Ákall um aðgerðir

A call to action - World Glacier Day

As you can see - you don't see anything.

Here I have a photo of the Kaldidalur track, a road in the Icelandic highlands, between the Langjökull glacier and Ok. To the right of this piste you can see the foothills of Langjökull glacier. On the left side, behind the dark, steep mountain, lies the Ok, relatively inconspicuous.

With a size of around 900 km², Langjökull is the second largest glacier in Iceland . The Langjökull ice sheet lies on the Western Rift Zone, and at least two volcanic systems are partially beneath this glacier.

And the Ok?

The Ok (then Okjökull) used to be a glacier. Now the Ok is no longer a glacier.

Around 1900, the area of ​​this glacier covered an area of ​​almost 40 km². But by the 1970s there was only around 3 m² left. And the ice sheet continued to melt.

In 2014, Okjökull was officially declared "dead".

The ice sheet that used to be on the 1,177 meter high mountain no longer moves because the ice layer has become too thin and light. Nothing moves anymore. Geologically speaking, Okjökull is no longer a glacier, but rather just a shield volcano with a snow cap. The glacier has disappeared.

In August 2019, a plaque was erected here on Ok with a "Bréf til framtíðarinnar", a "letter to the future":

Ok is the first Icelandic glacier to lose its status as a glacier.

In the next 200 years all our glaciers are expected to follow the same path.

This monument is to acknowledge that we know

what is happening and what needs to be done.

Only you will know if we did it.

The numbers show - so far we haven't done it.

It is too late to save the Ok, but other glaciers could still be saved.

Climate researchers around the world are sounding the alarm - man-made climate change is continuing. Measurements such as those carried out since 1992 on Stórhöfði, the southernmost island of the Westman Islands, show that the amount of carbon dioxide in the air is constantly increasing; the currently measured values ​​are the highest in at least 2 million years. This is scientifically proven by ice core studies of the Antarctic and Greenland ice sheets.

In recent decades, glacier retreat has accelerated worldwide, to varying degrees. The retreat of glaciers in Iceland is particularly serious: in the last 100 years, Iceland's glacier area has shrunk by 20%. Almost half of the decline took place in the last 20 years. If glacier retreat continues at this rate, most Icelandic glaciers will be gone before the end of the 21st century.

As the glaciers retreat, the glacial lakes expand and new lakes are created. Rivers change their course, the flow of the watercourses changes. Land uplift near glaciers is increasing. Mountain tracks become unstable and the risk of landslides and mudslides increases. The melting of glaciers also has an impact on the infrastructure, the supply of fresh water and energy to the population (see electricity generation from hydropower).

Now it's time to act.

The future of Iceland's glaciers depends heavily on the development of the climate and sea temperatures around Iceland. By reducing greenhouse emissions worldwide, it would still be possible to limit global warming and thereby reduce the loss of glaciers worldwide.

World Glacier Day on March 21st

In 2022, the United Nations designated March 21st as "World Glacier Day", the first time this day took place today on March 21st, 2025 .

Actions around this day are intended to draw attention to the effects of glacier retreat on people and ecosystems, and strategies are also to be developed to limit the effects of climate change and, if possible, at least improve local adaptation to the changing conditions.

For me it was an experience when I saw a glacier in Iceland for the first time in 2004. And today, when we have visitors, I love taking our guests to Sólheimajökull, a glacier tongue of Mýrdalskökull, to show them where this "island of fire and ice" gets its name.

If future generations are to continue to experience glaciers on Iceland in 100 years, we all have to act - I am personally convinced of that. Otherwise the other Icelandic glaciers will end up just like Ok, which is no longer a glacier.

[Translated from [here.]

Iceland chocolate

Now that the hype about Dubai chocolate seems to be over, maybe I have something new for you - how about Iceland chocolate?

My husband surprised me with this very special Icelandic chocolate for my birthday.

A tribute to the flavors of the north

Just for fun, we thought about what would be “typically Icelandic” and what we could put in the chocolate. Finally we came up with licorice, dried fish and seaweed, maybe a little bit of sea salt..? Because I can't easily find these ingredients in Germany, I put off the idea for a while... but not my husband!

