Lucky Pig

I had a request for a recipe, from a friend who read the blog I posted about the traditional Danish Glogg drink. I have added 2 recipes to yesterday's blog. By the way, any of the recipes can be served without alcohol by leaving it out or boiling it out. You can experiment by adding fruit juices in the place of wine. ENJOY!! It's all about having FUN!!

Today, I have been checking my pantry and making grocery lists for the upcoming week. One treat I plan to make for Christmas Eve dinner is a Danish traditional rice pudding.

Part of the tradition involves serving the pudding or porridge with a whole almond baked inside. The individual who finds the almond in their dish receives a prize, usually a lucky marzipan pig. To add to the fun, the person who gets the whole almond should discreetly save it so no one else notices it and when the whole pudding is eaten the search will begin for the person who gets the almond prize. Finally the almond is discovered and the prize is awarded. 
 
A marzipan pig is a confection made of marzipan, a paste of almonds and sugar, and formed into the shape of a small pig. In Germany, Norway and Denmark, the gift of a marzipan pig at Christmas and New Year's symbolizes good luck and fortune in the year to come.

While I do not plan to sculpt my own pink piggies, many Danes do create their own. I, however, found a candy shop in Lyngby, a nearby town, that has pigs of all shapes and sizes, made of marzipan, dark and milk chocolate and even white chocolate. 

Mums!! (translation: Yummy!!)

This is the recipe I intend to follow:

ALMOND RICE PUDDING (RIS A LA MANDE)

1 c. uncooked Jasmine Rice
1/2 c. sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
5 c. lowfat milk
3 whole almonds
1 teaspoon almond extract (or possibly vanilla)
ground cinnamon for garnish

Directions:

Combine rice, sugar, salt, and lowfat milk in the top of a double boiler. Cover. Add in almonds.
Set burner temperature so water in the bottom of double boiler is simmering.
Cook 2 hrs or possibly till thickened, stirring often.
Stir in almond (or possibly vanilla) extract. Remove whole almonds.
Sprinkle each bowl with cinnamon before serving. 

Scoop out individual servings and top with hot Cherry Sauce. Remind everyone to watch out for the whole almond in order to win the piggie and good fortune.

CHERRY SAUCE (Kirsebaersauce)Makes about 2 cups

2 14oz. cans tart cherries in water or juice
1/2 cup sugar
3 T cornstarch or flourIn large saucepan, over medium high heat, cook all the ingredients until hot and beginning to thicken. Blend sauce with blender until blended but still chunky. Reduce to 2 cups over medium heat. Spoon over individual servings of rice pudding.

Have a look at this video as Kathrine makes rice pudding...http://video.denmark.dk/video/4178950/danish-rice-pudding

One more week until Christmas Eve...

**12-14-12** A day that will forever be difficult for so many people to understand. Since the tragedy that struck the small town in Connecticut, I had been at a loss for words and finding it hard to feel the joy that the Christmas holidays bring. I even had times where I felt guilty for being happy in light of what happened. I spent a lot of time in prayer, discussing it with my husband and children, friends and family. We all suffer loss, some expected and some unexpected and sudden. Sometimes these things make no sense to us. I do know from experience that life should never be taken for granted. Our journey can be very long or it can be only moments long. Only God knows our time here on Earth. My continued prayers go out to the parents, grandparents and all involved in Friday's tragedy. May God lift them up, help them heal, and give them peace. 

***************************************************
                                                           
Danish Glögg is a traditional hot, mulled wine beverage made during the Christmas season. Most times it is made with red wine and sometimes other strong spirits such as rum or schnapps. The main spices used are cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves which give this warm beverage a wonderful aroma. Raisins and almonds are added to the mix and when served, some are added to each mug. The best part about drinking a cup full is finishing off the the tasty bits on the bottom. 

There are many recipes for this drink and most are passed down from generation to generation. It's so popular that they even sell the ready-made cartons in the grocery store along with packs of raisins and almonds...this was the route I took this evening as time was limited. I do, however, intend to try making it from "scratch" before the holiday is over.

It smells wonderful in my kitchen tonight and I have a feeling a mug full will take the bite off this winter eve. Skål!

