The Return...

... is the second book by Victoria Hislop that I have read.

Beneath the majestic towers of the Alhambra, Granada's cobbled streets resonate with music and secrets. Sonia Cameron knows nothing of the city's shocking past; she is here to dance. But in a quiet café, a chance conversation and an intriguing collection of old photographs draw her into the extraordinary tale of Spain's devastating civil war.

Seventy years earlier, the café is home to the close-knit Ramírez family. In 1936, an army coup led by Franco shatters the country's fragile peace, and in the heart of Granada the family witnesses the worst atrocities of conflict. Divided by politics and tragedy, everyone must take a side, fighting a personal battle as Spain rips itself apart.

Whereas her previous novel - The Island - was a pageturner, I found myself struggling to get through Hislop's second novel. The idea behind the plot is great, the execution of it could definitely have been better.

Have a good read!

Asian Wok

Today I tried another recipe from the latest addition to my cook book collection...and this was the first recipe that disappointed me. I expected the dish to taste quite a bit as the chicken is marinated, but it turned out a bit too bland for my tastebuds. I'll post the recipe anyway, because maybe some of you can suggest what to add to give it more flavour ?!

Asian Wok
(4 persons)

Ingredients:
4 chicken filets
2 tbsp of olive oil
2 tbsp of soy sauce
1/2 tbsp of shredded ginger
1/2 tbsp of shredded garlic
250 gr glass noodles (vermicelli)
2 carrots
1 leek
1 squash
1 head of brokkoli, divided into florets
1 tsp of fish sauce

1.) Cut the chicken filets into pieces and transfer to a medium sized bowl.
2.) Add the olive oil, soy sauce, ginger and garlic and stir well. Set aside for 15 to 30 minutes.

3.) Put the glass noodles into a large bowl and top off with lukewarm water. Set aside.

4.) Peal the carrots and slice the carrots.
5.) Slice the leek and dice the squash.

6.) Heat up a wok, add the chicken and fry for a couple of minutes.
7.) Add the carrot slices, leek slices, florets of broccoli and fish sauce, and stir fry for about 5 minutes.
8.) Add the squash and stir fry for another minute.
9.) Drain the glass noodles and add to the wok, stir fry for another minute and serve! (Do not warm the noodles too long, as they will become mooshy!)

Now, what to add to give this dish more flavour? Red chilli? An Asian type of sauce? Any recommendations will be welcome!

Blueberry Apricot Muffins

It's raining cats and dogs outside, there's nothing on TV...so what do you do? Well, that's when I start to bake. Mainly because afterwards I will be able to crawl up on the couch underneath my duvet with a cup of hot cocao, a newly baked muffin and continue to read the book I started yesterday. Then the rain outside seems a whole lot more cosy than half an hour ago...especially when I remember the lovely summer's day that I picked the blueberries I used in these muffins!

Today I tried to bake muffins with the wholegrain spelt flour I found this weekend at one of the larger supermarkets down in the village....and the result: DE-LI-CIOUS!!!

Blueberry Apricot Muffins
(makes about 18 muffins)

Ingredients:
125 gr butter
1 dl sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla sugar
1 dl dried apricots, finely chopped
2 tsp baking powder
1,5 dl wholegrain spelt flour
3 dl all-purpose flour
1,5 dl milk
2 dl blueberries (preferably frozen)

1.) Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius.
2.) Mix the butter with the sugar in a medium sized bowl with a handmixer, until light and airy.
3.) Add the eggs one at a time.
4.) Add the vanilla sugar, the apricots, the baking powder and the two types of flour, and stir well.
5.) Add the milk and the blueberries, and stir until it becomes a smooth batter.
6.) Line a muffin pan with paper muffin forms, or put double paper muffins forms unto a baking tray.
7.) Use two spoons to divide the batter over the muffin forms, approximately 1 tbsp of batter per form.
8.) Bake the muffins for 15 to 20 minutes on the middle rack of the oven, until golden brown. Check with a cake needle that the muffins are baked completely.
9.) Transfer the muffins to a rack to cool, after they have cooled down in the muffin pan for 5 minutes first.

Enjoy!

Fish Stew

I try to have fish on the menu twice a week, but apparently I forgot to do that the last couple of weeks... So it was about time that I went to the local fishmonger and bought some great cod filets to try another recipe from the newest book in my cook book collection. I can recommend this lovely mild fish stew to anyone!

