Copenhagen’s Topless Sandwiches | Best Places to Taste the Smørrebrød

From classic spots to modern restaurants, what to expect at an authentic Danish lunch.

Come to Copenhagen, she said. And take your top off. Your sandwich at least. Here, the ubiquitous lunch dish is called smørrebrød – a Danish open-faced sandwich – and scandalous it’s not. Copenhagen is a tasty town try a piece or two, or more. Offerings of these gorgeous sandwiches washed down with carefully curated and house-infused snaps will convert the curious.

And whether you prefer the old-school vibe of an iconic café or the upscale design aesthetic of a more modern restaurant – the Danish capital has you covered. But you should still don your own top. I’ll share some smørrebrød etiquette, what to expect on menus and where you can try it. Come along and see what you’re missing. Skål! Cheers. 

Continue reading “Copenhagen’s Topless Sandwiches | Best Places to Taste the Smørrebrød”

Crabbing on the Oregon Coast

Scooping up Delicious Dungeness Crabs

TIPS AND TRICKS TO PULL YOUR LIMIT IN THE STATE OF OREGON

Three hours before high tide. We’ve checked the boat. It still starts. That’s key. We load it up with rings, pots, and boxes. We’re going crabbing. On the Oregon Coast. Yes – you heard me. OREGON. Oregon Girl and crew are back around the world for a month visiting family and friends. In Oregon. It’s a little surreal. In the best way. Don’t worry Denmark, we’ll be back. But for now, we’re soaking up, tasting, seeing, and hugging all those things and people that we missed. It’s good.

(Originally posted July 2016, up-to-date as of September 2022)

SEEK OUT YACHATS ON THE CENTRAL OREGON COAST

Have you been crabbing? I have done this in Oregon for as long as I can remember. Maine may have their “lobstahs,” but here on the Pacific Northwest Coast, we hunt Dungeness Crab. Growing up in Eugene – a university town that sits mid-state off I-5 in western Oregon – we frequent the central Oregon coast between the little towns of Florence and Newport. And we’re more than lucky that my mom loves sharing her coast house. We spend most of our time in charming and quirky, but oh so cozy Yachats. (Around here, locals pronounce it YAW-hots. Not yeah-chats. It is an anglicized title originating from an indigenous Native American name and some claim it loosely translates to “dark water at the foot of the mountain.” You can more about the people that populated this place before colonization here.)

Continue reading “Crabbing on the Oregon Coast”

Danish Caviar and Blinis | Taste a Classic Spring Dish From Denmark

February in Denmark is marked by cream-filled fastelavnsboller fever. Especially this year. Without the escape of faraway winter breaks, it seemed to obtain a taste from every craft baker in Copenhagen was how we were collectively wandering. You too? We definitely tried a few. But I’m grateful the sweets are only in shops for a limited time. Too much a good thing, sometimes just too much.

So when the calendar turned over to March, the Danes make welcome to spring. Here, they follow the meteorological definition for the first day of Spring as March 1st. Personally, I’m more of a Spring Equinox person, but this was probably the first year we’ve lived here where the weather and season seemed fit to start at the beginning of the month. Suddenly, snowdrops, those pretty little harbingers of the season were pushing up in gardens and parks around town. The Danes call the delicate white and green blooms “vintergækker.” Gæk – an old Danish word that means to tease or make fun of. I love the idea that these little flowers are literally making fun of winter that was cold enough to freeze bodies of water last month.

Continue reading “Danish Caviar and Blinis | Taste a Classic Spring Dish From Denmark”

Quarantine Kitchen | Orange Cardamom Easter Bunny Rolls

Wonder What Denmark Does at Home When on Lockdown?
BAKE WITH ALL YOUR HAMSTERED YEAST

While the rest of the world was hoarding toilet paper, here in Denmark the Danes load up on yeast. (And toilet paper.) It’s true. But yeast. That one was a surprise to me at first. But digging a bit deeper, and asking a few Danes, it turns out there is a precedent for all that yeast knabbing. Continue reading “Quarantine Kitchen | Orange Cardamom Easter Bunny Rolls”

Sustainable Crabbing and Fishing Experiences Around the World

How to Keep Your Seafood Catch Sustainable
Respecting local regulations and limits to fish and crab responsibly

I grew up crabbing and fishing. Maybe you can blame my dad. He tied flies for fun and loved to cast a long line in every eddy he could find along the cold clear McKenzie River outside Eugene, Oregon where we called home. But I remember fishing and crabbing with him even before we moved to Oregon.

Every summer we’d travel back to my Grandmother’s lake cabin outside Lawrence, Kansas and every cousin who could would try to catch whatever swam in those waters. My dad would load the old minnow bucket with minnows and let it dangle in the water just off the dock. He taught us to scoop up a wiggly little bait and slide it onto a hook so that it wouldn’t fly off the minute we cast.

In the coastal marshes of South Carolina, near where we lived for awhile, he taught us to tie chicken legs to a string and carefully lure in the crab and scoop them up in a net. Now that I’ve lived in Scandinavia for several years, I’ve seen this same technique used by young Danes and Swedes for good summer fun. Many a dock in Denmark has a place to keep the crabs for “inspection” for a bit before returning them to the cold clear Baltic Sea.

From a young age, my dad showed us how to use proper techniques and equipment, how to clean and definitely how to enjoy our catches. Memories are still strong of the fish cleaning hut at Diamond Lake, in Oregon, where he would gut the days’ limit looking inside each fish’s stomach to see what fly he should try the next day. He taught us the value of adhering to legal catch limits to keep stocks sustainable and available for years to come. Continue reading “Sustainable Crabbing and Fishing Experiences Around the World”