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!!!