Spidskål Season

Its back - fresh and delicate, cone-shaped Danish cabbage. Its not quite as delicate as Nappa, but its much thinner than regular. It is what it is. Yummy.



Here's my latest going-out-outfit (I plan on going out next week - big thing here, it doesn't happen that often). I got the skirt for a bargain 100 kroner at the Bazaar in Odense. Its from a shop that I never really go in because I feel too much like an awkward foreigner. But when I brought it up to the counter and said - in English - I'd like to buy this, the fully scarfed (except for face) lady said to me - Yes, its very nice, very pretty, such a good price. And she was genuinely friendly about it. Nice to have a nice experience like that.


And since I'm no longer picking up the house (expect for the bathrooms and laundry), I've been knitting. This is going to be a 74 inch long sparkly scarf - if I actually finish it. Because I can't even count how many scarves I've ever started to knit, and I've never finished a-one of them.

You're getting sleepy...

I've been listening to these meditation podcasts for the past two nights - and I've been sleeping like a baby. I also haven't had a cup of coffee for two days - but I like the podcasts, so I'm crediting the meditation.

The first night I fell asleep before the 24 minute Basic Meditation was even over. Last night I again fell asleep to the Basic Meditation, but was then awakened by my husband...grrrr. So then I switched over to the Falling Asleep meditation, and was again asleep before it was over. And when I say asleep - its the twitching and guttural snore/chokes of relaxation. This is not the kind of sleep I usually have, and I'm *loving* it (I hope McDonald's doesn't come after me for saying that).

The podcasts have the people talking in soothing voices, and they have you concentrate on your breathing...but they also have this background sound that is supposed to be good for both hemispheres of your brain, and at this point I have to agree that I think it works.

I downloaded these two podcasts (and a few more) for free at The Meditation Podcast.

And I did a quit knit this week for another girl birthday. This mom saw the sea princess necklace that I made for the last girl birthday, and said that she'd like something like that too for one of her daughters. I did a beach bag instead, and filled it with beach toys. I was in a rush so its not my best work, but I'm hoping it will suffice for a 4 yr old.

Just another week *something* in the Danish calender

The Danes keep track of time by weeks. Week 12, week 36, whatever. Can't you just say July 12, or the second week in July, or something? Other wise I don't know when you're talking about. But I'll admit that it could just *be me* since I have these visual number lines and calenders in my head. And no, they're not straight.

Peter and I went out for a walk today in a partially undeveloped/un-farmed area near our house. Its rained a bit the last few days, and the depressions have water in them. There is nothing I'd like more right now that to put on some knee high rubber boots and trudge out there to see what's going on. But - I didn't bring my waterproof boots, and its private property. The wetland plants here are similar and yet different than the ones in the U.S. I wish I had someone to be my field guide for just one sunny day.


Also near our house the logging continues. Denmark has quite a lot of forested areas really, and so I'm holding out and giving everyone the benefit of the doubt that they are good managers of this sort of thing.


But my biggest job this week is going to be to finish a knitted gift for another little girl. I originally envisioned a sea princess crown, with a shell pattern border. Very delicate and lacy. But that kind of thing doesn't stretch, so I wasn't sure that a good fit could be had. After a few other failed ideas I think I've finally settled on a mermaid necklace. The idea is seaweed, mingled with fisherman's net, lots of beads, some shells, and some bling-bling embellishments. I'm working on the fisherman's net part now. I've basically taken my thinnest yarn, split it in half, and am knitting on my smallest size needles. Its going to be a bit abstract and not pink - so I hope it goes over ok.

Dinner (for 1) and a Movie

Planning dinner is so stress-free when the husband is out of town - I only have to think about what *I* want to eat, and when I want to eat it. Me me me me me. I opted for that great broiled broccoli again, while the boy had leftover noodles - and was totally happy with them. Ahhh, easy.


Yesterday, I also picked up a couple of movies at the library - Again, shows that I wanted to watch with no worry about if the husband would be bored - and I was happily surprised with my first choice Friends With Money. What I remember from the trailer shown during commercials in the US was a comical show about people giving their poor friend (Rachael from Friends) their money, and I had no desire to see a show like that.

But the pickings are slim at the library here, and I was happy to get my hands on something I hadn't seen. And the movie turned out to actually be very good. The friends don't give her money, and its not a feel-good-funny plot, the casting was great, and I might even watch it again tonight.

