Summary
1. Waking up
2. Breakfast
3. Creative activities
4. Lunch
5. TV Show Break
6. Snack
7. Lazy Time
8. Diner
Because I am sure there are millions of ways to travel, we can escape even in 100 feet square, we can recreate American in the middle of nowhere; in those weird quarantined times, I got the idea to create a file “Special Quarantine”: A reachable world. Following my wandering steps for eight months, I am offering you to stop by Ireland, Iceland, Alaska, some Western provinces of Canada, some united American States; sprinkling clothes opinions, cooking ideas, books / music / movies advice, and other surprises…
I put myself in a bit of a challenge this week: traveling you to our 2nd Neverland without physically hiking you there. Because, making dreams out of this Island of Ice without its dark land, ocean of diamonds, verdant Fjords and multicolored rocks is like listening to Beethoven when you are deaf! Its people took centuries to realize its wealth belongs to its mesmerizing landscapes and we will have to make it without! Too bad, too good! Let’s dream about ICELAND!
Verið velkomin til Íslands !*
1. Getting up on the right side of the bed
You wake up for this Xth week of quarantine and – let’s be honest – you are fed up with it! Besides, it is pouring outside; it is going to be a bad weather for the entire week anyway, thank you all April and Easter eggs and chocolate bunnies and Roman bells that didn’t even ring because it is the end of the world! Really, you are in a bad mood today and maybe until the end of the year! You are lucky though, it could be worse, it could be sunny and you would probably have killed someone! Because you don’t really care about a bloody 25°C (77 F) sun when you can’t even go out!
In a word this quarantine is really getting on your nerves, you feel like it will never ends! Today, you need a bit of tenderness, you need to escape in a warm and comforting environment. Today, we’ll have fun, we’ll pretend it is Icelandic winter time in your home…
You first have to get out of the bed and you don’t feel like getting dressed… Alright’, let’s not wear any clothes! Let’s be as uninhibited as Icelandic in a locker room and spend the entire day naked!
No, really? I understand, being naked is not for everybody…! But be aware, your other option is no better: let’s pretend you are a 16th century Icelandic shepherd using whatever you have in your closet! Here is some inspiration…
2. A gourmet breakfast
There is no actual Traditional Icelandic Breakfast but I am using my own imagination to offer you some sweets to start your day. Historically bound to Denmark, Iceland has kept a few recipes in its kitchen, for instance the Kanelbulle, cinnamon roll that I advise you to have baked the day before and that you should add to whatever you’d prefer today: tea, coffee, hot chocolate, mimosa, strawberries salad or pears juice; just be happy!
For the butter roll-in
Source : food.com
1 1⁄2 cups cold butter
1⁄4 cup flour
For the dough
2 (1/4 ounce) packages active dry yeast (not rapid rise)
1 cup milk, heated to about 110 f
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 teaspoons salt
1⁄4 cup sugar
3 1⁄4 cups all-purpose flour
For the cinnamon filling
4 tablespoons butter (divided in half)
1 cup brown sugar (divided in half)
4 teaspoons cinnamon (divided in half)
4 tablespoons flour (divided in half)
1 cup pecans (finely chopped, divided in half)
For the icing
3⁄4 lb powdered sugar (Add more if icing is too thin)
5 tablespoons milk (Add more if icing is too thick)
2 teaspoons vanilla
DIRECTIONS
Make the butter roll-in first. With two knives, cut the flour and the 3 sticks of butter together until combined but do not let the butter become warm. Tear off a sheet of waxed paper and dump the butter on to it. Place another sheet of waxed paper on top. Beat the the butter between the two sheets of waxed paper with a rolling pin until it becomes malleable. Make sure it stays cold though. With a spatula, a knife or whatever, shape the mound of butter into an 7″x9″ rectangle. It doesn’t have to be perfect but try to get it into a rectangular shape as best you can. Set aside in a cool spot or place back in the refrigerator while you make the dough, but don’t let the butter re-harden, it still needs to be soft and pliable.
