Hawaiian Haystacks and Crud

No...don't worry.  The Hawaiian Haystacks were a big hit.  After dinner, about 15 gathered around the pool table and played a lively game of Crud.  Stan was right in there with the rest of them.  You don't use pool cues...but you use your hands to aim one ball to hit another...and the turns go very fast.  If you miss, you get one letter from the word Crud next to your name.  Once you have missed four times, you have spelled CRUD and you are out of the game!

Well....back to the Haystacks.  The beauty of Hawaiian Haystacks in the States is the ease with which you can purchase ready-made ingredients.  I keep finding out that everything takes a little more effort on my part.  But if you could measure the effort against the reward, this was my best effort yet.  Everyone really loved them!

I made a very large pot of my own cream of chicken soup.  I baked a lot of chicken and diced it.  I chopped onions again for the soup...and garlic.  And then I tended that soup for a couple of hours.  I also made a couple of huge pots of rice.  Once again I was dealing with labels I didn't completely understand and got two large packages of what turned out to be basmati rice.  It required rinsing, soaking and then cooking.  It wouldn't have been so bad, except the only strainer I had was 1/2 cup size, and that took a long time to rinse all that rice!

We got to the Center, and cut up pineapple rings from a can (no pineapple tidbits), chopped green onions, celery, green and red and yellow peppers, tomatoes, and almonds (no slivered almonds here).  We got a picture before I put the rice and chicken soup on.

It may not look like much...but here is my day, and a lot of my yesterday (but you can't see the cakes!)Ingredients to put on the haystacks are coconut, tomatoes, green/yellow/red peppers, peas, cheese, green onions, water chestnuts, pineapple, mandarin oranges and soy sauce.

You can see the little bottle where they "donate" 15 kroner for dinner...about $3.  

We had close to 40 YSAs there tonight but about 30 ate.  We had just barely enough!  I was so grateful as I saw the huge pot of chicken soup disappear, that everyone got through the line and some came back for seconds before it totally gave out.

I am getting to know more of these young people and it is delightful just to visit with them.  They all speak Danish and some have more of an accent in English than others.  I love the Danish accent.  The way they speak English is utterly charming, although  many have no accent at all....and some speak British English perfectly.  It all depends on where they learned English.  There is a special wit and humor that many have which I so enjoy.  And most of them are courteous and kind in their speech, using gentle tones.  

But the Crud games get loud and boisterous and they have a great time with it.  SK is just hoping he can get good enough to win!

I'm off to bed!  Tomorrow I will bake a couple of batches of cookies for the after-the-temple -session get together.  Whew!  This mission might make a cook out of me yet.

The Madsens Bake a Cake

What a gorgeous day it was today!  The sky was absolutely clear in the morning with brilliant sunshine streaming through the window on my little green plants.  Did a little shopping for groceries this morning....wanted to get the freshest produce for tomorrow's dinner.

Packed up everything I would need to make two lemon cakes for tomorrow.  If I had used my head, I would have pulled out Melissa's recipe for delicious lemon bars....but I found a recipe for lemon cake that looked so good and sounded so easy, I decided to try it instead.  Mistake #1.

On the way to the Center, we stopped at another grocery store to get cake flour and buttermilk.  Fortunately, (I thought) I looked at the recipe again before we left. The store had buttermilk (found it with the help of our translator) but no cake flour.  So we continued on to the center where I looked up how to make your own cake flour...slam dunk.  You measure out a cup of regular flour, take out two tablespoons and add in two tablespoons of corn starch.  Then you sift it together several times to get it "airy."  I didn't have regular flour or corn starch.

SK set out again to the grocery store.  There is one right next to our building.  He was back in no time with the flour and corn starch.  Great.  Sifting was a bit of a problem without a sifter, so I used a strainer....getting flour and corn starch all over the counter and myself.  But I managed to get 5 cups of cake flour.  I needed lemon zest...another bit of problem without a zester.  So I worked with the grater that was there and got enough zest from 6 large lemons.

