While preparing this year’s batch of crisp and soft klejner* (fried twists), Asta sang this Christmas song. She’d just watched the latest Father of Four movie with her little cousin, and now it was stuck in her head.

*) Klejne (singularis) / klejner (pluralis): Is a stable Christmas cookie in Denmark; also known in Sweden, Norway, and Iceland. Dating all the way back to the Middle Ages, it’s the oldest Danish Christmas cookie known. A klejne is essentially a piece of twisted dough boiled in fat. Klejner may be crisp or soft, and they may vary in size and shape. The name means something small – “klein” is German for “small”, and Danish and German are related languages). [source]

Ingredients

Instructions

• Mix the dry ingredients.
• Ad the rest.
• Knead the dough well.
• Roll out with a rolling pin; approximately 2-3 mm / 0.08-0.12 inches thick OR to taste. A thin klejne will easier get crispy, while a thicker one will get more soft. Both types are common, it’s a matter of taste.
• Cut out squares of about 8-10 cm x 2-3 cm / 3.15-3.94 x 0.08-0.12 inches OR as you like. Use a knife OR a special klejne/cookie cutter which makes small waves. Cut a line in the middle of each square.
• Stick one end through the hole in the middle to get the characteristic klejne twist. Repeat.

• Set aside to cool in the fridge; preferably over night. It’s important that the dough is completely cold when boiling.
• Melt a block of palmin OR other vegetable fat/oil.

• Boil until golden – don’t overcrowd though. The more you boil them, the crispier they get. A soft klejne only needs to change to pale yellow to be done.
• Safety precautions: always keep a lid nearby. Never ever pour water on burning oil! Put the lid on.
• Store in an airtight container, like e.g. a tin lined with baking paper. May also be frozen for up to several months and thawed shortly before eating (takes under half an hour to thaw in room temperature).

This recipe is loosely based on Kirsten Hüttermeier’s recipe for crispy klejner from  Hüttemeier’s New Large Cookbook (1963) p. 45. Also see: The Hüttemeier Project or search my site for “Hüttemeier”.

———-THE RECIPE IN DANISH———-

Coming up!

Outside the leaves were starting to fall, rain was gathering high in the sky, and the fog drew in closer. People rushing to work tugged their coats closer and picked up pace. No doubt, Autumn was hitting London. In a small hotelroom a young lady full of hopes and ambitions was getting ready to go out. Scarlett was far from home, but on her way to play her first real major part in a minor movie. Lines and all.

On set she loved every minute of it. Make up, hair, shooting – and even the waiting. Talking to the stylists she was happy to learn, that none of the products they used contained animal derivatives or had been tested on animals. She’d worried about that. Not being a big shot yet, she hadn’t been sure if she’d be in a position to demand them using cruelty free products. Since the flick was set in the 1940s, she’d also been anxious that the fur would be from animals. Luckily, the stylists and the head of wardrobes shared her concerns. She got to wear some amazingly convincing and extremely elegant faux furs – and could even keep one.

When the day was over Scarlett was very exhausted, but also very very happy. Treating herself to a red velvet cupcake she almost fell asleep at The Loving Heart Bakery – almost not noticing the famous musician and animal activist to be who popped by.

Makes: 1 big cake (about 23 cm in diameter) OR about 12-20 cupcakes depending on their size.

Ingredients

Cake

• 440 g [3 1/2 cup] flour
• 300 g [1 1/2 cup] sugar
• 3 tsp [ca. 13.5 g] No Egg or similar [may left out and replaced by a bit more baking powder]
• 3 tsp [13.5 g] baking powder
• 4 tsp [18 g] cocoa powder
• 1 tsp [6 g] fine salt
• 4 tsp [ca. 18 g] vanilla sugar OR 2-3 tsp [10-15 ml] vanilla aroma
• 118 ml [1/2 cup] oil (e.g. rap seed or olive)
• 2 tbsp [30 ml] vinegar
• 470 ml [2 cup] nondairy milk
• 4 tbsp [60 ml] red vegan food coloring

Frosting

• 400 g [4 cups] confectionaries’ sugar (this makes for a really sweet frosting that’ll harden a bit when cooled, use less if going for a less sweet and more soft frosting)
• 4 tsp [ca. 18 g] vanilla sugar OR 2-3 tsp [10-15 ml] vanilla aroma OR the seeds from 1 vanilla bean
• 150 g nondairy butter (room temperature)
• ca. 2 tbsp nondairy coffee creamer [may be replaced by nondairy cream; in emergencies ordinary nondairy milk will also do]