The weather continues to be crappy, and so a week has passed by, but it kind of seems like one, long, gloomy day. I did manage to make a pot of black beans, which were eaten for no less than 5 meals between the two of us.


And last weekend I made a pot of chili. I prefer to make my chili with sauteed onion and celery, ground pork, and lots of chopped garlic. I've tried all brands of tomato sauce from every grocery, and they all have a funky flavor. So its øko diced tomatoes for us for everything. For this pot I also used canned red kidney beans. Mistake! They are just too sweet. Why are these and baked beans the preferred canned beans of this country? Must be the sugar. Along with the chili I made some eggfree cornbread. It was just the simple recipe from my Betty Crocker cookbook (this cookbook is essential, the recipes may not be fancy or worldly, but its got all the day to day information that you need). I substituted flax blended in water for the eggs, and topped the warm bread with butter and honey. Even the boy liked it (without the added sticky and sweet stuff of course - poor kid, if he would just try it he would like it).



I think I've been knitting a lot lately, but its hard to tell since I really don't have much to show for it. Sometime ago I mentioned that I was starting in on another attempt at a scarf with a pattern that felt right...well, I actually got to the end of that one and then decided to take it all apart. It reminded me of snake skin.


Now, with the same light colored yarn above I've started making a lace cowl. I've always been slightly frightened of lace patterns. They are usually a repeat of a number of rows (for this pattern its a 10 round repeat), and within each row its a somewhat complex sequence of stitches. Well, the stitches (and the act of knitting) are not complex, its just the paying attention part that can be hard. Since a friend of mine mentioned how much she likes this particular wool yarn I've been trying my hardest to make something nice out of it for her. This lace pattern makes a repeating heart shape, and she likes hearts...so that's the plan.

There is another girl birthday coming up. I bought a small pretty pony toy thing, but the gift list specified homemade stuff. So I made these little power bands. Some people might call them wrist warmers - but I live with a boy, and to him these are what a girl super hero would wear. It was also my frist time adding beads while knitting.

Just another week in sunless DK. I really have reached my threshold of gloominess. I think the whole family has, and we are each expressing it in our own way. The boy is whining and demanding, the husband is silent and withdrawn, and I'm cranky yet anxious, but for some reason low on energy at the same time (but I can't sleep). So it seems the only thing to look forward to is thinking about food, and then sharing that food, and listing to the greater world out there on my MP3 player, and knitting.

A super highlight of yesterday though - we learned that our son will be starting the immersion program at a public school within our school district this fall. Couldn't get any better than that. One BIG GIANT THING (that I had no control over) now off my mind.

These are a simple shortbread cookie with chai flavors - cardamon, cinnamon, clove, and black pepper - Cooking Light magazine, Christmas 2007. (Next time I want to try to put some tea in the coffee grinder, grind it up, and add that to the dough as well.) I've started to keep a log of frozen dough in the freezer to have on hand when someone pops over for a visit. Its easier than trying to find some sort of decent cookie at the grocery, plus they are egg free.


I found some very pretty øko brown (almost pink) lentils at the market a week or so ago. Even their name was pretty - Pearle de Campo.




Earlier this week I made a small batch of baba ghanoush to share with a friend's awesomely moist sunflower bread. I tried to make that same bread a while back and it was a small dense lump. I'd love to have a bread maker here, but once again, I hate spending $$$ on things that I can't bring back with me.


On the knitting front I've finished up another hot water bottle cozy.


I've also started and taken apart a two tone scarf maybe 3 times. Not willing to give up on this salvaged wool yarn (I un-kinked an old hat, soaked the yarn in a warm bath with fabric softer, dried, and re-balled this stuff)...I've started in on it once again, but with a new pattern - and this time around it just feels right. So I think it (fingers crossed) will be *the one*. This is actually the first scarf I hope to complete. I've started lots of scarves it the past, I have yet to actually finish one.

Leftover Night

For dinner yesterday I decided to reheat the vegetable curry from a few nights ago. To it I added some forgotten kafir lime leaves that were in the freezer, and did up a side of some kind of white fish, and some cauliflower.

