Last week, I felt old and worn. This could only mean one thing: It is the time of year when I get older. Bilbo said it best:
“I feel thin, sort of stretched, like butter scraped over too much bread”
- The Fellowship of the Ring by J.R.R. Tolkien.
To some extent, I agree that we get wiser with age. We continue to learn from life situations, and as such, we generate more knowledge about life challenges.
It could be new recipes, destinations, milestones, woodworking, or perhaps a new skill you learned.
Either way, we live, grow, and evolve!
But I had a rejuvenating weekend celebrating that I’m a year older and wiser. At least that’s the saying, claiming that we get wiser as we age.
I value everyone who has reached out on various social media platforms to wish me a happy birthday. Despite most messages being generated by some AI-capable agents, they are still appreciated.
However, the messages that mean the most to me and hit home are when people call or text me on my cell phone or email me. These messages are not autogenerated and show that the person wants to send a personal greeting. Only a few people do this.
It does not diminish the warmth generated by all the messages when I see happy wishes, smiley faces, hearts, and other emojis on my social media walls.
Happy birthday to me. I’m awesome!
So, you might wonder what I did for my birthday. Did I travel to some exotic location? Did I go out for a fancy dinner and drink?
No, I spent it at home with my family. This is where I belong. We had a fantastic weekend eating great food, drinking booze, and eating more.
Everything is Awesome – a Legoland Graduation
Our son, who has special needs, landed an incredible job at the beginning of the school year. It is part of his life skills training where the kids can work for local companies to improve their social and life skills. While it might seem like meaningless work for some, the assignments the kids are given are tremendous in teaching them new skills and interacting with people.
This was the first year for our school district, where Legoland joined forces to help these cool kids as they develop and mature. We are proud our son is in class #1 for the Legoland internship.
Each participating kid was given a Legoland uniform and badge. Every Friday, they were dropped off with their aid and worked alongside the Legoland workforce to complete a series of duties. They were part of the Legoland workforce, and their co-workers treated them with respect and support.
At the end of the internship, Legoland wanted to celebrate their achievements and invited the kids and their parents to a beautiful graduation party. We had balloons, speeches, muffins, juice, and coffee, and the young superstars received a unique graduation swag bag.
A group of bricktastic kids completed the internship successfully.
Angry Cider Time – NY Tourism Tip
I had booked a kayak trip on the Hudson River for my wife and me, but it was unfortunately canceled due to high winds.
Instead, we went on an excursion to explore our local sights.
My wife loves Angry Orchard ciders, so I surprised her with a visit to the Angry Orchard brewery, which is only 40 minutes from our house.
The facility houses a large welcome center where you can book brewery tours, stroll through the orchards, sample ciders, order pizza and pretzels, eat freshly made apple cider donuts – or sit by the fire while sipping cold ciders.
A guy is standing by a donut-making machine that drops dough balls into hot oil and then sprinkles sugar and other toppings on them. They were delicious!
Week Twenty-four Meals
In case you missed it, I’m a Viking born in Denmark. I have traced my ancestry back to the first king of Denmark. I’m sure many of my ancestors traveled and explored the coastlines of Northern Europe and ventured to the Mediterranean, Middle East, and Northern America.
Because it is my birthday, I have also chosen what to eat. I select the recipes every week, but this week, I decided to make many of my favorite Danish dinners from when I was a kid.
It is important to remember where we come from and maintain the cultural traditions, including meals. How else will our kids learn where they come from and appreciate the variety of culinary experiences?
Danish dinners involve potatoes, gravy, beef, rye bread, pork, more potatoes, pickled herring, cold cuts, remoulade, bacon, and shrimp.
Please note that my recipes will not look or taste the same as when my mum makes them or when you visit Denmark. Some ingredients differ in taste and texture, and I always attempt to apply a personal touch to the dishes.
School Lunches
I will not be making Danish school lunches. While I know the Danish school lunches are ten times more healthy than US-made school lunches, even compared to my lunches, our kids are not accustomed to eating cheese and cold cuts on rye bread.
I will serve Danish meatballs with Danish potato salad for one of the school lunches. Obviously, in Denmark, we call it meatballs and potato salad.
Some of my lunches this week are inspired by the Mediterranean kitchen. I use pasta, tomato, olive oil, mozzarella, peppers, cucumber, and parmesan cheese. I’m also making a couple of simple salads: pasta salad and Mozzarella and tomato salad.
The last lunch is a rolled-up croissant stuffed with pancetta (an Italian rolled sausage thingy) and sprinkled with some parmesan cheese.
Dinner Time
I’m very excited about dinners this week, especially as I will attempt to recreate some delicious traditional Danish meals. Every time I prepare a Danish meal, my homesickness increases, so I must seek comfort in a Danish beer called Faxe while cooking.
NOTE - I do not drink alcohol before lunch and not while using sharp knives.
Our Danish meal adventure started on Sunday evening when we prepared a traditional Danish smørrebrødsbord, which has a hip name in English smorgasbord, which derives from the Swedish language. But, over here, smorgasbord seems to be associated with artisan creations and food trucks – a trendy setting with a rustic feel.
I made a loaf of Danish rye bread, which is fantastic. Most Danish people will devour slices of rye bread for lunch and smorgasbord or just as an afternoon snack with Danish cheese.
I used my outdoor kitchen to prepare several of the dishes, partially or fully. The outdoor kitchen is excellent, and you don’t have to worry about the smell of bacon floating in the house for hours – not that I mind, anyway. And, it is easer to clean up.
For dinner, I’m making four excellent choices
- Frikadeller, aka meatballs, served with boiled potatoes and brown gravy.
- Mørbradsgryde, a simple tomato sauce and pork loin served with rice
- Forloren hare (fake rabbit), which is a meatloaf wrapped with bacon (of course) and served with roasted potatoes
- Grilled chicken with fries – my dad and I would often go to the local chipper to get a large piece of grilled chicken, served with deep-fried fries and served with remoulade
Remoluade is a yellow condiment made with mayo, some mustard, cappers, relish, and turmeric, and will often accompany grilled fish fillet, french fries, and cold-cut sandwiches.
I’m salivating just writing this post and cannot wait until I get to sample these meals again!
Meal Prep Party Pictures
Meal Plan
| Lunch | Dinner | |
| Monday | Grilled two-cheese sandwich on multigrain | Frikadeller (meatballs) with mashed potatoes |
| Tuesday | Frikadeller and hummus finger snacks | Forloren Hare (meatloaf) covered with bacon and roasted potatoes |
| Wednesday | Pasta Salad (tomato, peppers, cucumber, and parmesan) | Mørbrad Gryde (pork loin pot) with rice |
| Thursday | Stuffed Croissant | Halv Grill Kylling med fritter (grilled chicken with fries) |
| Friday | Tomato and mozzarella salad | Over-the-fire Pizza |
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 preparing meals during the weekend.
Stay in touch with me through social media!
The Viking Heart Within 