Kitty Geissler

Aunt Kitty

My mother’s Aunt Kitty Geissler is an extraordinary woman.  It’s difficult to explain how special she actually is – you have to meet her.

It really struck me this week.  We all travelled home to be with my family in Dublin when my grandmother died, and Kitty travelled too.  Not very extraordinary so far, but let me tell you a little bit about her.

She was born in Limerick and journeyed  to New York as a steerage passenger on the Baltic.  Leaving her family at only 16, she was greeted by her aunts who lived in a large apartment building in Manhattan.  She recalls thinking that her aunts must have been very rich if they owned such a large building! 

She worked as a childminder at first and then got married and had her first child, Georgie, with her husband George.  He drove her home with their baby and left for the war.  He was a soldier in the American Army and was in the first draft of soldiers in World War II.  She has an amazing memory, however, she couldn’t recall the name of the beach upon which he landed on D-Day in Normandy.

They went on to have two more children, Alice and Mary, and moved to a beautiful house in Tarrytown, New York, where Kitty still lives.  She sleeps on the third floor of the house and walks up and down three flights of stairs many times during the day.

 

She drives an old car to mass and to the grocery store each day, although her granddaughter has started to drive her around a little now.

Cooking Thanksgiving dinner for the entire family every year might be a challenge for some people, but Kitty enjoys it.  The table is filled with between 15 and 20 people each year.

She still recalls the names of the people she travelled on the boat with and attended most of their funerals, and the funerals of some of their children.

She just returned from a cruise in the Caribbean and when my mother asked if she ‘would be able’ to fly to Dublin, she told her that if she was able for the cruise, she’d be able for the flight.

She doesn't walk slowly anywhere and she still jumps in and out of cars like she’s a young woman.  She stood greeting mourners at my granny’s funeral for about 40 minutes and was still not complaining of being tired.  She stayed up every night of the trip until after midnight drinking whiskey and chatting.

None of this sounds particularly impressive until I tell you her age.  She will turn 102 in November! 

People queued up to meet her at the mass and in the pub afterward.  They were rubbing her for ‘good luck’, hoping that some of her longevity and energy would rub off on them.

Someone compiled a group of photos from St Patrick’s Day celebrations across the globe and one picture showed a woman of 92 who had travelled from Ireland to be with her daughter in New York.  By coincidence, Kitty happened to be in Dublin for St Patrick’s Day, but it was decided that Dublin City might not be the best parade to bring a woman of 102…  She watched the parade on TV and then left Dublin early the next morning to have an impromptu family reunion in Hospital, Co Limerick where she was greeted by people who probably thought they’d never see her in Ireland again.

It will probably be Kitty’s last visit to Ireland and although tinged with sadness, what a fabulous trip it was.

My Grandmother - A tribute

My granny died this week.  I was enjoying a week with my Aunt, her daughter, in our home in Copenhagen when my mother called to break the news.  Although not entirely unexpected, it wasn't expected at that moment.  We started to check into flying home to Dublin for the funeral on Saturday.
Flights were costing almost €2000 for the children and I to fly home together, as I couldn't leave them with my husband who couldn't take time off work.

I was really undecided about whether I was happy with staying in Copenhagen and missing the funeral, but I knew that Granny wouldn't have been in favour of spending that amount of money for the trip, especially since I would be home two weeks later and would get to see my family then.

However, there was a late flight I could take on Friday night and return on Sunday evening which would allow me to travel alone, which I decided to do.

My Granny's sister-in-law had travelled from her home in New York with her daughters to be in Dublin and my cousin had to take three flights to make it back from holiday in Hawaii, so it was only right that I make it from Copenhagen.

On the flight over, I wrote a little about my granny in order that I could speak about her at the mass.  Although emotional, I was delighted I had done it, so others could have the opportunity to hear a little more about her life before she was ill....

Annie Bagnell, a tribute.

Being the daughter of Annie’s daughter, Sheila, I lived very close to Annie and we saw her all the time when I was a child.  I wanted to remember her as she had been, before she had the fall, before I had children, when she was just my Granny. 

