Small Town Survival

You might not be surprised to find that the majority of my problems here in Denmark arise from the kitchen, or cooking to be more specific. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that I like to cook but haven't been at it very long. Or rather, I've been cooking a long time, but I'm just now getting into the habit of looking for new recipes and trying new ideas.

Problem One: I don't have all the ingredients I need. Now, I know what you're thinking - no one has everything they need every time they start out to try something new. That might be true but I'm talking about the basics. I had to go out and buy pepper. I bought cinnamon. I bought garlic, paprika, lemon pepper, oregano, flour, sugar, eggs and milk. Some of those things run out eventually, but I didn't have them to begin with and it's difficult to start out. Now I know what it must be like when you move into your first apartment. Lack of spices, baking dishes, pans, bowls, etc seem to make life difficult. It's also an investment that you're going to make all at once if you're going to spend a lot of time in the kitchen.

Part of Problem One is also that I'm leaving in 6 months and if it's not something I can take with me I don't want to spend the money on it now. What's the point if I'm going to have to leave it behind. For this reason I will eventually be borrowing cake pans or random other dishes. Of course, anything I can find for super cheap I'm going to buy because it's not a big deal to leave it behind. IKEA is my new best friend.

(that's going to lead to a lot of weird search results. Hello! If you're looking for IKEA you might try here or here [although I can't guarantee how long that second link will be around.] Speaking of IKEA there's a mattress pad I'd like because, well the bed here kinda sucks. I'm being nice when I say that.)

Anyway.

Problem Two comes in when I'm trying to measure stuff. Why oh WHY is the United States still using cups, etc. instead of ml or whatnot to measure things. WHY. I have since learned that one cup is 250 ml and it's making things a lot easier. I also found a fantastic site with all kinds of fantastic recipes that also contains this wonderful thing called conversion. That's right, I can go from US Standard to Metric. It also converts temperatures. You know why I like that, because everything here, including the oven is in C. Not F, C. CCCCC. I'm getting used to it. In fact, I've started keeping a little section in my notebook for recipes that I like (biscuits, lasagna - just ask if you want them.. mmm they're good) and I put the temperature in C and F which means I can use them when I get home. Just wait until I get home, I'm going to be the best cook you've ever .. known. I was going to say something else but it sounded bad. Moving right along.

Problem Three. So many recipes require things that are pre-made. That doesn't happen here in Denmark. Sure, you can find a few things here and there that are already set up for you, but they like to do things from scratch. That means you get out the flour and mix your own pancakes batter. Yep, and I did. You know what? It was really good. So, now I can make pancakes without bisquick. They seem a little heavier, but I think that's just a measuring problem I'm having. One more time and they're going to be perfect. Well that is if I could get syrup without SALT. Ew. The good old Canadian maple syrup (who buys that anyway?) is really expensive, so instead we bought something else, I think it's made from.. beets? Is there such a thing as beet sugar and should I know this already? Well, it's all find and dandy until they added salt. Who knows why.

I think what it comes down to is when you can have pancakes for breakfast, you know you're living the good life. I can and I am. One last question: Where's Mrs. Butterworth when you need her?