Posted in Other, Travel on June 23, 2014| 12 Comments »
Summer Vacation
Hello everyone! I’ll be taking a little time off to enjoy the summer as well as traveling home to visit my family, friends and to soak up the beauty of Denmark. I can’t believe that it has actually been 4 1/2 years since I was home last, so this vacation is long overdue 😀 I’ll see you back here soon.
Posted in Danish, Finnish, Norwegian, Other, Scandinavian, Swedish, Travel, tagged baking, Brasstown, Campbell, cooking, Danish, finnish, folk school, J. C. Campbell Folk School, NC, North Carolina, Norwegian, scandinavian, swedish on April 8, 2013| 8 Comments »
Davidson Hall at J. C. Campbell Folk School where the Kitchen, Music and “Wet” Studios are located.
Back in 2005 Joe and I attended a week long seminar at J. C. Campbell Folk School which is located in the beautiful Appalachian mountains in Brasstown NC. The campus is set in the most secluded environment and it is easily navigated with numerous trails for an early morning walk. Each day begins with the tradition of Morningsong which is a combination of music and folklore, a great way to start your morning. Meals are served family style in the Dinning Hall which is a great opportunity to meet new people from all walks of life. The campus also has a charming History center and a wonderful Craft Shop which features pottery, handwoven items, jewelry, wood crafts and ironwork. Back in 2005 Joe took a Viking Blacksmithing class and I took a Scandinavian baking class and it turned out to be one of those fantastic experiences that stays with you forever. So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I was approached by Campbell Folk School to come down and teach the Scandinavian baking/cooking class during their Scandinavian Heritage week during March 2013.
Director of J. C. Campbell Folk School Jan Davidson performing Morningsong. It’s a wonderful beginning to your morning and each day Morningsong is led by someone different.
I didn’t catch their names but they were great. If anyone knows who they are please let me know.
David Baker taught the Kaleidoscope class and he was a riot, a real viking 🙂
Local Fireman J. D. Robinson doing Morningsong and smartly incorporating fire prevention into his routine.
The class turned out to be a really good group which meshed together very nicely. There were five wonderful ladies, all with fantastic personalities: Lucrecia, Paula B, Paula C, Roberta and Lynn Ann and then we had one gentleman named Mark which turned out to be a really funny and pleasant feller.
Our class left to right: Paula, Roberta, Lucrecia, Lynn Ann, Gitte, Mark and Paula
For the class I had prepared recipes which were Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish in origin and the class was set up to be predominantly baking with one full day of cooking savory foods.
Mark making Pebernødder
Roberta and Paula carefully following a recipe
Lynn Ann making Æbleskiver, they were delicious!
Lucrecia and Paula made the classic Othellolagkage. They did an outstanding job.
Here are a few pictures of some of the baked goods the class made. We made a lot more than this but I didn’t get pictures of everything.
Othellolagkage, a true masterpiece!
Making Hindbær Roulade
Swedish Lussekatter, before baking.
Birkes with Remonce.
Kringle pastry
Æbleskiver, the only thing missing is a warm glass of Gløgg.
Finnish Christmas Stars.
Norwegian Krumkake, they were served with vanilla and chocolate filling. Very popular!
Scandinavian Toscakake.
Kiksekage, very decadent.
The Fiddle class stopped in and serenaded us. They were well fed.
Midweek is when we cooked the savory foods leading up to our dinner party on Wednesday evening. I wanted them to experience small samples of typical Danish foods and there were some hesitation and a lot of joking 🙂 about eating Marinated Herring and Liver Pate in particular, but I think all in all, they really did like those foods. Our dinner that evening turned out to be a lot of fun and it was a real pleasure meeting everyone’s significant others and family members.
Our dinner party.
The menu consisted of a mixture of different food:
Smørrebrød with Danish Rye Bread (Rugbrød), Marinated Herring (Sild) and homemade Curry Salad (Karrysalat)
Smørrebrød with Rye Bread, Liver pate (Leverpostej), fried mushrooms and bacon
Meatballs (Frikadeller) with Red Sweet and Sour Cabbage (Rødkål) and Caramelized Potatoes (Brunede Kartofler)
Ris a La Mande with warm Cherry Sauce (Ris a La Mande with Krisebær Sovs)
Lucrecia stirred and stirred the Risengrød so it wouldn’t burn. She deserved some sort of “stirring” award 🙂
Making “oh so wonderful” Liver Pate.
