Tag: denmark.dk

Danish Weddings (Part One)

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Yay, it’s wedding season! :)
As my regular readers will know, I’m constantly amused and amazed by the quirky
traditions of those crazy Danes. From hitting
barrels with baseball bats to sending secret snowdrop letters, tradesmen
removing their shoes and marcipan pigs… And Danish weddings are no exception –
hooray!

Danish wedding anno 1975

Danish wedding anno 1975

Now, unfortunately, statistics say that over 40% of Danish marriages are
doomed to end in divorce. But, hey, many Danes go on to remarry – so let’s look
on the bright side…even more weddings! ;)

So where does it all start? Well, you can either get married in the Danish
church (which also, by the way, performs same-sex marriages – halleluja! – an idea supported by a large
majority of Danes) or at a civil cermony (usually at your local town hall, but
can also be your back garden or at a hotel). And you can –
selvfølgelig – also choose to go the whole hog and do both!

The ceremony itself is short and sweet. Forget all those toe-curling
Hollywood film scenes where the bride and groom bumble through their marriage
vows… There are no lines to learn! Those practical Danes get straight to the
point. The priest or mayor will give a little speech then ask you two
questions:

  • Do you take Morten/Christina to be your husband/wife?
  • Will you love and cherish him/her until death do you part?

And if you reply “Ja” (Yes) to both questions, you’re married –
simple as that!

Oh, and don’t be surprised if the flower girls or ushers turn out to be the
bride and groom’s own kids. It’s very common for the Danes to get married after they have kids, not before.
Sometimes they even kill two birds with one stone and have a joint wedding/baby
christening…

Join me next time when we’ll be getting ready to celebrate!

Diane :)

Danish Big Prayer Day – what are you praying for?

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Denmark will be closed this Friday (26 April 2013). Not that Danish
schoolkids will actually notice any difference… After all, they’ve been at home
from school – slowly turning into zombies – for over a month now due to the LockOut of the
Danish school teachers!

But I digress! What is happening on Friday? Well, it’s time for the
strangest holiday on the Danish religious calendar… Stor
Bededag. ’Big Prayer Day’! Yep, those crazy Danes decided back in 1686 that
there were just too many religious holidays during the year so they
lumped the minor ones together, four weeks after Easter. Makes sense to me ;)

Big Prayer Day was traditionally a time to fast and pray. Hee hee! I’ve yet
to meet a Dane who willingly goes to church (apart – selvfølgelig –
from christenings, confirmations and weddings). Most people will spend the day
gardening or working on a DIY project. Or will make a day trip to Sweden, where
it’s business as usual and cash registers will be working overtime.

Even if the Danes don’t pray on Friday, they will – because they love and
defend their traditions with a vengeance – eat hveder on Thursday
night. Large, fluffy rolls which you halve, toast and butter. They’re already
on sale at the bakers…but they don’t come cheap! (And they all taste pretty
bland, so I normally just buy the cheap ones from the supermarket – it’s the
thought that counts after all?)

And after you’ve had your hveder, you’re supposed to go for a stroll
around the city ramparts at Kastellet (Copenhagen Citadel). You don’t
live near Kastellet? Well, sit back, relax and enjoy Denmark’s finest
rock band, Magtens
Korridorer singing about a picnic at the Citadel… (If the guy pretending to
sing in the video looks familiar, it’s Nicholas Bro, an actor who was in the The
Killing (II) and Borgen…

“Picnic på
Kastellet” (Picnic at the Citadel).

And what about the prayer part? Will I be saying a prayer come Friday?
Well, just like all the other mothers of Danish schoolkids, I’ll be praying that
our kids are soon back to school! ;)

God Stor Bededag!

Diane :)

Danish Teachers are (still) locked out!

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The ‘LockOut’ of Danish Teachers continues…three weeks with no school!
(Haven’t heard about it? Get up to speed with Time for School…but no teachers allowed! and LockOut of Danish Teachers…Child’s Play? )

At first we thought – selvfølgelig – that the LockOut would never
happen – it was all just fighting talk. Then, it happened – and we thought it
would blow over after a couple of days. We’ve now had three whole weeks of
it – will it ever end?!

