Cowboy Cookies

My mom and I have been making variants on this cookie for as long as I can remember and we've finally perfected the recipe, or at least we think so. We thought we had invented this special recipe but then I found a similar Martha recipe which called them Cowboy Cookies. At least we have a name for them now. I hadn't made them here yet but Mark had been requesting some cookies and I had a housewife day so I decided to make them. I also thought it would be the perfect first recipe to post since it's definitely tried and true. The most important trick to these cookies is using as much organic/high quality ingredients as possible. Everyone seems to love these cookies - they are pretty substantial, not too sweet and even somewhat healthy. Enjoy!

Keppler Cowboy Cookies:

2 cups organic pastry flour

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp ground sea salt

1 cup organic unsalted butter, softened

3/4 cup raw cane sugar

3/4 cup packed muscovado sugar

2 large organic free range eggs

2 teaspoons pure bourbon vanilla extract

2 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

6 ounces organic dark chocolate (cut into 1/4 inch chunks)

3/4 cups toasted walnuts, chopped

1/2 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Toast walnuts in a hot cast iron pan.

2. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl.

3. In a large bowl cream butter with both sugars, beat in eggs and then vanilla.

4. Gradually add flour mixture. Add oats, chocolate, walnuts and coconut.

5. Roll a tablespoon of dough into a ball and slightly flatten on baking sheet. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes depending on oven. Take out just before they begin to brown so they stay chewy.

Christianshavn Apothek

Things are slowly getting back to normal here. Mark and I are both a little bit under the weather after all the excitement of the last few weeks. Mark's dad is off further adventuring in Europe, Mark's back to school and I start my Danish lessons next week (hopefully!). Today is one of my first housewife days in quite a while and I've actually really missed them. So today will be full of laundry, cleaning, baking cookies, knitting and running errands in the rain - all of which badly need to be done. I thought I would post a photo of our neighbourhood pharmacy because I love that it has a unicorn sculpture on it. I also love that I often go to speciality shops here in Copenhagen, many of which have been around for ages. I know it's not that way everywhere in Denmark and maybe it's because I seek them out or we live downtown or I don't know where to go otherwise but I like it. I've also been thinking that maybe I should start posting some of my cooking/baking recipes? I'm not sure if anyone would be interested but it might be fun to share.

This weekend...

... Julie and I had a birthday party. It was a bit of work but I think it was a success. We made ants on a log, deviled eggs, chips/veggies and dip, cupcakes with sprinkles and a sparkling gin punch (essentially a Shirley Temple with gin) which were all really exotic for Danes. There were also tons of balloons, games of Twister, and little Danish flags everywhere which you have to have for a birthday here. We spent all yesterday cleaning up which means people had a good time, right? And I think I can cross #14 off my fall list now.

C'est l'Halloween

Meet Bodie, our new skeleton garland who is named after a ghost town in California that we visited on our road trip last summer. I kind of want to keep him up all year. I've decided on making Mexican skeleton costumes for us this year, similar to this. I'll be carving pumpkins and making other crafty things next week for my friend's Halloween party next week which is exciting. Halloween is such a bigger deal in Denmark than it was a few years ago! The canals beside our apartment look so pretty this time of year too, with all the leaves turning colour. There will be more party planning, crafting and decorating for this weekend as I'm having a birthday party with my friend Julie. We're taking our inspiration from a kids birthday party in Mad Men, I can't wait. Today we are going to a balloon store to get some supplies. A balloon store!

XXIII

Yesterday was my 23rd birthday. I feel old! It ended up being a pretty perfect birthday. Mark surprised me with flowers in the morning and made amazing apple sour cream pancakes for breakfast. It was a sunny day out so we rode our bikes to the Copenhagen Zoo. I'd never been before! I loved seeing all the animals and the zoo was so nicely designed. All the animals seemed a lot more active than in most zoos I've been to (that polar bear was going crazy playing with his toy box!) so I think they are pretty happy there. Later we went to a nice Japanese restaurant just around the corner from our apartment and ate an insane amount of sushi and other treats. Then I just spent the night at home, talking with family and drinking tea with Mark. It was a good day. Thanks to all the friends who sent me sweet wishes, it definitely made the day feel special!