One of my strongest memories is of travelling to Cork with my brother Paul by train when I was about 7 and Paul about 5, because she had won a weekend away in the Imperial Hotel.  We had to move seats on the train because some teenagers were smoking and Granny hated that.  I can still remember being embarrassed when the group giggled at her reaction.  I don’t remember much about what we did on the trip, but we insisted on eating scrambled egg on toast for breakfast when we came home, because that’s what they served in the hotel.  She could have taken anyone on that trip, but she chose to spend it with us, even though we were fairly young and probably took quite a bit of looking after.

I remember Saturday afternoons spent in her kitchen watching sports with Kitty and Liam in a smoke filled kitchen.  My protests as a small child breathing second-hand smoke fell on deaf ears.  Granny would do anything to keep the peace – she’d correct teenagers for smoking, but her own children poisoning her grandchildren was ok! 

I remember eating Sunday dinner there at 1pm where the wine was either blue or black. 

We’d stay until after Glenroe, which signalled the end of a weekend for every young person of that time, when we’d be changed into PJs and driven home ready for the week ahead.

I would spend many weekends there, sleeping over with her, too afraid to sleep alone in the attic so I’d put up with her terrible snoring to stay on a camp bed in her room. 

We would get mass in the Oratory on a Saturday evening as Gaeilge - Granny knew all the songs and prayers - and we’d walk back for a cup of tea and biscuits with Mrs Mac in Granny’s kitchen.

She made great scones, but nothing could beat her Teabrack, sliced and buttered with a hot cup of tea.  She would sell her baking in the staff canteen in Boyers and people still remark on how good it was.

The Christmas season began with puddings being mixed in the yellow baby bath in October and she spent every Christmas day in my family home with either Jim or Hannah or Kitty in attendance, depending on who was living with her or holidaying with her at the time.

We joked about how she was forever grumbling about being better off dead, but she had more energy than most of us could have dreamed about.  She would take the bus into the city centre to get mass in the Pro Cathedral and meet someone for coffee in Boyers. 

If anyone had any shopping to be done in Arnotts, she would collect it for us to get 20% off with her staff card. 

And she loved her holidays to New York to visit Aunt Kitty and the extended family.  She was never happier than when Kitty travelled over here to stay for a month in Artane with her between mine and Conor’s weddings in spring 2005. 

She was always there, in the beautiful whitewashed house on Kilmore road, and I would visit her when I stayed with my friend in Artane, walking from one house to the other for a cup of tea and cheese on toast with herself and Mrs Mac. 

Later, while I studied at DCU I would take the bus down to have lunch with her and when I was on maternity leave with my daughter Rachel, we’d often call in passing from Marino to Donaghmede.

She loved Rachel, who was her first Great-Grandchild and got the chance to be extra spoiled before the others came along. 

Rachel has always loved dogs and was forever trying to smuggle Granny’s soft toy dog out of the house at every chance.

Granny appeared at Rachel’s 3^rd or 4^th birthday party with a big parcel, which she was very anxious that Rachel open.  Rachel was tearing through presents, throwing paper aside and hardly paying attention to what was inside so I wanted her to open Granny’s present later, with no distractions.  I knew Granny wanted to see the reaction when Rachel opened it and I didn’t want her to be disappointed in case Rachel threw it aside. 

We waited until the end of the party when only my parents and Granny were left.  We were delighted when Rachel eventually ripped the paper off and was ecstatic with a big cuddly dog, which still sleeps on her bed in Copenhagen, where we have since moved. 

Granny then recounted the story of how she had chosen it in the toy shop and placed it strategically into the bag with the head looking out, laughing uproariously has she told us about how all the people on the bus journey home could see it sticking out and shared a laugh with Granny about it.

Since Granny has been ill, Rachel has had a chance to return some of that caring she received.  Rachel was great at making sure Granny was comfortable and had everything that she needed, showing her the framed pictures of the family and talking to her about the people in the pictures.

I had the privilege of interviewing Granny for a radio project I wanted to make, about the strong women I have in my life.  I spoke with her in 2008 and again in 2011, after she’d had her fall. 

She spoke about her childhood and how happy she had been with her parents and three brothers, Michael, Sean and Tom.  She loved her parents, especially her father, who she said ‘ruined her’.  She laughed as she said that she got watches and bikes before any of the children around, including her own brothers. 

