I was born in Calgary, Alberta on October 18, 1952, the eldest of 5 siblings. I think I always loved food, beginning when I was a kid, staying with my grandma on the farm in Raven, Alberta. We ate the freshest vegetables and many hand picked berries from her garden and surrounding countryside. My memories are the pancakes with the very heavy cream and sugared berries… or the best potato soup ever! There was also the cinnamon buns, the white dinner buns, her sand cake and banana cake and her legendary brown bread. I remember whenever it would hail in the summer, grandma would run out and get pailfuls of hail to make ice cream. Home made ice cream… oh boy, it was good! But my love of Danish food started at home in Acme with my mom and Farfar working together in the kitchen. Farfar was a great cook, who would do most of the planning and cooking as mom was working outside the home. Every Christmas was very much Danish too with the celebration starting on Christmas Eve… Roast Duck, Goose or Pork Roast with the crackling! Dessert was always the Risalamande and the appropriate number of almonds nuts hidden in the pudding for us kids to find.

Living in Denmark, after high school, brought more experiences and love for the Danish food and culture. Then it was back to living with my grandma in Calgary while going to University. At grandma’s, her cooking was simple but oh so good. I considered it very healthy eating, at least before she started bringing out her baking.