Marinated steak and its Polish beet accompaniment:

I share with you a long slice of life but if you are only interested in the recipe, you will easily find it in the middle of the text.

Théo and I were doing our shopping, bickering about a story of cereals… in short, he grabbed me in his arms and kissed me to retrieve his precious box when a lady appeared at the other end of the ray, her eyes were round like saucers. A little embarrassed, I moved away, pointing out to Theo that we were being watched.

Theo looked surprised as he turned around. I was surprised when the lady approached and took Theo in her arms.

It was Jenna, his mom. Normally she lives on the other side of town. She wanted to surprise him but seeing his apartment empty, she assumed he was at work. She had therefore wanted to do some shopping to make him eat for his return when she surprised us.

I offered to step aside so they could spend some time together but Jenna said “out of the question!”. That now that she had the reason why her son had been smiling stupidly for weeks, I wasn’t going to get away with it and then that it was time for me to taste Georgian hospitality by showing me her shopping, there had enough for a regiment. (Theo and Jenna are Georgian. They arrived in Denmark when Theo was 13).
Theo was embarrassed in turn, he, who always looks confident, I admit that it made me laugh to see him in this uncomfortable position.

In sign language he told me behind his mom’s back that he was sorry for what I was going to suffer… When Jenna surprised him gesticulating.

She asked me to tell her what he said behind her back. I could have lied and told her that he had just translated her speech for me, but I found it funnier to tell the truth. And then it’s not nice to lie!

Theo was horrified to see my little betrayal.

Jenna burst out laughing, saying:

“I really like her!”

I finally suggested that we go to my house, my kitchen being much better equipped than Theo’s, which was only composed of a microwave and a rusty gas stove.

Arrived at home Theo rushed to close the door of my room to hide the particularly unmade bed following our night… (this is another story that we will keep private!)

For the rest Jenna was obsessed with my kitchen. At first glance, she understood that I was a big fan of cooking a point that, I would quickly understand, we had in common.

We prepared prime ribs. I took care of marinating it and Jenna made us a side dish with beets.

Steak marinade:

Ingredients:

125ml balsamic vinegar
60ml soy sauce
2 cloves of garlic, pressed
2 tablespoons of honey
2 tbs olive oil
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 ts. onion powder
1 ts Worcestershire sauce

Preparation:

Let them marinate for at least 2 hours (ideally they should be marinated for 24 hours.)

Buraczki zasmażane (I have no idea how it’s said, it’s Polish):

Ingredients:

500g cooked beets
2 tbs of butter
2 tbs of flour
1 tbs lemon juice or vinegar
1 tbs of sugar
125ml single cream (Jenna used heavy cream)
some dill

Preparation:

Peel the beets and grate them with a small-hole grater.
In a skillet, prepare the roux by melting the butter and sprinkling it with flour. Stir. Lightly brown. Add a glass of water and cook over low heat, stirring, until the preparation becomes thick and smooth.
Then add the beets, lemon juice and sugar. Mix well and simmer for ten minutes.
Just before serving, add the cream and mix well.
a bit of dill to finish

According to Jenna, this Polish recipe is perfect with beef, lamb and game. Personally, I think I will serve it cold with summer barbecues.

We talked a lot, I had the right to lots of crisp anecdotes about Theo’s childhood and their life in Georgia.

She made us donuts at tea time and we drank jasmine tea all afternoon, it was so good! (I’ve never been to the toilet as much as that night >.<).

I think I clearly fell in love with Theo’s mother. I felt like she was reading me like an open book. She understood I’ve lost a parent just seeing me touching my neckless when she talk about Theo’s dad (it is a gift of my mom), she must be a wizard. I now know where her son’s generosity and kindness comes from.

The day was wonderful with Jenna but now I have a little pressure, I will now have to introduce Theo to dad so that we are even. Hope it goes well!

Daddy drop your shotgun!

Take care of yourself and your loved ones! see you soon!

A little brother, a boyfriend, firefighters and a gumbo recipe

(no it’s not the start of a bad joke)

Today I have several things to share with you!

I’ve been dating someone for a few weeks. His name is Theoden, he’s a firefighter, a rock enthusiast (yes, I’m crazy about a drummer, what a cliche!) and draws really well (he made me want to get back into it, maybe I’ll post something on which I am working on at the moment but it takes time).
We met when they needed an interpreter after finding a lost child who happened to be deaf. He was the only one in the barracks who didn’t try to flirt with me by flexing his muscles.
It was his humor that made me crack at first, but what made me want to go further is that he is deeply kind and very cultured.

His friends at the brigade learned that I love to cook and in a joking tone they challenged me to cook for them, challenge accepted!

To help me in my task I have my little brother Søren come for the weekend. I invited him for this “event” because I know that fire trucks fascinate all boys.

