Leela Cyd - Tasting Hygge: Joyful Recipes for Cozy Days and Nights

Hygge (pronounced hoo-gah) is a Danish term with no exact translation in English. But while we may lack this singular, special word, we understandand cravethe concept it describes. Hygge is the art of enjoying the big and small things of life, cultivating our own light, and bringing others into the glow. Its the deliciously small-yet-expansive feeling of happiness and belonging. Hygge happens when we take a moment to tidy up the table for a meal, dim the lamps, and light some candles. Playing relaxing music and setting out delicious snacks help with the atmosphere of hygge.

Hygge involves taking timeour most cherished and most easily squandered commodityto cook from scratch, to cultivate friendships, and engage with the world beyond our screens. Tasting Hygge is a celebration of the sweetly imperfect alchemy of cooking, creating, and connecting with others (and ourselves), and the feelings and memories we take with us even after the meal is done and the dishes are washed.

Instead of losing weeks and years in the head-down workaday world or being overwhelmed by lifes difficulties, you should consider this a chance to step back and cultivate hygge moments in the dining room, at the coffee table, or even on a cozy couch. I hope that the recipes Ive selected for this book will infuse you with hygge and maybe even remind you how to be brazen with joy.

Warmth is elevating a meal with the flickering radiance of candlelight, plopping down on the couch to daydream with a steaming cup of tea, toasting hands and faces (and marshmallows) over a campfire surrounded by friends, and pulling open a still-warm loaf of bread. Warmth brings light to our lives and nourishment to our souls. Even if the dining room table is nothing more than an unfussy garage-sale findit is transformed into a thing of beauty as soon as you bring over the casserole dish hot from the oven.

We live much of our lives running from one activity to the next, distractedly tossing back a snack from the cupboard or drive-through. Warmth demands a solid pause to enjoy it. Its simply not possible to guzzle a boiling cup of teaa certain mindfulness comes over us as the steam wafts to the ceiling. Theres a centering that occurs when baking or stirring a delicious soup on the stove. The Sunday shirred eggs and basket of biscuits wrapped in a pretty dishtowel to keep in the heat stands in direct contrast to the granola bar you grab during the week. Warmth is a steaming, vegetable-laden borscht made over the weekend and enjoyed again for tomorrows lunch.

When its cold outside, we come together in a warm home and commune over an easy dinner party, where laughter, music, and dancing can take us all far away from our list of obligations and our work worlds. Gathering is primal, and we host to invite this connection. Giggling and sharing fill us up just as much as (if not more than) the crepe dinner complete with all the trimmings. A cold morning in the woods is complemented by simple roasted banana boats unwrapped with careful fingers. The warmth from food echoes the warmth of friendship; both fill our cups to the brim and cause joy to bubble over.

MAKES 10 BISCUITS

Theres nothing cozier than being brought a warm basket of biscuits in bed. My dad knows how to spoil us and this is my take on his recipe. We love to chat biscuits and have tinkered with ingredients and techniques over the years. Its a pursuit that keeps us talking and giggling in person and on the phone (although we live only three blocks from each other). After lots of practice, tasting, and research, weve concluded its all about temperature for biscuits. The climate shock of going from frozen dough to the hot oven ensures more flake, more crust, and more perfection in the biscuits.

My father likes to make his own baking stones by collecting rocks outside to warm in the stove. Stones can actually explode, though, so I would recommend using a warming stone designed for this purpose. Or you can heat up stones by pouring boiling water over them in a bowl. Warm rocks keep the biscuits hot while the table of guests lingers around doing the crossword, drinking coffee, and diving into their second pillowy baked good before a walk or post-biscuit nap.

1 cups (3 sticks) cold unsalted butter

1 tablespoon baking powder

2 teaspoons fine sea salt

1 teaspoons sugar

teaspoon baking soda

4 cups all-purpose flour, plus a little extra for dusting

1 cups whole milk

cup heavy cream

Working as quickly as possible, press the cold butter through the large holes of a cheese grater. The butter will look like cheddar cheese ready for a quesadilla. Put the grated butter on a plate and place in the freezer for about 5 minutes. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.

Place the cooled butter in the dry ingredient bowl and mix them together with a wooden spoon until the mixture is semi-crumbly with some 1-inch pieces remaining as well as smaller pieces. Add the milk and stir to incorporate into a very shaggy dough. There will still be large butter chunks in the dough. Turn out onto a clean, floured work surface and knead a few times to bring the dough together. Roll the dough out into an 8-inch square, approximately 2 inches high. Using a 3-inch cookie cutter (or drinking glass), cut out 6 biscuits. Reworking the dough as little as possible, roll it out again and cut out 4 more biscuits. Place all the biscuits on a parchment-lined baking pan and freeze for at least 2 hours, or up to a month. If you plan on the latter, transfer frozen biscuits to a plastic bag after they become firm and bake off to order (no need to thaw).

When youre ready to cook the biscuits, preheat the oven to 400F. Place baking stones on the lower rack of the oven as it preheats. Brush tops of the frozen biscuits with heavy cream and bake on a cookie sheet until golden, 2025 minutes.

Set a trivet on the table, place the stones in the bottom of a heat-proof ceramic bowl or Dutch oven, and line with a tea towel. Stack biscuits in tea towel and fold the towel over them to cover. Eat immediately with plenty of butter and jam. Biscuits will stay warm for about 30 minutes in tea towel if youre using warm baking stones; otherwise theyll cool in about 5 minutes.

MAKES 2 (8-OUNCE) JARS

This easy recipe is perfect in the heat of summer, when the glut of fruit is on but you dont want to go through the daunting task of processing pounds of bounty into boiling pots and sterile jars.

5 cups stone fruit or berries, cut up into 1-inch pieces

2 cups sugar

Juice of 1 medium lemon

Zest of 1 medium lemon

Pinch of fine sea salt

NOTE: Keep everything as cold as possible while working and performing the slightly annoying task of grating the butter into loose piles. I prepare the butter ahead of time every now and then, and keep it in the fridge for when the mood strikes. If you do this, package each grated stick of butter separately, to keep track of the amount ( cup per stick). Also, youll need to prepare the biscuit dough in advance so it has time to chill in the freezer. I like to make several big batches when I have the time, so I always have biscuits ready to fire for an impromptu breakfast feast.