Wednesday 26 June 2013

Karen Blixen museums + quinoa pudding recipe

In my Monday's post Danish author Karen Blixen played a role (Isak Dinesen was her pen name). I'm waiting for her book Out of Africa to arrive in the mail so I can start reading it again.

Karen Blixen's private home in Rungsted Kyst in Denmark (by the coast, north of Copenhagen) is open to the public. Hardly anything has been changed in there since Blixen's death in 1962. I don't know who took the photo of her study above, but I find it fascinating. It's not only her old typewriter sitting on the desk and the beautiful light coming in through window, it is also this sense of peacefulness; an echo of the past.

Blixen not only wrote books, she was also a skilful painter. In 1902-1903 she received training from Charlotte Sode and Julie Meldahl in their art school on Bredgade in Copenhagen, preparing for further studies at the Academy of Fine Arts. In 1910 she also went to an art school in Paris. The two portraits above are of Abdullahi Ahamed (right), the brother of Farah Aden, a Somali who became her right hand on the farm in Kenya, and a young girl from the Kikuyu tribe.

When Ernest Hemingway received the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954, he was quoted in an interview saying: "I would have been happy - happier - today if the prize had gone to that beautiful writer Isak Dinesen." She wrote him a thank-you letter that is kept in the museum.

On the website of Karen Blixen Museet you will find more photos of Blixen and the house.

Karen Blixen's old farmhouse "at the foot of the Ngong Hills" in Nairobi, Kenya was also turned into a museum and the photo above is taken there. When I make it to Kenya one day it is on my list of places to visit.

And from Karen Blixen to a delicious pudding.

Earlier today I posted my recipe of quinoa pudding with Greek yoghurt and strawberries on kithcen & aroma. Depending on our mood, it also contains peaches or apricots. This one has become our favourite Sunday treat.

photo credit:
1: unknown source via Writers Write Creative Blog / 2: Karen Blixen Museet / 3: K.R. Hoppe via Karen Blixen Museet / 4: Blixen with Marilyn Monroe in 1959 via ibid. / 5: Phil Douglis via Pinterest / 6: Lisa Hjalt

1 comment:

  1. Blixen and Hemingway, these are the two authors who have been on my mind lately. I'm planning to read Out of Africa again soon. The funny thing is that I've been working on a cinema style blog post - the action takes place in Africa. Yes, my mind often wanders to Africa, especially in summer. That first photo somehow feels surreal, yes, it certainly echoes the past. The portrait of the girl is beautiful!

    Now off to see what that recipe is about. I've been waiting to share it with us. :)

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