 Instructions

• Turn on the oven at 175° C / 347° F + adjust for forced fan.
• Mix all the dry ingredients for the cake.
• Little by little add the rest of the ingredients while stirring.
• When everything is combined (one should never overly mix the batter for cakes), pour into a greased baking pan OR cupcake wrappers. Leave room for the batter to rise.
• Bake the cake for about 40 min to 1 hour – OR until a pin comes out clean from the middle. The cake should be soft and moist. Cupcakes should be testet after 10 min.
• Let cool completely.
• If making the cake, carefully cut into 2-3 layers.
• Mix the frosting well.
• Decorate the layered cake OR cupcakes.
• The pink hearts are made by mixing confectionaries’ sugar with a bit of water and red food colour to make a firm paste. The paste is rolled out and hearts cut out with a small cookie cutter. The hearts are then left to dry. May be stored in a jar for later use.
• Refrigerate and serve. Good for up to several days.

———- THE RECIPE IN DANISH ———-

Rød Fløjl (Kage)

Giver 1 stor kage (ca. 23 cm i diameter) ELLER 12-20 cupcakes alt efter deres størrelse.

Kage

• 440 g hvedemel
• 300 g sukker
• 3 tsp No Egg ELLER lignende [kan evt. udelades og erstattes af lidt ekstra bagepulvert]
• 3 tsk bagepulver
• 4 tsk [8 g] kakaopulver
• 1 tsk [6 g] fint salt
• 4 tsk [ca. 18 g] vaniljesukker ELLER 2-3 tsk [10-15 ml] vaniljeessens ELLER kornene af 1 stang vanilje
• 118 ml olie (f.eks. rapsolie eller oliven)
• 2 spsk [30 ml] eddike (gerne æble)
• 470 ml vegetabilsk mælk
• 4 spsk [60 ml] rød vegansk frugtfarve

Frosting

• 400 g flormelis (dette giver en ganske sød frosting der bliver fastere i køleskabet, brug mindre flormelis hvis du ønsker en knap så sød og blødere frosting)
• 4 tsk [ca. 18 g] vanilje sukker ELLER 2-3 tsk [10-15 ml] vaniljeessens
• 150 g vegetabilsk smør (stuetemperatur)
• ca. 2 spsk vegetabilsk kaffefløde [kan evt. erstattes af vegetabilsk fløde; endda også i nødstilfælde af vegetabilsk mælk]

Fremgangsmåde

• Tænd oven på 175° C + blæs
• Bland alle de tørre ingredienser til kagen.
• Tilsæt resten af ingredienserne lidt efter lidt under omrøring.
• Når alt er blandet (man skal aldrig røre en kagedej alt for meget), hældes dejen i en smurt bageform ELLER papirsforme.
• Bag kagen ca. 40 min til 1 time – ELLER indtil en strikkepind kommer ren fri af midten. Kagen skal være blød og fugtig. Cupcakes bør testes allerede efter ca. 10 min.
• Afkøl fuldstændigt.
• Hvis du laver kagen, deles den forsigtigt i 2-3 lag.
• Bland frostingen.
• Dekorer kagen (husk lagene) ELLER cupcakesne.
• De lyserøde hjerter er lavet ved at blande flormelis, vand og rød frugtfarve til en fast masse. Massen rulles ud og en lille hjerteformet kageform gør resten. Lufttørres. Kan laves i forvejen og opbevares i et glas.
• Køl i køleskabet og server. Kan opbevares flere dage.

The newest invention from Pierre de la Pierre le Pâtissier’s kitchen was amazingly simple, and sinfully delicious too. As he flew through the streets on his scooter, he couldn’t help but whistle. This would definitely be a perfect snack for the animal charity auction he was hosting together with Scarlett.

Makes: a great amount.

Ingredients

• 200 g sugar
• 1/2 tbs vanilla sugar OR 1/8 tbs vanilla aroma
• 50 g almond flour OR really really finely chopped blanched almonds
• 150 g vegan milk chocolate

Instructions

• Heat the sugar in a pan while stirring.

• When the sugar is fluent, add the vanilla sugar OR aroma, and quickly stir in the almond flour OR the finely chopped almonds.
• Transfer the mix to a sheet of baking paper, and flatten; e.g. between to pieces of baking paper using a rolling pin.

• Melt the vegan milk chocolate and paint the now hardened mix; e.g. on both sides, you can save some chocolate and paint the other side when the first is cooled off.

• Break into pieces and enjoy.
• Store in an air tight container lined with baking paper. Since the caramel really wants to absorb moisture, it’s a good idea to cover it entirely in chocolate.

Suggestions:

Just try it.

