Smørrebrød

Last week, I took a class on how to make Smørrebrød, traditional Danish open-faced sandwiches.  The class was held at CPH Cooking Class near Nyhavn.  Most of my fellow students were there because they received the class as a Christmas gift.  What a great gift idea!  There was a Swedish couple, a German couple, a French woman who is a college student, and a Viennese woman who is opening a cooking school nearby.  The French woman was actually born in Gif-sur-Yvette, my French hometown!  It was a 4-hour class.  We made everything from scratch, I mean everything!  Seven students plus two chefs, cooking for 4 hours to make 3 types of sandwiches and a dessert.  It was so much fun!

Kitchen Classroom

Cozy Dining Room

There are plenty of rules that come with making these sandwiches.  For example, they are made with rye bread.  You must always butter the bread all the way to the edges before adding your toppings.  Traditional toppings and combinations are pretty much what you will find.  Certain sauces go with certain toppings, and you don't mess with that.  For example, fish and shrimp are served with a remoulade sauce.

Rye Bread is a must

The first sandwich we made was Rødspætte/Flounder (or Plaice) with Norwegian lobster, remoulade, lemon confit and herbs.  We learned how to filet and skin the whole fish, which was amazing because it was so flat and thin.  I didn't think I'd do a good job, but it turns out I'm really great at filleting and skinning flounder!  We also learned how to confit the lemon and make a traditional remoulade from scratch.

My Swedish Friends Taking Care of the Plaice

Another thing we learned was how to break down Norwegian lobster, a type of langoustine.  That was fun too!

Before

After

The sandwich I was most excited to make was the Tartar.  It was veal tartar, or raw veal, served with tempered egg yolks, Jerusalem artichokes, and lovage mayonnaise.  I worked mostly on this dish.  I learned how to make the lovage oil and then turn it into a mayonnaise.  Tempering the eggs was done by cooking them in oil under very low heat in the oven.  Pretty cool!

My Babies

The third sandwich we made was Hønsesalat/Chicken Salad.  It wasn't your usual chicken salad though.  Our chef, Max was amazing and he made all of the traditional recipes into something so special and fancy.  For the chicken salad, we learned how to confit the chicken legs by cooking them slowly in duck fat.  Max taught us two methods of pickling -- mushrooms (in oil) and onions (the regular way.). We learned how to make tarragon oil and a tarragon mayonnaise.

Fancy Chicken Salad

After all of that, we even made dessert!  We made Danish pancakes, which are made with beer as the leavener, and a vanilla parfait (unchurned ice cream).

When everything was done, we had a huge feast!

Smørrebrød

After taking this class, I've been pickling everything.  It's easy and really tasty.  I will probably make these sandwiches again, but definitely only one type at a time!  It's a lot of work!  

Bon Appétit!

  

School Days @ CIS (Part 1)

While we are in Denmark, Gaius is attending Copenhagen International School.  He will complete 7th grade here.  His school is an International Baccalaureate school, and is taught in English.  CIS is located in Nordhavn, in the northern part of Copenhagen, right on the water.  His school is state-of-the-art. It is solar powered and featured in this CBS report on how Danish architects are working to make Copenhagen the first Carbon Neutral city in the world:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VdM_NV_blA&feature=youtu.be

Click here to watch the video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VdM_NV_blA&feature=youtu.be

Copenhagen International School

Gaius is learning French and Danish.  His other classes include Math, Product Design, Drama (now switched to Music), PE/Health, Individuals & Societies, and Science.  He has 4 classes each day.  After every class, the students get a 15 minute break.  They can grab a snack, hang out and socialize.  It's so nice!  For lunch, they get 50 minutes and are allowed to go outside for recess.  Gaius is even allowed to skateboard during recess, provided he wears a helmet.  Here are some of the features of his school:

This is a rooftop playground for the primary grade students.
(Taken on a cloudy morning.)

CDN on the playground equipment

Skateboard Ramp

Gaius' classes take place mainly in the Middle School Tower.  Here is what that looks like:

Hallway in the Middle School Tower

Product Design Classroom

Look at how nice the school bathrooms are.  All of the fixtures are by Duravit, which is the company we were looking at for our bathroom renovation back at home.

