Norwegian Cooking: Serina Cookies

The finished product

When I was younger, I thought that these cookies were just a tradition in our family. See, my great grandmother was called Serina, and I obviously thought that was the reason for why we were making them. At any rate, they are a delicious butter cookie that you just keep eating and eating… and uh… soon there is nothing left. This recipe has been doubled from the original recipe, from Meierienes Prøvekjøkken.
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Cakes: Redcurrant or blackcurrant cake

Before the Christmas baking set seriously in, my mother had to have a birthday cake. Mum does not particularly care for cream cakes, so this was an easy choice to bake. It first came into the family when Sister started Home Economics in sixth grade and it has been with the family since then. Especially since we usually end up with more redcurrants than we can reasonably eat. (Personally, I’m not a big redcurrant fan, but I like them in this cake.)

It is a quick and easy cake to make, and if you don’t have blackcurrants or redcurrants, I would think you could substitute with blueberries or other similar berries. Given the season, it might not be easy to get fresh berries, so frozen berries work perfectly.

I ended up making double the size to fill a Bundt pan. (Otherwise, it is the recipe for two 22 cm round cake pans)

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Norwegian cooking: Sitronfromasj

Or, lemon mousse in English, of which there seems to be oodles of recipes on the internet.

I think the first time I really made this dessert, was back in home ec. in seventh grade. I remember it, because the other dish my group had to prepare, boiled fish of some sort, ended up being inedible, and so it was really pure luck that the lemon mousse turned out splendidly.

This time around, many things seemed to go wrong, and it did not turn out perfectly in consistency – the mousse refused to set properly. But as it tasted absolutely delicious, and tart, I’m still sharing

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The danger of working at the library

Is the cookbook shelf. I keep bringing them home, because I’m so tempted by the covers and the titles… But I don’t know where (or if) I’ll get the time to make all of these recipes that look interesting.

Healthy Cooking: Carrot patties

After really binging this weekend (why, oh, why?) I felt the need for something healthy for dinner today. I landed on carrot patties – made from the same principle as hamburger patties, I guess, but without meat.

If you have a food processor, this is not a time-consuming recipe. If not, like me, you’re going to be spending some time shredding the carrots and potatoes.

Carrot patties (gives about 6-7 patties)

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Literary cooking: Miss Trunchbull’s Chocolate Cake

For this year’s Halloween bash, it was a goal for us to have a thoroughly gross fare on the table.

We borrowed Roald Dahl’s Revolting Recipes by Felicity Dahl and Josie Fison, illustrated by Quentin Blake (in Norwegian) from the library and glanced through it. While a lot of the recipes were decidedly revolting, there was also a limit as to what could be done easily, and what was really suitable for a party for adults…

We ended up making the chocolate cake from Matilda. It’s called Bruce Bogtrotter’s Chocolate Cake in the book, but I wonder if the more accurate name would be Miss Trunchbull’s Chocolate Cake?

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Norwegian cooking: Pearl Porridge

Growing up, I always loved going to my grandmother’s to eat. Not just the Sunday steak, where dinner was followed by dessert, which in turn was followed by coffee and cakes, but also for some of the more everyday meals. One of those meals was sago porridge, or pearl porridge as we used to call it.

According to Wikipedia, an ever reliable source, I know, the sago is “a starch extracted from the pith of sago palm stems, Metroxylon sagu.” It is a small, round grain, looking like a pearl, that apparently can be substituted for tapioca pearls.

This weekend, my sister and I decided to see if the porridge was as tasty as what we could remember from what we were younger, or if we just were idolizing the memories.
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World Cup

And with the tie in the match against Israel today, Switzerland will be going to the World Cup in South Africa next summer.

Even though the match apparently was nothing to write home about, they did what they were supposed to do – deny Greece the #1 spot in the group.

Switzerland in the World Cup?

After last night’s round of matches… there is only one round of matches left in the European world cup preliminaries. Some teams have definitely qualified, of which Denmark is one. (Things were a bit crazy in Copenhagen before the match, including Swedish and Danish hooligans crashing on the main street.)

Norway is definitely out.

It is just my luck that Switzerland is in one of the two groups where it is still not clear who will go to South Africa next year. (In the other group Slovakia and Slovenia are battling for the top spot, which is out of reach for the Czech republic.)

As far as my limited football understanding goes: Switzerland is in the World Cup if they a) beat Israel (in which case they will end with 23 points) or b) tie with Israel in the final match. (in which case they will end with 21 points). As it is, they are currently standing with 20 points, and Greece has 17 points

Should they lose to Israel, they will depend on Luxembourg beating Greece, or a tie. If Greece beats Luxembourg, and the Swiss lose to Israel – they will stand even at 20 points. In which case, Greece will finish first, and Switzerland second.  (A whole ‘nother ball game comes into play for second place should Greece lose to Luxembourg. The Swiss would qualify, but the second place might go to Latvia.)

At any rate, the Swiss have secured at least a second place in the group, granting them the play-off chance, if they should not get the first spot and automatic qualification.

Anxiously awaiting Wednesday’s matches.

Copenhagen

Sometimes it is strange coming back to old haunts; I moved from Copenhagen earlier this summer. And I’ve been visiting again this weekend.

From the moment on the metro when I didn’t get off on my usual stop, close by where I used to live, things have been kind of odd. I know this place, but I’m a tourist, nevertheless.

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