Special guests

On Wednesday, a good friend of mine came to visit, if only for a few hours.  He was travelling around Germany and Denmark with his family and made time to drop by Malmö.  Pete and I arranged to meet him and his family at the train station in town.  I thought we could walk a bit around town and then head to the park for a picnic.  Luckily the weather was good.  We have been having warm, sunny days for most of last week so rain was due to fall any time, but it held out.  It wasn't too grey nor too cold so it was a nice day to walk in town.  

It was really great to see him and his family again.  We've been friends for at least 12 years, I think, and we hang out quite often so I do miss hanging out with him and the rest of the gang.  We had lots to talk about.  The last time we met was at the airport last October when I went back to Malmö, so yeah, we had loads to catch up on.

We strolled through town and then to the park.  It was a bit too warm at first, so we headed to the park for some shade.  We found the perfect place, some benches and table just beside a playground.  The kids immediately headed for the swings, of course, while we, the adults chatted.  We were soon joined by another of our friend and her family, who drove for 3 hours to get here.  It really was great fun.  We talked and laughed, while the kids quickly became friends and played together.  

Then it was time to eat.  I cooked lots of food.  While designing the menu, I was thinking that my friend would be sick of hotel and restaurant food.  Home-cooked food would work, I thought.  Also, since he and his wife studied for several years in Australia, I thought it would be nice to bake an orange poppy seed cake for dessert.  My hunch was right when he sent me a message the morning we were supposed to meet - Could you fry some chicken, Malay style, please? My daughter has a craving for it.

So I had quite a task that morning.  I baked the cake, made the Malay favourite, epok epok, roasted some honey glazed chicken drumsticks, cooked Swedish meatballs, fried the requested chicken drumsticks and coleslaw.  Lots to do but I enjoyed it.  I wanted everyone to find at least one thing they could enjoy.  And I think they did.

The day passed much too quickly.  The kids became tired as the evening wore on.  It was time to leave.  Pete and I walked with my friend and his family to the train station.  They were staying at a hotel in Copenhagen which is about 20 minutes away by train.  It was such a pity they didn't have more time here.  There's still more to talk about and more places to bring them.  But I guess it's for another trip.  For now, whatever time that we got to spend together, it was priceless.