Danish Smørrebrød with Marinated Herring and homemade Curry Salad (Karrysalat).
Friday afternoon was the closing ceremony and all the different classes put on a display of what they had been making during the week. As for our class, we spent the morning baking so we could provide samples of some delicious special treats to all the other students and instructors. All of the samples were gone within fifteen minutes and we got great reviews on our baked goods. Great job Guys! 🙂
Scandinavian Baking Class at the Closing Ceremony
The Fiddle class provided entertainment at the Closing Ceremony.
Viking Style Ironwork
Thread Art
Norwegian Rosemaling
Birch Bark Basketry
Nordic Knitting
Woodturning
Kaleidoscopes
Figure Carving
Weaving
Norwegian Bentwood Boxes
Needle Felting
I wanted to say thank you to all of my students for being so pleasant and I hope you enjoyed tasting all the delicious treats we made. I also wanted to say thank you to Carla Owen who initially approached me to teach at the Folk School and to Nanette Davidson for all of your help and the generous offer you extended to me. I thank all of you!
The Easter Bunny also made an appearance at the Folk School. (David Baker in disguise)
Source: My Danish Kitchen
Posted in Travel, tagged bed and breakfast, college, federal crest inn, Lynchburg, Randolph, Randolph college, residence bed and breakfast on October 3, 2010| 3 Comments »
Every fall we visit the college our son is attending in Lynchburg, Va. It’s an opportunity to see what our sons life is like at the college and the highlight of the weekend is the Pumpkin Parade where the Seniors and Sophomores serenade each other in song. It’s an event Joe and I look forward to every year.
Pumpkin Parade at Randolph College
Randolph College
We typically stay at the Residence Bed & Breakfast but this time we also had the pleasure of staying at the Federal Crest Inn.
George and Joann are the owners of The Residence Bed & Breakfast. They are always very personable and cheerful, the rooms are clean, tastefully decorated and comfortable. As an added bonus, the B&B is located next to the college so everything is within walking distance. Breakfast is always a special treat where we enjoy conversing with other parents who have students attending the college as well. The Residence breakfast consisted of a Croissant with cream cheese and syrup, bacon and fruit. Choices of coffee, tea, orange or cranberry juice. Joann always puts on a really nice spread for breakfast and at checkout she sends us off with small bag of cookies. This time it was Snickerdoodles.
The Residence B&B - Stuffed Croissant
The Residence Bed & Breakfast
The Residence Bed & Breakfast
The following night was our first time staying at The Federal Crest Inn. The Inn is owned by Ann and Phil who is a very pleasant and hospitable couple. Ann is an artist who has pieces of her art displayed throughout the house. Beautiful hand painted wine glasses amongst other things. The rooms in the house are equally tastefully decorated, clean and comfortable. Sunday morning at the Federal Crest we were served sliced fruit in yogurt with Muesli and a Cranberry muffin. This was followed by the best French toast I have ever had!!! served with bacon and a slice of cantaloupe.
The Federal Crest Inn - Fruit in Yogurt and Cranberry muffin
The Federal Crest Inn - French Toast
The Federal Crest Inn
Saturday morning we were exploring Lynchburg’s Main Street area and came across this wonderful little market. They had seasonal veggies for sale outside and local arts and crafts, wine and baked products inside. Look at these delicious baked goods, too bad we just had breakfast. We picked up some local wine and I scored a really cute and comfortable knitted pink blouse from Pappy’s Knitting.
Lorraine Bakery
Lorraine Bakery
Lynchburg Community Market
Miss Lynchburg Pumpkin
The local artists were a real pleasure to talk with and we will definitely stop by there again next time we’re in Lynchburg. And to top is all off Lynchburg had the perfect Harvest Moon, did you see it?
Harvest Moon
Source: My Danish Kitchen
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My Danish Kitchen 