The first part of the challenge already comes from the choice of the recipe. Several times when I went to see Theo there (yes, I play taxi drivers, he doesn’t have his car license. He drives a motorcycle but this one is in the garage), I understood that in his team, the sun is starting to fail for some.
They are big guys who eat well, so we needed something that holds well.
I have a relatively tight budget given their number but I am used to cooking for not very expensive.

For these reasons, I decided to go with an exotic dish reminiscent of travel and the sun, a typical dish from New Orleans (I have wanted to cook Cajun since my grandmother made me reread the Mayfair saga Witches for our play. ^^’), the Gumbo. I chose a Chicken Gumbo because I was told to avoid seafood.

Gumbo recipe:

You need for 4 people:

50g butter (or oil)
50g flour
2 smoked sausages (330 g)
4 chicken breasts (600g)
1 can of crushed tomatoes (optional)
2 carrots (optional)
1 green pepper
1 sprig of celery
1 large white onion
1 garlic clove
2 tbsp Cajun spice blend (or 1 tbsp paprika + 1 tsp cayenne pepper powder + 1 tsp garlic powder + 1 pinch pepper)
1 pinch of salt
1 liter of water
250g long grain white rice

Achievement:

Prepare a brown roux: In Louisiana they do it with oil instead. I didn’t have any on hand so I made it with butter. In a saucepan, melt the butter. When it is melted, add the flour and spices then mix. Cook, stirring all the time, until it turns brown. Book.
Cut the smoked sausages into rounds. Heat a skillet and brown the sausages for about 3 minutes on each side. The idea is not to cook them but to lightly grill them.
Meanwhile, cut the chicken breasts into cubes. When the sausage slices have grilled well, remove them from the pan and brown the diced chicken for 3 to 5 minutes on each side. Book.
Split the peppers in half, remove the stem, ribs and seeds. Wash them and cut them. Peel and chop the onion. Wash the celery stalk and cut it into cubes, do the same with the carrots. Peel and press the garlic clove.
Return the roux to the heat in a cast iron casserole dish. When it is hot, wet with the liter of water, little by little. Stir constantly and bring to a low boil. Then add the vegetables, the diced chicken and sausage.
Cover and cook for 45 minutes over low heat and covered. At the end of this time, uncover and simmer for about twenty minutes uncovered.
(For a shrimp or crayfish gumbo, omit the meat and poach them in the sauce 5 to 6 minutes before the end.)
Meanwhile, prepare the rice by immersing it in a large volume of water. Let it cook for the time indicated on the package.

Serve in the same container the rice and the meat, and drizzle with broth.

We all had a great time and all the members of the team present surprised me by learning a few signs in sign language, with more or less talent, but it touched me a lot. I was invited to become their regular cook so maybe I will do it again!

At the end we showed Søren around the hangar, it didn’t last long then everyone had to leave for an intervention but I will never forget the stars in his eyes when they let him fly from one of the trucks.

My Theo hold a blog because of me! He talks about Rock music and his social impact to the world. There is olso some of his drawings, please take a look 😉 (there is a cartoony portrait of me! :D)

Drum&Draw

Take care of you and your loved one and see you later.

Nilsa in a play?

Today (it’s December 23 when I write these lines) I had a great day with Grandma!
Grandma is passionate about theater and very often stages her favorite books with the actors from her club.
Recently, with her best friend, they wrote a play on “The Witching Hour” the first volume of Anne Rice’s Mayfair witches trilogy which takes place in the same universe as “Interview With a Vampire”.

The story :

This is the meeting between Rowan Mayfair and the one who will become her husband, Michael Curry. Both having supernatural powers, they are approached by a certain Aaron Lightner, member of a sort of secret society, the Tamalasca, bringing together sorcerers and shamans. This is dedicated to the study of the occult.
Lightner reveals to them the history of the Mayfair family and the curse that affects it: the Lasher spirit.

Willa, the actress who was to play Rowan is pregnant. In itself, it was not a problem but her doctor prescribed her forced rest. In grandma’s head, she had to be redheaded (I don’t remember what she looks like in the book) anyway, I was offered the role and I was bribed with cookies, how would I get could resist? (She knows me too well! >.<)

I’m not a confirmed actress so I admit that it scares me!

My day with Grandma?

I was having a nice dream when the smell of warm cookies woke me up! I open my eyes and a plate flutters under my nose. As I let my eyes adjust to the light, I jumped, surprised to see my grandmother holding the plate!
That’s how I learned the news.
Now that I think about it, luckily I was alone! (Note to myself, remember to put a sock on my doorknob the next time I have a “guest” to warn that this is not the time to surprise me like this, it could be rather embarrassing !)