Tomato Fish Stew
(4 persons)

Ingredients:
600 gr filets of cod (without skin and bones)
1 onion
1 red (bell) pepper
a handful of mushrooms
butter
fishstock
400 gr canned tomatoes
3 dl crème fraîche
salt/pepper

1.) Cut the fish into bitesize pieces.
2.) Dice the onion and the red pepper, and slice the mushrooms.
3.) Add a tbsp of butter to a medium sized cookery pot and fry the onion, red pepper and mushrooms until golden.
4.) Add the fishstock (I used a cube), canned tomatoes and crème fraîche and stir well.
5.) Let the sauce simmer for about 10 minutes.
6.) Add the pieces of cod and let it simmer for another 4-5 minutes.
7.) Add salt and pepper to taste.
8.) Serve with rice and some fresh basil leaves.

Enjoy!

Den hemlige kocken...

...is the title of a book by journalist Mats-Eric Nilsson that was published in Sweden in 2007 and stirred up quite a debate. Last week I finally found the Norwegian version - Den hemmelige kokken - in my local bookshop, and Mats-Eric Nilsson definitely has succeeded in opening up my eyes to the secrets of the food industry!

When Mats-Eric Nilsson started to read the fine print on the labels of different food items, he got scared. The green colour of storebought pistachio ice cream came from spinach, not pistachios. The vanilla flavour in vanilla yoghurt was achieved by adding vanillin, a food additive produced from rotten pine trees, not the seeds from a vanilla pod. Something as simple as mayonnaise - normally an emulsion of  egg yolks, oil and vinegar or lemon juice - could contain a long list of additives when bought readymade. Additives that in Europe would be hidden behind so called E-numbers, like E421 and E300, instead of the long and difficult names of these mostly chemically produced additives. It made him want to know more about food additives, but most of all about the secrets of the food industry and therefore the truth about the food we normally buy and eat without a second thought. In this book he reveals many of those secrets, gives you an overview of all food additives and gives you advice on what additives to avoid.

Did you know that an average of 7 kilos of additives is consumed per person throughout a year?! You should know what you eat, therefore this book should be read by everyone, especially foodies!

Have a great read!

Baby Beanie

Today I finished knitting a beanie that matches with the tiny socks I knitted earlier.

For this baby beanie, I used this pattern from Drops Design, along with the pattern diagram I used when knitting the tiny socks.

Have a great day!!!

Mexi Soup

Winter has come early this year. Snowflakes are falling from the sky and the temperature has dropped below zero....Summer clothes are being stowed away... Let the season for the oh-so-sexy woolen longjohns, the flattering beanie hair does and pratical waterproof shoes begin!! I guess just the thought of minus degrees and woolen longjohns makes you shiver... Well, guess what? The spicy, mexican flavoured soup I made today will warm you up!

Mexi Soup
(4 persons)

Ingredients:
400 gr minced meat
1 leek, sliced
butter
2 tbsp taco spices
2 tbsp tomato paste
4 potatoes, diced
400 gr canned tomatoes
6 dl veal stock
salt
pepper
crème fraîche
nachos

1.) Fry the minced meat in some butter and add the sliced leek.
2.) Add the taco spices, the tomato paste and the diced potatoes, and fry for a couple of minutes.
3.) Transfer the ingredients in the fying pan to a large cookery pot.
4.) Add the canned tomatoes and veal stock, and let it simmer for 10 to 20 minutes.
5.) Add salt and pepper to taste.
6.) Serve with nachos and a dollop of crème fraîche.

Enjoy!!!

Tiny feet...

... will be wearing these tiny socks sometime in January of 2011, when my sister will have given birth to a tiny and hopefully healthy GIRL!

As a dedicated aunt I have been busy the last couple of weeks with yarn and knitting needles, to produce tiny socks amongst other tiny clothing items. As you can imagine, the progress on sewing my own bunad has slowed down accordingly.

For these "rainbowy" socks I used this pattern. It was the first time I knitted socks, but with the great patterns and knitting instruction videos available in many different languages on the website of Drops Design, anyone can learn to knit !

My next project will be a matching beanie.... I will keep you up to date!

Have a great day!

Tilslørte bondepiker...

