F*cking Love Thursdays!

Thursday mornings are just awesome. I'm off Wednesday evening so there I can just relax and vegg. It's my vegg evening. Netflix, ipad games, reading.... I don't have to get up crazy early Thursdays so no stress. And I get shit done - laundry, dishes, cleaning, blogging, studying. Love it!

So right now, I have laundry over, the dishwasher is running and I'm enjoying the peace until I have to work. I'll probably work on some school stuff after blogging - better be a good student too.

My dinner with the Spanish girls went really well. We changed the menu - instead of flæskesteg and stuff, we had a "cold table". (roughly translated). Bascially just a bunch of different traditional Danish stuff to put on bread. The girls loved it! We had a "pakkeleg" game - surprise small gifts, roll the dice and either steal or give a present. Then we had ris ala mande with a mandelgave - which of course one of the Spanish girls won.

It cost me a fortune but was worth it. They were so happy and we had a good time. Now they have left Denmark and hopefully we'll see them in the summer - HP and I are considering going to visit them for a week or so.

I was surprised here last week. My friends at the pub arranged a surprise Christmas Eve for me - had me in tears. I didn't suspect a thing!! I thought I had a meeting with my boss and a co-worker but nope..... about 10 minutes after I got there, a whole bunch of my co-workers snuck up on us and surprise!! Merry Christmas!! They had everything planned - food, presents, Christmas tree on the dance floor, pakkeleg and just..... HYGGE! It was fucking awesome! Everyone was in on it and I knew nothing! I was a slight shock and it took a while to understand exactly what was going on.

I should be ending this post - put more laundry over and then decide where to start with my studies today. I'm not feeling well so maybe I'll take a nap instead before work.

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Cooking a typical DK dinner - scary!

On Tuesday, I have guests coming over for dinner. Three wonderful girls from Spain, who have been doing teaching work experience, are soon leaving and we - HP and I - have decided to make them a traditional Danish Christmas dinner. Flæskesteg, brune kartofler, rødkål, asier, ris ala mande - the works. But even if it was our idea, I know I'll end up being the one cooking. Love HP to pieces but she's even more lost in the kitchen than I am.

I'm not exactly the greatest cook. I grew up with the greatest cook (my dad) so it wasn't a thing for me because it was so easy for him, why should I bother. I remember when I had to make my own dinner for the first time in my first apartment - I was craving spaghetti and meat sauce..... it wasn't edible.

I can cook now. I mean, I can follow a recipe now and usually it turns out okay. I have to make food at the youth club 2 days a week and I'm starting to come out of my shell and try new things. I prefer to cooknew stuff alone - because if it's not edible, than it's just me that suffers. But on Tuesday, I have 4 girls expecting dinner. So I'm already trying to figure out exactly what I need to buy and how long it takes to make etc.

It's not the hardest menu to make but it requires timing and knowing the basics. I don't even know how long it takes to boil potatoes!! (I think we're in trouble!!) But I'm sure with some redwine on the table and some laughs, it'll be fine. Either we eat Danish food - or we order a pizza!

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A night of "cooking"

Early off school today which meant - nap time after lunch! Yay me! I ended up sleeping for 2 hours! I'm already tired again so I'm not afraid of not being able to sleep tonight.

I took a break from my studies this evening and ended up spending some time in the kitchen. I've been finding ideas on pinterest and tried some of them out tonight. Busy making salads in mason jars for lunches, soya almonds for snacking and an oatmeal granola.... that's cooling down as I type this.

The oatmeal is something new tonight - it's with oats, walnuts, bananas, soya milk, maple syrup etc. I found the recipe on pinterest and thought that I would give it a try. I'm supposed to be able to make a big batch and then divide it up into portions so all I have to do is warm it up in the microwave every morning.... smells great so I'm tempted to eat a portion right now, even though it's after 9pm. Not sure if I should put 3 portions in the freezer.... I need to check out how long it can last in the fridge.

The soya almonds are awesome. Perfect snack food for me! Love it! The mason jar salads seem to work wonderfully but I still don't know how long they can stay fresh in the fridge. I made up two salads last night and have the one left for tomorrow.... I guess I'll find out tomorrow.

I'm running again - goodnight tea and a chapter in my book, then it's bedtime. LONG day tomorrow!

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Thursday babble - even though it's Wednesday.....

My shifts this week at the youth club were changed a bit so instead of opening the club today, I have my Thursday shift today and then the opening shift tomorrow. Confused?

I "behaved" myself last Friday night. I did NOT go out and instead spent a nice and quiet evening at home. Hell has not frozen over and pigs still can't fly. I don't remember the last time I spent a quiet Friday night at home and just.... relaxed. I read a book. I soaked my feet. I surfed the Net. I basically spent the entire evening curled up on my couch and it was wonderful. And that meant that I was awake and ready to do laundry and cleaning Saturday morning-ish and was the responsible adult that I am sometimes supposed to be.

Saturday night... well, that's another story. I went over to a friend's place for dinner and drinks. Then we went to the Pub for more drinks. And dancing. The time flew by and before we knew it, it was 5am and the Pub was closing. We were not ready to go home. So after all the guests had left the building, us Pub people continued on with our party.... it was so much fun. I am very rarely at the morning parties (because I'm old-ish) but I stuck around for this one and I'm glad I did. I was home at 11am and trust me, I was tired! (and slightly tipsy....) Lots of laughs and just a really good time.

M.'s dog - such a cute puppy. 

Morning party - somehow, I got wound up in tape and decorated. 

Sunday was made for relaxing. And I did just that. Skyped it out with my parents and ordered take-out.

And now it's Wednesday and I'm ready for a good day. I slept in - couldn't get my ass out of bed when my alarm clock rang but that's nothing new. I'm drinking coffee and listening to music and soon will take a shower so I'm ready to take over the world. Or at least the creative workshop at the youth club. Tomorrow is my last day at my "real" job before the xmas holidays and then it'll be nice to have some days off.

Ohhhh - I almost forgot. At the youth club, we all have our own café day where we make a late lunch for the kids. Usually I have Wednesdays. But I swapped with my boss (the reason why I'm working tonight) and got stuck with his food day on Monday..... To tell you a secret - I'm not that great in the kitchen. My dad's the greatest cook in the world so growing up, I never had to think about food. He was always able to whip something up in no time which is why I never cooked. Ever. Then I move to DK alone and am forced to fend for myself. I can cook the basics. I love cooking for myself (then if it goes wrong, I only wreck my own dinner) but when I started working at the youth club, almost 5 years ago, I started cooking for the kids every Wednesday. I had no choice. They need to eat so I need to make something. So to play it safe, I always stick to the dishes I know how to cook. Dishes that I just can't screw up.

But.... Monday was a change for me. I was forced to cook up a roast with brown sugar potatoes and gravy. My boss and other co-workers thought it was hilarious because they knew I was freaking out. But!! I had a long talk with my dad on Skype Sunday night and got step-by-step instructions and decided to take up the challenge brought upon me. Fuck it, if it went wrong, then I'd buy pizza for the kids.

It went great! YAY! Not as good as if my dad had made it but definitely great for me. My first time making gravy and sugar potatoes and the kids loved it. A tiny bit too salty but nothing that ruined the meal.

Cooking up the sugar potatoes. I have the stupidest smile but I was concentrating on my food. 

The pork roast!

Gravy with no lumps!

I made way too much food. We couldn't eat it all but we definitely tried. 

 I took the challenge and I kicked ass.

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