I chummed my daughter over to school the other day. She had one lesson in
Maths, from 10.35 till 11.20 (her Maths teacher is a civil servant, one of
the hallowed few allowed in to teach during the dispute). I have to say that it
was all very eerie – the playground was a ghosttown and the numerous
‘fight-for-a-space’ bike parks were now empty!

Room for plenty more!

Room for plenty more!

But why all the coloured pennants? Did I miss a memo, was there a spring
fête?

Teachers LockOut continues

Teachers LockOut continues

On each pennant there’s the name of a child name and their class. 680
pennants. That’s one for each of the 680 students that go to our school. With
banners saying “Vi savner Jer ♥ ” (We miss you ♥). A hand-made
greeting for the students from their teachers. Teachers who still aren’t
allowed in, for the third week running.

Vi savner Jer - We miss you

Vi savner Jer – We miss you

So, will this LockOut ever
end? Well, rumour has it that the LockOut will be over next week. Because
we’re fast approaching the first of May – International Workers’ Day – a day held high, and
celebrated, by many Danes – not least our current socialist Danish Government.
A continuation of the LockOut would be terrible publicity. But, for me, all
bets are off. Just like the Danish summer, I’ll believe it when I see it! ;)

Have a fantastic school-free Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Diane :)

Forårskriller – Spring Tickles – Koldskål!

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Not only has the sun finally made more than a fleeting appearance in Denmark
this week – but it seems as though the grumpy old evening frost has gone for
good and that temperatures are slowly but surely crawling their way up, woo hoo!
:)

Which, as usual, basically mean winter coats and gloves in the morning on the
way to school. [Umm, or actually not on the way to school – because our
kids’ teachers are still locked out from schoolfor the third week running = no
lessons!] Try again…winter coats, boots and gloves in the morning on the way to
work. Then take them all off in the afternoon and grab an icecream on the way
home.

But if you want something that is quintessentially Danish to soothe those
forårskriller – ‘spring tickles’ – then what better than a bowl of
koldskål? Don’t know what that is? Here’s my post about it from
last April, when the temperatures were even higher… Velbekomme!

A taste of Danish summer

(first published 27 April 2012)

The Danish weather gods are on a roll! For the past week we’ve had sun, blue
skies and temperatures of around 20 degrees celcius. Shorts and sandals (and
bare legs – eek!) have been brought out of hiding. We’ve been eating lunch and
dinner in the garden. And fighting over the seats in the shade. Out on the
street you can’t move for bikes, skateboards, scooters and rollerblades. And
the best part? According to the Danish Meteorological
Institute, it looks like the fabulous weather is going to continue. At
least for another 3 or 4 days, yay! :)

And with our first taste of summer weather comes…our first ‘taste’ of summer
– koldskål!

image

The Danes have been eating koldskål for over a hundred years.
Personally, I love the name. Kold = Cold. Skål = Bowl.
Koldskål = Cold bowl!

It’s traditionally made with buttermilk, raw eggs, sugar, vanilla and lemon.
Today you buy it readymade from the supermarket. And the Danes buy lots of it.
Millions and millions of liters of it during the summer months. When
the temperatures start to rise, so do the sales of koldskål… And what does it
taste like? Hmm, even though I’m a ‘Dairy Queen’ (pass the cream, please, and
yes, I’ll have a little bread with my butter), koldskål is definitely
an aquired taste. A weird mixture of sweet and sour. But a very ‘fresh’ taste.
It looks like thin yoghurt and you normally serve it in a bowl and throw a
handful of little crispy biscuits called Kammerjunkere (available from
the supermarket or bakers) over the top. Or a few strawberries.

image

You can eat it for lunch or dinner. Or as a mid-morning or afternoon snack.
Or drop the kammerjunkere and just drink it straight out of a glass.
Some people even eat it for breakfast. In our house we usually eat it after
dinner, for dessert.

My kids aged 9 and 11 are addicted to it – we’re already on our second carton
this week. But hey, when the weather is this good, who’s counting?

Velbekomme! :D

LockOut of Danish Teachers…Child’s Play?

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Last time I told you about the LockOut of Danish teachers – and what the teachers have been
up to, since they’re not allowed to come in to school to teach.