... is the name of a typical, traditional Norwegian dessert. After living in Norway for over nine years, I still have no clue why this delicious and easy dessert is called "Veiled Farm Girls". I have been given several different explanations, but none of them seem "true" to me, so I guess I will never get to know the story behind the name and the invention of this dessert.

Anyway, I made this dessert today as it's Norwegian Apple Day today and as apple sauce is one of the ingredients in this traditional dessert.


Tilslørte bondepiker / Veiled Farm Girls
(4 persons)

Ingredients:
oatmeal cookies or sweet crispbreads, crushed
walnuts, crushed
cinnamon
cream, whipped

- for the apple sauce:
0,5 kg of apple, peeled, deseeded and chopped
3 tbsp water
2 tbsp of sugar

1.) Crush the oatmeal cookies/crispbreads and walnuts ( I just put them into a plastic bag and use a rolling pin to crush them - a great way to get rid of some hidden frustrations!).
2.) Mix the oatmeal cookie crumbs and walnut crumbs with cinnamon, and set aside.

3.) Whip the cream, and set aside.

4.) Boil the chopped apples together with water and sugar, until softened.
5.) Turn of the heat and use a mixer or blender to turn it into a sauce.

6.) Layer whipped cream, apple sauce and the crumb mixture into tall glasses and finish with a layer of crumbs.

Serve and enjoy !!!

Sunday Soup

With the weather getting colder and colder outside, it is great to get warmed up again with a big bowl of soup after a stroll in the forest. The recipe for this hearty and delicious soup I made this weekend, comes from this cook book.

Sunday Soup
(4 persons)

Ingredients:
2 filets of chicken
100 gr bacon
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
1 tbsp butter / olive oil
3 tbsp ajvar relish
2 tsp dried thyme
1,5 ltr chicken stock
1 dl wholewheat pasta (macaroni/fusili), unboiled
200 gr cherry tomatoes
1 dl white beans, boiled
1 handfull of haricots verts
50 gr fresh spinach
salt / pepper

1.) Cut the chicken filets and bacon into smaller pieces.
2.) Chop the onion and garlic.
3.) Heat the butter/olive oil in a medium sized cookery pot and fry the chicken, bacon, onion and garlic until golden brown.
4.) Add the ajvar relish and the dried thyme and stir well.
5.) Add the chicken stock and the boiled pasta and let the soup simmer for about 10 minutes.
6.) Halve the cherry tomatoes and add them to the soup together with the haricots verts, the white beans and the spinach, and let these vegetables get warm.
7.) Add salt and pepper to taste and serve together with some slices of good bread.

PS: I also added other vegetables that were lying around in the fridge, so this is a great way of getting rid of veggie leftovers!

Enjoy!!!

Maria Amelie...

... is one of the 32 000 illegal immigrants living in Norway and the author of the book Ulovlig Norsk (Illegal Norwegian) that I finished reading today.

Maria Amelie is 25 years old today and has spent more than eight years of her life in Norway. As an illegal immigrant, she can't visit a doctor wenn ill, she can't buy prescription drugs, can't get a student loan, can't open a bank account and can't travel abroad on holiday together with her friends. Though during her illegal stay, she has been able to graduate from high school, become a Master of Science at the University of Trondheim (NTNU), work as a volunteer at many different music festivals in Norway and earn her living by cleaning house for different families. Maria Amelie is like any other person - a person with hopes and dreams. She chose to tell her story. Her only alternative was to buy a fake passport and live the rest of her life in fear of getting caught.

If your opinion is set on that all illegal immigrants without any exceptions should be expelled from the country, then you definitely should read this book!

Have a great read !!!

Thank you, Mr. Postman...

... for delivering the newest issue of the Norwegian food and wine magazine Maison Mat & Vin on one of my days off from work this week!

I haven't got a subscription to this magazine yet, but I got offered 3 free issues by the editor after writing a comment on one of the recipes in the previous issue. I guess I will subscribe afterwards, since this magazine gives me new ideas every single issue I read!

Have a great day !!!

Heavenly Spelt Pizza

Today I took time off from work to get home a little bit earlier than usual... Not to sit down on the couch and watch tv immediately after coming home....Nope, not this time! I have had pizza on my mind for a couple of days now and was fed up with the usual recipe, so now it was about time to try a new one. With half a bag of spelt flour left from baking buns with carrot and sunflower seeds, I had to try making my own spelt pizza base. Then I challenged myself to make tomato sauce from scratch as well. Well....the result was outright scrumptious!!!

