Spring has sprung early this year and we are loving it!

I woke up this morning to see the sun forcefully squeezing its big fat self round the edges of what is supposedly a blackout blind, which, along with the wagging tail belonging to the body, belonging to the big brown eager eyes staring at me, I took as a strong signal to get the heck up woman.  So I did. And actually it was a good move.

Sunday or no Sunday, lie in deserved or not, we lost an hour last night as winter turned miraculously into summer and with the weather we are having at the moment it would have been a waste not to.

So actually I am only sitting here while I eat my breakfast, post first dog walk, because this weather is too good to waste. To put this into context, Norway is a cold country in winter, it`s cold too in spring normally (thermals for Norway`s national day 17th May are not unheard of), frost-shy plants can`t go outdoors until May, it can also be relatively cold and damp in summer too…but every now and then we get amazing weather. Sometimes this is in the form of brilliant sun on deep snow, but on this occasion we are having what a lily-livered person like me would call a proper spring.

Yesterday temperatures reached 15 degrees, with no wind and it looks pretty much like doing the same, if not bettering that, today.

There might just be a bit of this later!

As I head off then into what can loosely be described as a garden (probably to just wander around a bit before deciding it would be rude not to hit the hammock swing chair thingy), if I may I will just try to illustrate the reason I and all my neighbours at least are feeling full of the joys of spring! Oh, and it might just have something to do with the fact that in just 5 days time we get a week off work for Easter which for me will include a girlie weekend with gal pals I haven`t seen for quite literally a year.

The first photo was taken this morning (shame you can`t hear the cacaphony of birds tweeting) and the second one 18th March 2011 – have a lovely day everyone!

Looking up the road 25th March 2012

Looking up the road 18th March 2011

Last week, Lysbakken resigned his position as Minister of Children and Equality (as in the UK, I understand ministers cannot be fired here, merely encouraged to resign) because of revelations of the misappropriation of what is, essentially I guess, tax payers´ money, with not just one, but several instances where his department awarded funds to causes with close ties to his own political party and personal contacts, without going through the appropriate channels and basically, without showing the receipts. While, sadly, he is hardly the first politician to stand accused of favouritism and corruption, I had to laugh, when reading around the subject, I then came upon the following:

• In response to the lack of transparency in politics and secret alliances, Lysbakken is quoted in the paper Klassekampen 27.05.2004 as saying (roughly translated), “Secrecy is a culture which we don`t want, it has a suppressive effect on team morale. We must have transparency.”

• In 2003, as a member of the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs, he was one of three parliamentary representatives who, in the light of the Enron scandal, penned a suggestion to parliament regarding the measures that should be taken against economic criminality and unethical behaviour in business (reference Document nr 8:129 (2002-2003)), where they basically outline the need for clear guidelines to avoid situations where those in power exploit their position …

Now that`s what I call irony!

And finally, as an aside, this man was chosen yesterday, by his party (the Socialist Left), as their new leader and is bullishly suggesting that these “mistakes” are going to make him better placed to lead. That may well be, but can we really not expect politicians to practice what they preach? And aren`t the best leaders those who profile integrity, humility and a well defined sense of morality, or am I just being ironic too?

Photos all copyright of Jordan Armstrong

…Norway through the eye of a first time visitor who happens to be a dab hand with a camera!

It´s so much fun showing people around the place – not least so they can see that Norway is much more than dramatic fjords and mountains. It´s also got miles and miles of coastline, woodlands, wildlife and the quirky sights and seasons of this idiosyncratic little country…

Last weekend we had visitors from England, my little sister and her friend Jordan who also happens to be a keen photographer – fascinating to see the details someone spontaneously picks out when visiting for the first time! 

The gallery function works really well by the way – just click on one photo and move easily from that to the next.

Striking Viking - testing the camera on the iPhone

Despite having spent the better part of two decades writing about technology and the benefits of its application, I´m not the brightest button in the box when it comes to using it myself – I am all fingers and thumbs, reading glasses and a far too short attention span for user manuals. And if I get as far as mustering the question “so, how does it work then?” I usually mean this with lashings of irony – at best the question will be rhetorical.