He then tried an “Out-of-IcelandGerman Edition” of Iceland chocolate, with roasted salmon instead of dried fish and nori (Japanese seaweed) instead of seaweed. He then had the recipe and instructions designed entirely by Chat-GPT using the specified ingredients. And then try it out! Successfully!

Ingredients

200 g dark chocolate

40 g licorice chocolate

20 g smoked salmon

1 small nori sheet

1 pinch of Icelandic sea salt

Preparation

Prepare the smoked salmon:

Preheat the oven to 200 °F (resp. 100 °C) fan oven. Cut the smoked salmon into very small pieces, place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and let it dry in a preheated oven at 200 °F (resp. 100 °C) for about 30 to 40 minutes until the salmon is nice and crispy. Then let it cool down and grate it into fine crumbs.

Then prepare the chocolate:

Roughly chop the dark chocolate and let it slowly melt in a water bath while stirring constantly.

Crumble the nori sheet and carefully chop the licorice chocolate.

Add the nori crumbs, the grated smoked salmon and the chopped licorice chocolate into the melted chocolate and stir.

Then pour the chocolate mixture into the silicone mold and sprinkle with a little sea salt.

Then place the mold in the refrigerator for at least an hour and let it harden completely. Then carefully remove the chocolate from the mold.

Then wrap the chocolate in suitable paper.

-> A unique Icelandic chocolate - perfect as a surprise gift! (according to Chat GPT) 

And the taste...?

In fact, our Iceland chocolate tastes much more harmless than it sounds. It actually tastes surprisingly "normal" like sea salt chocolate - intensely like dark chocolate, until the fish taste comes through!

I actually think they're delicious, and so does my husband. Our test eaters had different opinions and at least our children were not immediately enthusiastic. However, the majority of them don't necessarily like to eat fish, which doesn't make it any easier for the Icelandic chocolate. But there were also people who voluntarily took a second piece of chocolate!

Overall - "special" is probably quite accurate, but I think it's definitely edible!

Here is the original template from Chat-GPT (in German):

And, would you like to try our Iceland chocolate yourself?

[Translated from here.]

Stórafmæli

A big birthday

It's been quiet here on the blog this week - I've been busy celebrating a big birthday in real life. I turned 50 this week.

Since the actual birthday was during the week, we really only celebrated with the family, all four children and grandchildren were here and we had a very cozy evening.

The “big celebration” came at the weekend.

Since I like baking, I came up with something: I would just invite you over for coffee and cake and let off some steam while baking cakes. And since I didn't want a typical birthday, I said that everyone in the family should please bring 2 to 4 surprise guests, just so that it would be a colorful, wildly mixed bunch.

I had planned for around 20 people, but in the end there were four cancellations due to illness, one additional guest came, but all in all it went well and we had a nice, loud celebration.

We had set up an old, discarded desk from the children in the living room and arranged the cake buffet on it.

I had let off some steam with baking the day before; I had actually planned one more cake, but I left it out. A dear guest brought a very tasty cheesecake as a gift! (You can see the cheesecake at the back of the picture, next to the carafe of iced coffee.)

Here in the picture of the buffet you can see the Sítróna bollakökur, i.e. lemon muffins or lemon cupcakes with thick icing on top.

On the second plate there is a sheet cake, an espressó sukkulaðikaka, an espresso chocolate cake. (As a precaution, baked with caffeine-free coffee powder because of the potential for children to eat with them.)

On the next plate you can see a 3-tier birthday cake, an Afmæliskaka. I baked this cake for my husband's birthday 1.5 years ago and last month "in small" as a surprise for a friend in Iceland. I thought it was delicious, so I made it again. I also like beautiful cakes!

I baked the cake here in three springform pans with a diameter of 8 inches (20 cm) - not quite large, but sufficiently filling thanks to the three layers and all the butter cream and the brittle (in this case almond brittle).

And of course there was also a gulrótarkaka, a carrot cake. When my daughter is there, there has to be carrot cake, it's her favorite cake! Here I baked a recipe with grated carrots and canned peaches, chopped almonds and a nice fruity cream cheese cream.

And as a “dessert” after the whole cake there was “Ostakaka í glasi”, i.e. “cheesecake in a glass”, which I had already tried last month. The dessert in the glass actually went down quite well!