But what about the students? Well, my kids have been in school for the
official classes taught by the teachers’ who aren’t ‘locked out’. Which for my
DS13 (dear son, aged 13) means a double period of Natur og Teknik
(nature/technology/science) and a double period of Idræt (gymclass).
That’s it. Four hours in the whole week! ;)
DD11 (dear daughter, aged 11) has slightly more…five hours of Matematik
(maths). The rest of the hours are tilsyn (supervised), i.e. the
kids are basically left to their own (electronic – boom boom!) devices. Yep,
the school has said they should bring in computers, Nintendos, books, games etc
because they’ll basically be sitting on their own all day – with a teacher on
call somewhere in the building.

Expedition to see...Kon-Tiki Expedition!

Expedition to see…Kon-Tiki Expedition!

Attendance at the tilsynstimer (supervised hours) is not obligatory
so we’re basically homeschooling… The kids and their classmates are here every
day. We’ve baked bread, rolls and cakes – hjemmekundskab (Home
Economics). Trips to the local swimming pool – idræt (gymclass).
Luckily the film Kon-Tiki has just been released here – Natur og
Teknik (nature/technology/science). One set of parents invited all the
boys from the class to make food in their kitchen/in their garden over a
bonfire… And, being an English teacher, I’ve selvfølgelig been giving
mini-lessons.

So, we’re two weeks in. With no end in sight. Because the teachers and
local communes are still at loggerheads and the Danish government won’t
intervene. At first the kids thought it was great fun…just like the long,
summer holidays with late nights and no early mornings! But now even they are
getting bored. Hey, I’m a teacher – I’m missing my students – sniff, sniff! And on
the news they reported that Danish grannies and grandads had had quite enough of
looking after the little ‘uns, thank you very much…

Yep, this LockOut is definitely not child’s play! ;)

Have a great weekend!

Diane

Time for school…but no teachers allowed!

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Yaaaaaaaaawn. It’s 8am Tuesday morning and my kids are still in bed. When they should really
be sat behind their desks learning, amongst other things, the intricacies of the
Danish comma! What’s up? Well, we’re now into the second
week of the LockOut of Danish teachers. Local government want to change
teachers’ working hours (well, actually, the ratio of class prep vs. time
spent teaching students). The teachers unions are basically in disagreement,
and talks broke down. Local government want to push through the changes and
have therefore ’locked out’ the teachers – i.e. they are not allowed to come in
to teach. And they aren’t being paid. And why doesn’t the Danish government
intervene? Well, this is the so-called “Danish model”. Employers and employees
negotiating their own collective agreements without state interference.

So just what are our teachers
up to, now that they don’t have any classes to prepare or students to teach?

For lækker til Lockout! - Too cool/sexy to be locked out!

For lækker til Lockout! – Too cool/sexy to be locked
out!

My kids teachers have been demonstrating in front of the school and at the
major traffic hubs during rush hours. Motorists were encouraged to peep their
horns if they were in agreement with the teachers. And cyclists and pedestrians
weren’t forgotten either…the teachers had taken coloured chalks and written
messages on the pavements and the cycle paths!

Jeg savner mine elever - I miss my students

Jeg savner mine elever – I miss my students

The Danish teachers have a website http://lockouten.dk/ where you can see all their
“Lockout” events and happenings. At 12 noon today they performed Denmark’s
largest ever flash mob at Town Hall Square in the centre of Copenhagen.
Unfortunately that particular video isn’t up yet on youtube (keep looking –
meanwhile you can see it on http://politiken.dk/poltv/nyheder/indland/ECE1941612/danmarks-stoerste-flashmob-se-laererne-smide-tusinder-af-boeger-paa-jorden/)
so instead here are some teachers doing the LockOut Harlem Shake. As they say
themselves, they would really much rather be…teaching! ;)

Have a wonderful Wednesday. School or no school!

Diane :)

Danish Breakfast – Right to your (snowy) doorstep!

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Have you seen what kind of weather we’ve been having in Denmark this past
week? Snow and freezing temperatures. Not exactly springlike. And what did we
wake up to on Wednesday morning – my daughter’s 11th birthday – yet more
snow!