However, in the case of cameras, I do wish I had an extra dollop of patience as I know this would increase the chances of me taking better shots. Having said that I am really happy with my latest, a Casio Exilim, except for this last weekend when I couldn`t find the battery charger – bit of a bummer really with a visitor from the UK to show round, a photographer who was just as keen to take back images as a souvenir as we were to find him interesting images to capture while sharing the joys of doing so.

The beach looked deceptively inviting

So, feeling slightly dubious and non too optimistic, I decided that rather than try to master him indoors´ posh SLR jobbie, I would just further test the point, click and hope ability of the camera part of my still new and foreign-feeling iPhone.  It has to be said though that the weather was so unseasonably wonderful for February in Norway and where we decided to go, so pretty and full of potential subject matter, that from the outset the circumstances were pretty favourable.  But anyway, to cut the preambulating waffle, here are some images taken around Stavern, a coastal town just south of Larvik, on a highly unseasonally warm and pleasant day in February. They are not a patch on some of those our visitor took, but the pick of my little bunch.

The new header, by the way, was taken on the way to work one day last week, trying to capture the last colours of what had been a striking sunrise.

These warehouses are dated 1765

If you look closely you can see SuperSpeed 1 on the horizon, on its way to Denmark

Straight into the sun, but a typical vista for this part of the coastline

A fitting close to what has been a great weekend…

Sarah Bernhardt cakes look something like this (photo credit: Meny supermarkets)

While not wishing to offend, I have to admit that I am generally not very fond of Norwegian cakes. I find them generally either boring and dry or too creamy and unimaginative. It´s a subjective choice of course and my personal preference is for cakes that include an element of fruit in some shape or form, either that or anything that walks out of a French patisserie. Having said that, I do have a favourite and despite the fact that I understand they were created in Denmark by a patisserie chef who wanted to honour the grand dame of the theatre herself, they are a popular choice here in Norway too.

That said, if you look up the subject on the web, you´ll find a bewildering number of variations on the theme. So, given that when I finally get round to making them, they do always, despite their not always uniform appearance, seem to get eaten with surprising gusto and if I can make them anyone can – I love cooking I just don`t have the wherewithall or patience to faff around making sweet stuff that I know I will want more than six of and that demands precision and timing and usually generates tons of washing up and a messy kitchen – I thought I would share my recipe for them.

And the reason for doing so now (given that I usually only make them at Christmas) is that I made some last night to take to work today and to be honest everything that could go wrong did so. So, unlike the trend for recipes that are heavy on the photos, short on the all important stupid questions you often need to ask, this is going to be the other way round!

Here goes:

The base
For this I use 250 g ground almonds, 200g icing sugar and three egg whites

1. Now you can use ready ground almonds but I think that`s cheating so I have an almond grinder. Problem is when it says 250 g, does it mean 250g pre-skinned and ground or the finished result i.e how to regard the x per cent that gets lost in the nooks and crannies of the grinder and the puddle that inevitably escapes the bowl when you over-enthusiastically whip the grinder handle round? I believe it to be the net result, hence I weigh out about 280 g, boil them up in a shallow pan of water, let them bubble for about half a minute or so then drain and rinse quickly under a cold tap. You then need to skin and grind them but using two clean tea towels it doesn`t take long. Centre them in one, cover with the second and rub and squeeze them until all the skins have sloughed off. It`s the most time-consuming aspect of the job, and you´ll need to grind into a bowl relative in size to your grinder, but once you`ve done it, the rest is plain sailing and it does add to the satisfaction that you are making them properly from scratch.
2. Transfer the ground almonds to another bowl and mix thoroughly with the icing sugar
3. Put the oven on to 180 degrees C and cover two baking sheets with baking paper
4. With an electric whisk, whisk the three egg whites (saving 2 of the yokes in a separate bowl) until soft, creamy and fairly stiff peaky
5. Combine carefully with the almond and icing sugar mixture with a metal spoon
6. Wash your hands in cold water and leave them damp – this will help you to form the patties for the base without the gunk sticking to your fingers (repeat underway, under tap as necessary)
7. With a desert spoon as a tool, scoop out and form even balls the size of a decent Brussel sprout (this is important – too big and they will be too over-powering, two small and the base will be too hard) and place them with a little room to spread on the paper covered trays and slightly flatten the top. It will make loads.
8. Bake in the oven for about 15 mins depending on your oven until they start to turn brown (a light caramel colour not a mocca tan)
9. Remove from oven and remove from paper with a spatula while warm and (importantly, which I forgot yesterday) turn them flat side up to cool (which I also forgot to do) on a drying rack

