A Look Over My Shoulder

I took a break from cooking our New Year Eve’s dinner and jotted down my thoughts regarding the past year. I listened to the queen of Denmark give her New Year’s speech in which she hopes for a more peaceful world, a united Europe (with its 25 member countries now), a unified European currency, and welcomed us foreigners into the world’s belly button (Center of the world) - as the Danes like to call their country. Her Royal Highness did not mention that Crown Prince Frederik was making the scene with an Australian lass, Mary Donaldson, nor whether we are to view the Aussie lass as a prospective princess and future queen when the crown prince takes the throne. Mary is beautiful, slim and smiling. All that a royal princess and future queen should be. The tabloids are running wild with rumors, but to date, nothing definite. We continue to wait.

I learned a lot this year. I learned that you can just cut off the toe from a clean knee-high nylon stocking and then slip it over the rolling pin. The nylon holds enough flour to keep even a very moist crust from sticking to the pin. I learned that you need never be wrong in your kitchen. Just change the name of the recipe and tell your guests it is an ethnic dish - if necessary, make up the name of the dish, too. It was suggested that the Queen of England probably eats chicken drumstick with her fingers (I wonder how horrified the Queen would be if she knew about that). You should not use your napkin (serviette) to touch your nose (or more specifically, wipe your nose) as good table manners do not allow this breach in etiquette however discreet you might be.

Denmark hosted the UN Summit with the Prime Minister, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, as Chairman of the event. For this milestone in history, Denmark had to arrange and provide for 30,000 m² (ca. 98,000 ft ² ) of carpeting, 26.5 km (ca.16 miles) of electric cables, 4,800 ISDN lines, 24 km (ca. 15 miles) of toilet paper, 10 km (ca. 6 miles) barbed wire; PER DAY 16,000 cups of coffee, 9,000 soft drinks (soda pop), 5,000 pieces of pastry, 100,000 dishes and 7.5 tons of food. The guest lists comprised of 1,500 heads of state and delegates, 3,000 reporters, and 500 policemen, bodyguards and chauffeurs. Quite an undertaking for a country whose 5 million inhabitants proudly contributed to the unification of Europe.

The longest night reached its peak on December 24 here in Denmark. The sun (what sun?) set at 4:00 p.m. and rose at 9:00 a.m. We light up our lives with halogen lamps, candles and kerosene lamps. Some of us reap the benefits of sun lamps (Danish version of anti-depressants) - I get my perks from the neighbors’ light which illuminates their kitchen, backyard and our entire living room. We remain positive through the dark, drear, cold, wet, dismal winter months knowing that from now on the days will become longer. Sometimes our days are brightened by snowfall and dipping temperatures. By the middle/end of June the nights will have retreated. The sun (yeah, the sun) rises around 2 - 3:00 a.m. and sets at midnight. Midsummer is celebrated by burning the witch and serves as a reminder that paganism and Christianity seem to blend even in the civilized world.

We also had the coldest weather end of December and beginning of January. New Year’s Eve saw a - 12 ° C (ca. 10° F) and later in the week the thermometer dropped to -18° C (ca. 0 ° F). It snowed. The bitter cold temperatures were forgotten as we enjoyed the light days and nights. Yes, we seem to talk a lot about the weather over here. Even the dog was aware of the temperature. We had to put wax on his paws to keep them from freezing, cracking and bleeding when we took him for his usual evening walk. The positive aspect of these low temperatures was that the skies were a clear, icy blue and the fireworks on New Year’s Eve were spectacular.

We welcomed the New Year with a five-course meal. We started with Chinese spring rolls at 5:00 p.m., fresh asparagus and hollandaise sauce at 6:00 p.m., avocado and fresh shrimp at 7:00 p.m., a good break and duck breast a l’orange, diced carrots and potatoes, with the appropriate wines, of course, at 8:30 p.m. A good movie on T.V. - one of the country’s favorites with a previous Prime Minister‘s wife in the starring role; a Danish movie from 1951! Crêpes with ice cream topped with my summer’s “Rumtopf” (fruits in rum) for dessert followed the movie. Another break filled in by a British classic short T.V. skit called "Same as Last Year, James ," which we watch every year. We toasted in the New Year with a lovely champagne and then went outside. Dead quiet. Oh my gosh, no fireworks. We had expected that all the neighbors would repeat last year’s performance. Nothing. About 5 minutes went by. How disappointing! How boring! Then the sky exploded and we were enthralled for the next 55 minutes. The neighbors appeared with their contributions. 2003 was saved! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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