first snow

it's our first snow of the season and with that, our first snowman. he's kind of a tabletop version...

it's a colorful life

i don't know if we're just surrounded by color this summer or if i'm just drawn to it at the moment, but it seems that color is everywhere...at the amusement park, in the garden, in our stitching. maybe it's just that nikon totally rocks the color.

we're off to singapore tomorrow around noon. catch ya late next week. unless we send in some reports from the road.

will someone please give us a normal child?

we went to the dentist today. and because we do entirely too much of this:

we needed two fillings. and one more on monday. oh, and the back baby molar on the upper right has to be pulled because it never actually came in the whole way and it's being blocked by the tooth in front and will never get loose and fall out on its own like it should. and once we got in to the two teeth that needed a filling, they decided the child needed a root canal while they were at it.  all of this took over an hour. (thank goodness this is all free 'til she's 18!)

and you know what the child said through her novocaine when we left?

"mom, that was fun. they're really nice."

can you believe it?

homemade remoulade

last week i ordered fresh torskerogn from aarstiderne, the people who deliver our weekly organic veggie box. torskerogn is cod eggs and it's much more delicious than it might sound, tho' i'll admit it looks a little bit ugly..like big giant pairs of lungs or something.  to prepare it, you wrap it in baking paper and give it a boil in a bath of water, bay leaves, peppercorns and thyme for 30 minutes or so.

i made homemade remoulade to serve with it and some fish "meatballs" that i also made from some fiskefars (fish daddies?) that i bought at the local fish store. that was delicious, by the way--a mix of cod, salmon and no doubt other stuff that i don't know about.

here's the recipe for the homemade remoulade, it's WAY better than store-bought and tastes a bit different--healthier and a bit more like a posh cole slaw. i suppose you could compare remoulade to tartar sauce in the US.

root vegetable remoulade

one medium carrot, grated

half a small celery root, grated

half a very small head of cauliflower, picked apart into very small bouquets and given a 10 second dip in boiling water (it really only needs 10 seconds)

1 leek, just the white part, finely chopped

1 handful of capers, finely chopped

2 tablespoons of finely chopped sour pickles (you could use sweet and get a flavor close to "real" remoulade)

1 handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 tub of cream cheese

2 tablespoons of mayo

1 tablespoon of grainy mustard (i actually added a bit more)

a couple glugs of the pickle juice

mix the cream cheese, mayo and mustard together into a smooth mixture, add the leek, capers, pickles and parlsey, then turn the whole mixture into the carrot/celery/cauliflower mixture. 

i made it a few hours ahead and put it in the fridge. despite not having cabbage in it, it was quite coleslaw-like. i thought i'd made way too big a batch, but the guests and us ate it all up. we'll definitely be making it again. note that it's a lot less yellow than the store-bought kind of remoulade.

could be served with any fish, even a fish filet, so no need to track down any torskerogn or fiskefars.

yes, we are still alive

we've just been offline for a few days while we did this...

forced child to look at giant rock (supposed birth "certificate" of denmark) in freezing cold wind:

climbed 170 stairs to the top of a lighthouse:

made husband do jump shots on the windy top of an old german bunker:

explored every bunker within a 5 km radius:

and climbed on them:

ate an obscene amount of food:

and then some more:

had a hard time making child leave cold beach:

indulged in a bit of silliness in the cut up barrel of a giant german gun:

walked around copenhagen in furry purple boots:

went up the round tower as it got dark:

and much, much more....

looking forward....

to scenes like this:

and this:

and this:

fall holiday in pictures

is it real or is it legoland?

real?

or legoland?

legoland?

or real?