While they were in the oven you can be making the cream filling – no need to rush though as it is a good idea to let them cool for at about ten good minutes so the filling doesn`t just melt and slide off (and yes, I started out with mine mountain side up and wondered why on earth the filling was sliding through the rack all over the work surface). For this you need:

Filling:
75 g butter (slightly salted works for me)
100g icing sugar
1 tsp vanilla sugar
2 egg yokes
1 dsp good cocoa powder

Now here I think you are supposed to use butter that has been aclimatising to room temp for a good hour or so beforehand, but who on earth remembers to start preparation that early? I just melt it gently in a pan and then simply combine all the ingredients in a bowl mixing until smooth and this takes about two minutes flat. This you then spread in small blobs onto the top of your macaroony bottoms, taking care to go as close and neatly as you can to the edges (if you fail to do this neatly don`t stress – I made a right pig´s ear of mind yesterday but they still tasted fine).

You are then ready for the last stage which is the chocolate topping. I guess you could put them in the fridge but I am always too impatient to get them finished so I just get on with the rest, to heck with the consequences.

Topping:
The topping is equally dead simple. It´s just 100g good dark chocolate (decent cooking chocolate is fine though) melted in a bowl over a pan of simmering water and a spoonful of butter to soften. If, for some unfathomable reason, instead of melting, the chocolate just seems to coagulate (as again, mine scarily did yesterday, although how on earth you can get melting chocolate wrong beats me) add a touch of hot water from the tap and mix furiously, taking care not to scald yourself on the steam from the pan and equally careful not to slop hot water, with or without chocolate involved, into an open cutlery drawer you have opened in a panic to get another spoon with which to bash said chocolate into melted submission.

Once melted, drip, drizzle or sling (any way you like) the chocolate over the little cake thingies and place onto a sensible flat tray (again, don`t pick one with sloping sides – or everything will slide off) and put into the fridge to cool. They can then actually stay there until you are ready to serve them (within normal standards of houswifery reason). The creamy middle stops them going too hard.

I usually make mine the night before I want to serve them, but the very best thing about these is they can be made in advance and then frozen, only to be taken out just before you need them. They thaw in no time at all and can actually be eaten almost from frozen if you are that impatient/pressed for time (so I understand…).

This is not posed, they did all get eaten and not by me!

So there you have it. I guess I should have taken a photo or two before they got scoffed but you can see the Meny supermarket version one at the top. I will take some next time I make them but don`t anticipate doing so again for a while.

Finally though what do they taste like? Well you have a slightly chewy almondy macaroony bottom with a very sweet but not unpleasant blob of contrasting chocolate butter cream (I believe the cocoa powder to be an important addition here mind) topped with a smooth layer of slightly bitter dark chocolate on top and they do, literally, melt in the mouth.

Lastly then, if you really have actually read all this – wow, thanks!

The result of a leaky flat roof which was fixed outwardly last autumn and carpenters who have procrastinated longer than a husband asked to take out some trash, the phone call finally arrived mid last week to say they would be turning up, screwdrivers at the ready, tomorrow morning to see to the inside. Now, while we don`t live in a palace and had really relatively little to shift, we do have several unwieldy and rather heavy pieces of furniture, a twisty windy hallway to kitchen passage and fifteen years of accumulated candle ends, dodgy vases and about 300 aquavit glasses (OK I kid a little) all stuffed into the drawers, cupboards and crevasses of said furniture. To add to the dread was the fact that the helpfully large sliding doors onto the terrace through which said bulky items originally made their entrance, was also suffering from a busted lock that unfortunately was in the jammed-shut-and-won`t-budge position and temperatures down in the minus teens.