The tradition here is to wake up the Birthday Girl/Boy in bed, whilst singing
a Danish birthday song and waving flags. Followed by a champion’s breakfast of
rundstykker [remember to cut them in half before you put them on the
table! Roll Up, Roll Up!], weinerbrød (Danish pastries) and
kakaomælk (chocolate milk).

Now this year I’ve discovered something brilliant…having breakfast delivered
right to your (snowy) doorstep! :D
You create a profile at ebager.dk(Greater Copenhagen and some other parts of the country are covered), place
your order before 10pm and, for a modest sum – kr. 25 – it will be delivered to
your door the next morning!

Our order arrived at 6.25am…

All ready for the Birthday Girl to tuck in to before she trudged off to
school in the snow…

Certainly beats getting your boots wet and standing in long queues at the
bakers…

Have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Diane :)

Gækkebreve – Secret Snowdrop Letters!

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My kids are now on Easter break – which, this year, is threatening to turn
into a very, very long break for
some. Local government and the teachers’ union are at loggerheads and, if
things aren’t resolved by Easter Monday, Danish schools will be operating a ‘lock out’: teachers will be turned away and will not receive
pay. And what does that mean for the pupils? Well, some schools will tell the
kids to stay at home, whilst others will try to arrange supervision by non-union
staff…

But, as usual, I digress! We are – selvfølgelig – in the run up to
Easter so I’m bringing out my old post on how to make gækkebreve – a
purely Danish tradition! Yep, little kids all over Denmark have been sitting at
home (or nursery, school, museum or the local library) cutting holes in paper
and drawing lots of dots…all in the hope of getting a chocolate Easter egg! :)

Want to have a go at making a gækkebrev (secret snowdrop letter)?
Then grab those scissors and lets get started…

You’ll need:

  • white and coloured paper
  • glue or a gluestick
  • a pair of scissors
  • a snowdrop

Choose a coloured piece of paper for your paper ‘doily’. Fold it in half,
then in half again. Draw a rough shape and cut out. If you’ve never done this
kind of thing before, keep it simple! The Danes are world-famous for their
intricate papercutting. Hans Christian Andersen (you know, the one who wrote all
those fairytales) was also an expert at papercutting.
I’ve only lived here for 15 years, so I’m still learning…

Open up up the paper and you should have something that looks like this.

Stick it on to a plain white piece of paper. I used a gluestick. And it’s
fine if it isn’t perfectly stuck down all over – it just gives it an
even better 3d effect ;)

Then you write a little poem on it.

Henne bag ved havens hæk, fandt jeg denne vintergæk.

Hej, min hvide lille ven, nu er turen din igen.

Du skal gå til min ven, hviske så kan kan forstå,

han må gætte prikke små, for et påskeæg at få!

But if your family and friends aren’t Danish, you’ll probably want
one in English, right? Try this one for size:

Snowdrop, snowdrop, snowdrop fine,

Omen true of hope divine,

From the heart of winter bring

Thy delightful hope of spring.

Guess my name I humbly beg.

Your reward: An Easter-Egg.

Let these puzzling dots proclaim

Every letter in my name

As you can see, you don’t sign your name. You draw a large dot
for every letter of your name. If the person who receives the letter guesses
who it comes from, you have to give them an Easter egg. But
if they can’t guess, they have to give you an Easter egg. So
disguise your handwriting and be creative! I put in three dots for M.U.M.! ;)

The final touch is to pick a snowdrop from your garden – um, if you can
actually find one underneath all the snow we had last week– or draw one if need be, add it
to the letter and send to a friend. And keep your fingers crossed that they
don’t guess who it’s from…

 

God Påske! Happy ……!

 

Diane :)

It’s TV Frioday!

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Yay, it’s Friday – the best day of the week – the start of the weekend! And
if you’re staying in tonight in Denmark, you’ll – selvfølgelig – be
watching telly!

It all starts at 7pm with Disney Sjov (‘Disney Fun’) – a mix of new
and old Disney cartoons. It’s become a real tradition – they’ve been showing it
forever on DR1 (the main public channel). The Danes grow up with it and, yes
– guilty as charged – we have even based our mealtimes around it… ;)
It’s a hyggelig (cosy) moment when the adults break out the red wine
and the kids get their weekly ration of slik (sweets). How about some
skum? [See my You are what you eat?]