Heavenly Spelt Pizza
( 1 baking tray)

- for the pizza base:
15 gr fresh yeast
1,5 dl water, lukewarm
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp coarse sea salt
5 dl spelt flour

- for the tomato sauce:
olive oil
1 onion, diced
1 clove of garlic, diced
1 red chili, deseeded and diced
400 gr canned tomatoes
2 tbsp tomato purée
oregano / basil / thyme / salt / pepper

- for the topping:
shredded cheese (I used Jarlsberg)
slices of pan fried bacon
slices of ham
red pepper,diced
cherry tomatoes, halved
sliced mushrooms
fresh basil

1.) Dissolve the fresh yeast into the lukewarm water in a large bowl.
2.) Add the olive oil and sea salt.
3.) Add the spelt flour bit by bit, until it forms a non-sticky elastic dough.
4.) Set aside to rise for about 20 minutes. Start making the tomato sauce in the meantime.

5.) Pour a couple of tbsp of olive oil into a hot medium-sized cooking pot.
6.) Add the diced onion, garlic and red chili and fry them, but don't let them turn brown.
7.) Add the canned tomatoes, tomato purée and herbs to taste, and stir well.
8.) Turn down the heat and let it simmer until you have a thick sauce.

9.) Use a rolling pin to turn the dough into a pizza base and transfer it to a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
10.) Add the tomato sauce.
11.) Add the cheese first, and then the rest of the topping.
12.) Bake the pizza for 10 minutes on the middle/upper rack of the oven, which has been preheated to 250 degrees Celsius.
13.) Scatter fresh brasil over the pizza and serve.

Enjoy!!!

Once Upon A Time...

Visiting Trondheim? Feel like a cup of coffee and something sweet to go along with it? Maybe something like a delicious cupcake?

Don't worry....I know exactly which place to go - Fairytale Cupcakes. This lovely shabby chic cupcake bakery at Repslagerveita 2B is definitely worth a visit, as they serve cupcakes that aren't just pretty to look at, but come in a range of delicious flavours. I particularly loved the redcurrant chocolate cupcake....The sweet taste of chocolate combined with the sour redcurrants.....yummie!!!

Fairytale Cupcakes

Repslagerveita 2B

7012 TRONDHEIM

Tel. (+47) 40056108

post@fairytalecupcakes.no





Weekend...

... is enjoying breakfast in bed together with the world's greatest husband, before going outside to stock up on wood for the winter.

Have a great weekend!!!

Weekend...

... is hiking to the peak of Bjørnen (933 mtrs) together with my husband - enjoying the beautiful autumn colours, the lovely crisp autumn air and last rays of sunshine before the darkness of winter sets in...

... walking across the marshes to the base of the mountain...

... facing vertigo on the edge right underneath the peak, enjoying the view of snowcapped peaks on the horizon...

... and meeting a "lost prince" on the way down...

Another great hike, another weekend to remember !!!

Weekend...

... is relaxing on the sofa, with a good glass of rosé wine accompanied by a cheese plate, after sitting for hours embroidering on my bunad.

The rosé wine Inés de Monclús from Bodegas Monclús (Huesca, Spain) is a fresh, fruity dry (but not too dry) rosé wine with aromas of strawberry, blackcurrant, fennel and fresh grass. It's a great wine to drink aside tapas or a plate of pasta. Another wine that will turn up more often in this house!!

The cheeses I brought home this week are a Spanish Manchego and one of my favourite cream cheeses....Boursin. I finally discovered it in the bigger supermarket down in the village and just had to satisfy my craving!! I haven't tasted it for years....

I will post an update on the progress on my bunad soon!

Have a great weekend!!!

Blackberry Apple Crumble Cake

With the weather changing along with the season, it won't be long until the market stalls in the city centre disappear almost as sudden as they arrived in spring. So last Friday I took advantage of the opportunity of still being able to get some fresh berries at the market. The selection definitely had shrunk, but I got a couple of baskets of blackberries - especially because only hours before I had found a recipe for Blackberry Apple Crumble Cake on the website of BBC's Good Food Magazine.

I made it on Sunday, as we were expecting the in-laws to drop by for dinner. Well, guess what? The doorbell rang the second I took the cake out of the oven. Great timing! I served the cake lukewarm with vanilla ice cream. In one word......DELICIOUS!!!