The school is about one year old.  So far, his class projects have been pretty interesting.  In Drama, Gaius played the role of a designer's assistant in a student-written, updated version of the Princess and the Pea.  In PE, he and his buddies made a dance music video, (choreographed, recorded and edited it).  In Product Design, they made pencil cases using sewing machines.  In Science class the other day, there was a fire because the students were investigating which burns hotter - dry leaves or sticks.  Gaius told me that in 7th and 8th grade Science, the kids are learning how to put on condoms, using prosthetic (styrofoam?) penises. For real.  In fact, he brought home a variety of condoms the other day.  I'm assuming they will be taught about safe sex, human reproduction and AIDS/STD prevention.  All good things.  What grade do they pass out condoms in the U.S., I wonder?

Gaius got these in science class

The walk to Gaius' school in the morning is cold and dark.  This is the new shortcut from the train station to his school that just opened up.  The harbor is to the right.  There are cargo containers, bikes, big trucks and kids everywhere! If we take this path from the train station, it only takes us 30 minutes to get to school (1 metro + 1 train + 10 minute walk).

This short cut has shortened our commute to 30 minutes!

This is the view from the lobby where I wait during parent pick up after school.  What you can't really see is that this wooden part is actually steps that lead all the way down to the cafeteria.  It's a terrace where kids hang out.  Outside of those windows is the harbor.  The top floor that you can see is the library.

view from parent pick up

Terraced Steps & Seating

Parent pick up has been a little lonely.  I don't really know anyone yet, so I just sit there by myself.  At first, I was convinced that no one talked to me because they thought I was a nanny.  (The only other Filipina woman I met at school is an au pair.)  But then, I realized I'm much too old and not thin enough to be a nanny.  Usually, to pass the time, I text my friend Alison, in Williamsburg.  It's like old times, chatting during parent pick up at Matthew Whaley.  But, now, in the background I can hear the Italian moms chatting in beautiful Italian, which is pretty cool.  Or listen to the moms speaking Spanish, who are always very lively.  I hear posh little British kids talking about how they spent their holiday in Dubai and are planning to go to Berlin soon.  I should mention that I made a new friend this week.  She's a new parent too.  She said hi to me today at school and I was so shocked that someone actually knew my name.  It was so nice! Thanks, Jessica!

In the meantime, Gaius has made tons of friends.  At CIS, instead of shunning the new kids, the students actually welcome them with open arms!  I've been so impressed by how outgoing, helpful and polite Gaius' new friends from school have been.  It's a really nice school.

One last great thing about CIS is the cantine (cafeteria).  They have a barista there to make espressos for the parents in the morning and the afternoon!  A small mocha costs 30 kr, or $5.

No coffee between 11-2

The Cantine

Gaius says that the food is really great here!  It is kind expensive though.  One thing that is different is that they sell the food by weight.  Not by how much you weigh (which I guess could be a thing), but by how much your food weighs, obvs.

Meatless Monday, Fish on Thursday

I'm going to title this blog entry "Part 1" because there is so much more about this great school that I'd love to tell you about!

På gensyn!

Who knew?

One thing that is different here is bed linens.  On the bed, there is a fitted sheet on the mattress topped by a duvet (actually a comforter in a duvet cover).  There is no flat sheet on top of the fitted sheet.  If two people are sharing a bed, each person gets his/her own skinny duvet!  So, for us, there are two duvets, one bed.  So smart!  No hogging of the blankets.  No dutch ovens.  If it gets too hot, you can throw your blankets off in the middle of the night without bothering your partner.  Perfect temperature for everyone.  And, it's a cinch to make the bed in the morning! 

Before (two duvets)

After - so neat

All the time I save making the bed, I can devote to doing the laundry.  To run one load of wash in the washing machine takes 2 hours and 30 minutes.  I think it's because the machine is so energy efficient.  This machine only uses like 2 tablespoons of detergent.  I just discovered yesterday that I am supposed to supplement my detergent with MinusKalk Tabs.  According to Google Translate, "Minuskalk - more power for your detergent! Preventing cold cages, your washing machine scans your cleaner blood base for purity."  Just what I needed.

How did I ever survive without this?

Last week was Gaius' first week at his new school.  As a treat, I let him purchase lunch at the cafeteria everyday.  That can get expensive, so this week, he will bring his lunch for part of the week.  I went to the grocery store on Sunday in search of ziplock bags for his sandwiches.  I found 2 liter and 5 liter bags which of course were too big.  And then I spied this:

mellemlægspapir - I don't need this

Mellemlægspapir.  The box looks about the right size for sandwich bags.  I thought, maybe it's like wax paper sandwich bags or something.  Bags that can hold a sliced tomato, or an open faced sandwich.  Christopher said, "Obviously it's for sandwiches.  Look!  There are pictures of sandwiches on the box!"  So, we brought it home and opened the box.  We are the proud owners of 500 pieces of paper that are too small for anything!  I mean, what are these for really?  Google translate says that this is "Intermediate Paper."  Thanks, Google Translate.