Yummy 'skum'!

Yummy ‘skum’!

Then hot on the heels of Disney Sjov comes Danish X-Factor. No
introduction needed there, surely? Truth be told, it’s been a pretty boring
season so far. No-one we have really loved, or loved to hate. But there are
the occasional moments of brilliance, like last week’s performance by Amanda.
She did a fantastic version of “Hollow Talk”, a song by the Danish band Choir
of Young Believers. Sounds familiar? It was the theme tune from the tv
series The Bridge / Broen / Bron.

Have a fantastic Friday and a wonderful weekend!

Diane :)

Fancy a Danish tart?

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I can’t believe I’ve shared the delights of the Danish culinary heritage with you
– stegt flæsk (fried belly pork), agurkesalat (cucumber salad), skibberlabskovs (Skipper Stew) to name but a few –
without ever mentioning tarteletter!   One of the stalwarts at any
self-respecting Dansk Frokost (Danish celebratory lunch).  The next big
lunch on the calendar being all those Easter get-togethers at the end of the
month.   So let’s get a move on!

The tartlet:   Buy a pack of ready-made tarteletter (puff pastry
cases) – they’re available from any Danish supermarket (and some petrol
stations).   There are cheap (thin and small) and expensive (large and thick)
varieties – I always go for the expensive ones because I ♥ my puff pastry to be
‘on the fat side’.   Remove them from their packaging and place them ‘bottoms
up’ on a baking tray. You heat them in an oven at 200c/400f for about 5
minutes.  Keep an eye on them – no burnt offerings, please.

Tarteletter - pastry cases and filling

Tarteletter – pastry cases and filling

The hot filling:  You can go two ways.   Make the filling yourself (my
preferred version) by making a basic white sauce and adding small pieces of
asparagus, shreds of cooked chicken, peas and carrots – whatever takes your
fancy.  Or you can buy filling in a tin – open the can, pour into a saucepan and
heat through.   By no means a gastronomical masterpiece, but good in a pinch.
You can always top with lots of parsley, to hide that it’s shop-bought ;)

Get them while they're hot!

Get them while they’re hot!

The finished article: serve hot on a tray and allow your guests to help
themselves. (On a side note: You can even buy special tartelet tongs
in the shops here – just the right shape for lifting them up. The perfect gift
for the man or woman who has everything?)   Enjoy with a nice cold beer…

Tarteletter

Tarteletter

Velbekomme!  Have a fantastic Friday and a
wonderful weekend!

Diane :)

Bendtner’s Boo Boo(s)

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The Danish football player, Nicklas
Bendtner, is all over the
news/tv/radio/facebook/twitter. Again. For all the wrong reasons. Again, again!
Okay, so in the past he might have shown the occasional flash of brilliance on
grønsværen (the pitch) but these days he’s best known for his playboy
lifestyle, bad-boy antics and high profile girlfriends. Plus a rather large ego
to boot! ;)
Which may be your typical profile of a footballer in the UK – but here in
Denmark (with the Law of Jante peering out from behind every bush) it’s a
definite ‘no no’.

The kids and I watching the national team at Parken

The kids and I watching the national team at
Parken

In the past he’s been fined for speeding. Vandalizing cars. Attended his
girlfriend’s celebrity birthday party the very weekend that, surprise surprise,
he was unable to play football due to an injury. Kicked a hotel guest in the
shoulder. Shown his underpants – emblazened with a betting company logo – in
direct contravention of UEFA rules, during a national match. And – my own
personal favourite – he had difficulties paying with his credit card in a
pizzeria and apparently demanded to get them free with those immortal words,
“Don’t you know who I am? I could buy this whole place!” But the owner wasn’t
having any of it, stood firm and refused. An episode which spawned the
following joke:

  • Banke, banke på!
  • Hvem der?
  • Bendnter.
  • Bendtner hvem?
  • Nicklas Bendtner! Ved du ikke hvem jeg er?!
  • Knock, knock!
  • Who’s there?
  • Bendtner!
  • Bendtner who?
  • Nicklas Bendtner! Don’t you know who I am?!