Blackberry Apple Crumble Cake
(Ø 20 cm; serves 8)

Ingredients:
- for the cake:
175 gr butter
150 gr golden caster sugar, pluss 1 tbsp
3 eggs, beaten
200 gr all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
150 gr crème fraîche
150 gr blackberries
4 apples, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges each

- for the crumble:
50 gr butter
50 gr brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
75 gr all-purpose flour
50 gr hazelnuts, roughly chopped

- to serve:
3-4 tbsp clear honey or maple syrup
vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche

1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2.) Butter and line a Ø 20 cm springform tin with baking parchment.
3.) Make the crumble topping by melting the flour. Then mix in the brown sugar, cinnamon, flour and chopped hazelnuts. Stir well and set aside.
4.) Heat 25 gr of butter in a large frying pan. Add 1 tbsp of caster sugar and the apple wedges. Cook for about 10 minutes until the apples are tender and golden. Set aside and cool.
5.) Beat together in a large bowl the remaining butter and caster sugar until light and fluffy.
6.) Gradually mix in the eggs.
7.) Using a large metal spoon, fold in the flour and baking powder.
8.) Add the crème fraiche and mix until smooth.
9.) Spoon roughly two-thirds of the cake mixture into the tin, spread level and scatter over one-third of the crumble mixture.
10.) Top with the remaining cake mixture and level again, then scatter over another third of the crumble mixture.
11.) Arrange the apple wedges and blackberries on top, and top with the remaining crumble.
12.) Bake on the lower rack of the oven for about 1,5 hours. Loosely cover the top of the cake with a sheet of baking parchment or foil halfway through the cooking time if it is browning too quickly.
13.) Cool the cake in the tin for 10 minutes and then transfer to a serving plate.
14.) Drizzle warm honey over the cake.
15.) Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or crème fraîche.

Enjoy!!!

Third Wedding Anniversary

On this day three years ago, my husband and I got married in Barcelona....the city where our love story began nearly 12 years ago.

Thank you, world's greatest, for each day we have and will spend together! I love you!

Bacon Broccoli Spaghetti

Feeling a bit blue because it's Monday again? Had a busy day at work and do not feel like slaving in the kitchen for hours? This is a quick dinner that will cure your Monday blues! It's another recipe that I found using my Tine iPhone App during lunch break at work, and this type of carbonara spaghetti is scrumptious!!

Bacon Broccoli Spaghetti
(4 persons)

Ingredients:
300 gr wholewheat spaghetti
1 stalk of broccoli, cut into florets
200 gr bacon, diced
1 onion, diced
6 cloves of garlic, diced
oregano
salt
pepper
olive oil
1 dl of single cream
3 eggs
shredded pecorino

1.) Boil the spaghetti as instructed on the package.
2.) Boil the broccoli florets in lightly salted water for a couple of minutes. Drain and set aside.
3.) Fry the diced onion, garlic and bacon in olive oil in a large skillet.
4.) Add salt, pepper and oregano to taste.
5.) Mix the cream and eggs, and add to the bacon/onion/garlic mixture.
6.) Add the boiled spaghetti and broccoli florets, and stir well.
7.) Serve warm with shredded pecorino on top.

Enjoy!!

Weekend...

... is going for a hike on Tusten (704 mtrs) together with my husband early in the morning - in between a couple of autumnal rainshowers - to enjoy the view of Molde and all the peaks surrounding its fjord...

... and have breakfast at the top of the mountain...

Have a great weekend !!

Weekend...

... is celebrating a friend's birthday and new apartment with tapas and wine...

... and delicious chocolate-covered strawberries and cream puffs (croque en bouche) !!!

Have a great weekend !!

Cook book

Even though the collection of cook books I have on the bookshelf already is large enough, I went ahead today and spoiled myself with another one. I love the way this cook book focuses on healthy, wholesome, ecological meals without additives. The book is available in Norwegian and Swedish (Helsekokeboken / Hälsokokboken by Ulrika Davidsson). So guess what I will be doing this weekend....?

Plum Marmalade

Autumn is definitely here....It's been raining cats and dogs for days now. Leaves are changing colour and are dropping to the ground, but not only leaves - apples and plums as well. The average villa here in Norway seems to have some sort of fruit tree in the garden, with branches flecked with fruit. Evidently too much fruit for one household alone, as half of the harvest is already lying rotten on the lawn beneath. It makes me sad to see this... The fruit could have been used to make muffins, pies, cakes, jellies, jams, juices and so much more. That's probably why a little bit of conscientious scrumping, is both common and nearly accepted here in Norway.