I began mixing and discovered that I had left the vanilla flavoring and powdered sugar at the apartment...another bit of a problem.  So SK went out in search of the ingredients.  The little store next door did not have vanilla OR powdered sugar.  The little store down the street and around the corner did not have vanilla OR powdered sugar.  Back around the corner and down the street to the Center and then farther on down the road in the other direction 3 blocks to another little store where they had both.  Then back to the Center where I put everything together to make two 9 X 13 cakes.

By this time it was 5:15.  It takes one cake in one slightly small oven 25 to 35 minutes to bake, and we needed to be ready to leave to the mission president's home at 5:45.  One more small problem:  it needed ten minutes to cool before putting on the glaze.

I had to put the batter for the second cake in the refrigerator.  Then I cleaned up and prayed that that cake would get done and be good.  It raised...it turned golden....and was done in 45 minutes!  Fortunately the Hansens were late and didn't there to pick us up til 6:05, so everything turned out just fine.  When I get there in the morning, I hope the other cake turns out well.

We went to President and Sister Sederholms house for dinner, along with the Hansens, Sister Sweena, Sister Hamblin, Brother and Sister Andersen, and the new kids on the block, Elder and Sister Bailey.  They will be doing records preservation.

So there were 12 of us at the dinner table.  We had sweet ham, the best funeral potatoes in the world, green salad, rolls, carrots and a selection of pumpkin, apple and pecan pie (all homemade).  Remember, this is the same Sister Sederholm who organized and cooked half of the meal to be served to the missionaries yesterday.  Remember too that Church kitchens don't have dishwashers and we don't use paper products in Denmark.  So Sister Sederholm was there at the Church yesterday all afternoon and well into the evening.  She had the help of many missionaries, but that was a production!

We sat around their table enjoying the atmosphere of their lovely home.  We spent about an hour and a half or two just visiting and eating.  It was a wonderful evening.  I sat across from Brother and Sister Andersen, both Danes.  She doesn't let me get away with speaking English.  She talks rapidly in Danish to me...and when I don't understand, she speaks slower and uses different words and some gestures to help me, only occasionally resorting to English.  She has a delightful sense of humor and kept me laughing.  I see why having a good meal after Institute is important....there is something about sitting down with friends and enjoying dinner together that relaxes and refreshes you.

It was just about a month ago we sat at their dinner table with 6 other new senior missionaries...reeling from jet lag and somewhat dazed at the new country around us.  It has been a good month and it has sped by.  Wow!  What a grand experience.

Another For your list Erin

The day began at 6 a.m. with - wouldn't you know - cutting vegetables.  I made Thanksgiving dressing the way my mother used to make it.  Erin, no Pepperidge Farm Herb Stuffing!...no poultry seasoning (I made my own).  I let bread get dry, chopped it up and added sage, rosemary and thyme (good line for a song), chicken stock (of a sort), onions, celery and apple.  I made quite a large pot full.  Then I cooked a turkey.  He was not huge, but he did fill the oven!  We went to the stake center around 2 to help our mission president's wife - Sister Sederholm feed a Thanksgiving dinner to 55 missionaries.  I asked how many of our young missionaries are from the States.  I was told about 95 percent.  Of that group, one was from Norway and one from Iceland.  Otherwise they were all from the USA

Sister Sederholm spearheaded a feast for those young people...the works.  There was turkey, real mashed potatoes, real sweet potatoes (they were awesome), fruit salad, dressing, gravy, mixed vegetbles and for dessert pumpkin rolls.  When we got there she had the tables set with purple tablecoths and yellow napkins with flowers on the table.  There were eight women in the kitchen and it was crazy....but everything got served and it was delicious.  We sat down and ate with the young missionaries.

We all cleaned up and then they put on a talent show.  The first young missionary started out playing a medley on the piano.  The first song he launched into was "America the Beautiful" which transitioned into "Battle Hymn of the Republic."  There was "Give Said the Little Stream by 7 young sister missionaries done in the syle of "Vocal Point," a very funny skit, recitations of poetry, several guitar numbers and the elder from Iceland played an amazing piece on the piano and then sang a hauntingly lovely song in Icelandic.