My aunt joined us (she was requisitioned by Grandmother to help with the staging and setting the lights) and we had a good breakfast while Grandmother read me the script. I love seeing how passionate she is when she talks about theatre. Then we went to the club.
There, I tried on costumes:

Yes as you can see, everything is a bit too big for me. (If I didn’t hold the dress back, it would end up on my ankles!!!) The costume manager assured us that the alterations won’t be too much of a problem.

Then I was introduced to the troupe. Many already knew me because I happened to help to paint sets from time to time or simply to support Grandma in her projects. However several members seem a little dubious to play with a deaf actress, obviously I have to prove myself. (It’s not going to help my stage fright go down!)

They explained to me the marking on the stage to know how to spot my marks and when to place myself there, then we played one of the scenes to have a practical example. I was stressed at first but I admit that it amused me even if it was complicated to know who was speaking and when. Certain character talking behind my back. Fortunately my aunt and grandmother were there and they understand the difficulties it represents for me. I will have to time each of these lines in the future to know when to cast mine.

Small good point for the person who did the casting (thank you Grandma): Our Michael Curry, Rowan’s future husband is… how to say… let’s say that the kissing scene will be far from torture!

After that we all ate together in a pizzeria. A way to create and maintain a bond in her troupe for Grandma. I learned a lot about each of them. Our Lightner, for example, was a soldier, he was discharged following an injury, he suffered from depression and became homeless. He climbed the slope following a makeover show, he found a job at the ticket office of a theater and that’s what made him want to be an actor and that’s why he joined the club. A very nice man who was quite paternalistic with me by giving me lots of little advice. I think I already love him! haha

For the afternoon, everyone has gone about their business after all it is the day before Christmas there are still preparations for many people. Grandmother invited me and my dear aunt to be pampered in a massage parlour. I got massaged by a lookalike of Henri Cavill in Man of Steel, I was a little sad when it stopped!
“Come baaaaaaack! »

We ended the day in front of the fireplace discussing my character, the play and sketching some ideas for sets.

Yes I know, I have the best Grandma in the world!

Guys! take care of yourself and your loved ones, see you soon and have a happy holidays!

PS: Willa hvile godt og nyd din graviditet! Jeg ønsker dig alt det bedste med dit kommende barn.

PPS: Mormor du er den bedste og selvom du er helt skør, vil jeg følge dig i alt hvad du gør!

A woman tried to throw her hot coffee in my face at dog park!

Nyx disappeared from the frame right when I took the picture! >.<

Ok, that was 1 hours ago. I took Nyx out and took him to the dog park. There, a woman, her companion and their dog were about to enter. Of course Nyx was very happy to meet a new friend.

She was like wagging her tail and waiting for that dog to be unleashed, when that woman tried to release her dog. Nyx must had interrupted them, apparently this woman got angry at Nyx for no reason.

She tried to hit my dog and maybe his dog was growling at Nyx. I don’t really know since I can’t hear so I came in, to call Nyx over. Well, unfortunately, that woman threw coffee at me, BUT lucky I stood a bit further from her and didn’t get « coffee splashed » on me.

She seemed so angry and yelling at me for no reason then left, her partner was like ho no and tried to calm her down. She just simply left and I had no clue what was going on. Honestly, I never thought that someone would throw coffee at me… 🤣🥲

Yep, it happened just like that and then people came over to see if I was okay. I was like I’m all good peachy and utterly clueless about what had just happened recently. So bizzard lol

Nix didn’t do anything to that dog and all she wanted was to smell that dog’s ass & play with. What a day !

It was definitely not her day today at all but dude don’t throw hot coffee to someone else!

I hope everything goes well for you. Take care of yourself and your loved ones and see you soon.

Hey guys, I’m back!

It’s been so long since I’ve written anything to you …

If I have been away for so long, it is for several reasons.

I was asked to marry and I said yes, then I said no … well I ran away but I think the message was understood … Yeah, I know, I’m a complicated girl.

I had already explained it earlier in my blog but last September, I started a year of school in France, everything was going well but after 6 months I had to return to Denmark.
My Dad had serious health problems. I don’t want to go into details but I had to take care of him as well as my grandparents who were, you can imagine very worried. Thank goodness, now he’s much better.

“Du er de urokkelige søjler, der får mig til at stå dag efter dag i vanskelige tider, og uden hvilke jeg ikke ville vide, hvem jeg er. Jeg elsker dig så meget!“

Finally, the Corona (why this 🤬 have stolen me my nickname!!! 😡) arrived and I confined myself with my dad and my grandparents and I live a hell. They are so hard to bear! Every day I have to put up with good little cooked meals, get sore zygomatics by dint of laughing at grandpa’s jokes, and worst of all, I have to endure hugs of everyone, but luckily I have a companion who supports me! 😻

Anyway, for me it’s time to go, it’s time to go shopping, but I promise, I won’t leave you as long as the last time. 😁