Welcome to the ripe age of 50 years old. What a journey it has been, and it is such a pleasure going into the 50s with a great family and beautiful friends.
However, you do realize you are old when members of ‘New Kids on the Block’ turn 50 years old and that you are now in a different dropdown menu when completing online forms.
Several cool celebrities are also joining Club 50, such as Shaquille O’Neill, Sofia Vergara, Idris Alba, Jennifer Garner, Jude Law, and the big man Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
Most of my friends are not turning 50 for another year, although I’m grateful a few of my childhood buddies turned the magical corner a few months ago.
Honestly, turning 50 has not been hard. It’s just a number, and I still believe I’m 25 and love being asked for ID when buying beers.
A Viking Bash
To celebrate becoming an adult, I invited many close friends to a garden BBQ party.
What better way than to create a Viking Bash, celebrate my heritage, and indulge in some meat-eating ritual with free-flowing beer.
Of course, I had to choose a BBQ event, but it has many benefits for me and everybody attending.
- No need to worry about seating plans
- Dresscode is optional and often casual
- The menu is meat … which we all love – except vegans
- People are more relaxed, laugh, and interact
- Eat and drink at your own schedule
- Opportunity to light the firepits
- Kids will run around playing instead of being on their phones
We are lucky to have some great friends, and most of them were able to come. Parking was a little challenging, but we managed.
From what I could see, people had a fantastic time so much that they didn’t even take pictures or were distracted by social media, including myself.
That’s awesome, but it would’ve been cool with some pictures for our library. However, I’m delighted that no one felt the need to use their phones and instead eat, drink, laugh and chat.
We burn shit and grill meat, while drinking beers from our horns
A Danish Viking … me
Easy Eating on the Menu
We had some excellent BBQ food over the weekend, and I would hate to throw any of it out. So, both lunches and dinners are inspired by using leftovers.
Biksemad is a Danish tradition. I remember my mother making this dish at least 2-3 times per month, ensuring we ate the leftovers. Every penny counted in the 70s and 80s, and we could never afford to throw it out. Many Danish families would throw potatoes, meat pieces, and onions on a pan and serve them with a fried runny egg.
However, I will still make different dishes to avoid the family going into BBQ overdose.
Fire up the Traeger. Ready your Dutch oven. Go shopping, and let’s start cooking—another Sunday in the Kitchen with music on the magical Demerbox and wonderful aromas filling the room.
| Lunch | Dinner | |
| Monday | Chicken salad made from leftover chicken from Viking BAsh | Smoked salmon with grilled asparagus, tomato, and corn on the cob |
| Tuesday | Homemade smoked Mac n Cheese | Biksemad with my “famous” rolled/stuffed pork loin from the Viking Bash |
| Wednesday | Pasta pesto salad | Butter chicken with boiled rice |
| Thursday | Hot dogs with baked beans | Ground beef stroganoff |
| Friday | Cheeseburgers | Banh Mi burgers – we did not try it last week as planned. |
One day, I might get so organized that I will link the meals below to my recipes. We can only live in hope!
Have a fantastic week, my friends. I hope you enjoy these meal plans. It is much easier to make food in advance, although you must invest several hours in preparing the meals during the weekend.
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