Norwegian-style waffles are softer than the Belgian ones. There are about as many different recipes as there are households, I’d think. They’re usually heart-shaped, but I couldn’t resist using my sister’s Mickey Mouse waffle-iron.

These ones came about when I was cleaning up my diet by doing  low-GI for a while after Christmas, but still wanted a treat to serve guests. I’ve used the basic recipe from Norwegian site Det Søte Liv, but tried to adapt a bit to the fact that I was avoiding regular white sugar.

Ingredients:

400 ml oatmeal/rolled oats
300 ml buttermilk
300 ml milk
2 eggs
3 tbsp melted butter
0.5 tbsp crystalline fructose, or other sweetener.
0.5 ts+ baking soda
2 tbsp barley flour

How to:
1. Put the oats in a bowl with the milk and the buttermilk. Leave it for about an hour.
2. Gently whisk the eggs together.
3. Add the eggs, the melted butter and the crystalline fructose to the oats/milk/buttermilk mixture.
4. Add the baking soda and barley flour and mix well.
5. Let the dough stand for 15 minutes before baking.
6. Bake in a waffle iron until golden. (You might consider using a bit of butter or cooking spray on the waffle iron depending on its non-stick capabilities.)
7. Serve with jam, sour cream, butter or cheese.

The problem with recommending the new chocolate sauce and mousse-filled dark chocolate bar to everyone… Is that I keep giving myself cravings.

Help?

This is an incredibly easy lasagna.

As it is bacon, and parmesan cheese, it is also packed with flavor.

The recipe comes from a leaflet I got with BBC Good Food back in September. They do have the most yummy-looking recipes, and the times I’ve tried them out – I’ve always been happy with the results.

As it is also online – here is the link to the full recipe.

My adaptions:

• As I’m always looking to cut corners when I cook in my tiny little kitchen, and this really is the lazy person’s version of lasagna… I bought already cubed bacon bits.
• To add a bit of extra flavor to the dish, instead of going for regular cans of chopped tomatoes, I went with the chopped tomatoes with added garlic.
• I froze it in the middle of step 3 – before baking it in the oven, as I utilized what they taught me in Library school (aka. I Googled it), and discovered that freezing prior to baking would give the best result. I took it out of the freezer the night before I planned on serving it, and thawed it in the fridge overnight until I baked it in the middle of the day.

All in all, it is a yummy dish that I plan to make again some day.

Oooh, this Lifehacker tip on how to make cookie bowls look kind of interesting. Anyone tried it?

It’s a sign I’ve been around enough geologists in my job that I understood some of the jargon in there. At least I understand cake.

To be frank – this cake was only made because I had a carton of buttermilk that was about to expire. I know that expiration date on buttermilk is not a firm date – the milk is fermented after all – but it was the kick I needed to make this. It is easy, quick and freezes quite well.

Unlike a lot of other cakes, I think that this doesn’t taste as good out of the oven, but the moistness of the cake makes it perfect for eating the next day – or freezing and then eating.

The original recipe comes from the amazing Norwegian website, Det Søte Liv.

Ingredients for the cake
250 g butter, melted and cooled.
800 g sugar
800 g all-purpose flour
2 tsp vanilla extract
8 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp baking soda
1 liter buttermilk/fermented milk product

1.  Mix the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl.
2. Set the oven to 200 degrees
3. Add the butter, buttermilk and vanilla extract.
4. Combine well, until the batter is smooth and without lumps.
5. Pour the batter into a sheet-pan (30×40 cm), covered in baking/parchment paper. Make sure it is fairly even.
6. Bake for approximately 30 minutes.
7. Cool the cake in the pan.

Frosting
100 g butter, melted and cooled.
500 g powdered sugar
3-4 tbsp cocoa
4 tsp vanilla extract
8 tbsp milk

1. Add all the ingredients together and mix until smooth.
2. Pour over the cake once it is cool.
3. Let the frosting cool before cutting (unless you want the jagged little edges that I have.)

Freezes well.

I’ve had my juicer for a fair bit now – and although it is a pain to clean up since I don’t have a dishwasher – it does see semi-regular use.

