Field trips.

My class: Aldo, Lynette, Simona, Tam, Florence, Jacqueline and me.

Okay I was lying about the sugar. I'll get to that. I didn't realize how behind I am with my posts. So let's look at the field trips and save the sweets for last.

Part of our course involves a few field trips. The flavor and color factory. Flour plant. Chocolate factory and a winery. I gotta say, I still love field trips. There's something great about getting out of your normal routine and hitting the road. And I think I really love being chauffeured around, too. Our first stop was Sevarome. Just up the street from us. This is a big factory that ships all over the world. They sell flavorings and colorings.


French technology. :)
Flavors in the mix.
French flavor maker.


This was our guide at the flour factory. And his slide show.

No pictures allowed inside the factory. All you get is me in my tour attire.

The drive to the vineyard.

Our vineyard guide.

A little morning tasting, then off to the chocolate factory.


Again, they don't like too many pictures taken inside. Something about special recipes and secret procedures. But I sneaked a few. These are bags of cacao beans from all over the world. That's their secret. Blending beans from all over.

Here's one from Ghana.


Here's the Tour de France in chocolate.


Complete with security.

Huge thank you to JP and Jette!

As I said in my previous post, I was able to go to Denmark for a few days. My gracious hosts, JP and Jette, took excellent care of me. JP (Jens Peter) is a relative on my mom's side. His grandmother and my great-grandfather were siblings. And he was actually named after my grandma's dad, Jens Peter. The Danish and American sides were reconnected back in 1998 after a bit of research by my mother and have been in touch ever since. JP and Jette have taken a few different trips with my parents. And their son Rasmus, who lives in Bangkok, has visited me both in the States and Australia. And I was lucky enough to attend his engagement ceremony to his wife, Pukky in Thailand a few years ago. So we're all family now, like we were never separated. It's great.

Copenhagen airport.
Flying into Aalborg.

The summer house.Walking down to the beach. Mikkel, their youngest son, was able to come home for the weekend. Great to see him too.


Only jelly fish, a few cars and a few naked men on the nude beach. I spared you the naked old men.

Well deserved beers after all of those stairs.

Jette, me and JP.
We went up to Skagen, the most northern city in Denmark. Also where the famous Danish artists, Michael and Anna Anchers were from. So we toured their home and gallery.

My fish cake lunch.

On the beach up to the tip of the country, Mikkel is on top of one of the German bunkers left over from WWII. They are too heavy and expensive to move, so they still line the beaches.

Another one the tide has over taken.
The point where two oceans meet. Not as dramatic as I had imagined it would be, but if you can look through all the tourists you can see the two tides coming from different directions.

Danish pastry.
A Kransekage, which looks like it's been there for a while.

Buying dinner from the fisherman on the beach.

The boat in Lokken, the closest town to the summer house.

Another fisherman. Another dinner.

Super cute Lokken.
I think we ate ice cream every day.

This is an old anchor they pulled up from a ship wreck from like 1020 or something crazy old like that.
This is the coast down the road from the summer house. There was a very old church originally about 2km from the coast. It was built around 1010. However, through the years, the cliff has eroded. They have now moved the church for safe keeping further inland. But the cemetery remains. Well, some of it. When you look over the side of the cliff, you can see the bodies falling into the ocean below. Here's someones leg.






After a few days up north, we went to Arden, where JP and Jette live most of the time. Jette has ridden horses her entire life, and still does every morning.

This is Max, he lives at the barn.


The house in the distance is the farm where they lived before downsizing for retirement.

Aalborg.

This is an old monastery from 1510. Now you can live there if you're retired.

A wall in a bakery in Aalborg. Check out all the pie cutters!



This building was an old power plant, converted into a modern space with theatres, restaurants and shops. I was a few days early for the tall ships races. However some of the ships were early too, so I got a sneak peak.


Okay. That's about it. Again. Thank you so much to JP and Jette, I had a wonderful time and enjoyed hanging out!

Next post... SUGAR!

Back to my roots.

Hello. Just checking in from Denmark. We found out late notice that we were having a mid term break. I couldn't bear the thought of staying in Yssingeaux for an extended break. Weekends are long enough. So I scoured the net for possibilities. As luck would have it, I found a reasonable ticket to Denmark so I could visit family.

Jens Peter and Jette have been spoiling me with a wonderful relaxing holiday. I have to say, it's nice to take a break from France. Even though I can't really call myself a Dane, Denmark really does feel like home. And hanging out with a retired couple makes for a an extra mellow break. Very nice.

I'll be here for another couple days and I'll post pictures as soon as I can. I've taken more than a few. I've been laughed at for photographing my food and going into Danish bakeries and photographing those treats too. What!? It's my job now!

I think Jette might be able to help me learn how to make Kransekage. This is a traditional Danish wedding cake. Also used for any big celebration. Christmas, New Years, birthdays, etc. I have to do a presentation next month for school where I teach people a dessert of my family heritage. This is what I'd like to do.


Only problem is, I've never made it before. But how hard could it be after what I've been through? Last week I stabilized dark chocolate, sans thermometer. Kransekage seems like a piece of cake (pun intended). I think the dough is simple enough. It's mainly just getting the size of the rings consistent so you can build it properly. My mother has been kind enough to find me the special pans you need to make the perfect rings (thanks mom!). Anyway. I'll give it a go. I've always seen it decorated with Danish flags. However, as you can see in the photo, this one has Norwegian flags also. I think all of Scandinavia would like to claim this cake. I've always been told it's Danish, but I think my family is a little bias. Anyway, I think I'll do the flags in marzipan. Throw in a little confectionery. Why not? But I think I'll make Danish flags as well as American. That makes sense. Oh here's a random fact. Denmark has the oldest state flag still in use. Don't believe me?

Anyway I'm looking forward to getting whatever advice I can gather while here in Denmark. Then I'll get the recipe down and move on to the hard part: giving a cooking demonstration to an auditorium full of people while being videotaped. Oh yeah, in French! Really it's just the French part that makes me nervous. I can get through any presentation if I know what I'm talking about. But in this presentation, I may not know what I'm saying. That's the part that makes me a little uneasy. But I'll get through it. I think I'll try to distract them with some well designed leave behinds. Nate has been very kind and has volunteered his skills.

Okay. Gotta run. Mikkel and I are off to Arden now. More later....

Aéroport

According to the Rosetta Stone pronunciation lesson, I don't pronounce aéroport right. I can't argue with this. It's true. It's a very difficult word to say in french. The vowels are all over the place. My tongue gets itself all worked up and confused.

The other night I was doing a lesson in the living room. I was repeating what I was told to repeat, or reading what I needed to read. And doing just great, I might add, until the word aéroport. Rosetta Stone doesn't let you proceed until you get things right, so I was repeating aéroport over and over. Increasing my volume and irritation level with every try. Each time, a patronizing "errrp" sound buzzed. After about the 20th repeat, Jacqueline, my Swiss roommate who grew up speaking french, was suddenly in the room laughing at me.

"What's going on?" She asked. I asked her how to say aéroport. She said it and I swear, "that's what I said!" I tried a few more times while she was explaining to me how I wasn't doing it right. Finally exasperated, I asked her to say it to Rosetta Stone for me. Which she did and it immediately accepted.

I cheated. Cheated just like those people who have breathalyzers hooked up to their cars and have someone else blow into them so they can continue on driving.

Whatever. I'll take the train.