There is one food I will never tire of and it’s oatmeal. Oatmeal doesn’t photograph well. But oatmeal is really comforting, and that’s why I had it for my final breakfast before leaving for Denmark. I mean, let’s be real, I have oatmeal a lot anyway. But I’ve spent the past month eating peaches, cherries, blackberries, blueberries, and everything else summery and fresh from the farmer’s market, and ol’ oatmeal was calling. I tried the overnight oatmeal phenom that’s been making the rounds in food blogs and I think it’s perfect for hot summer – you get creamy oats without the heat. Another tip I recently tried is to boil hot oatmeal with a tea bag in the water or milk, which gives it a mild but really good flavor depending on what type of tea you use! (I tried chai, and earl gray.)
When I went to New York last week to visit family we took a trip to Crown Maple at Madava Farms. Basically the place is trying to become the Napa Valley of maple syrup – complete with beautiful grounds, a garden, a restaurant with food from the garden & maple syrup baked goods, and an extensive and informative tour of the … factory? distillery? I have no idea what to call it, but I recently toured a gin distillery in DC and I have to say the maple syrup facility looked about twice as complicated — a long way from the ol’ tap & bucket routine. But, as a result, the maple syrup is by far the best I’ve ever had, and I come from a family where I didn’t have fake syrup, period. It was banned in our house (my dad is from New England) except for that one time my diabetic grandma came to visit and we bought sugar-free maple “syrup” but even then my parents sort of sighed about having it in the house. At least that’s how I remember it. Anyhow, during the tour we “sipped” different maple syrups after smelling them like wine. So…good! More pricey, but if you can find Crown Maple and are totally into maple syrup and/or breakfast foods, do not hesitate to buy.
Finally, I landed in Denmark. I’ve spent the past two days fighting the tough battle against jet lag, driving into the city to check out my future apartment, and spending time with some of my host family (my immediate host family comes back from Italy tomorrow). In some ways Copenhagen is very familiar but living somewhere is very different from visiting as an abroad student – it will take a lot of patience and flexibility on my part. It’s been nice, but also challenging, especially after a summer spent at home. Life as a foreigner certainly isn’t very easy at the beginning, but of course I knew that this would happen and this is why, in part, I went!
After Hours 