Cooking lessons

I am moving out of Christian's house on Friday.  He has been the most gracious host and I am forever in his debt.  I rarely meet people that I consider genuine, but Christian is truly one of them.  Perhaps because he has traveled as well and understands the hardship that occasionally comes with it.

We decided that before I go, we should sit down and have a nice meal together.  For the first time ever I made Gumbo outside of Lucile's.  It turned out pretty good considering it was difficult to find a lot of the ingredients.  Christian was able to find orka (he had never known what it was or how to use it), and I convinced a woman from Hemköp to sell me a whole chicken.  Needless to say, the it was an ordeal procuring all the necessary ingredients.  Surprisingly even my roux was spot on.

Most Swedes (and Europeans in general) have stoves that are impossible to control the temperature accurately.  If they would only invent in-house biogas digesters that would directly power a gas stove.  Now that would be innovative.

This was the first time that I sat down and cooked a real meal in over a month.  I generally survive on ham sandwiches and hard boiled eggs washed down with p.g. tips and maybe some salted licorice for desert.
Salted licorice is very Swedish and isn't terrible.  The salt licorice gum flavor on the other hand is brutally difficult to stomach and should be avoided at all cost.

Christian and Maria make a great couple.  I always smile when I see them together.  Maria works for Brio, a Swedish toy manufacture.  Prior to that, she was with Mercedes.  She is fluent in 4 languages and is very excited about teaching me Swedish.  We work on our lessons each evening and her endless enthusiasm breaks up the frustration.  Plus when she speaks English she has a proper British accent.  Its is incredibly endearing.  I will miss the quite evenings spent on correct pronunciation.