And what has Bendtner, the silly klaphat (clapping hat = Danish slang for a complete idiot), gone and
done now? Well, on Saturday night he was caught drink driving in Copenhagen.
Down a one-way street. With an expired licence. Not just a little over the
limit. Three times over the limit. (A few drinks more would have meant a
prison sentence.) He’s in court today and will no doubt lose his driving
licence for three years. And is looking at a very hefty fine. How much? Well, in
Denmark it’s usually the blood alcohol percentage multiplied by the amount of
your net monthly salary… But his lawyer is – selvfølgelig – ready to
fight that. Meanwhile he’s been thrown out of Denmark’s official squad for 6
months and told to consider his future.

Everyone is asking, “Will he ever grow up?” Um, he’s 25 – maybe it’s already
too late?

Have a terrific Tuesday – and let’s drive carefully out there! ;)

Diane

What did you just call me?

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The Danes are a pretty reserved bunch – they don’t raise their voices in
public or wave their hands about when they’re speaking. A very well-mannered
bunch. The exception to the rule being certain gymnasieelever (high
school kids) who love to binge drink, fight amongst themselves and smash hotels
– whether they are on winter break in Prague, the Czech Republic or
summer hols in Sunny Beach, Bulgaria… ;)

But, as usual, I digress! Have you ever thrown a party/had guests over
to dinner? Bam! Before you can open your eyes the next morning or take your
first swig of coffee, text messages and mails will be ticking in saying “Tak
for sidst!”

So although the Danes don’t gush in public, they’re quite happy gushing via
emails and on social media platforms from the relative safety of their
tablets/telephones/computers. I’ve done a lot of volunteer work in my time
– committees at børnehave (nursery) and teaching English at school –
here’s a little taster of the kind of messages I’ve received…

  • “Mange tak for indsatsen!” (Thanks for your hard work!)
  • “Godt initiativ!” (What a great initiative!)
  • “Du er fantastisk!” (You’re fantastic!)
  • “Du er en gave!” (You’re a gift!)
  • “Du er en skat!” (You’re a dear!)
  • “Du er som altid et hit!” (You’re always a hit!)

I’ve also been called things that I had to go look up in the dictionary!
;)
Or have my husband explain Like when someone told me ”Du er en
knag!” Which I thought had something to do with a hook… (But, hooray,
hooray, I was getting en knag mixed up with en knage.) Anyway, hubby said it was a
real compliment. According to Politikens Store Nye Nu Dansk
dictionary, en knag is “a person you appreciate because they are
helpful, energetic or skilful”. Ha! Do we have an equivalent in English?
Hmm, I can only come up with a “jolly good fellow”!

And on that positive note, I wish you all – my merry readers – a
god weekend. And – if it’s anything like it was down at the beach
this morning (air temp -1c/30f , water temp 0c/30f) – i solens tegn (in
the sign of the sun)!

Lovely morning for a swim!

Lovely morning for a swim!

Diane :)

Danish Heatwave is coming!

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“Wow, have you seen the weather forecast? We’re in for a heatwave come
Thursday!” That was the conversation I had with my vinterbadning (winterbathing) buddies this morning
as, tugging our bathrobes tightly around us, we attempted to remove the last of
the snow from the bathing bridge steps… [If you want to see what our bridge
looked like a few weeks ago go read Winter bathing – who wants a slushice?]

And how high will the temperatures get? A whole six degrees (43f) – woop,
woop! ;)
We’ve got off fairly lightly this winter – only a very few occasions when snow
has stopped the traffic. Only a fortnight when the sea froze over and we
weren’t able to get into the water for our daily skinny dip. But,
unfortunately, it’s been a very long grey and dull winter – and we’ve had below
zero temperatures for months…boo!

But spring is definitely on its way. I know this because the first Danish
heralds of forår are the tiny yellow erantis. And they’re popping up
all over my garden…

Heralds of spring...erantis!

Heralds of spring…erantis!

You’ll see them everywhere. Often beside vintergækker (snowdrops).
Which, incidentally, you’re soon going to need if you’re going to follow the
singularly strange but sweet Danish tradition of sending a Gækkebrev or Secret Snowdrop Letter!

Vintergækker (snowdrops) and erantis

Vintergækker (snowdrops) and erantis

Have a terrific Tuesday!

