Hygge

Have you heard of hygge?  I first read about it this time last year.  I loved the idea and started a Pinterest board for inspiration.  Here's what the BBC says about it:

"The Danish word, pronounced "hoo-ga", is usually translated into English as "cosiness". But it's much more than that, say its aficionados - an entire attitude to life that helps Denmark to vie with Switzerland and Iceland to be the world's happiest country."

In reality, our family has practiced hygge for years without knowing there was a term for it.  I think of it as highlighting what is best about each season and making the most of it in our homes and lives.

Something about autumn magnifies my desire for hygge.  It must be the falling temperatures, lengthening darkness, and need for coziness.  Today, it manifested itself in my trying a new recipe to munch during our family movie night:  pretzel bites with cheese sauce.

Oh. My. Goodness.

The pretzel bites were awesome and they weren't even hard to make.  I didn't use the cheese sauce included with the recipe but instead used my old standby~ white sauce with cheese melted into it with a little garlic.

Dave pointed out how hygge-ish it all looked, so I snapped a quick picture.

Homemade pretzels and cheese sauce, a bottle of Sam Adams (for him, not for me or Hannah), and X-Files (which we interrupted to watch the presidential debate).  Good times!