For the dough, combine the packages of yeast with the warm milk and let sit 5 minutes to soften.
Mix in the salt, sugar, and eggs.
Add the 3 1/4 cups flour all at once and stir until thoroughly combined. You should have a very soft and sticky dough. Chill dough in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes.
If the block of butter is in the refrigerator remove it when you place the dough in there to chill.
Sprinkle your work surface generously with flour. You need a good thick layer of flour, maybe as much as a 1/16 to an 1/8 of an inch thick.
Roll dough out into a 11″x16″ rectangle. With a pastry brush brush all the excess flour off the top of the dough. Excess flour will interfere with layer formation.
Place the block of butter on one side of the dough leaving a small border around the edges. Fold the other half of the dough over and pinch the seams together slightly to seal to encase the block of butter. If dough sticks to the table when you try to fold it then simply brush it with flour. Don’t worry if the dough doesn’t look too pretty at this point. It will get better.
Turn the dough 1/4 turn so the part of the folded dough that opens up is on your right (like a book).
Roll the folded dough into an 8″x20″ rectangle. When you roll out the dough you want to make sure you use even strokes and roll from one end to the other. Avoid quick back and forth movements with the rolling pin and do not roll over the edge of your dough. This will destroy the layers you’re trying to make. If the butter breaks through the dough simply sprinkle a little bit of flour over the spot. Brush away all excess flour off the top of the dough.
Fold 1/3 of the dough over and brush off the excess flour and then fold the other 1/3 of the dough over that so the dough resembles a business letter.
Roll out the dough again and fold it in thirds like a business letter just like you did before. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
Meanwhile, take your pastry brush and a sheet of paper and sweep up all the flour on your work surface so you can use it again. After the dough has chilled, sprinkle your work surface with your recycled flour and place the dough on it.
Roll out and fold the dough in thirds exactly as you did before. Chill dough for 1 more hour. Repeat this rolling and folding one more time. You should now have a dough with 162 flaky layers (2x3x3x3x3). You started with two layers of dough separated by a layer of butter. Each time you rolled the dough out and folded it in thirds you increased the number of layers by a factor of 3.
Chill dough for at least 3 hours or overnight if preferred. At this point you have a basic Danish pastry dough.
You know have to make the cinnamon topping : just mix all the ingredients together.
With a sharp serrated knife, cut the dough in half. Keep one half in the refrigerator while you work with the first half. Roll the half of dough into a 9″x16″ rectangle and sprinkle the top of the dough with the cinnamon topping.
Roll dough into a tight 16″ long log.
Cut dough into 16 pieces. The easiest way to do this is to cut the log in half and then cut those halves in half and so forth. If dough is too soft to slice wrap it up and refrigerate it for an hour or place it in the freezer for 10 to 15 minutes.
Place cinnamon rolls on ungreased baking sheets at least 3 inches apart so they have room to rise and expand.
Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Cover the trays of cinnamon rolls with towels and set aside to rise until the rolls are ALMOST doubled (about a 75% increase in size). Don’t put them in a warm spot because you don’t want the butter to melt and cover the tray of rolls with a damp paper towel. Rising time may take a few hours or more.
Brush rolls lightly with egg wash and bake in a preheated 400°F oven for 12 to 15 minutes or until they are golden brown. If rolls are browning too fast on top lower the oven temperature about 15 degrees.
While it is baking, make the icing and then drizzle powdered sugar icing over the rolls while they are still warm.
3. Starting slow (or not)
First, it was a bit uneasy to find out how to keep you busy in Iceland, but I looked thorough, asked my Icelandic friends’ help (thanks Jon & Weronica!) and I can finally recommend you four activities, more or less traditional.
* If you have some wool around – if not, just get rid of your least favorite sweater! -, you might try to knit your own traditional Icelandic sweater. Because I suck so hard with knitting, I send you to people who know better in video or in words.