                                
I had a request to add a recipe or two so here goes:

Christmas Glogg
With Orange Schnapps

This glogg is made with red wine, port wine, orange schnapps, spices, raisins, and chopped almonds.

If you like, you can substitute the orange schnapps for 2 tablespoons grated orange peel.

Ingredients

• 3 deciliter red wine
• 3 deciliter port wine
• 2 deciliter orange schnapps
• 6-8 green cardamom pods
• 10 whole cloves
• 1 small cinnamon stick
• 100-200 grams skinned, chopped almonds
• 100-200 grams raisins
• Cane sugar

Directions

• Pour red wine and port wine in a stainless steel pot.
• Add cardamom, cloves, and cinnamon.
• Heat to just before boiling over low heat. Do not boil. Boiling will burn off the alcohol. Stir occasionally.
• Allow the glogg to settle for at least one hour (over night is better).
• Strain and add the raisins and almonds.
• Heat to just before boiling over low heat and add the orange schnapps just before serving.
• Sweeten to taste with a little cane sugar.

Serve steaming hot in heatproof glasses or mugs with fruits, nuts, sweets, and Christmas cookies. 

__________________________________________________

Danish Christmas Glogg

Ingredients:

1 bottle red wine
5 stripes of lemon peel (1/2 CM wide)
8 cardamom pods
5 cloves
1 stick of cinnamon (3 inches)
1.5 inch of ginger
1 cup port wine
0.5 cups almonds (blanched)
1 cup raisins (can be left in rum overnight if you want to make it more interesting)
1 cup port wine
1 cup water

Directions:

• Put the water together with the spices in a pot and let it boil for a minute. 
• Let the water/spice solution stand for at least 10 minutes. 
• Strain out the spices combine the water solution with red wine, raisins and almonds and warm up (without letting it boil). 
• Add sugar to taste (It should be sweet but not too much). 
• When the glögg is almost boiling, take it off the heat and add port wine. Serve right away…

Last Day of School

We have been busy preparing for the last day of school for the year. The boys have had tests to take and projects to finish up. I have been busy with my Etsy business as well as taking outside orders...THUS, this "blogging every day" promise to myself has gone by the wayside.

One friend asked if the snow was still here...YES to that. It is not like NC where it snows one day and then is 60 degrees the next, melting it and turning it into a giant mess. It is still thick, white, and lovely. The snow plows are still making daily rounds getting whats left off the streets but what's so funny to me is that the snow NEVER stopped the Danes from riding their bikes!! I tried to snap a picture the other day of the streets full of snow and bike riders passing me by. They were having a hard time peddling their bikes but they were out and riding despite the challenge.

I am going to school with Cameron this morning to take pizza turnovers that I made for his party. There will be a gift exchange, food and fun. Both of the boys have a half day and then they are out until January 7th. We have no plans for travel this break as we are saving for our BIG trip to Paris, Rome and Bavaria Germany in March and then our trip to Topsail Beach, NC in Sept./Oct. when Nick and Ashlynne are married. We have rented an 8 bedroom house on the beach for the occasion.

I'm looking forward to the school break, sleeping in a bit, and the chance to slow down and relax....

More to come later today....

Food in Denmark

Oooppps...how did yesterday ever slip by without a post?? Well, it is December ...that's my excuse and I'm sticking with it!! 

As I am typing this post, I am watching the snow fall once again. It is beautiful and I don't think I can ever tire of it. Having lived in North Carolina for 30+ years of my life, there haven't been many snows to speak of, especially after having grown up in Ohio. I feel like I am playing "catch-up" now. The weather reports that we are to get 17cm today and tonight with some blustery winds. It is a storm front that is coming in from the west. 

There are places in my yard that never melted from last week and were 7-9 inches deep already...with today's snow added to it, I can only imagine the drifts!! Feels like Christmas and that makes me happy!!

