WEIRD FOOD CRAVINGS

I think all expatriates have cravings for their favorite foods from home. What's weird is when you crave the foods you never liked. For me it was marshmallows. Can't stand them. Even as a child I thought they were too sweet and fakey tasting. Didn't like them in my hot chocolate,fruit salads, or jello. Then at about age nine I joined the BROWNIES and at a campfire meet tasted my first s'mores. Ahhhhhh!, so that's why marshmallows exist in the universe! For my Norwegian readers here is the recipe for s'mores. You will need a bag of large marshmallows, a box of graham crackers and some Hershey's chocolate bars.And a campfire. First you break the graham cracker in half and place a piece of the chocolate bar on top of one half of the cracker.Then you roast some marshmallows over that campfire you were wondering about. When a marshmallow is roasted you put it on top of the chocolate bar and then smoosh the second half of the graham cracker on top. Wait a few seconds while the heat of the marshmallow begins to melt the chocolate. Then take a bite. You won't be able to stop yourself and will gobble the whole thing up. When it's all gone you will turn to the person sitting next to you around the campfire and proclaim "I want SOME MORE!" The two words-some more- became shortened to s'mores. It is common BROWNIE and GIRLSCOUT folklore.

 

So when I saw marshmallows at the grocery store (a here today gone tomorrow thing in Kristiansund) I grabbed a couple of bags, picked up some chocolate bars, and went in search of graham crackers. Game over. No graham crackers thus no s'mores. I fumed,I whined, and I wandered aimlessly around the store with my bags of now useless to me marshmallows. This is where it gets weird. I started craving something marshmallowey. I actually was starving for that too sweet fakey flavor. I looked at the back of the marshmallow bag wondering if there were some interesting Scandinavian marshmallow recipes. That's when I laughed.

Marshmallows in a green salad??? Not for me. Norwegians are very healthy eaters so maybe they tell their children "sure you can have some marshmallows but you have to eat them in a salad".

Then I remembered Rice Krispies Treats. I never liked them before but now I just had to make some. Of course there were no rice crispies but I did find some puffed rice cereal and thought I could make a substitute. I hurried home with my marshmallows and puffed rice and got to cooking. I read on David Leibovitz' blog that his Parisian friends just loved it when he made them. I made a huge pan so I could treat all my norwegian friends. Then I tasted them. And I found out puffed rice is no substitute for Rice Krispies. I had just made a gargantuan block of marshmallow yuck. No matter how long you chewed the puffed rice disaster it just kept getting bigger and chewier and yuckier in your mouth. Steve gallantly tried to eat a few bars of the stuff but his jaws got tired. I'm so glad there were no Norwegians at the house to try them. But I still have two more bags of marshmallows in the back of my pantry. Maybe I'll get lucky and find some Nabisco Graham Crackers and Rice Krispies when I travel to Oslo for school........cause I can't get this craving out of my mind!

 

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SKETCHING IN KRISTIANSUND

After I finish my Norwegian language course,sometime in July, I hope to start a sketching club in Kristiansund. I've noticed they have a camera club,art club,knitting club,diving club, and many other clubs here so why not a sketching club. I was inspired by the URBAN SKETCHERS blog where correspondents from around the world send in sketches of their cities. I hardly ever see anything from Norway. Time to get some sketches of Kristiansund out there! So I'll start with some of mine.

Of course one of the things I had to sketch was our famous lady,Clipfishwoman . The next two sketches are from the other side of Kirkelandet. The first one is looking out towards Averoy Lighthouse and the second one is looking across a small inlet to some summer houses in Karihola.

 

 

 

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17th Mai

 

I know,I know......I am a few days late with my 17th Mai (equivalent of July 4th in USA) posting. But I needed several days to recover. NOT from partying too hard,but from all the walking I did . The walk into town,around town,and back home nearly killed me. I got home around 2pm and went straight to bed whimpering over my aching legs and feet.

This is how you dress for the 17th if you don't have a set of the traditional costume. That is our opera house at the top of the street behind my handsome husband.

