A Scandinavegan PSA; Plus, Cake Consensus!

B and I are overwhelmed with all the awesome responses! Thanks for reading and posting! I'll say more about cake, and about Danish decision-making, in a bit. But first, an important PSA.

Eat figs, everybody! If you live in California, I know you can still get them now. Heck, they may even be growing on a tree in your yard! Don't pass by this opportunity. You could one day find yourself living in a cold land where figs make only the briefest of yearly appearances, ruing all the figs you didn't eat before.

I highly recommend this Fig and Fennel Pizza, from NPR's "Food Blogga." It sounds weird, I know, but if you're in the land of figs and fennel, why not give it a try? It will amaze you with deliciousness. B and I made this for a California Christmas dinner with his family two years ago, and we reprised it a couple weeks ago after seeing figs at the farmers' market.

B's cheesy pizza!

I'm pretty sure none of you readers are interested in foregoing the cheese--although you can make a delicious pine nut and garlic pizza topping that's completely vegan and yummy! That's what I did. B had real cheese. If you want to make cheesy pizza too, maybe you'll buy your cheese at the Cheeseboard and say hi to everyone for us!

E's non-cheesy pizza!

So, Cake Consensus! Yes, it looks like most people are voting for option three: different weekly cakes, and bonus repeat cakes when necessary. But in the spirit of Denmark, I'd like us all to come to a consensus.

You see, Danes are quite averse to conflict. This is a defining cultural trait. Even in the Folketing--the Danish Parliament-- decisions are most often made by discussion and consensus rather than a simple vote. According to an AU professor I heard speak recently, consensus is reached over 85% of the time!

You'll also notice this desire to avoid conflict when speaking English with Danes. Two favorite phrases are

"That may be difficult" and "It's a bit problematic."

These are coded phrases which actually mean "It is utterly impossible to do that here," or "That thing you are asking about is never done."

For instance, you may ask a shopkeeper where to find molasses. And she may say, "Well, it's a bit problematic. Hmm...."

And you should interpret this as, Danes do not eat molasses. You will not find any food-grade molasses in this entire country.

To Americans, this seems somewhat odd. But then, Danes are the happiest people in the world, so there must be something to it. Let's take a page out of their book--can we all agree to option three?

Finally, the Monday Cake, Week 45!*

Roasted Hokkaido Squash with Chocolate Chips, Toasted Hazelnuts, and Cinnamon Icing.

It might not look like much, but it's delicious.


*Another Danish tidbit. Danes number the weeks of the year and use this as a reference system. Ie, Fall Break is week 42! Choir rehearsals will begin week 36! It's very strange.