So...yes, I admit it... I have scrumped some plums today, and I do not feel bad about it at all! But what to do with nearly 2 kg of plums....? Make plum marmalade!!! And since my husband doesn't like plum marmalade at all, I will be able to enjoy the whole batch myself! I'm already dreaming of freshly made waffles with plum marmalade....

Plum Marmalade

Ingredients:
2 kg of plums
0,5 - 1,5 dl of water
0,5 - 1 kg of sugar

1.) Cut the plums in half and remove the stones.
2.) Put the plums into a heavy-bottomed cooking pot and add water. The amount of water depends on the ripeness of the plums - very ripe equals little water, unripe equals more water.
3.) Cook the plums for about 10 minutes until it becomes a liquidy porridge.
4.) Remove the foam on top of the plum porridge with a spoon.
5.) Add sugar and stir well until all sugar has dissolved. The amount of sugar depends on whether you like your marmalade to be very sweet or not.
6.) Remove marmalade from heat, place 1 tablespoon of marmalade on a chilled plate, run a finger through it, and when a crinkly track mark is left, marmalade has set.
7.) Pour the plum marmalade directly into hot and sterilised jars, and seal the jars. (I sterilised the jars, lids and rubber rings by first washing them in hot water, and then letting them boil in water for 30 minutes. Make sure you have a large cooking pot for this and that you put a dish towel on the bottom of the pot as this will make sure that your glass jars won't start to bounce while the water is boiling.)
8.) Store in a dark, cool place.

Enjoy!

Vigil

...is the title of another novel by Cecilia Samartin that I finished reading this weekend. It was another page turner by this great author, that yet again left me crying while reading the last 50 pages. Definitely another book that I can recommend fullheartedly!

While Ana sits at her beloved husband's deathbed, she thinks back on her life and the incredible journey that brought her to this unlikely place. Ana's story takes her from war-torn El Salvador, to a  convent in the United States, and finally to a wealthy California estate where she is employed as the nanny for the wealthy Trellises, a dysfunctional family caught up in the throes of a decadent life. Despite her own emotional wounds, she is able to bring love and healing to her affluent yet spiritually bereft employers - gifts that no money could ever buy.

Ana's emotional attachment to her young charges leads to her staying at the Trellis home for longer than she ever could have imagined. As she grows to love Teddy and Jessie as if they were her own flesh and blood, they grow up and move out of the house, and her abiding love for their father is transformed into something deeper and more powerful. Faced with many challenges to her own sense of morality, Ana must confront her own spiritual longings and reconcile them with her understanding that love may have found her in the very place she least expected.

Have a good read!

Besseggen

Today my husband and I walked across the edge. Which edge? Well, the one called Besseggen!

Besseggen is one of the foot trails marked up and maintained by the Norwegian Trekking Association, and with more the 30.000 visitors completing this hike annually, it has to be Norway's most popular mountain hike. When you follow this specific trail, you walk from the cabin called Gjendesheim to the cabin called Memurubu (or the other way around, like we did), across an edge between two lakes, and return by boat to where you started or walk onwards on another trail to another cabin.

One of the reasons why this particular hike might be so popular, especially among foreign tourists, is that it is mentioned in the play Peer Gynt, written by one of the most famous writers of Norway - Henrik Ibsen. But I guess the main reason is the peculiar sight of two lakes that are lying right next to each other, but are coloured differently. One of the lakes - Bessvatnet - has a dark blue colour; while the other - called Gjende - has a light green colour due to the micro organisms living in glacier water.

The hike is estimated to normally take 6 to 8 hours, but we finished the hike in 4 hours and 26 minutes! We might be getting into shape again!

Apricot Chocolate Cake

Ever since I got my iPhone 4, I have been hooked on one specific App. I take a peak at it during lunch break at work, I take a peak at it at the supermarket.... It's an App provided by one of the Norwegian dairy brands - Tine - that has recipes for all types of dishes..... cakes and desserts as well.

So today, during lunch break, I decided to try one of the recipes, as I had most of the ingredients lying around in one of the kitchen cupboards anyway.... Apricot Chocolate Cake was going to be made!

