My first birthday party!!

Okay, my first Danish birthday party. Okay, it wasn’t even my party…

I still remember waking up the morning of my 7th birthday. I put on a new pink dress, got my hair tied up by my mom, and waiting anxiously for all my friends to arrive at my party. Games were played, food was eaten, presents were opened, and worries were non-existent.

Over the summer, Sebastian’s little sister had a birthday party and it brought back some nostalgic memories. 13 little girls, lots of screaming, some tears, hot dogs, soda, candy, and cake!

Being a foreigner, I was fascinated by all the little things that gave this party a Danish charm (all the things that are very normal to the Danes). I went around taking pictures of everything and the little girls probably thought I was crazy. That’s probably why they didn’t want to play with me and just wanted me and Sebastian to kiss. Kids are weird.

Danish people are weirdly proud of their strawberries. They are teeny and fucking delicious.

 

No, the party was not “Danish themed”. In Denmark, the Danish flag also symbolizes birthdays! Everything from table cloths, napkins, little flags on the table, toothpick flags on the birthday cake (see image below), big flags outside the house, to teeny flag confetti scattered all over!

At restaurants, you can tell when it’s someone’s birthday if they have a little flag sitting on their table.

It’s interesting that the use of flags doesn’t have the same connotations as it does in the United States. The Danish flag is not so much associated with nationalism, but more with celebration.

If I were to do this in the states, people would think it was either a 4th of July party, or that I am some sort of a patriotic weirdo. Americans: It’s true and you know it. If I threw all kinds of American flag paraphernalia around, you would not come to my party.

Hot Dogs, the Danish way! With fried onions and remoulade. WARNING: it may cut up the roof of your mouth (from the fried onions), but it is totally worth it. SoOooO good.

This is Lagkage. Layer cake. Also another birthday tradition in Denmark! The cake layers can be bought at any grocery store (comes in yellow and chocolate cake flavor) in packages, and you can choose any kind of cream, custard, jam, NUTELLA, or fruit you want in between the layers. So awesome and easy, fuck baking.

This was the best layer cake I have ever had, but thanks to my bad memory, I forgot how Sebastian’s step-mom made the frosting/cream (even though I had asked her twice…). It’s some sort of cream mixed with little bits of chocolate meringue. I don’t remember, I just know I ate a lot of it. All of it. I let everyone else have the crumbs.

Ahh, pink sprinkles! [Sorry for the product placement by Pepsi, they’re paying me a lot for this.]

Well there you have it, a Danish birthday party!! [If you were turning 7.]

Tillykke med fødselsdagen!! {Translated: Congrats with birthday!}

Ruby Foodie – My 7 Staple Sandwiches!

I love sandwiches of all kinds. I love sandwiches when I’m out, when I’m traveling, and when I’m making them at home. Here are my top favorites:

First up, the Vietnamese sandwich [Bánh mì]! Okay, this one not exactly home-made, but it counts because you assemble them at home (if you get take-out).

These are pretty easy to come by in Seattle and the usual ingredients are cold cuts, liver pâté, pickled carrots, cucumbers, hot peppers, and cilantro inside a crispy-on-the-outside-but-soft-on-the-inside French baguette.

I personally don’t like the cold cuts because all too often I end up biting into mysterious pieces of tendon or fat. It took me a trip to Paris to realize that you can get them (at certain places) with marinated chicken, pork, or beef.

Sandwich dissected:

• Baguette
• Chicken
• Liver pâté
• Pickled carrots
• Cucumber
• Cilantro

Second, the good ol’ American sandwich on sliced white bread. I prefer my bread toasted and my cheese melted when it comes to these, and plenty of fresh veggies. Throw in some avocado if you’re feeling fancy. Yum!

Sandwich Dissected:

• Toasted white bread
• Cheddar
• Bacon
• Turkey slices
• Yellow bell peppers
• Avocado
• Tomato
• Lettuce

Next up, the ciabatta turkey club.

I made these for school, back when Sebastian was visiting me in Seattle and we would munch on these between classes. And by munch, I mean devour.

This particular one is stacked high with spinach, do not be alarmed by this. When you smash it, it’s actually not that much. But yes, this one was mine, Sebastian refused to eat a sandwich where the greens were taller than the rest of the sandwich.

Sandwich Dissected:

• Ciabatta sandwich rolls
• Pesto or mayo
• Turkey slices
• Sliced cheddar
• Cherry tomatoes
• Spinach (lots of it)

Thanks, Costco!!

Some people stack cups, I stack sandwiches. I find it much more delicious.

I made these when I came home from school starving one day, the tuna salad sandwich!

Sandwich Dissected:

• Canned tuna/chicken
• Canned corn
• Sliced cheddar cheese
• Avocado
• Pesto or mayo
• Salad greens
• Ciabatta bread rolls

Here we have the chicken burger. It’s one of me and Sebastian’s favorites. Hey, hey! Burgers are technically sandwiches.

I have a secret ingredient to this chicken curry mayo burger/sandwich. For the curry mayo sauce, I mix mayo, curry powder and honey. The honey cuts the spicyness/harshness of the curry powder and adds a little bit of sweetness.

we cook the chicken breast/fillets with a little bit of fresh garlic, salt, pepper, chili powder, and paprika powder. Sometimes we add onions, if one of us feels like cutting onions.

Sandwich Dissected:

• Wheat burger buns
• Lettuce
• Cucumber
• Tomato
• Chicken
• Curry mayo sauce

*Made in Denmark

Now, we don’t make a lot of beef burgers, maybe because beef is less healthy than chicken (because you know, we’re super healthy people… *please note the sarcasm* sometimes we eat candy and popcorn for dinner…), but when we do they’re pretty good.

Sandwich Dissected:

• Burger buns
• Ground beef 8-14% fat
• Cheese
• Avocado
• Tomato
• Lettuce
• Ketchup
• Remoulade

*Made in Denmark

Finally, the open-faced sandwich! Thanks to my boyfriend who made me my first rugbrød sandwich, these are probably my new favorite sandwich and I’ll be dreaming of these when I’m back in Seattle.

Must be eaten with a fork and a knife, don’t be an animal.

Sandwich Dissected:

[In the order of stacking] Trust me, it’s important.

• Rugbrød
• Some sort of deli meat
• Remoulade
• Cucumber (this ingredient is not so traditional, but I wanted some vegetable in there…) [again, because I’m super healthy of course…]
• FRIED ONIONS (this ingredient makes the sandwich– that and the remoulade)

*Product of Denmark!

Rugbrød is a Danish rye bread, btw. It’s really common and found in almost every household. Kids grow up eating this stuff for lunch and people eat it with butter and cheese for breakfast.

When I first came to Copenhagen, I had to try it for myself and things went horribly wrong…

I tried to make a peanut butter and honey sandwich with it. It was disgusting. If you’ve ever tasted rugbrød, you could probably imagine why. It tastes like sourdough bread, but it is packed with all kinds of grains to the point where holding a loaf of rugbrød feels like you’re holding a brick. You could take a “slice” of rugbrød and crumble it in your hands. There’s so much fucking fiber that sometimes it tires out my jaw. It’s really healthy though (because we’re really health conscious, uh huh).

Anyways, I turned to a real Dane to find out how rugbrød should be eaten. Sebastian made me this combination and showed me how to eat it with a knife and a fork, and I fell in love with it (and him too).

He’s been eating rugbrød his whole life and is sick of it now, but I make him eat it with me all the time.