På Gensyn!

How We Roll

Living without a car is a big change for us.  I thought we'd be walking everywhere.  WRONG!  It's so cold out and gets dark so early that we've been happy to get around on public transportation.  Luckily, we live just a 3 minute walk from Christianshavn metro station and the bus stop.

Riding the 350S Bus

Gaius' morning commute is pretty rough.  When we leave the house at 7:25 a.m.  it's dark as night.  We take one metro train and two buses to get him to Copenhagen International School (CIS).  It's a 45 minute commute!  Since I've been riding with Gaius to and from school, this means that I've been commuting about 3 hours each day (back and forth, back and forth)!  Gaius is getting more comfortable taking the bus and metro, so he'll be riding at least half way to school on his own starting next week.  Don't worry.  It's safe!  The funny thing is, even though it takes 45 minutes by train/bus to get to Gaius' school, if we were to ride bikes it would only take us 20 minutes. 

Gaius transferring onto his second bus, the 27

I'm happy to report that Gaius and I now both have bikes!  I just got mine tonight!  Once the weather gets nicer, Gaius will probably bike to school.

Gaius and his mountain bike

The Pink Panther

Christopher takes one metro and one bus to work, but his commute is much shorter.  He'll be getting his own bike very soon too!

If Gaius had his way, he'd be commuting to school on this:

Gaius at Circus Circus Skate Shop

CPH is a great city for skateboarding!

P.S.  - Picture from the next day.  CDN got his bike!

It's a fixie!

På gensyn!

How Much Things Cost

The first thing that everyone says about moving to Denmark is that it is very expensive to live here.  It's true that Danes pay over 60% in income tax.  That's high.  Restaurants are more expensive, but restaurant workers get paid more.

Danish Kroner - DKK

I have found that many things here cost more than in the U.S.  Clothing, shoes, linens, almost anything for sale on the Strøget (Copenhagen's largest shopping area).  All are a lot more expensive than back home.  Just yesterday, Christopher spent $20 on a can opener (the manual kind, not electric). Don't worry.  I made him return it.  This morning, I found Adidas Gazelles selling for $128 on the Strøget.  I bought that same pair in Williamsburg for $35 on sale at the outlets just last week!

$35 Adidas Gazelles are $128 in Denmark

Despite how expensive it is to live here, there are still some good deals to be found.  If you need to see a doctor, you can see one for free.  If you go out to dinner, you don't have to leave a tip.  

There are other things here that are a great bargain.  A monthly transportation pass for one adult is $60/month.  That provides you with unlimited travel within zones 1 and 2 (Central Copenhagen) on the metro, trains, buses and water taxis.  The cost for a child's monthly transportation pass is $30.  

Another surprising deal is cell phone service.  We signed up with Telia to get 60 GB of data on our 3 cell phones (combined) with unlimited talk and text for $100/month.  And that comes with HBO, too.

Here is a list of items we have purchased and how much they cost.  If you stay away from junk food, it's not too expensive to go grocery shopping here.  All prices listed are in U.S. Dollars.

Aluminum Foil	$ 1.29
Apples	2.00/lb.
Bananas (1 bunch)	2.40
Bathroom Bleach Wipes	2.58
Black Olives	1.91
Broccoli	2.08
Canned Tuna	2.39
Capers Cava (sparkling wine)	1.92 10.00
Chocolate Milk (1 liter)	2.41
Coffee	9.48/lb.
Crème Fraiche	2.41
Cup o’ Noodles	2.80
Diced Tomatoes (1 can)	0.79
Eggs (10 pack) Fanta (1 can)	3.87   1.45
Flour Tortillas (6 large)	1.45
Frosted Flakes	5.32
Gem Lettuce/baby romaine	2.08
Ground Beef (1 lb.)	4.80
Half & Half (tiny bottle)	0.85
Hellmanns Mayo (small jar)	4.67
Hot Dogs (huge pack)	6.45
Jameson Whiskey (700 ml)	20.83
Ketchup (Heinz)	6.46
Kidney Beans (1 can)	1.59
Manchego (cheese)	9.20
Milk (close to a quart)	1.45
Mushrooms	2.56
Oatmeal	3.71
Oranges (1.5 kg)	3.55
Organic Mixed Salad Greens	2.50
Organic Yogurt (400g)	2.99
Peanut Butter (small jar)	4.63
Penne Rigate	2.09
Philadelphia Cream Cheese Pickled Jalapeños (jar)	3.38   1.93
Plastic Wrap	1.21
Potatoes (tiny white ones)	3.55
Selles sur Cher (cheese)	12.11
Smoked Salmon (big slab)	8.87
Sour Cream & Onion Chips	3.71
Sparkling Water (2 liter)	0.93 + .50 deposit
Tea (Early Grey)	3.66
Tortilla Chips Viognier (White Wine)	4.00 11.31
Whipped Cream	2.58
White Wine Vinegar	3.19
Wine	8.00-20.00

