Bernstorff & Blueberries...

The snow is back, it arrived yesterday morning! Although there's not much, there was enough of a dusting to slide the car sideways down the road earlier! I just knew we wouldn't be digging out normal clothes and shoes for a while yet!

Here are some pictures of Bernstorff Palace taken yesterday morning, I thought I would make the most of the winter scenery. The grounds of the palace are beautiful, and are usually frequented by plenty of dog walkers, so it's never a lonely place to walk...



The cold weather inspired a baking frenzy (the kitchen is the warmest room of the house after all!), so I made these to use some blueberries up. I fed my children bucket loads of blueberries when they were babies, but now I just can't get them to eat the raw form of these tiny spheres of goodness (but they will eat them cooked in pancakes and muffins etc). The other vital ingredient for muffins - buttermilk, is available everywhere here. It's called kærnemælk and can be found with the yoghurt in the dairy section. Does anyone make anything else with it? After being given a full bowl of it every morning on my French exchange, I am not sure I could stomach it uncooked now. I used to dread getting up to face this cold bowl of sourness...where were the freshly baked croissants and pain au chocolat I used to ask myself?? My sister wins hands down in the French exchange breakfast competition though. Eager to make her feel welcome, her host family asked what she usually had at home for breakfast, to which she replied cornflakes and tea. For the entire two weeks she had to start her day with a huge bowl of tea with cornflakes swimming in it (she claims she quite liked it in the end though!)!

Dangerous Activities

Those of you who know me well may find it hilarious that I have recently discovered that I enjoy running & jogging. As a child I never took part in a single sports day due to my life-long loathing of all competitive sports and physical activities (apart from swimming which I have always loved, but I will save swimming in Denmark for another post possibly!), it has come as a surprise to me how much I enjoy it, and how far I can actually run without collapsing (nobody follow me though as you won't be as impressed as I am)! Today was the first day back at school for my son after a spell of sickness, so having been stuck in with him for most of it, I felt that I should really get out and blow away a few cobwebs. However, due to adverse weather conditions such as snow and freezing temperatures, I decided it would perhaps be unsafe to go running, so opted for a walk instead. Wrapped up in my thick down winter coat, it felt like it certainly felt like a more sensible idea than going for a run - until I slipped on the ice and ended up flat on my back in the middle of the road with a very sore head. The hood on this particular coat usually annoys the hell out of me if it's not actually up on top of my head, it's not detachable and feels like I have a small koala bear clinging to the back of my neck, which is especially annoying when I am driving etc. but in all likelihood(!), my hood saved me from getting concussion, as it acted as a buffer between my head and the road, which is a good thing I think...so maybe it's earning its keep after all! I still managed to take a few pictures though, whether slightly concussed or not !



The lake is beginning to freeze, I wonder if they will be skating in on it again soon?...

Happy Birthday Sweetheart....

So many birthdays recently - my husband is 40 today, happy birthday darling... here's to the next 40! Don't worry, you don't look it and you certainly don't act it (ha ha)!! It's a beautiful spring day for it too, the snowdrops are out and crocuses are starting to make an appearance ...that snowsuit and our winter coats will definitely be going away soon, and the snow has finally almost gone - yippee!...

Last night I spent the entire evening making a huge tray of millionaire's shortbread for my husband to take into work, it will make a change from Danish pastries anyway! Turned out very well (thanks Nigella, your microwave version is fabulous)even though I made a mistake with the shortbread, let's just say they nearly were "all-butter" shortbread!! I have never been any good at doubling and tripling recipes!!!

Didn't book a restaurant incase I have to make an emergency exit back to London, so I am cooking. I managed to find some turbot (his favourite) in the fishmongers as a special treat, wouldn't buy fish at those prices normally, but it looks really fresh and the other half is now in the freezer! Will do it with fennel and lemongrass a la Gordon Ramsay. Fingers crossed I don't overcook it! Just finished the birthday cake too, will be sick of the kitchen after today and yesterday!

Cakes and cakes....

The past few days have flown past, we have been busy with guests as my brother-in -law and his lovely partner arrived on Saturday to spend a few days with us.

Sunday was Fastelavn here in Denmark, which of course meant we had to partake in one particular aspect of this festivity, the amazing Fastelavn cakes pictured. They were sooo good, we cut them up and all tasted each one. That evening we marked Chinese New Year with lovely homemade spicy Chinese food (something I really miss in Scandinavia, they don't really do spicy), enjoyed sat in front of a roaring fire and washed down with plenty of cold beer! You can't really appreciate wine with food that spicy after all!

Monday was a very special and quite an emotional day for me. My little girl turned five. It snowed on Monday, as it has done for most of this week which made me even more nostalgic as it had snowed the day she was born. I remember being in my hospital bed, clutching this tiny perfect bundle and watching the snow fall lightly over a grey London. I was a bit shell-shocked as I couldn't believe she had actually arrived and that I wasn't just hugely fat after all, I had been pregnant and now I really was a mother. It was a wonderful and slightly overwhelming feeling. So here we are, and those five years have flown by. I am still overwhelmed by my beautiful, funny, creative, and very dramatic little girl. She lights up our lives every day and I am so grateful for her. For her special day she decided she would like to go The Bear Factory. She shares a birthday with her Aunty so we all went to Copenhagen together. The Bear Factory was hilarious and both children thoroughly enjoyed it. Whoever thought of that concept is both very clever and incredibly rich by now for sure! Bizarrely she also chose Sushi for her birthday lunch, which was more than fine with all of the adults and as the snow seemed to have put a lot of customers off, we had the whole place to ourselves. It was wonderful and my little girl looked and felt very grown up! Aunty N enjoyed it too, she had a glass of champagne with hers. Then it was back to watch the Olympics in front of the fire and a big slice of birthday cake. Time to get sorted before more guests arrive on Friday for the next weekend...