The "Danish" Experience

Batch #2 of the Cafe Rio Sweet Pork is in the freezer, and batch #3 is bubbling away in the crockpot. Tomorrow morning it will all be in the freezer, awaiting Tuesday's zone conference, when it will be served.

There was much to be happy about today besides that.  We left first thing in the morning to make the requisite pilgrimage to the Church of our Lady, where Melissa and Derek saw the original - and awe-inspiring Christus.  Most any church member, including every general authority who comes to Denmark makes the trip to see this Christus.  I am always happy to visit this lovely old place.

Do you see Melissa and Derek high up on the second story on the right?

SK and Derek enjoyed the must-try Danish hot dog from a street vendor

We strolled down Stroget and showed them all the old familiar sights, and then over to the parliament building where we rode the elevator and took a flight of steps up to the observation tower.  It is free, as opposed to several other tall buildings where you are charged for the view.  We saw a full view on every side of beautiful Copenhagen and it was amazing.  The wind was pretty powerful so we didn't stay long.

At that point, we separated, so that I could return to our apartment, change, pick up the other things we needed for dinner at the center and get myself and the stuff over to the center.  Melissa has a "fitbit" - a lovely little watch contraption that lets you know how far you have walked/climbed stairs and other activities.  It reported that we had walked nearly 3 miles to that point....so I think a conservative guess is that I walked over six miles today.

Is if that weren't enough for my aging feet, I spent a good deal of the afternoon/evening on them fixing the meal!  But the good news is that dinner was fairly simple and went together fairly fast.  I fixed what we fondly call "chicken stuff" - kind of a white Italian sauce with chicken and pasta.  The YSAs seemed to enjoy it....I made a lot, but it was all eaten.

I was happy to see Sarah there....she has been so busy.  But she is working on perfecting a recipe for chocolate cake, and she brought me a piece of her latest ....which I think is perfect.

We thought we would only have a dozen or so with all the exams and the holiday that just passed, but we had over 30, including our young missionaries, which is quite remarkable.  They pretty much all converge right around 6 and by 7, the tables are put away and everyone is ready for the lesson, which Ulrik gave.  He is a wonderful teacher.  I hope he is given more responsibility to do that.  I think everyone enjoyed it.....and he gave it in English!  We had 4 English-speaking people there.

SK was supposed to teach but he thought no one would be there, and didn't have a lesson prepared ....yet it worked out beautifully.

Meanwhile Melissa, Derek and SK went to see Nyhavn, the picturesque little harbor street, and took the harbor tour.  They came to the center in time for Melissa to make two large pizzookies - which I baked about the time class was over.  She also made some wonderful chocolate fudge sauce to pour over the ice cream, which sat atop the pizzookie.....which, by the way, was a hit.

Theresa, our cute friend who is also a pastry chef...and a very good one!....brought a sampling of some of her favorite bakery goodies.  We came home at 11, and sat down to the table set with these delectable treats, and sampled every single one.  We pretty much agreed that the strawberry "cake" was the best cake we have ever had.  And everything else was amazing.

The best part about tonight was the time spent visiting with Anne Marie, Theresa, Phillip, Benjamin, Nicolai, and Samuel.  We had some very interesting discussions.  They are great young people and I always enjoy talking with them.


 

We would probably call it a pie, but whatever you might call it, it is absolutely exquisitely delicious!