Today, on the last day of April, it is time for the monthly update in English. April has been sooo cold. Sunny, beautiful, and cold. Frost during the night and early mornings, sun and birdsong during the days. But in spite of the cold, spring is truly here.
Nowhere do you notice spring advancing more than here in the countryside. The frothy white flowers of the cherry plums flower in the hedgerows and at the edges of the small woods dotting the fields.
Anemones cover the ground and the air is full of birdsong and the honking of geese returning from their winter quarters. At night the nightingale sings from the trees by the stream.
In the garden, the forsythia busk is blooming with bright yellow flowers,
and hellebores are blooming along with daffodils and other narcissii.
I bought a few pots of the pretty little narcissus, Minnow. That one is a charmer.
The bulbs will be planted in the garden as soon as they finish flowering in the pot where they flourish together with the primroses -unnoticed by the little cherub who always has his head buried in a book.
The flowers that are meant to grow in this climate survive the frost easily. They get a bit limp during the colder hours and then they lift their heads to the sun later, only to repeat the process the next day. That is actually pretty amazing.
Coronawise, Denmark is slowly opening again. We are now allowed to meet 10 persons inside and 50 outside. Less than 200 are in the hospital and more and more are getting the vaccine. I expect to receive the invitation for a vaccination sometime in May. My husband had his first shot this week and apart from a sore shoulder from the needle, he has suffered no side effects. The vaccine is the way to a normal society with spring plant markets arranged by the garden society, outdoor concerts, and celebrations of all of life’s big days with friends and family. So bring it on!
And now to cooking. What has been happening in the kitchen in April? Well, first of all I’ve really mastered the art of home made mayonnaise. I’ve made it with basil, with tarragon, with dill, and with the wild garlic that can be found growing along woods and hedgerows in lots of places here in Eastern Jutland.
If you have a blender, you really should try to make your own mayonnaise with herbs.
I tried my hand on a real American cheeseburger pie. A nice twist on a classic and solid dish that is heavy enough to feed a grown farmer or perhaps even a teenage boy?
I cooked an Alfredo sauce for pasta – very simple and delicious – and in the post where I shared the recipe I told a somewhat spruced up and fun version of the story behind Pasta Alfredo, which should actually be Fettucine Alfredo.
I know this because, the grandchild of the inventor of the famous Fettucine Alfredo, Ines di Lelia, who now owns the historic Il Vero Alfredo restaurant in Rome, wrote to me to tell me the real story. To think she took the time for it – that truly is amazing. You can see Ines di Lelia’s comment under the post. It is in English – and in Italian.
This only goes to show that writing a blog is a wonderful way of getting to know nice and interesting people all over the world. Just like walking your dog is a great way to get to know new people locally 🙂
Well, that was the update for now – all I have left to say is that I’ll be back with an update in English – my digital walk with the dog – in a month or so and in the meantime:
Have a great May – the most beautiful month of all.
Dalsgaard i Skivholme 