This is the traditional costume for Norway. It is called a "bunad" and from what I understand the term is used for both the male and female attire. The adults wear a more elaborate version with a lot of embroidery,a shawl, and silver jewelry.

Even the Clipfishwoman got dressed up with a basket of flowers.

 

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Souvenir Cups

Since I don't look good in souvenir t- shirts anymore,(did I ever?) I started buying coffee cups from the places we have traveled. They are souvenirs we use daily. Steve got into cup collecting too, even though he still looks good in a t-shirt.

Another Norway cup but sadly, not made in Norway.

 

Steve picked up these two cups in Brazil on a business trip. The top one was hand painted.

We both fell in love with these fine bone china cups depicting classic planes such as the Spitfire,Tiger Moth,and Lancaster. We are also big FOYLE'S WAR fans. They were purchased in Heathrow and get extra points from me for being made in England. I was terribly shocked to see that the Paddington Bear souvenirs were not.....that just doesn't seem right.

This is probably my favorite. It was purchased on the Cutty Sark before it burnt down.

You can't go to Dublin and not get something that says Guinness. Sadly not much except the beer is made in Ireland.

This cup, depicting Van Gogh's Irises was bought on our first trip to Amsterdam about ten years ago. Visiting the Van Gogh Museum fulfilled a lifelong dream.

This one we bought last year at the new Scheep Vaart Museum. We visited the museum on our previous trip to Amsterdam and I was truly impressed at the makeover.

 

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KRISTIANSUND LIVINGROOM, KRISTIANSUND STUE

Living on a small island where the ocean is seldom out of sight seems to have pushed our decorating tastes in the livingroom,(stue in Norsk ) towards the nautical. This is still a work in progress as we are making some of the things ourselves. And some of those projects (mine!) failed miserably so we are pursuing other options. Like shopping. Which sometimes seems to take longer than making it yourself if you come from the U.S. where stores are open on Sundays and til 9pm at night on weekdays. On the flip side, it's nice to see everybody enjoying Sundays off with their families.

With a view like this from the livingroom windows the sea is always in your thoughts.

I did manage to sew those pillows.....

And more pillows. I also painted the bird that was a gift. Yes,I know I need more Art on the walls!

Here's the boat model Steve (the husband) built of the ENDEAVOR.

Steve read all the Patrick O'Brian books so I had some prints he had of the SURPRISE framed for him.

More pillows and the 50 pound tray we made together. It really does weigh a ton.....

It's a loooong room with some more empty walls at the other end.

 

Christmas present I painted for Steve. It's supposed to represent us. The image of the diver I copied from a vintage Russian children's book.

A black necked stilt I painted ages ago.

And a norwegian fireplace with a homemade broom from Louisiana made by Sharon Gamel of Sweptaway.

 

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KRISTIANSUND SOUVENIR

 

Here is a coffee cup I bought in Kristiansund made by a local artist. The name on the bottom of the cup is Astri Nordås. Norwegians are big coffee drinkers. The drawing on the front of the cup is of my personal favorite statue in town. I call her Bicycle Girl. She takes me back to a time when your bike was your best friend,your mustang, always ready for an adventure.....

And this is the back of the cup with our little harbour sundbåten.

 

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Time For Tulips

 

Last week we had snow,sleet,hail,slush,a two minute rainbow, and then sunshine in the evenings. Temperatures dropped back into the thirties. I couldn't blame the tulips for not wanting to come out and play.

Now we have "warmed" up to the low fifties, ( I hear my Florida family's teeth chattering) the sun is out and the flowers want to say hello.

 

 

I just love the surprise of those dark centers.

Even my raised garden is sprouting. They honestly grow the best strawberries in Norway. Everyone has a few " jordbær" plants tucked into a pot or window box . I grew some the first year we were in the house out on the back balcony but the magpies got most of them. Looking at how tall they are growing I don't think the wire cover is going to stop those clever birds. We have a nest of magpies in the big conifer by our house. I don't mind sharing with my neighbors. But can you leave me a few please, mr. and mrs. Magpie?

There's the conifer with their nest. Also I wanted to show off all the hard work Hubbie did staining the decks he built.

 

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