* If both your hands and imagination are getting impatient, it is time to get some sculptures done! In Iceland, the Huldufólk (“hidden people”, in other words elves and trolls) don’t only fill many fairy tales, they would still be haunting the mysterious frozen island (2/3 of the people do believe that). As a matter of fact, Hafnarfjördur Visitor Center (10 km south of Reykjavík) sells a map with all the places where elves live! But let’s go back to the point, I now invite you to build yourself those little unusual creatures and those big grotesque monsters.
You will first need your own play dough, that you might have to cook yourself like a nice remembrance of childhood…
How to make Salt Dough
Source : all recipes
1. Mix 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of salt together in a bowl. Slowly mix 1 cup of cold water, a few tablespoons at a time, into flour mixture until dough is smooth and easy to handle. Knead dough for 10 minutes and let rest for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F (120 degrees C).
3. Form dough into desired shapes and arrange on a baking sheet.
4. Bake in the preheated oven until dry and hard, about 2 hours. Allow to cool completely.
You will then need some daydreams… Ásgrimur Jonsson is one of the painters who knew how to sublimate Icelandic landscapes and open people to the beauty of their island. He also illustrated some Icelandic fairy tales, picturing fantastic creatures. Here are some of his most famous portraits, followed by a few Brian Pilkington’s elves:
* Like Irish language, Icelandic is a hard language to learn. Some words have so many letters which belong to an alphabet you don’t even know or that you would never think of saying like that. This is why I invite you to a tiny Icelandic language and geography course!
REMINDER of the rules:
– get the most precise map of Iceland (Google Map sounds like the best option right now because you can zoom and find the craziest Icelandic town names!)
– being able to pronounce (and place on a map) Icelandic names from this list! To your accents! (quizz answers further below)
1. Reykjavik
2. þórufoss
3. Þingvellir
4. Reykjanes
5. Krisuvikurberg
6. Snæfellsnes
7. Búðakirkja
8. Rauðfeldsgjá
9. Djúpalónssandur
10. Brjanslaekur
BONUS : Reykjafjardarlaug
A few tips though:
– letter « j » is pronounced like a “y”.
– letters « þ » and « ð » are pronounced like “th” in “thing”, except if « ð » is between two vowels, a vowel and a consonant, or in the end of the word, it is “th” like “the”.
– letter « æ » is pronounced like an “i”
– letter « f » is pronounced like a « v » most of the time, except when it is like a « f »
– letter « k » is pronounced « ti » in a beginning of a word, like the Spanish “j” in front of a “t” and like a “k” in all other cases.
Apart from that, a little anecdote: there are 50 Icelandic words to describe snow!
* The most appropriate Icelandic sport would be to jump on your shetland, but I doubt you have quarantined yourself with your dwarf horse, I therefore offer you a funny alternative (which actually has nothing to do with horse-ridding!). Iceland was part of the football Euro championship for the first time in 2016, during which, supporters made themselves unforgettable with their Vulcano clap – or Vicking clap -, this way of very slowly clapping above your head, and then quicker and quicker. Since then, clapping has traveled around the world, even though it might actually come from Scotland… It is time to practice for the next Euro Championship; lucky you, you just got one more year to practice!
4. Lunch time!
Noon has just rung, the weather is still in a bad mood, it almost feels like winter and you wished you could get comfort in a warm meal. A soup might be ideal! Lamb soup, or kjötsupa, is a perfect example of a daily life Icelandic dish made with local products. Get cooking then!
KJÖTZUPZ RECIPE
Source : The Spruce Eats
6 cups of water
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cabbage, roughly chopped
3 carrots, diced into 1/2 inch pieces
1/2 rutabaga, uniformly diced
1 cup cauliflower florets (optional)
4 potatoes, scrubbed well and diced into uniform 1/2 inch pieces
DIRECTIONS
In a large pot or dutch oven, briefly sauté the garlic in the olive oil for 1 to 2 minutes over medium heat. Add the lamb pieces and brown on all sides. Add the sliced onion to the pot and sauté very lightly (about 1 minute), then pour in the brown rice and water. Raise heat to high, bringing the soup to a low boil; allow to boil for 5 minutes, skimming away the froth as it rises.