She told me about meeting Willie, her future husband, while out cycling in Tallaght with a friend.  He was serving in the Irish Air Corps in Baldonnell and was out walking with some others from the Aerodrome.  She remembered how Willie never came to the house at first and she would watch for him from the side window when he was due to meet her.  She needn’t have worried, however, because when her parents met him, they “idolised him”.  She also talked about how her baby brother Tom, who would have been about 2 at the time, would wait for him at the gate because he’d bring him sweets.

Although life was tough, she was entirely positive about all of her experiences, feeling lucky that both her father and her husband had constant jobs, meaning life wasn’t as tough as it could be.  It was from her father, who planted vegetables in almost all of their land in Tallaght, that she got her great love of gardening. 

She had a great sense of humour and during our interviews, she also told an anecdote about when she had Jim and Sheila living in Limerick.  People loved Jim’s blonde curls, she said, and one woman in particular gushed over him when she’d bring him walking.  However, on one particular day Granny brought a newborn Sheila in Jim’s place and she laughed when she recounted the woman’s disgust as she told her that that baby wasn’t as nice as the other child!

I never knew Granny to be bitter about being widowed at 49, which is testament to her great strength - I can’t possibly imagine sharing my birthday and wedding anniversary with the anniversary of my husband’s funeral. 

I’ll leave you with one lasting piece of advice she gave during her interviews.  She thought it extremely important that young couples spend as much time as possible enjoying each other’s company, as you never know what may happen.  Having received the news of her death on Wednesday, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to go ahead with the date night I’d planned with my own husband Will, as my Aunt Hannah was over and had offered to babysit.  However, it was a fitting tribute that we took her advice and spent our first night out together in three months on the night of her death.  She is sorely missed but we can take solace in the fact that she is spending lots of quality time with her husband now.

Dreamy Vanilla-Almond Baked Cheesecake

I’ve always loved dessert – it’s my favourite meal of the day J.  From the day I met my (now) husband, I have been experimenting with cheesecake recipes.  My father-in-law loves cheesecake, especially strawberry flavoured cheesecake, and my dad loves Baileys in his.
I'd always made cheesecake with gelatine, finding the flavours fresher, but on my first visit to New York I had to admit that the baked cheesecake was to die for.

It was something that my husband bitterly disagreed with me about.  He found the texture of the baked variety to be too dry and crumbly – a little like cottage cheese only drier.

That was it, I had to convince him that I could bake a cheesecake as creamy as the refrigerated variety.

I hunted high and low for recipes, looking online and going through all of my recipe books at home.
In the end, I decided on a slightly altered mash-up of three recipes - taking inspiration from Nigella Lawson's recipe for the filling, altering Lorraine Pascale’s Shortbread Recipe and using some of the principles from Avoca.

The result was delicious – even my husband was converted!

We’ve just moved to Denmark and I was worried that I was going to have to compromise on some ingredients, however, my in laws were coming for a visit and I had them package up some Avonmore Cooking Cream to use in my baking.  The positives of this were twofold - my father in law got to enjoy his favourite dessert and I made sure that I had the best quality products in my baking.

I started by making the shortbread from Lorraine, however, I made some slight additions and used all Plain Flour rather than some Rice Flour.  The link to the Shortbread recipe is here -http://fionaobrien7.blogspot.dk/2014/01/snowy-days-in-copenhagen.html - the recipe makes approximately 350g of Shortbread so there is plenty for the base (225g) and also to enjoy a piece with coffee J

I then went about making the filling.  On first attempt, I found the outer edges of the filling to have the dry, crumbly texture.  However, the centre was AMAZING! I decided to remake and to lower the temperature, cooking for slightly longer to achieve the creaminess throughout.  It was a resounding success!

Here's how I did it - 

Filling

800g Cream Cheese at room temperature

6 Eggs

145ml Avonmore Cooking Cream

1 tbsp Vanilla Paste

150g Golden Caster Sugar

100g Dark Chocolate, Chopped (Optional)

Base

225g Almond Shortbread http://fionaobrien7.blogspot.dk/2014/01/snowy-days-in-copenhagen.html

25g Melted Butter (Using homemade shortbread means less butter is needed)

Tin
7" Loose Bottomed Tin lined with reusable lining paper
Cover the tin in a double layer of grease-proof paper and tie with twine

Temperature
140C/ Gas Mark 1/ 275F for 1 hour

Method
Melt the butter and mix with the crushed shortbread.