I shop lots of different shops here in DK (well - except Bilka) to get my groceries, and I buy my fish from Lidl. Their salmon is the best I've tasted, and they also have a big selection of other types of fish. My little guy even likes their whole breaded fillet of pollack - much better than any fish stick in this country. Have you ever tried a fish stick here? Its like eating garbage, old garbage. Nasty bad.

Anyway, our gourmet fillet of some kind of fish was nummy with the curry. Back when we used to live in Ames, Iowa I often ordered a fish/kafir lime/curry dish from Thai Kitchen...it was to die for. Ames might be a small town, but it has sooooo many great restaurants.



And I finished up my latest knitting project - a cozy for a hot water bottle. Did you just get creeped out? My husband did when he first heard the idea. But I'd been surfing for new projects, and listening to my knitting podcasts and it seems to be THE THING to do. Plus I accidentally stumbled upon some water bottles at a shop in the mall, and then that was that.



I'm making two - one for me, and one for a gift. And I won't be trying it out fully (filling the thing with hot water) until we move back to MN. It gets darn cold there in the winter, and I think this will be a more environmental option than my electric blanket.

Stationary

As in stationary bicycle - not pretty paper.

We've pretty much stayed put this week. Peter is taking it easy (as much as a 5 year old can) so that his arm/shoulder can heal. Lots of TV, puzzles, and games. No drawing - he busted the arm he normally uses for that. Maybe today I'll try to get a shirt on him so that we can at least go out for a walk.

And I've been sick the last few days; which has rapidly depleted my stash of NyQuil, and made me break out a box of Kleenex (Kleenex and paper towels are only used in the specialist of circumstances here). Yesterday I mustered up the energy to make myself some chicken and dumplings. This is something I make maybe once a year, and so each year I seem to repeat the same mistakes.

1) I didn't want to overdo the amount of broth, but in the end I would have liked to have more *soup*. The dumplings sucked up a pretty good amount of my liquid really.

2) And I always add the carrots and celery too soon, so they get pretty soft. I need to cook the chicken by itself for a bit before adding the veggies. But for some reason I always forget this.

Even so, it was pretty good, and it satisfied my sick frame of mind that tells me to eat chicken soup of some sort.




And I'm totally in LOVE with my MP3 player. While Peter watches a movie, I'll listen to a podcast and knit. Favorite shows lately are In The Loop and Yarncraft. The NPR Podcast Directory has ALL their shows just waiting for me to download them - its like I've discovered a whole new library.

This is my latest knit. It will also be given as a gift.

Emergency Rooms and Egg Rolls

We made our first trip to a DK emergency room this weekend. This is the one place that I did not want to visit during our time here; I have to say I've not heard very great things about it - like no doctors on staff, long long waits, broken bones not being found. My mom said, he's a boy, and it was bound to happen. It turned out to be a broken clavicle while wrestling with another boy.

I have to say, other than the front desk lady who never actually faced the entrance (she was too busy chatting with the other two front desk people who I guess could not help us - only the woman ignoring us was supposed to help us), anyway, overall the experience was fine.

We got in quickly, the doctor showed up and seemed to know pretty much right away that something was broken. We were sent to x-ray, pretty easy to see the break, so they bandaged him up, and then sent us on our way.

I would have liked some better pain killer so that he stays in one position while sleeping (but they don't do that here), and I would like to have a better bandage than the one we got (its just a stretchy strap that keeps coming loose). We have been told to go to our regular doctor in two days to get re-tied, so during that visit I think I'll dangle our private insurance caveat in front of her and see what I can get (maybe a special doctor with nicer bandages).

I'm happy I made the decision to bring him in. In the US, I didn't hesitate to call the nurse to discuss his symptoms. But here, its like you really have to prove you're worthy; that something is really wrong. And so I was hesitant to bring him in somewhere - if it was just a pulled muscle or something.

This was my conversation with our regular doctor back in September:

Me - Hi, I need my son's epipen prescription refilled.
Doctor - Why does he have an epipen?
Me - Food allergies. Eggs, chicken, and nuts.
Doctor - Has he ever had a severe reaction requiring you to use this shot?
Me - No, but our allergist said it could happen and we should be prepared.
Doctor - Well, its just ridiculous for you to have this with you all the time, being nervous that you might have to use it. Its not necessary.
Me - (dead silence) I will not respond to that statement.

Ho Hum - On to better things...