Reduce heat to medium, stir in dried thyme and oregano, cover pot, and cook for 40 minutes.
Add cabbage, carrots, rutabaga, cauliflower, and diced potatoes. Cook, covered, for an additional 20 minutes, or until vegetables are fork-tender.
Remove meat and bones from pot, chop meat coarsely, then return. Warm for an additional 5 minutes.
5. Surfing on your own couch
It is digestion time, you really want to feel cozy on your couch and a lazy TV Show afternoon would just sound perfect. The menu consists of:
* Trapped: Icelandic love thrillers, maybe because there is so little crime on their Norse Island, it is almost exotic. It might be the reason why their most worldwide famous TV show is based on a police investigation! Advised by my Polish friend living in Reykjavik, Weronika, I couldn’t bring myself to watch it. Not that I don’t want to, but it is only available on Amazon Prime and I really don’t feel like feeding this globalist company (in general but it is even worse in the middle of a quarantine). There is always the Original version with no subtitle here, my Icelandic language courses might have helped… By the way, if there is a pro of internet who can find me subtitled version, I am a buyer.
* Game of Thrones: I know my first offer is good but not easily reachable. This is why I also give you an alternative; even if the mythic TV show (which still leaves me cold stone, I must confess!) has nothing to do with Icelandic history, a few set were found among majestic Icelandic landscapes – for instance, þórufoss waterfall -, it then might be an excuse for an incomplete tour of Iceland.
* A documentary: Another way to travel throughout Iceland in your couch is to get lost in a documentary’s gorgeous shots:
6. Something Sweet
I invite you to enjoy the delicious typically Icelandic Rhubarb pie, the Hjónabandssæla, immediately translated in “Icelandic cake “blessed marriage”. Good timing, it is the season (of rhubarb duh, not weddings; it is actually more the opposite since all celebrations have been cancelled until mid-July [in France] at least…) and surprisingly, this plant grows in a lot of Icelandic garden. This traditional cake’s ingredients would contain the secret for a blessed and happy marriage (it explains the name)!
HJÓNABANDSSAE RECIPE
Source : 196 flavors
2 cups white spelt flour
2 cups oatmeal
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar
½ cup brown sugar
14 tablespoons unsalted butter , diced
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 egg
1 egg yolk (for glaze)
5 oz. rhubarb jam
– 2 lb rhubarb (fresh or frozen)
– 3 cups sugar
– Juice of 1 orange
– 6 tablespoons agave syrup
– 2 vanilla beans , split lengthwise
– Water
DIRECTIONS
Take the butter out of the refrigerator, cut into small cubes and keep it at room temperature for 30 minutes so that it softens.
Preheat oven to 400F/200C. Grease and flour a cake pan.
In a large container, mix the flour, oats, baking soda, and sugar. Place the butter on top.
Mix everything together quickly with your hands, and rub the dough to turn into a powder. Transfer the dough in the bowl of your stand mixer and mix using the flat beater at medium speed. Add the egg and vanilla extract. Knead the dough for 1 minute at maximum speed.
Roll ⅔ of the dough and spread it at the bottom of the mold. Cover with rhubarb jam (recipe below, preferably made the previous day). Roll the remaining dough and cut into strips. Place these strips to form a lattice on the cake. Brush the lattice with egg yolk.
Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. The crust should be golden.
Rhubarb jam:
Boil small glass jars for a few minutes. Turn them over and place them on paper towel.
Add the rhubarb and sugar in a saucepan. Barely cover with water. Mix well and macerate for 1 hour at room temperature, stirring occasionally.