Press into a lined, loose bottomed 7” Tin and put into the fridge to firm up.

Mix the ingredients for the filling together with beaters and pour onto the base.  Covering the tin with a double layer of greaseproof paper further protects the filling from drying out.

Bake in a preheated oven at 140 C for 1 hour.

Turn the heat off in the oven and leave the cheesecake to cool overnight before refrigerating.
This part is important to ensure the creamy texture.  I find it best to prepare the filling in advance, leaving it in the fridge until everyone is finished using the kitchen and only cooking it last thing at night before switching the oven off.  The cheesecake is then ready the next morning!  Great for entertaining as you have time to clean up before the guests arrive the next day :) 

Dust with icing sugar and decorate with chocolate curls.

Enjoy.....

The texture is so creamy that no additional cream is necessary for serving, however, Avonmore Dessert Cream would be a welcome addition!!

Snowy Days in Copenhagen

It's been one of the mildest winters in Denmark and so the first snow we has only fallen in the last week or so.  Snowy Day activities are generally outdoor - building snowmen and igloos and sliding down hills!

However, when it's -4C and the two year old keeps taking off his gloves, resulting in bright red hands and lots of tears, it's time to find something else to occupy us both.

Shortbread is always a favourite in this house, and making it is literally child's play :)

We made Almond Shortbread - I've adapted a fantastic recipe from BBC chef Lorraine Pascale - but any number of added ingredients will work well - Lemon, Chocolate Chips, Orange....

My little one loves to use the mixer and he's pretty adept.  I find putting the bowl inside the sink helps prevent any spillage catastrophes!  

Almond Shortbread:

Preheat oven to 170C

125g Butter at room temperature

50g Golden Caster Sugar - plus extra to sprinkle

1tsp Almond Extract

50g Chopped Almonds

190g Plain Flour

Cream the butter and sugar until pale and creamy.

Mix in the almond extract.

Add the chopped almonds and flour and fold in until combined with the butter mixture.  It will start to come together after a minute or so.

Press the mixture into a lined 8 inch tin and smooth with the back of a spoon.

Score the round into halves, halves again and halves again, making 8 triangular biscuits.  Prick the biscuits with a fork.  Bake for 30 minutes at 170C. 

Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.  Sprinkle with caster sugar while still warm.

Enjoy!

House Hunting in Wonderful, Wonderful Copenhagen

So we’ve just started the next part of our life journey, our relocation to a new job, a new city, new culture and new life.  It seems like just the other day that this all seemed like a pipedream, something that we’d talked incessantly about but never actioned.  When my husband said that everything would happen quickly, once the ball was rolling, he wasn’t exaggerating! 

He’s just taken a new role with the company he’s worked for in Ireland for the past eight years and we are moving with our children from our warm family home in which we’ve lived since we got married.

Coming from a relatively expensive country, Ireland, we thought that property prices in Denmark would not be too much of a shock.  I travelled over to Copenhagen for two days to do a property search with my husband, leaving the two kids at home. 

We had seven properties to view and there were a couple of important factors to consider. 

Our daughter will attend Copenhagen International School and my husband will work in Soborg so we needed to be close to both locations.  Having a seven and a two year old, space was extremely high on our wanted list.  The house also had to be comfortable and safe, with more than one bathroom. 

We started with Hellerup, close to the school and very commutable to the office in Soborg.  The house was within our budget and we were feeling positive.  When we arrived however, there was a very good explanation for the price!  The house was quite run down with old windows and doors, very cold and very uneconomical.  We were very disappointed.

Moving on to Lyngby, we found a beautiful house, in the process of being renovated.  It was pretty large, open plan, all on one level and with two bathrooms.  I was delighted!  However, we felt that the location was less than ideal for our circumstances. 

We then moved on to a house in Rungsted.  I was ecstatic!  It was an amazing house, absolutely huge, very family friendly, right by a forest and all on one level.  I wanted it from the moment I saw it, however, it was way outside the region we needed for travel to the school and the office.

