I'm back! And this time I'm in Denmark for a few weeks, yet again falling in love with Scandinavia, but mainly here to work on a new music project with danish songwriter Anna Lidell (my new collaborator and friend). We'll be posting songs soon…
I landed in Copenhagen about two weeks ago, but quickly left with Anna for Denmark's larger land mass west - specifically to an almost-island called Helgenaes - which is made up of rolling hills surrounded by the sea. There is some farming here, but mainly Danish summer houses, which I am told can only be bought on the real estate market if you are Danish - they don't sell to foreigners. I get to be a lucky guest at Anna's family summer house this trip. So basically we are picking food from the garden, cooking/eating, swimming and making music. Life is so HARD sometimes…I HAVE skinned both my knees on the rocks and the water IS very cold here… :)
The summer house comes with an enormous garden - built from scratch by Anna's Mother and Father - Elisabeth Lidell and Andres Blinkenberg. So far they have filled it with apples, pears, black and red currant berries, beets, potatoes, onions, carrots, lettuce, chard, zucchini, pumpkins, marigolds (we threw those into some of our salads to brighten them up), radishes and blackberries. I'm sure I'm missing something else, but...
Oh - and rasberries also just happen to grow alongside the road all over the island. If the deer don't get all of them, you can get a fair amount on a decent walk. Here's Anna with her shovel - I will be forcing her to be my model this whole trip. ;)
We have had many adventures cooking so far while here. The first night we arrived we ate mostly from the garden, which for me was some kind of therapy - stomping around in the dirt pulling up potatoes, onions and dill for a side dish and black currant berries for the next morning's oatmeal. Collecting it all in a basket and walking up to the house to prepare for dinner gave the whole process added satisfaction.
Plus, for a city girl like me it's fun to eat most of the healthy stuff straight from your private garden. It's certainly in line with current Danish cuisine - where high quality local produce is the focus and basis for all recipes. I'm particularly fond of the black currant berries - which I've never really had fresh. They have a strong, dark flavor unlike berries I've tried elsewhere. When I was in Norway two summers ago, I didn't snag any of these… I really want to make them with some reindeer or something… :)One thing I've started to eat here and enjoy is oatmeal (I know this sounds boring), of all things, but it's true. Anna makes it every day for breakfast - which leads me to believe this is a common Danish breakfast. I also saw a guy in Copenhagen pour milk over dry oats for breakfast - Anna now tells me this is more normal than oatmeal. The French would protest...
I've never been a big fan of oatmeal, but if you cook it with sugar and milk, add spices (like cinnamon) and fresh black currant berries with fried sesame seeds (in butter) - it's a healthy sort of yum - Lidell has now got me somewhat hooked. Put a little butter or salt on top and it becomes hard to stop eating. We had this almost every day for breakfast. I'm always looking for healthier food to incorporate into my diet, so I'm thinking of making this a staple for breakfast.. If I can remain that disciplined..
More posts soon. For now, enjoy this photo of a microphone stand Anna and I built from scratch with tape and wood (because we didn't have one) from her Dad's tool shed. We were quite proud of our construction.
MORE LATER: Snails (from the hilltops), home-made ice cream and Danish meatballs...
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