Holiday Foods

Thanksgiving is a bit sad overseas- you have to work, nobody knows about it and the food just isn't quite the same (though we try hard). We had a potluck dinner with some American friends and it was a very nice evening. Since this is the time of year that food is really special I thought I would share some traditional Norwegian holiday food with you.

First we have the infamous Lutefisk (pronunced lutafisk). This is a very strange food - it starts as dried cod that is reconstituted in a water and lye solution which changes the consistency of the fish into jelly. At this point the cod is caustic and can't be eaten so they have to soak it in water for a week to make it edible. It is eaten at least once during the holiday season and is typically covered in bacon and mushy peas. They also suggest a shot of Aquavit (Norwegian liquor) before you consume it. We have tried it and neither of us was impressed to say the least.

Yummy fish jello!

That is not mashed potatoes - it's lutefisk

The next is Ribbe which is basically pork ribs- sounds okay right? Wrong - they eat the fatiest part of the rib - the best part to them is the fat and they get the exterior fat layer good and crispy. Ribbe is usually eaten on Christmas Eve but you can get it at most places starting at the end of November - even at Ikea.

Check out that fat!

Last we have Pinnekjøtt - which translates as stick meat. It is a rack of lamb that is salt cured then dried outside for weeks. It then has to be soaked in water to reconstitute it - after that it is steamed in a pan with birch twigs. The final product has very little meat and lots of bone/grisle. This is usually eaten on Christmas day but again you can find it everywhere including Ikea.

Makes me so grateful for turkey and honey baked ham!!

Apple Cider Muffins

I got a new cook book in the mail last week and I think it will be my new staple for baking. It is called The Craft of Baking and this is the first attempt at the recipe from it. Today we have Apple Cider Muffins and boy are they good. A little more work then normal apple muffins but well worth it - they have apple cider, sour cream, shredded apple, three types of sugar and some cinnamon! If you are dying to have the recipe email me (or leave a comment) and I can type it out for you but there are no internet links for these recipes.

As a side note- there is no snow yet. It is cold and dark so I am waiting for the snow to make it better (like a true Norwegian!) but nada yet. Today it is about 33 degrees and raining.....and we are down to less than 6 hours of sunlight and it's fading quickly....come on snow!

And last but not least- click here for one of the top news stories in Norway right now. If only this was the biggest problem everywhere....good for a few laughs for various reasons.

Norwegian CPR

Yesterday I had to take an all day First Aid and CPR class for school. It was pretty funny for me considering I taught those classes in the US for years. The information was mostly good but there was very little practice of skills which is unlike the US version. The class was taught by the same company that delivered our furniture....strange combination of services if you ask me. The funniest things from the day:

• A burn in Norwegian translates as "fire injury" - we had to teach the instructor the word burn
• Diabetes in Norwegian translates as "sugar sickness"
• Heart attack translates as "heart sickness" - we thought he meant heart disease but after some questions we realized he did mean the actual attack
• They have 3 emergency numbers here (which I knew) - you call 110 for Fire, 112 for Police and 113 for Medical Emergencies. We asked our instructor (who is a paramedic) about how dispatch etc works here- he told us the phone will never be busy since 113 has 4 phone lines- what? Four phone lines- that is all they need? - can't wait until they have some catastrophic event

**I have uploaded some new photos to the "Newest Photos" Album on the right hand side**

Melting Moments Cookies

I was in a "Christmas-y" mood so I thought I would try some holiday type cookies. I decided on "Melting Moments" which are basically Mexican Wedding Cookies/Russian Tea Cakes without nuts (for Jason). They turned out yummy! I had a hard time with the first batch getting the powdered sugar just right but I finally found my method- rolling them in sugar instead of dusting them. I think I might make them with my students for holiday cooking in December. Here is the recipe I used if you are interested - it comes from a cool baking website!

And look out- at the store today I bought cookie cutters for gingerbread! They call it pepperkaker here and it is a big deal so I am excited to try my hand at it soon. Speaking of the store- I went grocery shopping today and took back our coke bottles. I had been lazy about taking them back so I had quite the collection- 38 to be exact. That got me almost $20 in return fees! Talk about a reason to recycle - but then again I paid the amount to start for the bottles!

Chocolate Shortbread and Chocolate Fudge Pie

I have been quite busy substituting in the past two weeks since everyone in Norway seems to have the Swine Flu. But I have squeezed in some baking - last week I made Chocolate Shortbread since I had all the ingredients on hand. They were pretty easy to make but not my favorite thing.

Chocolate Shortbread

This week Jason's boss from the US was in town for some project meetings so we had him over for dinner on Wednesday. It gave me a great excuse to cook. I made focaccia from scratch along with a Chocolate Fudge Pie. Here is the recipe. It turned out really good. I had to make the pie crust as well since you can't just go out and buy that there. After you cook the fudge part it has too cool before you add the whipped cream. It was actually even better the next day!

Right out of the oven

After it was "dressed"

Right before a bite!

The Most Expensive Car Wash

I needed to wash the car today since Jason has to shuttle his boss and others this week. I went to a drive thru at the gas station. Cheapest wash was $30! The cashier first offered me the $50 car wash- can you imagine paying that much at a drive thru place at the gas station? Well I sucked it up and paid $30 and drove in for my 2 minute car wash. Jason is thinking about quiting his job and starting a car wash business!

"Roo" take 2

As I was loading the audio for the last post I found out the the dogs will "roo" along with it. It was too funny so I got a video to share. Here it is - first few seconds or so is just me playing the audio from the last post then they join in. Notice what a lazy boy Dopler is?

"Roo"ing

"Roo"ing is a term for the singing that greyhounds can do. Some dogs do it when they are with others or when they hear other dogs. Our two dogs don't really roo, so we thought. I have been feeling sick so for the past two days I have slept in and Jason has taken the car to work. Each morning about 15 minutes after Jason leaves I can hear the dogs down in our foyer beginning to whine then "talk" then they full on "roo"for 2-3 minutes. Yesterday I tried to get my camera but they heard me which ended the singing but today I was prepared and caught this on tape. So here you go the "Sad Songs of Dopler and Stretch" (there is no video just sound).

I have actually heard them do this before on similar mornings. We wonder if they do it everyday after we leave? I hope not but who knows. Just another reason apartment living is not in our future :) Today I let them continue and after a minute or so they stopped and Dopler came back upstairs to his bed. When I came out from the bedroom he was calm and then Stretch ran upstairs too. We think Dopler is the instigator and Stretch is the harmonizer. Too funny!