Kósý kvöld - a cozy end to the evening

After some of the guests had left, we finally sat outside on the terrace with the lights on, wrapped up nice and warm with jackets and blankets, and talked about God and the world. A nice end to the day!

How do you actually like our “table decoration”? This is a sweet potato that was left in a box in the basement at some point and has been sprouting properly ever since. I thought the potato looked really good as a “arrangement” on the table!

Afmælisgjafir - birthday gifts

I also received many nice presents for my big birthday, thank you again to everyone!

My husband and my daughter had a similar idea for gifts - but both implemented them very differently.

My husband recently took a photo of me: I'm standing on our terrace in the evening and looking up in amazement and the northern lights are dancing wildly in the sky above me. I love the picture, I think it's really beautiful! You can see the original cell phone photo here in the picture on the left.

My husband and daughter also noticed how much I like this picture. So my husband gave me a print of it as a photo canvas for the living room.

And my daughter, inspired by this photo, implemented the whole thing artistically and painted me a picture. Me under the northern lights. I think it's so beautiful!

In this sense:

Happy birthday to me! Thank you very much to everyone who came or who otherwise thought of me. I had a really nice birthday! Takk fyrir!

[Translated from here.]

Sítrónu bollakökur

Lemon cupcakes

In Icelandic, muffins are usually referred to as "múffur". However, there is also the word "bollakaka", meaning "cup cake", in English "cupcake" - a small cake the size of a cup. After baking, such a “mug cake” is decorated with an icing or an opulent cream topping. In contrast to classic muffins, cupcakes are also made from batter, but they usually do not contain any nuts or spices and the icing or topping is complex.

Spring is coming - and I felt like it was fresh, fruity and colorful! This turned into these lemon muffins, with a little yellow food coloring for a more colorful glaze. Of course, you can also leave out the food coloring - or go wild and make really colorful muffins, just as you like!

Ingredients

2 eggs

250 ml milk

80 g soft butter

1 pack grated lemon peel

260 g flour

1 tsp baking powder

120 g sugar

300 g powdered sugar

2 - 3 Tbsp water

1 tsp lemon juice

Preparation

In a large bowl, mix the eggs with the milk, softened butter and grated lemon peel.

Add flour, baking powder and sugar and mix everything into a smooth dough.

Pour the batter as evenly as possible into 12 muffin cups...

... and bake in a preheated oven at 400 °F (resp. 200 °C) upper and lower heat for about 10 to 15 minutes until the surface has turned golden yellow (test with a toothpick!).

Take the muffins out of the oven and let them cool briefly.

Meanwhile prepare the glaze:

Mix powdered sugar, water and lemon juice in a small bowl.

For more effect you can add suitable food coloring, for example I used some yellow food coloring.

Using a teaspoon, spread the icing over the muffins and then allow the icing to set.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]

Kjötkveðjuhátið á Íslandi

Carnival in Iceland

I myself grew up Mainz, which is a carnival hotspot in Germany. I actually go to the local carnival parade every year with the kids, and of course I dress up well - according to German carnival tradition. 

Er einhver spes dagur? 

When we posted the photos of the parade, an Icelandic friend of ours was surprised. "Er einhver spes dagur?" he asked. "Is there any special day?"

Carnival in Iceland is nowhere near as special as it is in many regions in Germany. During the Reformation in Iceland in the mid-16th century, the importance of carnival to the people declined and almost disappeared. Only a few traditions remained:

On Shrove Monday it's bolludagur and you eat a lot of carnival doughnuts, on Shrove Tuesday it's Sprengidagur and you eat so much thick pea soup with salted meat until you burst, and on Ash Wednesday, öskudagur, the children parade through the town in costume.

Dressing up at Maskadagur

Until 1900, it was also common in Iceland for children to have school off on Shrove Monday and parade around town in costume. However, this custom was moved to Ash Wednesday towards the end of the First World War. Only in Ísarfjörður and the surrounding area did it continue to be customary for children to dress up in costumes on Monday, bolludagur, and go from house to house in the evening with songs and games - Rose Monday is also called "maskadagur" here, i.e. "mask day".