I requested that Rich make egg rolls this weekend. They turned out fine, but even better were the cream cheese wantons he made with the left over wrappers (he put spicy stuff in them). He made them a bit thin the first time around and they exploded in the oil, but after a re-fold they turned out great.




And, I finished up my knit gift for a friend's daughter. She (the now 6 yr old daughter) requested a pink stretchy market bag a few months back but I didn't feel like making another one. I modified a pattern on the internet, and then embellished it a bit. Then to go with it, I got a cute little butterfly coin purse, and a seashell/braided belt from the Africa store. We'll see if she likes the grouping or not.

They should have sent a poet...

Its only the produce area at Cub Foods, but to my dull grocery eyes it was a sparkly solar system.



Earlier that day we had gone out to a nature learning center to visit Santa (who incidentally knew all about the pig riding Julemand and Nisse). After which Rich and I went to a ... restaurant. We had an assortment of chicken wings at Buffalo Wild Wings. I also had a lovely looking bloody Mary.

I don't quite know what the server girl thought of me when I had trouble responding to her "would you like BBQ, Ranch, or blue cheese dressing with that" question. Oh yeah - salad dressing, I'm starting to remember now...but to her, I just barely managed to mumble out "b-b-blue cheese please".

We were at the grocery gathering stuff for Rich's turkey brine and bake. Although we cooked that big-ol turkey for the Expat Thanksgiving, we restrained ourselves at home and didn't nibble on it. We also didn't get to keep any leftovers. So we still hadn't totally had our turkey fix for the season.




I've finished up a few presents that I had hanging out there. I picked up a six pack of beer to go with the cozies I knit in Gopher colors for a brother in law.



And I "finished up" some fabric fridge frames that I'm also giving out as gifts. From Denmark I brought the cut-out cardboard *frames* and online ordered the photo prints. And here I picked up the fabric, felt, glue, magnets, and photos...and assembled it all. I think they turned out pretty good, considering I rarely do crafts. But I Took the Handmade Pledge and there was no turning back.



From my earlier wish list:
I haven't taken a hot bath yet, but we went swimming yesterday and I spent some nice time in the bubbling hot tub.
I still need to (and definitely will) hit Chipotle. With the below zero weather (in F), the salad bar at Byerly's isn't calling me so much anymore.
And we've had a good snow storm along with daily doses of sun.

Ha - I did it!

I actually knit a sock - a small kiddie size sock, and its not perfect - but its still a sock.


Now if I can decipher the instructions for an adult size I might try that next.

Only in Denmark

We went in the back door to the Odense library this weekend. THAT'S were all the bikes are parked. I'd been wondering where they were all at.


And we stopped of at the grocery store. When I go to the mall I always park by the billboard signs, since I have a problem backing out the big @$$ car (whenever possible, I try the pull-straight-out move). Lately I seem to be parking by this sign all the time. It makes me want to ralph. Liver paste and banana "min favorit" - really?


And I finished another knitting project - a market bag. It knits up small, but stretches out big. I ran out of white yarn, so the bag isn't as long as it should be, and there are a few mistakes with the purple handle. But, this is just my practice one. Next time I'm hoping to make one I'll actually use - with the right colors and the right size.

Used Goods are Good Goods

Check out my new finds from the Danish Mission (charity store). A nice little handmade vase by Karen in 1993 - it says so on the bottom. Some mauve-ish wool yarn - lots of it and a bargain at 12 Kronner, and a book - its in danish, and I got it in the religion section, but I was just looking for a book to paste things into and this one had a nice cover.


This was dinner last night. Regular salmon and cauliflower. The rice however, is a dish I've made twice now and I really like it. Its brown rice with a smattering of wild rice in it. I cook it on the stove top with mushrooms, carrots, celery, garlic, and vegetable bullion. Its filling, comforting, and tasty.


I'm also cooking *cakes* a lot these days. Peter doesn't like bread or toast, and I feel like he should have some - Who doesn't eat a bit a of bread each day, you can only take so much fruit and veggies. Plus I can make these eggless, with spelt flour, or even throw in some ground flax - and he still thinks he's getting a treat.

When I get a break from playing cars or star wars with Pete I've been working on a few knitting projects. This one I've finished knitting, but I need to felt it. I tried to felt a swatch in my front loading machine and it didn't shrink or felt in the least. So this might have to go back to the states with me to finish it the way I want.