I have discovered some don’ts – cucumber juice is not all that good when it is the core ingredient, actually. On the similar level, too many spinach leaves gives the juice a certain earthiness that I can well do without. (A few is enough to give the juice an enchanting green flavor, especially if you pair it with kiwis)

And I have discovered some good flavors. Carrots seem to work fantastically well in juice. Adding a couple of grapes (not many, by any means) gives whichever juice you make a tiny hint of sweetness.

My standard combination tends to be a couple of apples, and whichever fruit or veg I’ve forgotten about.

The one in the picture was:
2 Pink Lady apples
1 Golden Delicious apple
1 pear
2 small stalks of celery
3 medium carrots.

For whatever reason, whenever I am in the store, I feel like I have to buy carrots, regardless of how much I may have at home, so juicing them is one way to deal with that.

The problem with getting recipes from the Internet is that there will usually be some part of it that is impossible to get, or to understand. For those of us who don’t get our butter in sticks… recipes that feature that measurement can be incomprehensible.

That is, until you find a butter converter. It becomes easier to find the right amount to fulfill the requirements in the recipe.

And, while I loved the Pioneer Woman’s Cajun Chicken on New Year’s Eve – I spent quite a bit of time scouring Norwegian grocery stores looking for Cajun spice mix. It couldn’t be found. However, the power of the Internet came to my aid, with Mary Makes Dinner and Simply recipes each giving off slight variation of Cajun Spice Mix.

Similarly, I just tried my hand at making pizza dough – and the recipe specified a pack of yeast. Yeast does not come in the same size packages in Norway and the US, so figuring out how much should be in there isn’t necessarily easy.

But that’s the beauty of the Internet. You can find out these things, and find substitutes that may work based on flavor profile or consistency.

Some people eat the same thing each New Year’s Eve. My parents, for example, have landed on the tradition of having tacos (every guest is responsible for one part), whereas others go for turkey or other Norwegian traditions that they didn’t eat on Christmas Eve.

My sister and I have celebrated New Year’s Eve the quiet way for a couple of years now. We watch movies and play board games – helped by the fact that the view from my flat is spectacular once the fireworks starts.

And, we put together a menu of food from various blogs and such that have caught our eyes in the previous year.

Last weekend’s menu:
Brie in puff pastry
Cajun chicken pasta
Mango sorbet and Molten lava cakes.

On its own, the mango sorbet was kind of dull, in a refreshing sorbet kind of way, but with the warm, gooey chocolate from the lava cakes, it was perfect.

When I posted the name of this recipe on Facebook, one of my Dutch friends said: “We call this kind of thing something completely different in the Netherlands.”

The recipe comes from Macaroni & Cheesecake, They’re perfectly fudgey and chocolatey. And just right for freezing for later as well.

Ingredients
Brownies:
200 g granulated sugar
160 g brown sugar
180 g butter, melted
2 tablespoons water
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
175 g all-purpose flour
110 g unsweetened cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
Ganache:
125 ml heavy cream
200 g bittersweet or semi sweet chocolate
pinch of sea salt
colorful candies or sprinkles, for decorating

How to

1. Stir together melted butter, water, sugar & brown sugar until well combined.

2. Add the eggs and the vanilla extract and stir until fully incorporated.

3. Sift in the dry ingredients. Mix well.

4.  Preheat oven to 175 degrees C.

5. Line a 22 x 33 cm baking pan with parchment paper

6. Pour the batter into the baking pan and try to spread it evenly.

7. Bake for approximately 20 minutes until the brownies have started to set in the middle.

8. Let the brownies cool.

9. While the brownies are cooling, heat up the cream in a small saucepan over medium heat to a simmer. It should not boil.

10. Place the chocolates in a bowl and pour the cream over the chocolate. Sprinkle with salt.

11. Gently stir the cream with a spoon until all the chocolate has melted and incorporated in the cream. Let it cool a bit.

12. When the brownies have mostly cooled, pour the chocolate ganache over them and try to spread it evenly.

13. Sprinkle with sprinkles.

14. Cool completely in the refrigerator.

15. Cut into squares before serving.