Some of you have wondered what kinds of things we eat in Denmark. While we have most of the same types of things here that we did in the US, there are different things we have at each meal. This is yesterday's breakfast:

* Unsweetened oatmeal (ordered from the UK and the kids use a bit of brown sugar and milk  when served)
* Scrambled eggs (organic)
* Biksemad (cubed potatoes, onion, with ham and steak pieces)
* Solsikke Rugbrød (sunflower seed, rye bread)
* Fruit 
* OJ, hot chocolate and coffee
   

This was more like a brunch since everyone slept in so our dinner became a "dunch"...a late lunch/early dinner. Here is what we had:

                       
Fish!! Not just any regular fish though...can you see the layers? This is tiny shrimps on the inside, wrapped with tuna, wrapped in white fish, and finally the outer layer is salmon. Have I ever mentioned that the Danes love their fish?? Well, I served it with a wasabi/mayo dip and broccoli-carrot pasta with a bit of butter and parmesan cheese, and a salad. Everyone scarfed it down and then we all went to the den and got set to watch one of our very favorite movies-A Christmas Story. This has been one of our family traditions for years and years.

More on today's events, later today....

It snowed all afternoon and the boys did end up going out and playing in it. They had a huge snowball fight and ended up red cheeked and soaking wet by the time it was over.
  
  
  
Maggie and I were smart enough to stay inside where it was nice and warm. I made konfekt, which is the Danish word for little sweets. You’ll typically see konfekt served at Christmas, as party food or at the end of a meal instead of dessert. I started with dried apricots, figs, and dates which I stuffed with a bit of marzipan and then each piece was dipped in melted chocolate. These are traditional to the Danes, however, I added a not-so-traditional fruit to the mix...bananas! Chocolate covered bananas are Randell's favorite, so he will be pleasantly surprised when he sees this!
          

One Year Ago...

It was December 7th, a year ago when we touched down in Copenhagen, Denmark, our new home for what was to be a 3 year assignment. One year into this assignment and Denmark feels more like home than I ever thought it would. Of course there are things that we miss about America, friends and family and in Randell and Corey's case; American food. However, every day is a new adventure and a new opportunity to learn so much about the traditions and culture of a wonderful people and their country.
                                          
We will celebrate our "anniversary" tonight by setting up our Christmas tree and decorating it. One thing we always did in America while decorating our tree was to drink eggnog and listen to Christmas music. Well, eggnog is not readily available in Denmark, so Randell found it online and ordered it from amazon.dk. It arrived a couple of days ago, so we are all set.

While we chose our tree from the plant nursery down the street, traditionally, the Danes would make choosing the tree a family outing. Dads would pull the kids on their sleds while toting an ax in the other hand, while mom would carry the lunch basket and thermos of warm drink. A Norwegian spruce would have been chosen in the older days but now that the homes are not so cold a Normann spruce is cut. It not only has softer needles, it also withstands the normal room temperature of modern homes much better.

The lighting of the Christmas tree is considered one of the highlights of Christmas Eve. Many Danes insist that you have to use real candles and not electric lights on the Christmas tree. We string our lights up before we begin hanging the ornaments and they are electric which we plug in and burn every chance we get. 

The Danes Christmas tree itself is decorated with a silver or gold star on the top (never an angel), festoons of national flags, cornets with fruit, candies or cookies, woven paper heart baskets, small toy music instruments and the entire tree is often given the final touch with scatters of white fairy hair or strips of tin foil, reflecting the light from the glowing candles. 

Previously it was the father in the family who was in charge of lighting the Christmas tree. After dinner he would go to the adjacent room on his own and light up the candles. Then he would invite the rest of the family to join him and admire the splendor of the tree. Today it is more common for the whole family to take part in all the traditional Christmas rituals, as it is with our family. 

We arrived in time last year to set up and decorate a tree. Here is a picture of it with some Danish traditional ornaments (paper cones and hearts filled with nuts and candies) that I made...

                                           

It is very traditional to set out and/or have on hand certain sweets during the holidays in Denmark. One of my favorites is a simple cookie called "Jodekager". It is a very thin cinnamon cookie and very easy to make. Here is the recipe for any of you who wants to try it...
                 .

