daily delights - february 10

what a world we're living in! you can order all kinds of things to be brought to you. including gin from a little domestic distillery called volsted. it's albatross, navy strength and it will come in handy this coming weekend when we're celebrating husband's birthday and our anniversary. they were kind enough to include a hand-written note and a can of fever tree tonic that goes nicely with the gin. i love the label as well and i thought that was a cool sticker, but it's just the notecard they wrote on. this post is not even remotely sponsored, but if you're interested, they just might send to you too. i haven't tasted it yet, but the packaging and the little gift and the hand-written note have totally won me over. definitely today's delight.

books as yet unwritten

a couple of books on denmark by expats (i know, we're not supposed to use that word anymore, thanks to its colonial, possibly racist overtones) have come out recently -  a year of living danishly and the danish way of parenting . both are getting quite a lot of press. and it makes me regret that i've not written more than a string of blog posts in my feeble attempts to understand the danes. however, i think there are still other books to be written. in fact, right now, as we speak, i'm plotting one on the danes' uncanny and impressive ability to drink exactly the right amount to maintain the perfect buzz for 12 hours straight (it's how they get through christmas). i can surely do much better than you suck at drinking, tho' you have to admire a book that advises exactly how much to drink at a children's party...

on having a relaxed attitude to alcohol

it's approaching midnight again and again, i'm sitting here at the computer. we're having a big party this weekend to celebrate husband's 50th (it was back in february, but we waited (perhaps in vain) for better weather) and all of the plans and preparations are whirling in my head. thank odin for pinterest. and for being a list-maker. i'm off to germany tomorrow to lay in supplies (read: alcohol). because what party is complete without cocktails and wine and beer and cider? and a bunch of good food. although our weather is iffy and potentially not cooperating, it's going to be an awesome party.

and the child will have a party the weekend after, to celebrate officially leaving folkeskole for good, so i'll also lay in supplies for that as well. and some of her friends are having a party this friday and they've gathered up their pennies (almost literally) and given me a list of what to buy for them. yes, i have become that person we used to seek out when we were underage back in the day - that person who was old enough to buy alcohol and willing to do so.

buying alcohol for teenagers, you say, frowning. and yes, i say, smiling. because here in denmark, we have a relaxed attitude about such things. better to provide the kids with low-alcohol cider and "shots" in a bottle that have about the same alcohol content as wine and to know what they're doing and let them do it in a safe, gently observed environment, than to make it something that's taboo and have them sneak around. and what we find is that they don't drink all those ciders, they drink plenty of sodas (because we buy those too) and they laugh and listen to music. in actual fact, they're pretty darn sensible about it all. and that's because it's considered normal and not something forbidden and exotic and therefore appealing.

and we're not the only parents that are relaxed like this. pretty much everyone i know is. and it makes me grateful to be raising my child in a place where common sense still prevails. and cheap cases of cider are available just across the border. kind of like back when i was in college in south dakota and the low-point alcohol drinking age was still 18 in minnesota...

adding to the gin collection

a little gin review

every time i go down to germany, i pick up a few bottles of gin. i try to get old favorites (geranium, hendrick's) and a couple of new ones that we've never tried before. they have an awesome selection at the big grocery store, citti, and even a good selection in the various border shops, so there's always something exciting. to try. this time, i got blackwoods and tann's. with various guests, these two bottles are already gone! we definitely liked the blackwoods best of the two and i would even buy it again. we've been on a schweppes bitter lemon kick and used that with these gins instead of tonic, just for a change of pace. the blackwoods stood up to it better than the tann's, with just the right amount of juniper able to cut through the bitter lemon.

tann's is a much milder, less ginny gin. and by that i mean that there's hardly any juniper taste to it. in fact, if we'd had it with tonic, we'd have been sorely disappointed. it's a good gin to mix with bitter lemon. it's also a good gin to serve to people who say they don't really like gin, as what they likely don't like is that piney juniper flavor and tann's definitely lacks that. as a result it also lacks the crispness that i think that gin should have. i don't believe we'll be putting it in the cart again, despite the pretty purple bottle.

this is very interesting - it's a gin liqueur, not a regular gin. i'd bought hayman's before and we liked it and i'll admit i thought i was buying the normal hayman's again, expecting its crisp, clean finish. it was only after i got it home that i discovered that it was a liqueur. it's part of a trend i just read about in the new york times - liquor with split personalities. the article doesn't mention gin, but instead oak-barrel aged tequila and bourbon that's been sent to sea. but a gin liqueur is a similar hybrid. and it's just up husband's alley, as he's much more partial to sweet drinks than i am. we have used it like normal gin, mixing with the bitter lemon and he really likes it. me, less so, as i'm not keen on sweet. but it's good to have something on the shelf that's good for husband's evening drinkie poo and this is definitely perfect for that.

what are you drinking these days?

the weekend thus far

the very first strawberry.

new gin.

scandinavian summer. personified. (depicted?)

a visit from a fox.