———-THE RECIPE IN DANISH———-

Ingredienser

• 200 g sukker
• 1/2 tsk vaniljesukker ELLER 1/8 tsk vaniljeessens
• 50 g mandelmel ELLER samme mængde ekstremt finthakkede og smuttede mandler
• 150 g vegansk mælkechocolade

Fremgangsmåde

• Opvarm sukkeret på en pande under omrøring.

• Når sukkeret er flydende tilsættes vaniljen og mandlerne røres hurtigt i.
• Hæld massen ud på et stykke bagepapir. Mas evt. flad med en kagerulle.

• Smelt den veganske mælkechokolade og mal den afkølede karamelmasse; evt. på begge sider.

• Bræk i stykker og nyd.
• Opbevares i en lufttæt beholder foret med bagepapir. Karamelmassen vil gerne trække fugt til sig, så det er en fordel at dække den helt i chokolade.

Forslag:

Bare prøv det.

As Asta turned sweet 16 her mom had given her a large cookbook. Her mom was just nuts about Mrs. Kirsten Hüttemeier from TV and had thought that Hüttemeier’s New Large Cookbook would be the perfect present for a young lady. The young lady herself hadn’t exactly agreed. She’d hoped for a Jerry Lee Lewis LP and had already decided on Live & Let Live from the year before.

That was almost half a year ago. Today Asta felt like trying something new. She dragged out the mammoth cookbook and decided on the first thing she saw: Parisian Croissants, p. 10.

Besides from abstaining from using anything animal derived, Asta followed the recipe pretty closely:

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 dl cold water
• 1 tbs salt
• 1 tbs sugar
• 1 tbs No Egg whipped w/ 2 tbsp water OR a similar substitution for 1 egg; e.g. Ener-G
• 25 g yeast OR 6.5 g dry yeast
• 400-500 g wheat flour [used 450 g in the dough and 50 g for rolling it out]
• for rolling out: 125 g nondairy butter [choose a firm type, it's important it be put on the dough as slices rather than being greased on]
• for brushing: nondairy cream – e.g. rice cream

Instructions

• Whip together the egg-replacement as described on package for 1 whole egg.
• Mix salt, sugar and egg-replacement in a bowl. If using ordinary yeast also mix that in. If using dry yeast, mix with flour before adding to the rest of the ingredients.
• Mix in the flour.
• Knead the dough well until it’s smooth.
• Roll out the dough – make a square.
• Cut the nondairy butter into thin slices and divide them over the square dough.
• Fold the dough into a half and then a quarter “like you would a napkin”. Hüttemeier writes “in four pieces”, but I’ve written what ended up making most sense to me in the moment.
• Again, roll out the dough into a square shape. Fold. Repeat until the nondairy butter has disappeared into the dough. For me that meant 5-6 times. Let the dough rest in a cold place in between, for like 15 min., in order to make it easier to handle.
• Roll out the dough into a large round disc. Cut into 16 triangles which are rolled up from the wide end to the tip.
• Turn on the oven at 250°C [482°F].
• Place the croissants on a piece of baking paper with the tip down, and let set for 20 min. in a warm place and under a clean dishcloth.

• Brush with nondairy cream.
• Bake for 10 min. with the the forced fan on.
• Enjoy!

Suggestions:

According to Mrs. Hüttemeier everything can be frozen, as long as it’s done properly. That means baking it until done, letting it cool completely, and package it correctly for the freezer. Pastry like Danish and croissants (i presume) may be thawed by placing the frozen goods on a griddle for 10 min. in a 200°C [392°F] warm oven, or they may thaw on the kitchen table (and then shortly baked I presume). If served warm, these goods will taste exactly like the freshly baked ones, she says. But they are not interesting the following day. I’d like to add, that I personally find that baked goods easily get baked a bit too much for my taste if frozen completely and then baked. I prefer to bake them a little less, then freeze. But otherwise I couldn’t agree more with Hüttemeier, as she wrote this in 1962-1963 (my translation):

“If you have a freezer at home, it may very well pay off to spend one or two days a month cooking…freezing in portions that suits the family. It’ll give you many nice and easy days – e.g. around the holidays where the prices on food go up. You can prepare the food in good time, and make it easier on yourself around Christmas, Easter, and Whitsun.”

Recipe is based on Hüttemeier’s New Large Cookbook, Kirsten Hüttemeier, Fremad (1963), p. 10: Parisian Croissants (Pariser-Croissanter) & p. 258 about freezing baked goods.

Also see my The Hüttemeier Project a.k.a. Vintage Cooking & Baking Gone Vegan or search on ”Hüttemeier” to the right for more vintage Hüttemeier recipes the vegan way.