P.S. Look at the vintage posters the zoo sells here. So cute!

This weekend...

...was another busy weekend full of family fun. Friday night was Kulturnatten here, which is when the whole city is open for events and activities. We took Mark's dad along and since he really wanted to see the hospital, that was our first stop. Mark's dad took photos of everything and Mark chatted to the other med students. After that we headed back into town to see the art exhibitions at Kunsthallen Nikolaj and Kunsthal Charlottenborg which were both really good. I didn't want to haul my camera along for the night but there are photos on the websites of the exhibitions if you are interested. Saturday night was Mark's mom's housewarming party which meant more good food and wine. And yesterday afternoon Mark's mom took us out to Arken as an early birthday present. It was a beautiful day and since Arken is right along the water we took a long walk where we crashed a meet-up for Leonberger dog owners. Apparently they were originally breed in Germany to look like lions but they really look like little bears. Seeing so many of them running around the beach was amazing! Then we had some cake and tea at the cafe and checked out the exhibition on Hans Scherfig, a midcentury Danish artist that painted jungle and animal scenes. This week is fall break here which means Mark has the week off and it's also his dad's last week here so we have some day trips planned. And it's my birthday tomorrow too so it should be a good week!

Church of Our Saviour

Last week Mark's dad Michael and I took a little trip to our local church here in Christianshavn to climb up the spiral tower for a view of the city. Besides being insanely windy up there, it was so beautiful and the interior of the church totally blew me away. I know church architecture isn't for everyone but I think the Dutch Baroque style is so pretty. Ornate but not too over the top. And that organ is crazy! We were lucky enough to wander in during a rehearsal and the sound was pretty magical.

More pictures on my flickr.

Fall Goal #8 - Start growing herbs

I'm not sure if this one really counts but I think it's as good as it's going to get. I was hoping that we would have some little window basket/balcony type thing to grow herbs on but we don't and it's too cold anyway. Instead we have a little herb garden along our counter. I've kind of repotted them, mainly in cups and other things we have around but I would like to get some sort of actual system, like this, which would make it look a bit better. In any case, it's really nice to have something green around and fresh herbs for cooking right there. So, it's off the list for now.

This Weekend...

...was Canadian Thanksgiving! It's one of my favourite holidays, since I love fall and pumpkins and eating tons of good food. It was the first Thanksgiving for the other girlfriends in Mark's family, so it was fun to introduce them to the tradition. This year I made a pumpkin pie from a real pumpkin which took forever but was delicious. Usually I'm pretty critical of the things I make but I think this pie was one of the best I've tasted. Yep, that good. And there was lots of other yummy things too. I'm really happy we celebrated it here this year since we haven't in the past. It's just such a good excuse to celebrate seasonal food and all the things we have to be grateful for. Mark and I also went to huge flea market this weekend (they usually happen at the beginning of each month here) and watched Rear Window while I knitted. Now it's on to Halloween crafts! I've somehow gotten a bit behind in posting but I have lots to write about so I'll try to catch up this week.

Fall Goal #10 - Learn how to cable knit

This is still a work in progress and I'll be sure to post a picture when I'm done but it looks just like this, I promise! I'm so happy about this goal because the process of cable knitting has baffled me for so long. It's actually really easy! I managed to reverse directions somewhere along the way last night and had to undo some rows but otherwise it's coming along really nicely. I'm already finding all sorts of patterns for my next project but I'm trying not to get too ahead of myself. I'll let you know how it turns out!

{Image via Craftzine}

This weekend...

... was: Ben's graduation, making/having dinner with the girls, going back to our old boarding school for a party, and a trip out to the Deer Park to have an autumn picnic with Mark's family. Fun! Now this week I have to get organized. I'm off to town to buy some supplies for learning how to embroider and for making our Halloween costumes. I also really have to start studying Danish and applying for grad schools but it's just not as much fun.