Den Norske Turistforeningen), The Norwegian Trekking Association.  Jotunheimen is a Walhalla for a 'cabin-freak' like me!
Sometimes, the weather is unstable, some call it 'bad' weather. But Norwegians say that there is no bad weather, only bad clothes. And it happens that you can experience the 4 seasons in one single day!

It's so good to arrive in a cosy cabin after a solid but rewarding hike. A warm shower, a substantial meal and a cup of coffee with good company at the fireplace!! Back to Basics!

Today's hike goes from Leirvassbu till Skogadalsboen (DNT) ....

Almost arriving at Leirvassbu

The next morning, preparing to leave after a good breakfast

Leaving Leirvassbu behind...

That is what we see next!

Some crossings can be challenging....

Approaching Skogadalsboen, the scenery changes a lot

Lovely cabin!!

Bread with 'poolish'

Surfing on the net in search for a new bread - recipe, I found this:

I never heard of 'poolish' before but I wanted to try it. My first time working with real 'yeast' (used dry, instant yeast before). And it worked out quite well !!

Poolish is a term used in French baking for a sponge (pre-ferment) made with domestic baker's yeast. It is made of 1 part flour to 1 part water, and some yeast. Let it double in volume (takes several hours) to finally make the dough and the bread.


This was the result:

And this one:

The taste was good, I have to work and practice on the shapes!

More Leonard Cohen in Gent, 18-8-2012

Unforgettable !!

Leonard Cohen: Gent 18-8-2012

Great Artist,  Great Team,  Pure Art,  Magic Moments,  Tender Memories.........



The quality of the recording may not be top, but it catches this Magic Moment for us: my husband M, my friend V (many thanks for the video!) and me: enjoying and even singing along!

Summer Food

'Strawberry Caprese' is a good recipe  that I found here:  The Forest Feast

We enjoyed it several times and it is on its way to be noted on our 'Favourites' list. I served it with homebaked foccacia. It was a feast! but not in the forest!

That's what I made of it:

Cabin Time: Skogadalsboen

The silence, the fresh air, the greatness of the Jotunheimen Mountains, the cosiness of a Norwegian cabin, good company and friendly people: the place to be: Skogadalsboen!

Wonderful Music

The most pure,  'Basic' of all Music for me is this:

The Aria of 'The Goldberg Variations' composed by J.S.Bach and played by Glenn Gould.  Just wonderful!! No real words to describe this. Music that is very close to Life ...

Somewhere in Lofoten

Watching the birds watching us, some knitting and reading, and enjoying good company, the scenery and fresh seafood! Speaking about Basics in Life......

Lofoten (Norway) in the summer.....

Music from Iceland

Few notes, a lot of music.......

'All Alright'  by  Sigur Ròs.

Bread - experiment

Bread is very basic food. I always wanted to make bread, I collected some books during years but never made it. Many, many reasons.......

Some weeks ago, I just started with a very simple and basic recipe. Foccacia:

Make a dough of 500 gr flour, 11 g instant-dried yeast , 2 dl (lukewarm) water, 3 tbsp olive oil and some salt. Knead and let it rise for 45 min. After a short kneading and shaping, let it rise again till its volume has doubled. Some seasalt on top with some olive oil and bake it for 15 à 20 min at 225 °C.

Last sunday, I wanted to make bread again: same dough but I shaped it like this:

I was proud of it, and everyone in my family said it tasted good (and looked nice too)!

Poem-time #3

French is in fact my 'Basic Language' and I like to hear it and to speak it. Living in the Dutch -speaking part of Belgium makes that this is not everyday-stuff for me. So, now and then I'll try to present also something in  French.


'Demain, dès l'aube....' from Victor Hugo:

Demain, dès l'aube, à l'heure ou blanchit la campagne,
Je partirai. Vois-tu, je sais que tu m'attends.
J'irai par la forêt, j'irai par la montagne.
Je ne puis demeurer loin de toi plus longtemps.

Je marcherai les yeux fixés sur mes pensées,
Sans rien voir au dehors, sans entendre aucun bruit,
Seul, inconnu, le dos courbé, les mains croisées,
Triste, et le jour pour moi sera comme la nuit.

Je ne regarderai ni l'or du soir qui tombe,
Ni les voiles au loin descendant vers Harfleur,
Et, quand j'arriverai, je mettrai sur ta tombe
Un bouquet de houx vert et de bruyère en fleur.

Somewhere in Norway

...  There is Gjendesheim, a DNT cabin at a beautiful lake. A perfect starting point for great hikings in Jotunheimen. Here is a winter-view at the lake.

And what about you?

Can you feel the MountainWind sometimes?

Poem-time #2

Wind from The Mountains......

The 'Kungsleden' (Kingstrail) is a hiking trail that starts in Abisko, Nothern Sweden. Near Abisko Mountainlodge is an info-center where I photographed a beautiful and inspiring poem by Paulus Utsi, a Sami poet.

I try everyday to let the Wind from the Mountains caress my cheeks. Somedays it takes a lot of effort and imagination. Other days, I'm just hiking through these Mountains, at least in thoughts! I try to feel the Mountainwind......

The beginning of the Kungsleden

On the way......