———-RECIPE IN DANISH———-

Parisian Croissants

Ingredienser

• 2 1/2 dl koldt vand
• 1 tsk salt
• 1 tsk sukker
• 1 tsk No Egg pisket med 2 spsk vand ELLER en lignende æggeerstatning for 1 æg; f.eks. Ener-G
• 25 g gær ELLER 6.5 g tørgær
• 400-500 g hvedemel [brugte 450 g i dejen og 50 g til udrulning]
• til udrulning: 125 g vegetabilsk smør [vælg en fast type, det er vigtigt at det lægges på dejen som skiver snarer end smøres på]
• til pensling: vegetabilsk fløde – f.eks. risfløde

Fremgangsmåde

• Mix salt, sukker og æg i en skål. Hvis du burger almindeligt gær, smuldres det også i. Hvis du burger tørgær, skal dette først blandes med melet.
• Tilsæt melet.
• Ælt dejen godt indtil den er glat.
• Rul dejen ud i en firkant.
• Skær det vegetabilske smør i tynde skiver og fordel over dejen.
• Fold dejen en halv og derpå en kvart omgang som man “folder en serviette”. Hüttemeier skriver “i fire dele”, jeg har skrevet hvad der i øjeblikket gav mest mening.
• Rul igen dejen ud til en firkant og fold. Gentages indtil det vegetabilske smør er opslugt af dejen; ca. 5-6 runder. Lad dejen hvile et kvarters tid imellem hver udruldning, så er den lettere at have med at gøre.
• Rul dejen ud i en store rund plade, der igen skæres i 16 trekanter. Trekanterne rulles sammen fra den brede ende mod spidsen.
• Tænd ovnen på 250°C
• Placer croissanterne på en plade med bagepapir – spidsen nederst.
• Lad hæve overdækket 20 min. et varmt sted.

• Pensl med vegetabilsk fløde.
• Bag 10 min. med blæs.
• Velbekommen!

Forslag:

Ifølge Hüttemeier kan alting fryses, bare det gøres rigtigt. Mht. wienerbrød og croissanter (formoder jeg) er hendes anvisninger følgende: Bag færdig, afkøl og pak ordentligt (jeg putter i frysepose) før frysning. Tø op på køkkenbordet eller i en 200°C warm ovn i 10 min. på en rist. Personligt foretrækker jeg en anelse underbagning, såfremt jeg planlægger frysning og genopvarmning. Godt nok skal bagværket efterfølgende spises med det samme, det bliver tørt af at gemmes, men så er det også ifølge Hüttemeier så godt som nybagt!

Opskriften er baseret på Hüttemeiers Nye Storkogebog, Kirsten Hüttemeier, Fremad (1963), s. 10: Pariser-Croissanter & s. 258 om at fryse bagværk.

Se også The Hüttemeier Project a.k.a. Vintage Cooking & Baking Gone Vegan eller søg på “Hüttemeier” til højre for mere Hüttemeier på vegansk.

This would be the first time ever that Asta had facon for breakfast. She’d never had it that early in the day, only with lunch or dinner. But having house guests from America over her mother wanted to be a proper host. As Mom understood it, facon was a common part of Americans’ usual breakfast. Of course she would make an effort to accommodate the customs of their distant relatives. After all, they had flown all the long way from over there to visit, and they would need sufficient sustenance upon arrival. Did they even feed people while in the air? And what kind of food could they offer? She shuddered by the mere thought of going up into the air in a tin can without the prospect of a decent meal.

Ingredients

• 200 g tofu natural (firm)
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tbsp ketchup
• 2 tbsp soy sauce (e.g. shoyu)
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast (may be left out, but adds god umami)
• 1 tsp salt
• 4-5 tbsp olive oil for frying

Instructions

• Slice the tofu very (!) thinly. I.e. like the tofu slices furthest to the right on the picture below.

• Heat the olive oil in a pan, and roast the tofu strips on medium heat until crisp. Gently turn them once in a while. The frying may take 10-30 min. depending on your pan and stove. The goal is to get the strips dehydrated and crisp without burning them.

• While the tofu is roasting you may as well mix paprika, ketchup, soy sauce, nutritional yeast, and salt in a bowl.

• When the tofu strips are crisp, just dump them all in the bowl of spice mix one at a time or all together at once. Be sure to get them all covered.
• Quickly give them a heat up in the pan. It only takes a short moment in a hot pan before they burn, so don’t linger.
• Enjoy! Personally these get me over any craving for pigs’ bacon that I might have (but actually don’t), and is pretty darn close to the pig’s thing – especially when used in a sandwich!

Suggestions:

Personally, I prefer tofu natural for facon, but you may also try smoked tofu, seitan, or tempe.