Seriously, like 75% of this list is cheaper than in the U.S.  Now, based on what I have purchased, what should I make for dinner tonight?

På gensyn!

Trash Talk

On our tour of the new apartment building, the caretaker, Tommy took us down to the room where we throw out our garbage.  It's super clean down there.  There is one bin for "bio" garbage, or kitchen scraps.  We're supposed to throw those away in a special green biodegradable bag.  There is one bin for plastic and paper recycling.  I'm assuming my cans will go in a special bin too.  There is a separate area for glass bottles.  That sounds pretty reasonable, right?  Simple! 

I've only been here a little while, and I can already tell this is going to get complicated.

When we arrived in Copenhagen, our good friend Jens presented us with a beautiful wooden box of wines.  I know where to put the empty wine bottles when we are done.  My question is, where do we throw the wooden box?  It doesn't seem like it should go in with the trash.  (Found out later that it probably does go in the regular trash.)

Problem solved!  Drawer organizer!

I'm sitting here looking at a soon-to-be finished bag of cheddar corn.  It's one of those foily-plastic bags.  Where do I throw that when I'm done with it?  Can it be recycled?  It's not really paper.  It's not really plastic.  What is it? (The answer is found below.). What about used napkins?  They are paper.  But should they be recycled?  We're putting those in the regular trash.

I have a feeling almost nothing will go in the traditional garbage can from now on.   For one thing, my trash can in the kitchen is the size of a bathroom garbage can.  Where am I supposed to store all of these recyclables before we take them downstairs to the trash room?  Where am I supposed to hold these kitchen scraps in the meantime?  I don't have any fancy recycle bins in the apartment.  All I have is this bathroom sized garbage can in my kitchen.

These are easily solved problems and questions that are easily answered.  I'll let you know what we find out.

One nice thing is that we can get some money back for our used soda cans and water bottles at the flaskeautomat.  It's like a reverse vending machine that gives you cash/script for your recyclables.  This will be Gaius' gig.  A way for him to make some extra pocket money.

Flaskautomat

Anyhoo, I think Americans should recycle more things.  Christopher and I aren't very confident that the things we recycle in Williamsburg aren't actually just ending up in a landfill somewhere.  So, this is a good change for us.  Or at least it will be, once we figure out what we're doing!  We're gonna be so green!

One thing that is helpful is reading things more closely.  For example, this toilet paper roll gives all the information I need about where to dispose of it.

You can recycle, compost or flush me down the toilet.

This bag of chips clearly shows that I should throw it in the trash when I am done, not recycle it!

I'm assuming that's a trash can.  But what if it's a recycle bin? 

Another sign to be observed is the one that says "SILENCE."  The other day, on the metro when we got on board the train, we went into the Quiet Zone of the train.  It's a glass enclosed room with a door labeled "Silent Area."  I don't know how to say, "Hey, lady!  Shut up!  Can't you read that the sign says 'SILENCE'?!" in Danish, but I now know what that sounds like.  The Danes must take their quiet zones very seriously!  We were all three just sitting there, quietly minding our own business.   I may have turned to CDN (Christopher), and in a normal speaking voice said, "I can't believe..." and then BAM!  I was viciously reprimanded!  By two people!  So much so that it was really hard for me to not start laughing uncontrollably!  I mean, within SECONDS of me breaking the silence, they shut me down!  And then the one woman in front of me went back to her silent knitting.  She may or may not have been glaring at me.  It was really remarkable.

I think we're really going to love it here!

På gensyn!  (See you later!)