Daily Dane-ification, Plus, The Scandinavegan Presents 11 in 2011!

It's all well and good to have exotic adventures in foreign lands, but there's something to be said for acclimating to your adopted country as well. Namely, that you'll fit in.

With that in mind, our friend Danish C invited us over on Friday night to eat fish and watch the semifinals of the Handball World Cup. (Did you even know there was a handball World Cup? I bet you didn't! We sure didn't!) Denmark played Spain for a spot in the finals and won. Very exciting, plus we felt so very Danish--groaning "nej, nej," spotting the Crown Prince in the crowd, and reading the ads for SAS, Netto, and Dansk Energi. So today B and I really had no choice but to keep on Dane-ificating by watching the finals and eating potatoes.*

You may recall that Danes just love potatoes. Not that I can imagine anyone, anywhere, who actually dislikes potatoes, but potatoes are a really big deal here. In fact, there is actually a Danish expression--"Jeg er en heldig kartoffel!" Literally meaning "I am a lucky potato!" but just the kind of thing you might say when you win at Banko!! (That's Bingo! to you, fellow Americans). With that in mind, what better way to kick off the Scandinavegan's 11 in 2011 Challenge!

Here's the deal. Every month I'll tackle a traditional Danish food. You'll get pictures and a recipe for a delicious vegan dish! My only rule is that the main raw ingredient be something easily accessible here, something that Danes eat regularly. Therefore, potatoes are a shoo-in, but expect to see beets, carrots, fennel, strawberries, and special peas somewhere down the line. Rye bread and beer may also make it in. And the best part is, by the time we get to December, everything's a bonus.

With no further ado, may I present...

Laekkert Latkes!

about 4 cups of grated potatoes
1/2 a large onion, chopped very fine
1/4 cup or so finely chopped scallions
1/2 cup flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
freshly ground pepper
canola oil to fry

Get out a clean, non-fuzzy tea towel, and dump the grated potatoes into it. Wrap it up nice and tight and squeeze over the sink until all the water is squeezed out. Pour your nice dry potato shreds into a large bowl. In a wide, deep skillet, pour about 1/2 inch of canola oil and start heating it up. In the meantime, combine the remaining ingredients with the potato shreds. Stir very very well. You do not want pasty chunks of flour in your latkes. Form into small patties, about 2 inches in diameter and fry approximately 3 minutes on each side. Drain and serve hot with applesauce.

*Sadly, Denmark lost to France in overtime today. But eat some latkes and you'll feel less depressed, I promise.

Our Odyssey

We went to Greece! Specifically, we went to Crete, for the meeting of the International Biogeography Society. The meeting was great. Then, E and I spent a couple of days seeing other parts of the island, with our friends German D and M, and South African M. We spent 5 days in Irakleio (or, Heraklion, depending on how you convert Greek to English letters), and then 3 days seeing other places, including the archaeological site at Knossos, and the harbor towns of Rethymnos (Rethymnon) and Hania (Chania, or Xania). We had great weather, and saw a lot of cool stuff. Here are some of our favorite pictures:

Looking out over Irakleio, from the old Venetian wall that surrounds the inner portion of the city. The day before the conference, E and I walked almost all the way around that wall.

Just below our hotel in Irakleio are some remnants of an old aquaduct.

After the meeting, German D and M, E and I rented a car and drove to Knossos, which is just outside Irakleio. It's an archaeological site from the Minoans, occupied starting in at least 1700 BCE. It was very cool to see it. Unfortunately, the archaeologist who worked on it (Arthur Evans) was very into "restoration", meaning that a lot of what we saw was actually built in the early 1900's, and represents his guess as to how things looked. Still, a very interesting place to see.

E examines some old stones. This place is also associated with the legend of the labyrinth and the minotaur, and it was easy to see why.

After Knossos, we drove along the north coast of Crete, stopping for a couple of hours in the town of Rethymnos. It had a very charming downtown area . . .

. . . an old Venetian fountain . . .

. . . amusing signs for tourists . . .

. . . and a beautiful lighthouse.

From there, we finished the drive along the north coast to the town of Hania, where we spent the next three days.

The very beautiful harbor of Hania.

The more active part of the harbor

Our friends, German D and M, looking out over Hania from an old Venetian wall

Downtown Hania is full of little alleys. We'd often think that we were headed for a dead end, when suddenly, a side-alley would open up, and we'd be off in a new and unexpected direction.

The harbor of Hania is protected by a big sea wall. Here's E on the far side of it. Watch out for waves! We did go in the Mediterranean, but not here.

Just outside our hotel was this very nice door. I stood in front of it for a while. I was disappointed with the lack of blue doors in Irakleio; fortunately, though, Hania had me covered.

Taken from the base of the Hania lighthouse, looking along the sea wall.

The alley leading away from our hotel. It was very charming.

The harbor and lighthouse of Hania

Announcing the 2010 Lifeys!

We've been reflecting on the past year, and decided some of our favorite things deserved awards. Because, as any "Office" fan will know, a big problem is lack of recognition. (I seriously debated not writing that last sentence, but B is making me leave it in. He thinks that lots of Office fans read our blog, so if you are one, come out of the woodwork and let us know!)

So, without further ado, introducing....

The Daring Duo's 2010 Lifey Awards!

Best Cake: Roasted Hokkaido with Toasty Hazelnuts, Chocolate Chunks, and Cinnamon Icing
Runner-up: K's Asian Pear Cake

Best Album: Willie Nelson's It Always Will Be

Best New Game:
Party Game: Dixit
Strategy Game: Macao
Expansion: Dominion: Prosperity

Best Meal in a Restaurant: Lunch at Greens, San Francisco, March 21st
Runner-up: Dinner at Fajita, Paris, October 13th

Best Month: May (B), August (E)

Best New Thing to Cook: Patatas Bravas

Best Penny Arcade Comic: Mouth Rituals Exposed
Runner-up: The Opposite of Poker Face

Best New Pursuit: Volleyball (B), knitting (E), blogging (DD)

Best Movie: The Shawshank Redemption
Runner-up: Harry Potter #7, Part 1


Of course, not all of these things emerged in 2010, but we experienced them for the first time that year. Are we missing important categories, or did we vote for the wrong thing? Leave us a comment and tell us about the best of 2010!

And Happy New Year.