We viewed a couple of other houses that were completely unsuitable, lots with basements that were suitable for storage, but not for living space – I understand that there is a law that says that rooms below ground level cannot be used for living, but it is a pity to leave such space unused.  There was also a house that looked amazing when we first arrived, but the only bathroom had a bathtub in which you had to sit up and was therefore completely impractical for our needs.

Unfortunately, the most beautiful houses were often in terrible locations for us, and the most rundown houses were in the best locations.  There was always going to have to be a compromise.

We eventually found a house in Soburg that suited us well.  Although I didn’t like it half as much as the house in Rungsted, it was in a great location and was a nice house.  We made an offer and waited nervously for a response. 

We didn’t have any other options for viewing on the second day, as there was a distinct lack of properties available, so I conducted some further searches.

To live in the area around CIS, we would need to have raised our budget to around 38000DKK per month!  That is over €5000!  We were astounded by the costs.  To make it worse, we would have to pay very high Electricity, Water and Gas charges. 

We had been told that the cost of living was estimated to be +12%, however, the rents here are more than 100% more expensive than in Dublin. 

We eventually got feedback from the house that we had made an offer on.  We were not successful.  It was hugely frustrating.  We were running out of time to search for a new property and it seemed that good rental property was in high demand and low supply.

Going back through the properties we had seen, we decided to revisit the house in Lyngby.  My husband drove out to Lyngby very early one morning and commuted to the office from the house to test the practicality of the property.  It took twelve minutes, so we decided that we would make an offer there.

Our offer was accepted and thankfully we will have our property delivered there later this month, with the view to moving in on January 1^st.

However, the other big surprise was the deposit required to secure the property.  In Ireland, one month’s deposit plus a month up front is the standard amount required on a rental property.  In Denmark, not only was rent over 100% more expensive, but three month’s deposit and one month’s rent was required within seven days of an offer being accepted on the property!  In our case, we had to transfer over €10000 to the agent. 

Another huge difference is the internal maintenance costs.  In Dublin, the landlord is responsible for the maintenance of the property, including all painting and redecorating.  If there is damage done to a property by a tenant, the landlord can use the deposit to repair the damage.  Normal wear and tear to a property is expected, however, and a landlord will typically repaint a property between tenants.  However, in Denmark we were shocked to discover that we could take a house either ‘as seen’ in which case the house is returned the way it was found, or ‘newly painted’, which means that it must be returned repainted.  This sounds fine in theory, until it is revealed that the painting must be carried out by a registered company and that wages are very high in this industry.  Shockingly, it could cost anywhere from €10000 to €40000 to repaint a house, depending on the size!

The cost of living difference has been the most difficult thing for us to come to terms with and the property market is difficult to negotiate.  Thankfully we had an agent to help us avoid too many nasty surprises!

Our First Flight

So now it’s time for us to take our first trip to Copenhagen as a family.  As Will is already working, I have to travel alone with the two children.  I’ve never flown with the kids on my own, so I’m a little apprehensive.  It’s only a 2 hour flight, however, so it shouldn’t be too difficult, I say slightly tongue in cheek!  Our eldest will be seven in December and she’s never caused a problem when travelling, however, we now have a son who’s almost two, and he’s a different story!  I’ve always said that if you need an area checked for baby-proofing, Cormac should be sent in.  He will find any hint of danger within five minutes of entering a room :)  He also has a terrible temper, so it doesn’t bode well for a peaceful flight.  We flew with SAS, and the experience couldn’t have been more pleasant. 

I stayed landside in the airport as long as possible in order to keep the kids occupied.  We had some brunch in Alcock & Brown.  The coffee was fantastic and the staff ultra-friendly.  There were plenty of planes around to keep the two year old amused, so we could enjoy our food in peace for almost an hour.  When it was time to board, we went through the Special Assistance Lane and got through Security in less than fifteen minutes.  Again, staff in DAA were very helpful and it was a very stress-free experience.  We arrived at the plane just in time to board and brought the buggy right to the steps of the plane. 

Once on board, we found our seats quickly and I stowed our bags and coats.  I had prepared thoroughly for the flight with plenty of snacks that I could break open as soon as things started to get difficult.  The Air Stewards were really friendly and provided colouring packs for the kids to use.  I also had games and books to keep them entertained.

