Over the Christmas period, amidst all the running around and expenditure, there was an evening at home where nobody had any desire for cooking. Famished and craving something quick and easy we opted for the impromptu dinner of choice... chip sandwiches. Chips I tell you. I had an idea that something so simple as chip sandwiches was the perfect opportunity to create some hygge. I could have felt guilty for not supplying the family with a more nutrient dense offering, perhaps, but in the spirit of hygge we decided to relax and enjoy the ease. To double the hygge-factor my husband and myself set about the task together of making the most delicious and lovingly-fried chips possible, which entailed thrice frying in beef dripping. If you are something of a chip connoisseur (I may possibly be) you will expect of your chips nothing less than a perfectly crisp and golden outer shell with a fluffy soft centre. Which is exactly what you will get if you fry three times (carefully) in beef dripping (we buy this from our butcher Roaming Roosters in Lancashire - http://www.roamingroosters.co.uk/offline who also do online orders).
In no time at all dinner was served, we piled our hot chips into serving bowls, spread our bread liberally with cold butter then piled it mountain high in the middle of our farmhouse table and beckoned the children to dig in. We served our peasant dinner with some glasses of luxury champagne we had purchased especially for Christmas Day - why should Christmas Day be the only day special enough to warrant the luxury champagne (We drank Billecart-Salmon Brut Rose which can be purchased here http://www.champagnedirect.co.uk/pd_billecart_salmon_brut_rose_nv_half_bottle.cfm)?
This unexpected and novel arrangement turned out to be one of my most enjoyable get-togethers of the festive season. We were under no stress to cook something amazing and everybody enjoyed the relaxed conversation over the table as they squeezed far too many chips into each bread slice. And that's the nice thing about Hygge, gentle indulgence without guilt is a good thing and aiming to keep things simple usually leads to a good time. It's not so much what you do, as how you do it. In fact, we all enjoyed it so much that we agreed to do it more often.
Do you have a favourite simple meal that you'd like to share? Please join in and write about it in the comments section below, we'd love to hear about it!
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