The particular ingredients of the spice mix may be varied. Just keep in mind, that to mimic the taste of pigs’ bacon, you need the following tastes: salt (e.g. from salt and soy sauce), umami (e.g. from nutritional yeast, ketchup, and the smokey flavour from smoked paprika, smoke aroma or smoked tofu), a little sweetness (e.g. from ketchup or sugar), and something crispy to stick all the flavour on to (e.g. roasted tofu strips, seitan or tempe).

———-RECIPE IN DANISH———-

Ingredienser

• 200 g tofu natural (fast)
• 1 tsk røget paprika
• 1 spsk ketchup
• 2 spsk sojasauce (f.eks. shoyu)
• 1 spsk gærflager (“nutritional yeast”; kan udelades)
• 1 tsk salt
• 4-5 spsk olivenolie til stegning

Fremgangsmåde

• Skær tofuen ud i meget tynde skiver ligesom dem længst til højre på billedet nedenfor.

• Opvarm olivenolien i en pande og steg tofustrimlerne indtil de er sprøde. Vend dem forsigtigt en gang imellem. Stegningen kan godt tage 10-30 min. alt efter pande og komfur. Målet er at dehydrere strimlerne og få dem sprøde uden at brænde dem på.

• Mens tofuen steger blandes paprika, ketchup, sojasauce, gærflager og salt i en skål.

• Når strimlerne er sprøde vendes de i krydderiblandingen. De skal dækkes helt.
• Steg strimlerne kort på panden, de brænder let på pga. krydderiblandingen.
• Velbekommen! Selvom jeg egentlig ikke længere savner grisse-bacon, gør facon hurtigt en ende på enhver craving. Især er de rigtig gode i sandwiches!

Forslag:

Personligt foretrækker jeg tofu natural til facon, men du kan også prøve med røget tofu, seitan eller tempe.

De specifikke ingredienser i krydderiblandingen kan godt varieres. Dette er mit bud på hvad jeg selv foretrækker, men det er selvfølgelig ikke sikkert du lige har det hele hjemme. Det der er vigtigt at huske på, er at de følgende smagsområder skal repræsenters: salt (f.eks. fra salt og sojasauce), umami (f.eks. fra gærflager, ketchup og røgsmag), røgsmag (f.eks. fra røget paprika, røgaroma eller røget tofu), en smule sødme (f.eks. fra ketchup eller sukker) og så skal det hele hæftes fast på noget knasende sprødt (f.eks. stegte tofustrimler, seitan eller tempe).

[Photo Credits]

As I’ve previously indicated: Something very exciting is cooking!

Today is not only World Vegan Day, it’s also going to be day 1. of The Hüttemeier Project a.k.a. Vintage Cooking Gone Vegan. This means I’m going to spend a lot of time in my kitchen together with the wonderful cookbooks of a very talented woman. Needless to say: I’m really excited!

The recipes I’m going to cook was written by someone who I’ve had a weakness for since my early teens. In Denmark she was – and still is – an absolute authority on cooking. Desperate housewives would seek her advice when in despair; she’d answer their questions in magazine columns, and managed to keep up a telephone hotline for years and years. Besides penning numerous articles, she also undertook public speakings. In fact, she was hired by several companies to test, demonstrate, and endorse their products – be it edibles or kitchen appliances. On TV she’s been the centre of several cooking shows, and she was of course present in 1951 at the dawn of Danish television. During her long and productive career she authored no less than 55 cookbooks! Today, many of her recipes are actually considered untouchable classics… Yeah, I’m gonna forget about the untouchability again…

Meet Mrs. Hüttemeier

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to Kirsten Hüttemeier - definitely a part of the history of cooking.

[Photo Credits]

Kirsten Hüttemeier was born in 1914 (-2003), married twice, never had children. In the 1930s she studied and graduated within the domestic sciences. From then on her career took off, and she soon became a household name. Cooking her way into the hearts of housewives, and guiding even the most clumsy kitchen-dummy through preparing food. Today, her name calls forth associations of the infamous protective sleeves which kind of became hallmark Hüttemeier – as well as butter and cream in amounts that’ll clog your arteries just by reading the recipes. Oh well, so where those days.

[Photo Credits]

Hüttemeier was a contemporary to Julia Child and the two have fittingly been compared. They both had a genuine love of eating and cooking, a fondness of fatty ingredients (e.g. butter!), strongly advocated real fresh ingredients, and they both put taste over slim-lining. Looking at video clips of both clearly shows off their similarities. Both had a certain air about them. A way of carrying themselves, their tone of voice, the way they phrased things, and a confidence in the food that they prepared regardless of what anyone might say about nutrition. Both had brown shortish and curly hair – as fashion prescribed in those years – and both where remarkably tall women. Amusingly enough, both women have also been parodied by men.