The cake tastes really good and has a great texture as well, but as you can see from the photo above.... all the apricot and chocolate bits sank right to the bottom of the cake. Hmmm....how to solve this problem? Well, according to my colleague who is a professionally trained chef, I could solve this in several ways. Either by dusting the bits with a bit of flour before adding them to the dough, or by not adding them to the dough and just adding them first when the cake tin has been filled halfway. Anyway, here is the recipe:

Apricot Chocolate Cake
(makes one loaf)

Ingredients:
2 eggs, at room temperature
200 gr of flour
1,5 dl of whole milk
125 gr of butter, melted
250 gr of all-purpose flour
1,5 tsp of baking powder
0,5 tsp of vanilla sugar
50 gr of chocolate (70 %)
125 gr of dried apricots

1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2.) Butter and dust with flour a loaf tin of 1,5 liters.
3.) Mix the eggs and the sugar for about 10 minutes in a large-sized bowl, until it becomes a light and airy mixture.
4.) Melt the butter and add the milk to the melted butter.
5.) Mix the baking powder and vanilla sugar into the all-purpose flour.
6.) Add the flour mixture and the butter/milk mixture to the egg/sugar mixture, until it forms a dough.
7.) Chop the apricots and the chocolate into small pieces, and add to the dough.
8.) Fill the loaf tin with the mixture, and bake for 45 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
9.) Check with a cake needle or a skewer whether the cake is done (no dough should stick to the needle / skewer when you pull it out after sticking it into the cake).
10.) Leave on a rack to cool, first 5 minutes in the loaf tin, after that without.

Enjoy!

Weekend...

... is going out for a hike on Harstadfjellet (1004 mtrs) together with my husband, especially since it has been the greatest fall weather ever the last couple of days (clear sky, sunshine, nearly 20 degrees) but also because today it was the national Kom deg ut (Out and about) day.

In Norway there is an organization called Den Norske Turistforening (DNT) (Norwegian Trekking Association), that promotes trekking and other outdoor activities. They mark and maintain foot trails and ski tracks, but best of all - they operate cabins all over this northern, long strechted country where you can spend the night either completely by yourself or together with others for nearly next to nothing. Yes, there are still some things in Norway that aren't expensive! The network of trails and cabins are a great way to explore the Norwegian outdoors, but as less and less Norwegians get out and about...this Sunday was used to promote a healthy and active outdoor lifestyle.

We are definitely greatfull for living in an area of Norway were we are surrounded by many high peaks, so that we can discover a new peak and view whenever we feel like it.

Weekend...

... is going to the cinema together with the world's greatest husband, to watch old heroes join up as bad/good guys in the movie The Expendables.

I have to admit that it wasn't the greatest movie I have ever seen, but I had a couple of good laughs and it was a great date night!

Weekend...

... is trying out a new bottle of wine, accompanied with a delicious cheese plate.

I took time off from work early today to drop by the local Vinmonopolet - the Norwegian state owned alcohol stores - to get a couple of bottles of Black Tower - a delicious crisp Riesling from Pfalz (Germany) with elegant floral aromas and mouthwatering appley, ripe fruit flavours. Definitely a wine that will turn up more often in this house!

Have a great weekend!

Waiting for the monsoon...

...is the translation of Wachten op de moesson - the title of a Dutch novel by author Threes Anna that I finished reading today. Whereas the previous books that I have read have been page turners, I really had to struggle to get to the last page of this novel.

The plot is taking us to India, where we follow the life of Charlotte Bridgwater. Charlotte is living together with her elderly and disabled father in a decayed villa in Rampur, trying to keep up the image of her previous high-society life as a Brit in India. When the tailor in the village passes away, Charlotte is persuaded to let a new tailor set up his workshop in her villa so that all the ladies of the club still can have dresses made for the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the club. As soon as the new tailor - a mute Indian by the name of Madan - moves in, Charlotte starts to fall in love with him.

This novel could have been a beautiful love story... One of the reasons why I struggled my way through this novel, is the constant changes in perspective and time. The way the plot ends was in my opinion also very unsatisfactory. So let's hope that the novel I will start on now, will be a page turner again!

Weekend...

...is going out for a hike together with the world's greatest husband, enjoying some pancakes with homemade strawberry marmalade together at the peak of Jendemfjellet (633 mtr) and taking a nap with a view together in the sun....

