Making plans for my 40th birthday (part 2)

I redid the math, regarding how much everything will cost me for my 40th birthday celebration-bash-shenanigan-event-thing..

With food from a catering company, the entire shindig will cost me 11.346 DKK, which is about $1653. If I make the food myself, the cost will be significantly lower. 8158 DKK, which is $1189. I save 3189 DKK, or $464. I will use that saving for my upcoming Italy trip.

The $1189 is with EVERYTHING included. Food, alcohol, beer, wine, champagne, soda, candy, snacks, coffee, cookies and loads of other things. The one thing that I haven't added is all the decoration I need to get, as well as all the confetti cannons, which I am buying here and there.

There is a TON of saving when you do things yourself. I have drafted in my mom to help me cook, and my friend is also going to help me with planning and decorating.

The current plan is to buy all the food, decorate, put up tables, chairs, put soda, beer, champagne and some of the food into the fridges, so they'll be nice and cold for the party the following day. On the day of the party, at 9 or 10 am, we'll begin making the food. It's gonna be the single most Danish menu ever: Honey glazed ham, frikadeller, salad, bread and something called creamed potatoes. I know, this sounds VERY dodgy, but it's pretty simple: Potato slices in cream, heated up in the oven. Some people love it, others hate it. Me? Well, I'm somewhere in the middle. It's not my favourite thing to eat, but I really don't mind them.

Regarding the frikadeller, I am estimating that 30 people will show up. Let's say each person eats 4 frikadeller each. That's 120 frikadeller that my mom has to make. It might take an hour or three, but it will be worth it! I will, of course, help with making them. I'm not going to let her make 120 frikadeller on her own. It's not even certain that 120 is enough. It might be that more have to be made, because they are VERY popular! Like.. Extremely popular! But - what even IS a frikadelle? Well, let me tell you!

A frikadelle is a rounded, flat-bottomed, pan-fried meatball of minced meat, often likened to the German and/or Danish version of meatballs, but the origin of the dish is unknown. The term frikadelle is German but the dish is associated with German, Scandinavian and Polish cuisines. They are one of the most popular meals in Poland, where they are known as kotlety mielone.

There are various local variants of frikadelle throughout Scandinavia, as both a main course and a side dish. In Sweden, the word frikadeller refers to meatballs that are boiled, not pan-fried, but they are a bit.. Weird in Sweden.

The origin of the word is uncertain. According to the Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Deutschen, Frikadelle (pl. Frikadellen) can be found end of the 17th century in German, and is related to the French fricandeau, and Latin frigere ('to roast'). Other variants used in Germany are Boulette/Bulette, Bratklops, Fleischpflanzerl, Fleischlaberl, Fleischküchle and Grillette/Grilletta as well as the Austrian Faschiertes Laibchen. It may be derived from fricandeau de veau, a dish of sliced veal, larded with pork fat.

In the Dictionnaire des dictionnaires (1837) fricadelle is defined as, "In Belgium, a ball of minced, cooked meat" and a separate word, fricadèle, is defined as fricandeau. In Phillips's New World of Words (1706) it is defined as "Fricandoe, a sort of Scotch Collops made of thin slices of Veal, well larded and stuff'd." The Oxford English Dictionary defines fricandele (variation fricadelle) as a "quasi-French form of fricandeau".

Here in Denmark, frikadeller and cold potato salad goes together at picnics or at potlucks.

Come to think of it - I also need potato salad.. That means I have to redo my math - again..