[Photo Credits]

After several years off screen, Hüttermeier suddenly appeared on TV again in the 1990s – thus reviving her specific approach to cooking. The now elderly lady cooked and explained for a growing audience. Her special demeanour captivated many – including me – and was a gift to comedians in those years. Take a look at these two video clips:

1: Hüttemeier (herself) cooks beef with cheese.
2: Actor Martin Brygmann’s (Lex & Klatten) parody on Hüttemeier’s TV show. The speech is about how using a lot of cream has never harmed anyone (something she’d actually say), and an anecdote about accidentally boiling a spoon when studying domestic sciences in the 1930s.

[Photo Credits]

A note: Some may find my veganizing her recipes to be severe sacrilege. I humbly disagree. Other may just find it pointless. I’ll say this: Hüttemeier was not a veggie. Not even close. She was an omnivore through and through, and known for notoriously using obscene amounts of saturated fats. I actually suspect that she didn’t really fancy vegetables much, and that she predominantly perceived them as taste-givers or somewhat necessary side dishes. I.e. veggies perceived pretty much as the majority still does. In many ways her approach to cooking is definitely symptomatic of her time. No, I’m not sure what she would say about having her recipes translated into vegan food, but I sincerely mean it as a huge and honest compliment!

[Photo Credits]

Hüttemeier authored many cookbooks in her time (55!), and I’ve been tempted to throw myself into many of them. They are all symptomatic of her and of their time, and they are all written in Hüttemeier’s charming voice. Although it isn’t paramount that I stick to only one book, it is a logical way to go by cooking her food.  Since I’m the proud owner of three of her cookbooks, I’ll spend the next couple of days zooming in on them all, and decide whether I’m going to cook everything from one book, or pick and choose interesting recipes from the three books that I have.

First, let me introduce my books:

Food for Real Men

Upon seeing this book I immediately knew that I had to give it a closer look. The title itself drew me in. It’s called Food for Real Men (Mandfolkemad) and contains 175+ recipes for food somewhat adapted to the male pallet. Oh, how the feminist in me stirs. The title smells of clear cut gender roles, and distinguished areas of expertise. In 1947 when the book was published by Forlaget Fremad (cover illustration by the famous humourist Storm P.), the domestic kitchen was definitely considered the woman’s area. Men was of course still the master chefs in fine restaurants – as they have historically tended to be. But like many of Hüttemeier’s expressions suggest, overcoming the daily “food-problem” as she calls it, was expected of every woman.

My copy is a new old stock. It’s bought second hand, but has never been opened. I’ve actually cut open the pages myself! Honestly, the historian in me cried a little as I did so. She’d have me keep it in a plastic cover and only touch it with cotton gloves. I’ve decided to defy her. This is a cookbook. I’m not going to sell it. It wasn’t that expensive and I didn’t see indications of it being completely priceless or irreplaceable. As the cookbook it is, I’m going to treat it like a cookbook. Although I’m going to be careful with it, there may be accidental spills and dirty fingerprints, and I’m going to carefully write my veganizations in it with a soft pencil. Yes, you heard me right! The historian screams no! Still, if I ever was to publish a cookbook myself, I’d prefer it to get dirty and used. Hüttemeier, I wonder if you would disagree?

Before proceeding I’d like to translate the preface depicted above. It sets the book’s tone nicely:

»PREFACE
I have the most paramount respect for men who cook – good food that is – because then it is difficult for the rest of us to keep up. Still, it would cause me great joy if the gentlemen interested in food would study my Food for Real Men a bit, and for once let the wives be test objects!
Although, the book is not written for the domestic gentlemen alone. After all, it is a fact that it is the women who day in and day out have to come up with all the meals. That is also why this book is written for both the housewives and the husbands, the bachelors and the grass widower, as well as the athlete. In the back of the book you will find a special section for the various gentlemen. Here is small dinners, luches etc., and everything is so clearly explained, that even a man who has never before held a stirring spoon in his hand may feel confident cooking.
I hope you will all find new ideas, and if Food for Real Men can help the housewives and the gentlemen cellarer, then nobody is more happy than your’s sincerely,
Kirsten Hüttemeier«

Before I set out to make Hüttemeier’s food out of vegetables only, I’d like to include what she herself had to say about that green stuff (picture above):

»Do not forget the Greens
— and by greens I mean salads and vegetables. Here, I think it in many cases are the housewives who shy away from the inconvenience that it is to give the family a good salad or spinach for dinner. Most are likely to think that potatoes are just as good and much easier!
But make the decision to serve vegetables at least twice a week. E.g. serve the vegetables as a soup or together with meat or fish, and when in season, you should put salad on the table every day – be it lettuce or fresh vegetables.
I do know that there are many men who does not care much for salad, but here it is the responsibility of the housewives to prepare the vegetables and salads so tasty and delicately that their husbands grow fond of vegetables.
It is very easy if you mix a portion of marinade or dressing in a bottle. That way you will always have it ready at hand.«

Ahh, don’t you just love the way housewives are made responsible!