Culinary traditions surrounding Carnival in Iceland

In the Grágás, the old Icelandic collection of laws that was in force until the country was annexed to Norway in 1262, there were precise regulations as to when one was allowed to eat what food before and during Lent. So you were no longer allowed to eat meat two days before the start of Lent.

Bolludagurinn

However, in historical sources from the 13th century, for example in the Sturlunga saga, it is said that Lent was initiated on the last two days before Ash Wednesday with "fasta við hvítan mat", i.e. with "fasting with white food" (= dairy products). Around 1700 it became common practice to chop up bread or rolls, mix them with milk and butter and eat them. Later, the tradition of “bolludagur” developed from this.

While people first ate rolls soaked in milk, by the 19th century it became common practice to make small rolls from the same dough that was used for Jólakaka (= Christmas cake), although usually (unlike at Christmas) no raisins were used.

These "rolls", often called "langaföstu snúðar" (= Lenten snails) in Icelandic, were then usually spread with butter and jam.

Later, these “rolls” were baked from yeast dough and served with cream and jam.

Afterwards, pastries made from vatnsdeig (literally "water dough", in German "choux pastry") became common - now often real works of art made from cream, pudding, fruit, chocolate, etc.

Recipe for bolludagsbollur

Of course, you can also find various donut recipes for bolludagur here in my blog, for example for the traditional version with the Jólakaka dough.

... for "bollur" made from yeast dough with raspberry filling....

... or for various choux pastry bollur, such as this one with caramel filling and a little lava salt ...

... or this one with strawberry cream and almonds .

Sprengidagurinn

The Sprengidagur, also called Sprengikvöld, is found in a tradition from 1735 as the "Evening of Explosions". Here in the evening there was a sumptuous feast with lots of meat and side dishes and people basically ate until they burst, hence the name.

While people used to eat mainly smoked lamb on Shrove Tuesday to get rid of it before meat consumption was banned during Lent until Easter, since around 1850 it has been customary to eat saltkjöt og baunir, i.e. thick Icelandic pea soup with salted meat, on this day.

With this in mind, I wish you a few nice days, with delicious bolludagsbollur on Shrove Monday, thick Icelandic pea soup with salted meat on Shrove Tuesday and the children in costumes who go from house to house on Ash Wednesday!

[Translated from here.]

Konudagurinn 2025

Icelandic Women's Day

The Old Icelandic calendar only knows two seasons - winter and summer. Winter begins at the end of October and lasts until the end of March. The fifth winter month, the month of Góa, begins in the 18th week of winter.

And just as the first day of the fourth winter month is "Men's Day" (bóndadagur), the first day of the fifth winter month is Women's Day (konudagur).

There are traditions that both bóndagur and konudagur were celebrated in Iceland at least in the mid-19th century. Today, Icelandic women often receive flowers, chocolate or other delicious food for Women's Day. I also received a beautiful bouquet of flowers today!

I feel like spring is slowly approaching. The days are noticeably longer and there is more light again. I'm looking forward to!

In this sense:

Gleðilegan konudag!

Happy Women's Day!

[Translated from here.]

Lummur með jarðarberjum

Icelandic pancakes with strawberries

In Iceland there are two types of pancakes: the larger, very thin pancakes (pönnukökur) and then smaller, thick pancakes (lummur). What is typical for Icelandic pancakes is that the fat is added directly to the dough, but the pancakes are then baked in the pan without fat.

Icelanders like to eat pancakes with coffee, but they are also perfect for a leisurely, late breakfast - especially with cream and fresh fruit.

Ingredients

140 g wholemeal flour

150 g wheat flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 Tbsp brown sugar

1 pinch of salt

400 ml soured milk

1 egg

3 Tbsp rapeseed oil

Preparation

Put the wholemeal flour with the wheat flour in a large bowl, add baking powder, sugar and salt.

Pour 400 ml of soured milk over it and stir into a smooth dough.

Add egg and oil and mix thoroughly.

Add a little more milk if necessary if the consistency of the dough is still too thick.

Fry the Lummur in a hot pan without additional oil until they are golden brown on both sides.

The Lummur is best served fresh with fruit or jam and cream.

Bon appetit!

[Translated from here.]