Cinnamon Cookies (Jodekager)

INGREDIENTS

COOKIE DOUGH

• 1 1/4 cups Soft Butter
• 2 cups Flour
• 2/3 cups Sugar
• 1 Egg

TOPPING

• 1 Egg Beaten
• Cinnamon and sugar mixed

DIRECTIONS

Mix first 4 ingredients together. Cover dough and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour. Remove from refrigerator and roll dough very thin. Use a round cookie cutter, brush cookies with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar mixture. Heat oven to 350°F. Place on greased cookie sheet and bake for 8 minutes

                                      

Pebernødder is another cookie that is a Christmas favorite in Denmark. You will find a small bowl of them on store counters, in offices on desks and always accompanying the afternoon or evening coffee/tea time. Pebernødder is often put into the decorative cones hung on the Christmas tree. Pebernodder means "pepper nuts". NO worries, they are actually sweet and there is no pepper involved in making them! In the olden days "to pepper" meant to season. Pebernødder is thought to be the oldest Christmas cookie in Denmark, coming from Germany (Pfeffernussen). Here is a recipe for these tiny treats...give them a try, they are delicious!

Pebernodder      

Ingredients:

80 gram butter (6 tablespoons)

225 gram sugar (1 cup plus 1 tablespoon)

1 egg

1 deciliter whipping cream (1/2 cup)

350 gram flour (3 cups) (add more flour if needed to bring dough together)

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon ground cardamom (in the ginger family)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 225 degrees C (400 degrees F). Line baking sheets with parchment paper and set aside.

In a bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, cardomom and set aside.

In your mixer using the paddle attachment, mix together butter and sugar until creamy and smooth. Add egg and mix. Then add whipping cream and mix. Add the sifted dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix just until combined. Remove dough from mixing bowl onto a floured surface. Using your hands bring dough together, adding a little more flour if needed until it holds together and forms a ball. Divide dough into smaller pieces and roll into long rolls measuring the width of your fingers. Cut into 1 1/2 centimeter pieces. Place on baking sheets about 1 inch apart and bake for approximately 12 minutes until just turning golden.

Christmas Cards

Living in another country can mean losing touch with loved ones. It's never intentional, it just happens when family and friends are not only oceans away but in different time zones. It is often hard to stay connected, even with Facebook, email and Skype. 

I have sent Christmas cards and wishes out each year for as far back as I can remember. However, last year was busy with the move to Denmark and with all the challenges of building a new life in another country, time escaped me. This Christmas season I have decided to sit down each night and begin writing out my letters and cards. Not only do I see this as a way to re-connect, but how many friends and family actually receive cards from half way around the world? My hope is that as each loved one opens their envelope, the love, hugs and warm wishes that are tucked inside, slowly escape and fill the room with the same warmth I am feeling when I am thinking of them! Miles and time may separate me from those I love and care about but they are always in my thoughts and in my heart.

                        

  God Jul... “God” is the Danish word for “good” and "God Jul" means Merry Christmas!!

The Christmas Month

Here in Denmark, the month of December is known as The Christmas Month. It is the busiest month of the year with many, many festivities, parties, and traditional preparations before Christmas Eve. 

While my intentions were to begin my December blogging on the first of the month and write an entry every day, I am obviously getting a late start. The first few days of my Christmas Month have been very busy! I spent the first 2 days of the month (and many, many days leading up to it) getting ready and selling at two holiday craft fairs. It had been a hope of mine to be able to participate in a craft fair and when I was invited to set up at both Rygaards Skole and Copenhagen International School's events, I happily accepted. It was a lot of work to make and craft everything I took but it was well worth the efforts. I learned a lot, sold a lot and made a bunch of new friends (and customers).

We were greeted on the morning of December 2nd by a beautiful blanket of snow. I had gone to bed early on Friday night (12/1) because I was exhausted from that days craft fair. Maggie woke me sometime around 3am to take her outside. In my semi-asleep state, I put her leash on her, pulled on my jacket and slipped my feet into my flip-flops that I keep by the back door. Much to my surprise, I stepped out the back door and into about 4 inches of snow. My only hope was that Maggie make it quick because my winter boots were still packed away! As I stood in the back yard, ignoring my cold toes, I was amazed at the stillness! There wasn't a sound to be heard. The snow was falling and I could see the trees were moving in gentle gusts of wind, however, it was the most silent movement I have ever seen or heard. The moon was shining above and the clouds rushed by overhead and yet not a peep could be heard. It was a beautiful and amazing moment that I have gone back to in my mind many times now. Definitely a memory I will carry with me forever.