Hüttemeier’s Best Baked Goods

Hüttemeier’s Best Baked Goods (Hüttemeiers Bedste Bagværk; Forlaget Fremad 1965) definitely hits a soft spot with it’s 124+ baking recipes. I looove to bake more than anything, and I’m very tempted to bake my way through this one. A lot of the goods are classics which can still be found in Danish bakeries – not that Hüttemeier necessarily invented them, but here is her version of them.

Hüttermeier’s New Large Cookbook

The book (Hüttemeiers Nye Storkogebog) is from 1963, and mine is a first edition. It’s one of many recipe collections which she had published. With it’s numerous recipes (we are talking 1000+!) spread over 346 pages, it’s a mammoth compared to her regular cookbooks. I’m not drawn to it by it’s cover, but rather by it’s status as a collection of both cooking and baking recipes. As far as I can tell, this book also sums up her previous works. It contains many recipes which can also be found in her other publications. The large cookbook has been revised at least two times since it’s first publication, thus making it an ongoing work. I like that. Whenever I cook, I often stumble upon new and smarter ways of doing things which I later incorporate into my recipes.

When I set out too cook vintage foods and goods the vegan way, I’ll mainly (perhaps only) look to this publication.

Guidelines

I’ve decided on the following:

• As I’m making Hüttemeier’s recipes available to a larger group of eaters, I’ll also be updating them slightly. I.e. I’m e.g. not going to blindly substitute cows’ butter with the same amount of nondairy butter if that’ll make it less delicious. After all, peoples’ taste has generally changed a lot over the years, and too much fat is neither healthy nor is it to my personal taste. Being eaten, it has to!

• Upon reading my posts, please keep in mind that I’m cooking under the following circumstances: A toddler who can get up on everything, grabs everything, want’s to see/taste/feel everything, and have little patience with her mommy is with me in our very impractical kitchen…

The End

So, do I aspire to anything like in the movie Julie & Julia? Nah, I’m having fun. Rest assured, this is as much for my own amusement as it is a tribute to Hüttemeier and everything vintage.

I hope you’ll read along and perhaps try some of the recipes yourself. Serious comments are welcomed.

Velbekommen! / Enjoy! / Bon Apetite!

This is an interesting video of how the canine and hummingbird tongue works. Basically, it’s about how these two species drink:

Did you ever contemplate WHY it’s so very important to become a member of those (animal rights) organizations whose work you agree with?

Well, besides the obvious financial factors there’s actually a bit more to it than that. Don’t get me wrong, donations are absolutely everything. Still, I would like you to consider the additional long lasting effects of a membership.

Three good reasons to become a member:

1) Immediate financial support
The money will immediately help fond whatever work(s) the organization is behind. Although one annual membership fee may not seem to be a whole lot of money in itself, many membership fees are. Besides, it’s important to remember that every bit and scrap actually means a world of difference to those in need.

2) Future financial security
Furthermore, the expectation of so and so many annual membership fees each year enables the organization to plan it’s future work, campaigns, events etc. in a larger scale. This is a financial security which should definitely not be underestimated.

3) Send a signal
Having a lot of members sends a very important signal to politicians and the general public alike. It shows commitment, support and determination. Politicians may take this rather heavy sign of support into consideration when negotiating among themselves, campaigning, and when dealing with the organization in question. As for the general public it’s not much different. Seeing how numerous others support a certain cause may very well sway more people into joining and in other ways help those in need.

Personally, I’m beginning to loose count of the animal rights organizations I’m a member of – either personally or by a family membership. These memberships are very high priority to me.

I support small organizations, because I figure they have less administration costs than the bigger ones, and that more money will therefore go directly to the animals. I support the big organizations because they hold a lot of power by e.g. being well-known and having a large PR-budget.

In my opinion the world needs as many hands on helpers as possible – as well as advocates to constantly remind everyone how (bad) things are. Put together the illustrative posters, videos and the likes from one organization might very well lead people to also join another one without needing much convincing. That way organizations with similar agendas supplement each other while staying independent.

I know that some organizations regrettably practice certain politics which I do not in any way condone. This is a really difficult dilemma since I’m essentially paying them to keep practicing them as long as I’m a member or donate money. I don’t take such things lightly, believe me! Somehow I have to rely on the good that they do to outweigh the bad, and I stay a member while continuously approaching them with my concerns about the specific issues. I.e. I keep questioning and seek to change from within. In some cases I might sort of understand where they are coming from, but since I still strongly disagree I’ll keep reminding them.