We caught a ride home...picked up some things and took 2 buses to the Center where we met with the co-chairmen of the YSAs, the mission president, a counselor in the stake presidency, the Institute Director, and a couple of other committee heads.  That was all in Danish and I got some of it, other parts were whispered to me in English.  But it was truly inspiring to watch.

This group meets once a month.  All were assembled to help these YSAs direct this program....and the strength of leadership present in the room was impressive.  Even more so was the kind way each humbly reported on his stewardship.  Elder  L. Tom Perry has said that the strength, the leadership and the direction of how the Church will go in Europe lies with the YSAs.

Both young chairmen are dynamic and strong.  It will be fun to be a part of all that goes on here in the next few months.

For now, I must go to bed....Good night!

  

Who Are You and What Have You Done With My Husband?

SK cutting and chopping vegetables

Heretofore, this man's cooking has been macaroni and cheese.  The kids used to tease that he couldn't find his way around the kitchen.  He made this soup all by himself....even seasoned it!  It is the winter root vegetable soup.  We had leftover sweet potatoes, onions and potatoes.  We are not sick of it yet.  We are liking it more and more!

Yes....this is the man who says he doesn't like to wear coats.  He is wearing this one a lot.  He is also using an umbrella!

Yes...that is ...indeed Stanford K with the umbrella!

Family Home evening at the Center was great tonight.  The YSAs always teach the lesson, and they do a great job.  Sometimes I just listen in Danish and catch just enough to know the subject, and to feel the spirit of what they say.  Other times like tonight, someone sits behind me and leans forward to whisper the translation...which is always so nice.

Once again they stayed and visited.  We had a soccer player from the Danish national team come tonight!  He was a great young man who participated in everything.  He is very good at ping pong too.

They always hug everyone as they say good-bye.  It is such a lovely custom.

Wonderful Wonderful Copenhagen

Stake Conference ended today at 1:00 p.m. and it seemed like no one left.  The chapel and cultural hall were filled with people.  People stood talking to each other and generally enjoying being together.  The stake covers a fairly large area and has several wards and branches.  People seem to know each other, and find great joy in catching up on everyone's lives.

The talks today were truly exceptional, and there was a solo by a sister with a rich beautiful voice.  She sang "I am a Child of God."  I had never heard the arrangement before but it was so lovely.  One of our YSAs spoke and I was inspired by her testimony as well as her Danish.  She moved here about 10 months ago from Zimbabwe.  She speaks with a British accent and I thought that she didn't speak much Danish.  But she stood at the pulpit and read some of the talk, but then she looked up and spoke directly from her heart...her face glowed and the tears streamed down her face.  She was positively eloquent in Danish!  She is waiting for her mission call....she will be a fantastic missionary.  She reflects an abiding faith in the Savior.

Now lest you think that I have suddenly developed skills far beyond what you thought I had, let me assure you that I understood all of the talks last night and today because I was wearing headphones and there was a translator there who was outstanding at translating almost simultaneously.

I was told that they translate into English, because a lot of visitors come to Copenhagen who can't speak Danish, but almost everyone is somewhat conversant in English.  It is certainly lovely to have a headstart with one of the most commonly spoken languages of the world.

The new temple president spoke also in our meeting.  He was a missionary here just before SK was here 50 years ago.  As far as I know, every senior elder who is here now in Denmark, including the mission president and the temple president were here right around 50 years ago on missions.   I think that is at least 8 or possibly even 10.  Something about this wonderful land gets in your blood!

Late last night we heard all kinds of noise... we looked out the windows and even walked outside, SK said it was fireworks.  I googled fireworks in Denmark, and found out that Tivoli has fireworks every Saturday night between now and Christmas in honor of their 170th birthday.  Next week, we'll have to stroll out on the lake path so that we can see them.  If we walked to Tivoli, we could be there in under 15 minutes.

 

Ah life in the big city.  
   