Diane :)

All the kids…eat horsemeat!

DIANE IN DENMARK

Ha – the Danes and their fantastic sense of humour! If you have kids at
school in Denmark, then you’re bound to have heard the “Alle børnene”
jokes – a mix of dark humour and rhyming, which started back in the 1980s.

All the kids biked to school, apart from Fred - he was dead!

All the kids biked to school, apart from Fred – he was
dead!

Here’s the very first one I heard – a true classic…

Alle børnene kiggede ind i vaskemaskinen,
undtagen Knud – han kiggede ud!All the kids looked into the washing
machine, apart from Knud – he looked out!

Yep, they’re usually quite cruel…

Alle børn sad på fryseren, undtagen Bob – han
ville op!All the kids sat on the freezer, apart from Bob – he
wanted out!

Sometimes bizarre…

Alle børnene hed Kasper, undtaget Jesper – han
hed Flemming!All the kids were called Kasper, apart from Jesper – his
name was Flemming!

Want to try making up your own ones? Here’s the formula. All the kids [did
something], apart from [name] – he/she [did something unexpected]! The name and
the unexpected thing should rhyme…

All the kids crossed the road, apart from Ann –
she was hit by a van!
All the kids drank Cola, apart from Kent – he drank
cement!
All the kids were poor, apart from Lisa – she used her Dad’s
Visa!
All the kids looked nice, apart from Matt – he looked like a rat!

Did you hear about the current European meat
scandal? Now, that‘s no
joke! ;)
But here’s one that came out of it…

Alle børnene spiste lasagne, undtagen Conny –
det var hendes pony!

All the kids ate lasagne, apart from Tony – it was
his pony!

Happy Tuesday! Whatever you have on your plate!

Diane :)

Bake your own Fastelavnsboller!

DIANE IN DENMARK

DS13 (dear son,aged 13) cycled home like lightning on Thursday – proffering
homemade fastelavnsboller (Danish carnival buns) he had made in
hjemkundskab (home economics class). [Want some background on Danish
carnival? Check out my DIY
Fastelavn! ]

We made another batch of fastelavnsboller together this weekend.
Check out these big beauties!

Fastelavns boller - carnival buns!

Fastelavns boller – carnival buns!

We based ours on Arla’s recipe. You’ll need:

  • a 50g sachet of dry yeast
  • 100mls or 1 decilitre milk
  • 125g butter or Kærgården
  • 1 egg
  • 4 tablespoons of sugar
  • about 375g of plain flour (hvedemel) – about 625mls or 6¼ deciltres

.

Mix everything together in a large bowl. It’s easiest to use a mixer (dough
hook) but you can do it by hand if you want the upper arm exercise. When it all
comes together, cover with a clean tea towel and leave to rise for about 45
mins.

Meanwhile prepare the filling:

  • 1 egg
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 200mls or 2 decilitres milk
  • 1½ tablespoons of flour
  • a tablespoon of vanilla sugar

.

Put everything into a little saucepan and whisk over a high heat until the
mixture comes to the boil. Turn down the heat, keep whisking for about 5
minutes then remove from the heat and leave to cool.

When you’re bun dough is ready, roll it out on to a floured worktop and try
and get it into a large rectangle. You are aiming to cut out around 12 squares,
but don’t get too perfectionist…

DS13 rolling out the dough

DS13 rolling out the dough

Take a spoon of the filling and plop it into the middle of each square. Fold
the edges of the square together, press them together gently (so the filling
doesn’t squish out) and carefully turn them over, so you have a neat little
bun. Leave the buns to rise on a baking sheet for another 45 mins. (Or – if
you want to bake them the next day – put them in a cool place or fridge
overnight.)

Bake in a preheated oven at 225c (450f) for about 10 minutes. Keep an eye on
them, you don’t want them to get too dark. Remove from the oven and cool before
topping them with some icing or a dusting of icing sugar. Though if you want to
top them with pålægschokolade (piece of thin breakfast chocolate), do
it while they’re still hot!

When you’re ready to eat the fastelavnsboller, cut them horizontally
and put in a (very l-a-r-g-e) dollop of whipped cream…

My fave combo...choc and cream!

My fave combo…choc and cream!

Velbekomme!

Diane :)