I tried to keep things relatively healthy - I bought popcorn kernels, which I cooked the evening before with some rapeseed oil and left without salt – precooked popcorn is extremely salty.  We had oat biscuits with dark chocolate chips, which went down a treat, as well as chocolate and coconut rice cakes, yoghurt covered rice cakes, and raisin, apple and cinnamon bread with poppy seeds.  We also brought bananas and apples and scotch crumpets.  Finally, in case of an emergency, I brought a bag with some jellies, mints and marshmallows. 

The children were both really well behaved, singing, playing and colouring their way through the flight.  We ate some snacks and suddenly we had landed.  The kids didn’t even know there were sweets in the bag!!

The queue through security was quite long and we hadn’t got the buggy for the wee one, so I had to hold onto him while he struggled to get down and we were quite hot and bothered by the time they opened a seconded checkpoint and we got through.  However, I felt a huge sense of accomplishment, I had successfully brought the two children on a flight alone!  My husband met us at arrivals and we got the Metro from the airport straight to Christianshavn where the apartment is.

 

On our trip home to Dublin, again we had no difficulty getting through security in Copenhagen, staff were friendly.  The two children were extremely well behaved once again and on board the flight, staff helped us to our seats and provided activity packs again.  We moved around the flight a little when we could and as the flight was relatively empty, we could sit in other seats for a change of scenery.  Changing nappies also provides a break for ten minutes!  On arrival at Dublin Airport my two-year old was so taken by the service that he kissed the Air Stewardess!  Passport Control in Dublin Airport was pretty empty and we were through very quickly.  I would highly recommend SAS as a child-friendly airline.  

Navigating Transport in Copenhagen

The trains and bus services are extremely easy to navigate all over Copenhagen.  Everything works and is very much on time and there is a great app – Rejesplanen, available from the Google Playstore and on the App Store for Apple – which will plan your journey on public transport from door to door.

The Metro is a driverless train which is extremely frequent and runs throughout the night, only reducing in frequency after midnight.  It runs right to the airport and throughout the entire city, but ensure that you have a ticket for the correct zones as there are frequent checks during the day and the fine is substantial (750 dkk, over €100).  A ten journey ticket, costing 200 dkk allows you to travel for 1 hour across 3 zones. There is a great explanation of tickets at http://www.visitcopenhagen.com/copenhagen/service/tickets-and-prices, however, please note that the ten journey ticket now costs 200 dkk, not 150 dkk as per the article. 

The link for the timetable information for the metro is below and shows exactly where in the city you can travel with the metro.

http://intl.m.dk/#!/about+the+metro/travel+information/timetable.  Be careful when travelling with children and ensure that they are holding your hand as the doors close automatically and the train will leave even if people are trying to board/disembark.

The S Tog (pronounced S Toe) is the mainline train in Copenhagen, run by DSM, connecting the city centre to the suburbs.  It is very easy to use and the information at stations is excellent.  There is a carriage for bikes/buggies and it is easier to get on and off with children than the Metro is as it is driver operated and will not take off without all passengers.  A more detailed explanation is available here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-train and timetable information etc is contained here http://www.dsb.dk/s-tog/.

All websites that are not in your native language will be automatically translated by Google Chrome and can be adjusted in Advanced Settings.  This is extremely helpful when looking at Danish websites!  The only words that won’t be translated are those within PDF files on the website.

I have found all of the transportation to be very simple, especially when using Rejesplanen, which accurately plans journeys by linking with the transport sites.  I can’t stress how easy this makes things, as it will plan in walking time to and from each link in the journey and can plan journeys in advance.  It is extremely worthwhile to download this app – life is difficult enough! 

However, there is one issue with the S Tog – the lifts.  Travelling with children can be difficult enough, without having to negotiate with buggies up and down stairs.  The lift at the platform at Hellerup Station, where my daughter goes to school, has been out of service since the beginning of December and now the lift from the tunnel below to street level outside is broken and has been since last week! 

If that’s not bad enough, I have visited two other stations this week that also have lifts that are out of order.  I have had to carry a heavy buggy containing a two year old as well as keeping my other child close and carry bags for us all.  Having spoken to another Mammy at the school, it seems that the company often has to order parts for the lifts and they take some time to be delivered.  I await a response to my complaint made earlier this week.