Gratuitous shot out of the window at the fresh Feb Norwegian snow

But the point of this is to say that, as with many things one dreads, it didn`t turn out to be half as bad as anticipated, in fact I have actually enjoyed the process. With the help of his Nordicness and his Nordicness`s long-suffering brother as the brawn (for the few pieces I couldn`t be expected to help with), and a locksmith who thankfully turned up at the eleventh hour, all the cardboard boxes I had irritatingly insisted we didn`t throw out smugly came into their own and I sit here now – job done. But the really weird thing is, that it has actually been very therapeutic to clear everything out and see the living space for what it is and whereas I am quite dreading the week or so ahead, it`s so nice to have got such an unpleasant job started and I have to admit, it has given me some ideas about the next pieces of furniture in which we may “need” to invest!

Once this is out of the way, I might even tackle his nibs´office next, but then again maybe he should initiate that himself…

Did somebody say snow?

It snowed yesterday, quite a lot actually, the first real barrage of the stuff we have seen so far this winter, which is unusual really, this being Norway and all that.

Funny stuff snow, it totally transforms the environment, allows all sorts of idiotsyncratic sports to take place and illicits a range of responses. Personally I love it. I think. Not buying this? Well, here goes, I love it because:

1. It is aesthetically pleasing to look at
2. It makes dog walking at night easier as the landscape is illuminated
3. It reminds you that it is winter going downhill into spring and summer

Did I say ten?

I jest of course. I do like it and I do like ski-ing…a bit…in the right place, at the right time, with the right weather, appropriate kit & accessories, especially if we remember to pack water in the rucksack. Bring it on, I say.

Source: The Mirror (UK online newspaper)

Just over a week ago now, I stood, bubbly in hand, adrenalin (sic) in body, together with five other relatively tame (it must be an age thing), but dedicated, New Year party animals, daring to contemplate how lucky I was. Watching fireworks explode out of Big Ben (the TV screen was so big, the oohs and aahs so genuine, it felt like we were there), having had a great Christmas (thanks to all we managed to see), I dared to surmise that 2011 had been a kind and a particularly good one. On a more mundane and immediate level too, the cold I had had in the run up to Christmas had virtually gone…

Specific highlights that spontaneously sprang to mind included a stimulating new job, some great times with friends and family, both in Norway, the UK and Switzerland, and some horizons gently extended, physically and figuratively, not least by the world of blogging (so a big thanks both to those of you who are the bloggers I read for my entertainment and inspiration and an equally big thanks to you for reading and commenting on my self-indulgent outpourings). What´s more, despite the deep felt sadness of losing our dear companion Bradley, generally speaking there was good health for those around us, not to mention close family being augmented by two new humans and, once we were ready, a new adopted dog. “Yup, I´m lucky,” I thought, albeit followed swiftly by a cautious nervous internal chuckle accompanying the perusal “Hm, I wonder how long this will last?”

Well, it lasted precisely one day.

For someone who hates taking pills, this was hard to swallow

Basically since then (until now, obviously!) I have been bedridden, feeling like a crock of something unmentionable. Seemingly, the cold I had had must have left my immune system a bit on the vulnerable side because what I thought was a slight residual cough suddenly evolved somewhat. A stubborn but natural attempt to go to work 2 January, all bright-eyed and bushy tailed, was followed by a return home and collapse into bed three hours later. A subsequent trip to the doctor to get something to clear-it-up-quickly-please-so-I-can-go -back-to-work-tomorrow, turned into tests, prodding and poking and the words, in (almost) random order: mycoplasma pneumonia; bed rest; contagious, you`ve got to be kidding.

But happily, as evidenced by my return now to a familiar mental state, I have slavishly followed (OK, didn`t have to energy to do otherwise) the doctor`s orders and, assisted by some strong antibiotics, am preparing to re-enter the land of the living tomorrow as a (all things are relative) normal human being. So, what´s the point of all this then?

Basically I just wanted to point out that this New Year I have learned a lesson. Unused to being ill – I honestly can`t remember the last time I was forcedly bedridden – I have learned not to take my health for granted, nor that of my nearest and dearest (not that I think I did, but both this and the nasty operation of a good friend I am only used to seeing fit and lively has brought the message home).  So, while, like many others, I guess, who vow in January to aim for better this, that and the other, I do so too, somewhat more humble than I might have been. For the record then, my new year`s resolutions are:

• Not to take a good night`s sleep and good health for granted
• Not to take the health of loved ones for granted
• To stretch myself (every which way and loose)

And of course I also want to eat less, exercise more and to be a nicer person, blah blah, I mean it, blah.