The last couple of days have been spent getting my craft room cleaned and organized again. Catching up on some cleaning and household chores and the beginnings of Christmas decorating. With that, out came the Christmas boxes and our new calendar candle. I picked one up last year at one of the street-side florists (blomsterbutik). 

  

Danes take part in the count-down to Christmas Eve by lighting a calendar candle every day. It's just like a tape measure, provided with 24 markings, normally decorated with motives of paper hearts, fir and little pixies with red cheeks, wearing red hats and dancing merrily in yellow clogs. In most families the candles are lit every day from December 1st as a soothing factor in a hectic period, quite often at the breakfast table. Frequently it is the childrens duty to blow out the candle before it burns down too far into the next date. The calendar candle is a Danish tradition which was first suggested as something to make at home with the children in 1935, but since 1942 has been produced industrially. Apart from the calendar candle, the children have one or more Advent calendars, which may either have 24 flaps to be opened one a day or 24 small wrapped-up presents.

Since we had fallen a few days behind when I pulled out our candle, we lit it during dinner on Monday night and let it burn a little longer to the correct date. 

Our family's calendar candle

                         

The Changing Seasons

As we bid farewell to Summer days, 

and welcome Autumn's dwindling rays, 

followed by the Winter's freeze, 

Then, soon enough; Springs warm breeze. 

Let us bear in mind, 

that change is not always kind 

but in the end it surly brings, 

sweet songs of the Promised Spring.

                             -Renee Fister-Lee

My "attempt" at poetry...LOL! Feeling a little blue today...The life of an expat means learning how to say "good-bye" many, many times and somehow it never seems to get any easier. 

Micki Fish came recommended to me by another expat mom who had used her services and learned that I was in need of a pet sitter. We were new to Denmark and Maggie (dog) and Balcony (elderly kitty) had just experienced their first flight overseas and were still insecure in their new surroundings. I did not want to board them at a kennel when we took our planned trip to Sweden and Finland so soon after our arrival. I was looking for someone to come to the house to care for them so they wouldn't have to go somewhere unfamiliar, again.

I called Micki and she came over to meet all of us, including the furry girls. My first impressions were that she was super sweet, caring and very good with the girls. They instantly bonded with her and I knew they would be safe with her while we vacationed.

While we were on our vacation, Micki provided daily emails and updates on the progress of the girls and that made me feel relieved that they were with her and that she was so caring and thorough.

Upon our return, Micki and I set a date to meet for coffee and that was the real beginning to a great friendship. We met weekly, if not more, for coffee, belly dancing lessons, exercise workouts and walks around Copenhagen, exploring and sharing our knowledge in our new surroundings. The better we got to know each other, we discovered how much we had in common and started to plan more things to do together...our latest has been a Harry Potter "marathon"...LOL!! Micki will often come over for lunch, then we will get settled in on the sofa in front of a Harry Potter movie while our hands are busily cross-stitching, sewing or crocheting!

Micki's husband Jason is a great guy, easy going and so much fun. We have all enjoyed getting together (especially the guys) to watch American football on Sundays, play Kubb (yard game), throw the Frisbee or to experience many of the Danish restaurant choices. Most especially fun have been the adult outings and get-togethers in which there is beer tasting. :o) YUM

Denmark has been "home" to Micki and Jason for close to two years. Jason has been working on his PhD at the university and recently traveled to France to present his work results. Their time is up next week and good-bye is inevitable. It is very bittersweet as I am so happy they will be going back to Colorado and will be reunited with family for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays. However, I will miss them dearly!! I won't be able to pass Paludan's (our favorite coffee shop hangout) without thinking of Micki.

The bright side, and upside to this good-bye is that once Randell, the boys and I return to the states, we will have wonderful friends that we will be visiting in Colorado and they will be vacationing with us at the NC coast!! We have promised to make this a tradition!

I LOVE you Micki and Jason!! Godspeed, travel safe and see you again soon!!

Ireland...