Turn the heat to high and add the split vanilla, orange juice and agave syrup.
Bring to a boil, then cook for 15 minutes over medium heat. Return to low heat and simmer the jam for 50 minutes stirring regularly. The jam is ready when the rhubarb turns golden.
Pour the hot jam into the jars with the vanilla beans. Let cool. Close the jars, turn them over and let stand for 8 hours. Turn them back over and keep at room temperature. Store in the fridge after opening.
7. Something Hot
Hot pools are fully part of Icelandic culture! Almost every village, if not every house, has one, most of the time fed with natural hot water. The heitur pottur (hot pot), is a little tub in which you sit or lay and whose temperature varies between 38 et 45 °C (100 to 113 F). Of course, the most wonderful ones are natural and lost in the middle of gorgeous (and secret) scenery. However, you will have to settle for your own bathtub (if you are lucky enough to have one!)…
Run you a nice and warm bath, that you can perfume with essential oils – lavender is a good option: calming and purifying – or with your favorite bubbling soap. You can light up some candles and an incense stick (white sage is ideal if you want to keep going on purification) and push to turn on some Nature sounds… If you feel like it’s a bit too girly for you, imitate Chandler and take your navy boat: it is a true boy bath now!
Because I know not everybody has a tub, I advise another option: a footbath with the same setting.
Besides, I propose to complement this relaxing moment with a bit of reading if you wish. Icelandic are good readers but also talkative writers: 1 Icelandic out of 10 has already been published! I hasn’t got a chance to sink into my Icelandic reading yet but here is what I knowinglessly advice:
* Silence of the grave or The draining lake, Arnaldur Indridason: The two most famous novels of one of the best North European black novelists, whose hero is a lonely character haunted by disappearances. Full of a subtle poetry, the few samples that I heard in a French documentary made me want more and traveled me throughout Iceland again, especially when The draining lake is actually Kleifarvtn, where I wandered some last summer. Besides, I recognize a bit of myself in Arnaldur since, like me, he likes to intertwine history to his Icelandic stories.
* The Sagas of Icelanders, Jane Smiley: Set around the turn of the last millennium, these stories depict with a modern realism the lives and deeds of the Norse men and women who first settled in Iceland and of their descendants, who ventured farther west to Greenland and, ultimately, North America.
8. Something Good
After this endless relaxing moment, you want to keep taking it easy and spend a warm, quiet, evening, without leaving your cozy blanket too much. It will be a couch dinner with salmon (Icelandic this time) and blini (homemade or bought) as main course. For the rest, I leave it to your own creativity.
The whole thing in front of an Icelandic movie about environmental struggle: A woman at war (Benedikt Erlingsson) warmly recommended by my friend Jon.
Góða nótt…***
* « Welcome to Iceland! » in Icelandic
** Friends‘ reference: The One Where Chandler Takes a Bath
*** « Good night » in Icelandic
Answers to the Quizz
Read More
1. Reykjavik, meaning «smoke cove», is pronounced “Reikyavik”
2. þórufoss, is pronounced “Thorufoss”
3. Þingvellir, meaning « parliament plain », is pronounced “thinkveitlir”
4. Reykjanes, meaning « the smoke cape peninsula », is pronounced “Reikyanès”
5. Krýsuvíkurberg, like it is written!
6. Snæfellsnes, qui veut dire « la péninsule de Snæfell (montagne de neige/glacier) », is pronounced « Smifelsnes »
7. Búðakirkja, is pronounced « Bouzakerk(y)a »
8. Rauðfeldsgjá, is pronounced “Rei(th)felkao”
9. Djúpalónssandur, is pronounced “Dyupalonsandur”
10. Brjanslaekur, is pronounced « Bryanslikurrr »
BONUS : Reykjafjardarlaug, « ReikyafyardarleiR »
If you are not sure of understanding me, you can go on this website
Fleeting Wor(l)ds 