Happy New Year! Hope it brings you health, wealth, happiness and may a good night`s sleep always come easy!

You get to be together with your nearest and dearest for several days on end and rejoice in their company in surroundings that have been tarted up and primped for the occasion, safe in the knowledge that everyone else you know is doing exactly the same. However, I am a creature of habit who loves tradition (in all its shapes and form) and although I am lucky enough to be able to cut and paste from the best of two cultures in preparation for this incomparable season of goodwill and relaxation, certain things are always on my list – and I´m not talking presents here, just my list of elements that merge to form the essential Xmas.

Scene from the Xmas market earlier today at Bærums Verk

Having just returned from a fabulous Xmas party (thanks guys)/sleepover/visit to charming Xmas market combo, I am now rapidly power sliding into a bubble of Xmas spirit so I thought I´d have a go at distilling these elements into a top ten. Here goes:

1. Snow- I know, you don`t always get what you ask for but the odds are stacked in my favour here given the location of my humble abode – Norway is simply Christmas personified, and for this I count my lucky, twinkly stars. Maybe it would be different had I been born in the Caribbean or Florida, but to be frank the palm trees, shorts, sweat and twinkly lights thing just doesn`t do it for me (at this time of year).
   

   Snow and a decoration - double whammy!

   I tried it on two occasions for different reasons and will admit to have actually cried at the beauty of Xmas decorations in Dubai one mid December, but seriously, Xmas and snow are like gin and tonic – why change a winning combination?

2. Decorations – whoo, where to start on this one? I think basically I have a serious cleptomanical addiction issue going on here and an adrenalin rush second to none when surrounded by such beautiful adornments. I do try to limit myself to one or two new bits and bobs a year, but damage limitation on this front is not always guaranteed, unleashed and unsupervised I can go a bit mad. My trump card here though is to buy them when abroad and call them souvenirs and luckily I have a very patient and understanding husband who will mouth appropriately acquiescent platitudes when I dare to suggest our collection needs to grow…
3. Christmas markets – a relative newcomer to them, I just love em and basically can`t get enough of them, but with experience comes a raising of standards and expectations. To date my faves have been Montreux last year with my mate Mel who conveniently currently lives down the road from it, the Germans are pros too and the Norwegian one we went to today at the old ironworks just outside Oslo (Bærums Verk) was also great, not least when it started to snow.
4. Snowballs – aka Warninks advocaat, a dash of lime juice and lemonade, couple of bits of ice and a cocktail cherry. Xmas just isn`t Xmas without, full stop.
5. Christmas TV and soppy films (Love Actually, Three gifts for Cinderella, The Queen`s speech) – it just wouldn`t be the same without.
6. Pyjamas – to slob around in while drinking nr 4, watching nr 5 and recovering from nr 7.
7. Christmas Dinner – in addition to being a creature of habit I am also a glutton and although if asked to pick, turkey with all the trimmings (but please, no messing around trying to make brussel sprouts fancy, they are fab as they are) would be my first choice, I do also love the traditional Norwegian versions based on either pork or dried and salted lamb (no, really, it tastes great, especially washed down with aquavit) although I am not too keen on the Norwegian pudding choices.
8. Presents – I know, materialism is bad and most of us really do have more than we need of everything but generally I just love looking for Xmas presents, wrapping them, looking at them under the tree, giving them and getting them, from the silly and the quirky through the realms of useful, right on to lusted after objects of desire. It really is the thought that counts, the thought and care that goes on behind the scenes.
9. English pubs – from the cheesy decorations and oh so familiar festive pop songs to roaring fires, half pints of scrummy cider and farmers with their dogs, I just love English pubs at Christmas.
10. And, of course, last but not least, the Christmas story. While not a religious person by any means I have to admit to liking the Christmas story, the reason for the whole shebang along with the omnipresent theme of goodwill to all men and carol services in church.

I guess what I am simply trying to say here is that for some reason it`s sneaked up on me this year and until recently now I didn`t feel prepared but now, with just two weeks to go, I am really looking forward to Christmas and hope you are too!