Been blogging this morning, drinking coffee, cleaning the house and blogging some more ....about our Ireland trip last week...one more day and I should be finished with the details of the trip :o) Hope you enjoy as much as we did!!

A Star is Born

Last Monday, October 8th, Cameron and some of his fellow school mates were invited to participate as extras in a movie that was being filmed aboard the DFDS Ferry. The boys were to play the part of members in the Kansas City Boys Choir on a field trip. leaving Copenhagen Denmark and sailing to Oslo, Norway. This trip takes 16 1/2 hours which happens to be the name of the movie: "16 1/2 Hours".

The film crew was fantastic and made all of the boys feel comfortable. As we (the parents) were watching, we were asked if we wanted to be in the film. We played passengers walking down the gangway...not a difficult part to play but a lot of walking with each take.

The boys meet the crew and are shown what to do

They change into their "choir shirts"

Nina directs them on when to enter the gangway

The film crew

Quiet on the set...

The Danish actress is at the counter buying "her ticket" and the boys just finished their part...

The boys are working with the sound man

Group picture with the actress Frederikke and Nina (the young lady that invited the boys)

The main actress (Frederikke) with some of the boys

Cameron introduces himself to the actress

One of the boys was having a birthday so everyone including the crew sang him "Happy Birthday"

The movie premieres in April 2013 and will have English sub-titles and the boys will all be invited to see it.

Still, Earlier, and Soon...

WOW...it's after Noon and my boys are STILL sound asleep. They must have stayed up late last night watching movies on Netflix or playing video games...not unusual for the weekend. Randell came home early from work this morning and went right to bed. He has a cold or the flu and started feeling bad yesterday, bless his heart. It's NEVER fun going to work when you feel bad, especially when you can't breath out of your nose! So, it's quiet here and I thought I would write a bit and then get back to my sewing.

Last Sunday, we met our friends Micki and Jason at Kongens Have, which translates to the Kings Garden and is outside of Rosenborg Castle. It's a lovely and expansive garden with many flat areas of green grass. Perfect for a game of Kubb. Kubb is popular here in Denmark and the object is to knock over wooden blocks by throwing wooden sticks at them. In the end, you have to knock over the king. Kubb can be described as a combination of bowling and horseshoes because you are pitching the sticks at the blocks underhandedly. We had a lot of fun, the boys caught right on and actually scored many of the winning points for their teams. 

Right outside of Kongens Have

Old oaks line the road to the castle

Corey, me and Cameron

Randell and I

Jason and Micki set up Kubb

Jason instructs Corey and Cameron on the game how-to's

Frisbee!!

Smile!!

Then they all played with a Frisbee Jason brought. He is on an ultimate Frisbee team and is quite good at throwing and catching. He helped Randell fine tune his throw and everyone had a great time running around, throwing and catching. There had been the threat of rain all day and about an hour into the Frisbee game, it finally began to sprinkle. We moved to our favorite coffee shop, Paludan's, in Norreport. Jason and I sipped on coffees while everyone else had a refreshing fruit smoothie. We sat and talked and enjoyed each other's company before moving over to Ankara, a Turkish buffet. 

Micki and Jason discovered Ankara and introduced Randell and I to it about a month ago. We knew the boys would love the food, plus, when feeding my boys, buffets work best. After dinner, we drank our beers, sat and talked and "solved all of the world's problems". It was a fun day.

Earlier this week, I finished up and mailed out a custom order for an Etsy customer and continued to create and make new things throughout the week. The weather has been cool and it rained on and off each day through the week. Perfect weather for staying in and spending time in my craft studio!! 

Things wound down with Cameron attending his school disco and acting as DJ on Friday, while Randell worked and Corey and I spent the evening watching movies. The boys both had school friends over yesterday...a house full of boys! There was a lot of laughter, and the volume stayed at a low roar...I bet you can't guess where I held up?? In my studio, of course!! :o)

Today the weather is beautiful and sunny, a great day for getting out. We plan to stay close to home today as the American Embassy sent out a warning to Americans that there is a large Muslim demonstration of about 5,000 in the city today. We have plenty to keep us busy here at home and need to begin to prepare for Fall break and our trip to Dublin, Ireland soon....8 more days!! Yippee!!