Weekend...

...is turning off my iPhone and enjoying the latest edition of my favourite Norwegian food and wine magazine - Maison Mat & Vin ...  Some great recipes in this edition...I'll definitely try out some of them and tell you all about it afterwards!

Some days...

...you find yourself on a plane back to work again, sad to know that your summer holidays definitely are over... (Yes...some days I fly to and from work...a 30 minute commute)

Coffee Walnut Cake

Today we'll be going out to the farm to celebrate (with sour cream porridge) that this year's grass harvest is done, and my father-in-law's 61st birthday (with lots of cake!). Whereas in The Netherlands it is the tradition that the person celebrating his or her birthday provides cake to the guests, here in Norway it seems to me that the tradition is the other way around - that the guests bring cake for the one we celebrate. Anyway, a great occasion to test out a new recipe - so I made Coffee Walnut Cake!

The recipe was originally for one layer covered with buttercream frosting, but it look so tiny to me - not at all like a big birthday cake.... So I made another layer to stack on top with buttercream frosting in between. Well....after carving a pretty big piece of the cake and having a bite or two or three....I understood that one layer would have done appetite-wise...This cake is rich!!!

Coffee Walnut Cake
(makes 1 cake of Ø 24 cm, consisting of 2 layers)

Ingredients:
- for the cake layers:
340 gr butter, at room temperature
280 gr sugar
6 eggs
280 gr self-rising flour
160 gr walnuts, chopped
5 tsp of instant coffee, dissolved in 2 tbsp of boiling water

- for the buttercream frosting:
4 tsp of instant coffee, dissolved in 4 tbsp of warm milk
190 gr butter, at room temperature
250 gr confectioner's sugar/powdered sugar

1.) Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
2.) Grease or line with baking parchment two springform pans of 24 cm in diameter.
3.) Start making the dough for the cake layers by mixing the butter with the sugar in a large bowl, until the mixture becomes light and creamy.
4.) Add the eggs one at a time.
5.) Sieve the self-rising flour and stir it into the butter/sugar mixture.
6.) Add the chopped walnuts and the coffee, and stir it into the mixture.
7. ) Divide the dough over the two springform pans.
8.) Bake the cakes 20 to 25 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
9.) Leave on a rack to cool down.

10.) Make the frosting by mixing the butter, powdered sugar and coffee mixture.
11.) When the cakes have cooled down, spread a little frosting on top of one of the layers.
12.) Stack the other layer on top.
13.) Cover the rest of the cake with the remaining frosting.
14.) Decorate with walnuts (and chocolate).

Enjoy!

Some days...

...nice surprises come by mail...

Thank you so much, Marèse! I really love the cupcake tea sieve you sent me! It was put to use straight away!

Apple Cinnamon Waffles

Today my husband was helping out at the farm of my in-laws, harvesting grass and turning the grass into round bales. It was a long and hard workday, so I surprised him with warm, fresh waffles when he came home. Not normal waffles, but waffles with a twist ... Apple Cinnamon Waffles....and they were delicious! Especially when eaten lukewarm, that's when you really taste the apple and cinnamon.

Apple Cinnamon Waffles
(makes about 12)

Ingredients:
25 gr of fresh yeast (you could probably use 1 sachet of dried yeast instead)
4 dl milk, cold
4,5 dl of all-purpose flour
a pinch of salt
1 tbsp of sugar
1 apple, grated
1 tsp of ground cinnamon
1,5 dl of melted butter

1.) Dissolve the fresh yeast in the cold milk.
2.) Mix the flour, salt, sugar, apple and cinnamon in a large bowl.
3.) Add half of the milk/yeast solution, and stir well.
4.) Add the rest of the milk/yeast solution together with the melted butter, and stir well.
5.) Set aside and leave to rise for a couple of hours at room temperature.
6.) Bake waffles in a waffle iron.
7.) Serve lukewarm, with your favourite topping.

Enjoy!

Some days...

...you are kept company by a tiny snail while cleaning blackcurrants before making blackcurrant marmalade...

Some days...

... you are living on the edge...

Today I went for a hike in the mountains together with my husband. We hiked to the peak of Rørsethornet, then across the egde onwards to the peak called Ræstadhornet and back again. This hike is quite well known, as it was featured in the reality TV show 71° Nord / 71° North a couple of years ago - a reality show that has been a success in many other countries.