Lastly, I’d like to address some of the issues which I know many people have with memberships:

• I’m not comfortable being bound like that…
  - Please don’t look at it like being bound cause you really aren’t. You can always (after serious consideration I’d hope) terminate your membership. It’s not like when you e.g. got tempted and began subscribing to a magazine because of some initial package deal and then forgot you did and ended up having a hard time getting out of it. Charitable organizations are not allowed to play such pranks on you.

• It’s a lot of money, I can’t afford it…
  - Some people have a lot more money than others, and to some even the smallest amount is crucial. The rest, please remember that the fee in most cases is annual. Furthermore, most organizations’ membership fee is actually relatively low. Let’s say you abstain from going to the movies (popcorn and everything) one time, that’ll about pay your membership.

• How can I be sure that my money will actually end up helping animals, and not go towards administration or into someone’s pockets?
  - You can never know anything for certain unless you actually handle the organization’s finances yourself. Still, most organizations make a point of clarifying how exactly the money is spend; e.g. by making their financial statements public. I suggest you look at these, do they seem genuine? Also consider what else you know about the organization from the medias and other people. Don’t believe every bad rumor, it might not be true or it might belong to the past. But if you are suspicious, it may help to learn as much as possible about the particular organization – or getting involved in it’s work.

I bet there are a lot more concerns at play when people don’t become members of an organization they actually agree with. Sometimes people just haven’t gotten around to it and only need to be asked. Other times the importance of memberships simply haven’t occurred to them.

A long story short: No matter what the reason might be, I strongly urge you to carefully choose the (animal rights) organizations whose politics you agree with and become a member. Memberships are very important. Also donate what little or big you can every once in a while, and consider volunteering at shelters etc. It not only feels good, it actually makes a huge difference.
When a member you’ll most likely receive one or more magazines etc. per year. Online newsletters are quite expensive, but paper magazines and postage is even more costly. Consider letting the organization know that you’ll prefer reading their magazine etc. online, hereby making sure that even more money is spend on the animals.

Charitable organizations are important in order to fend for the weak. Historically speaking they share the responsibility for opening people’s eyes and changing their ways – as well as having laws that protect animals from exploitation being passed and enforced.

[No, you're not seeing double. This post is actually a page as well.]

Goody Good Stuff is goody good stuff. Sorry, couldn’t help myself. I simply love the name. What the name promises the sweets deliver: tasty goodies that actually aren’t quite as unhealthy as ordinary sweets filled with nasty gelatin, artificial this and that and a bucket full of E-numbers. In my book thats very appealing.

Goody Good Stuff is vegan and vegetarian alternatives to traditional gummy gelatin based candy which is suitable for most diets. In other words, the sweets are:

- fat free
- GMO free
- soy free
- meat free
- egg free
- nut free
- dairy free
- alcohol free
- tree nut free
- gluten free
- kosher & halal
- vegan & vegetarian
- all natural flavours
- no artificial colours

If the absence of all this wasn’t enough, the goodies come in no less than eight different varieties:

Sour Fruit Salad*
Tropical Fruit
Strawberries & Cream
Gummy Koala Bears
Summer Peaches*
Sour Mix & Match*
Cheery Cherries
Cola Breeze*

The stars indicate which vegan varieties I’ve tried – and I don’t mind admitting that my personal favourite was no other than the amazing Cola Breeze. Nom nom nom, the texture of medium hard gummy with a taste of cola and coated in crunchy sugar crystals. But picking one out doesn’t seem completely fair to the rest since I liked them all. I’ve always had a thing for sour sweets as well and also noticed how the peachy peaches looked and tasted exactly like the gelatin versions I remember from years back! Up until now I’ve always considered myself not-a-gummy-person, guess I am now.

If all my praising words made you suspicious, I’ll be be quick to reassure you: All goods are high quality candy with a great taste, texture and colour. I don’t get a fee for writing all this and I don’t need to. The goodies speak for themselves.

Is your mouth watering from all this? Check out your local health food store or ask for Goody Good Stuff in your supermarket. If there’s a demand, they might take home the goodies. Personally I haven’t seen the brand in Denmark yet, but I know it’s available online from e.g. nearby Sweden and Germany. If you live in the UK (and perhaps the US?) getting hold of the goodies should be a bit simpler.

How did I get this wonderful sample package then? I actually won it on Twitter, so be sure to check out the company’s tweets.

Goody Good Stuff online: goodygoodstuff.com (UK based company)

NB!: All goodies are vegetarian, but regrettably not all are vegan. Check the contents.