Wherever You Go, There You Are

Saturday found us in grocery stores - again....comparing prices and checking availability of items for Hawaiian Haystacks.  These will be good if we can pull it off.  We found mandarin oranges, raisins, olives...all the basics.  The trick this week will be getting the shopping done to find the best prices on all items.  We will be very busy all week.  We will be helping the Mission President's wife feed 55 missionaries a Thanksgiving dinner on Tuesday which will require some baking to be done on Monday before we go to the center.  We have a meeting on Tuesday evening and things going on all day Wednesday and into the evening.  So we will have Thursday to do everything.

This evening we traveled to the Stake Center, a lovely building about 25 minutes from here by car, and who knows how far by bus (which we will be using at some point to get there I know).  It was the Saturday evening session of Stake Conference.  So many things about the Church are just the same wherever you go. It is especially true of this meeting.

It was spectacular.  So many wonderful talks, so many inspiring messages, so many smiling people.  A counselor to the Stake President told of two young missionaries who came to Denmark many years ago.  The heartfelt desire of one of them was to baptize someone who would one day become a branch president.  It didn't happen.  He served for 2 1/2 years and during that time, only baptized one sister.

That sister is the Stake President's counselor's great-grandmother.  Then he unfolded the rest of the story since.  This one sister has in her family 17 returned missionaries, relief society presidents, YW presidents, Primary presidents, branch presidents, bishops, counselors to stake presidents,  a stake president and everything else.  He talked about this being the time to share the wonderful news of the Gospel, and we must get on board.  It was inspiring.  Denmark has gone from having 55 missionaries serving here to 105, and we're part of it.

The Stake President is a great man who also spoke about missionary work.  He talked about the importance of rescue work...equal to missionary work.  He told a humorous story about a former missionary companion who is now a member of the Seventy.  This man invited a member of his ward who had been inactive for a long time to come to Church one particular weekend.  The man had a very special permit to go deer hunting with his son over the weekend -bow and arrow.  So the Church leader said, "Will you come if you get a deer on Saturday?"  The man agreed he would.

When he and his son were out, they came to a place in the road where a deer was standing.  They got out of their truck, and that deer just stood there. They pulled out their bows and arrows....the deer still stood there.  They aimed and shot and missed.  The deer just stood there.  They aimed and shot again and missed again.  The deer hardly moved.  They aimed again and shot him.  They were in Church Sunday.

There was a beautiful hymn by a family and the congregational hymns were sung with whole heart and soul.

I couldn't help but think as I sat there that we have three children who, as teenagers could have easily blended in with the Danish people.  Melissa, you and I would do fine in Britain I am sure....or maybe even hanging out with Pochahontus.  But wherever you go, the Church is the same, and it is such a lovely experience to go into a chapel and feel at home.

Good Day Sunshine

                            

               

                   

The day started out chilly and brilliantly sunny.

You remember this view from our apartment....the strange circular building that looks like the top was lopped off at an angle is a planetarium.

  After the usual morning routine, we walked a few blocks to where all the shops are.  We walked along and went in and out and finally found some boots for me!  I haven't had boots in 40 years and I am quite excited to have them.  Now I think I am ready for the cold to come.  It hasn't gotten below about 45 degrees - as yet, but I am told that it will.  After we had purchased them, the shop girl mentioned that the serious boots for cold weather will be in next week sometime.  I am quite happy with these, but I'll let you know how they do in the seriously cold weather.

We walked to the Center this afternoon...it is such a pleasant walk, even in the cold. It is about 2 miles.  I snapped some pictures along the way.  I am using my T-Mobile phone which has no phone coverage, but it is a great camera!

This is the taco shop I told you about....it is run by very nice people from the middle east.  We found a marvelous little Italian cafe run by a delightful man from Iran.  I am thinking of opening a kielbasa shop.

I thought this slightly wild landscaping was charming.  

I love these colorful buildings that line the streets.

In the evening we had the great and wonderful Winter Root Vegetable soup.  It tasted really good!  I was a little too nervous to sit down and eat with everyone else last night and had taken a taste early in the afternoon.  I have to tell you that I think it turned out great.  We each had two bowls full and now have enough left for another meal.

As I sit here at the computer, I can hear an occasional duck scolding someone or something in the night.  The reflection of the lights in the buildings across the lake glimmer across its surface, and there are still joggers on the pathway around it.  Such a feeling of peace.