Norwegianne.net

Norwegianne.net

  • Bubble tea at home

    Bubble tea at home

    I have such a weakness for bubble tea that I walked an insane amount on holiday to get it. Multiple times. In multiple cities.

    And so, I had to try to make it myself. Today the tapioca pearls arrived in the mail.

    I followed the mix of the recipe from the vendor and this one.

    Because I am also crazy about passion fruit flavoured tea (and my favourite Danish chain of coffee shops have stopped selling it) – I used a passion fruit syrup instead of the almond syrup. Next time, I’ll probably also go for passion fruit flavoured tea, instead of the Yellow label Black tea this time.

    Current mode: sitting in the shade, feeling the warm breeze and sipping on my bubble tea.

    Even though I’m working the rest of summer, this is a pretty nice holiday throwback.

  • In a small corner of an overgrown garden

    In a small corner of an overgrown garden

    someone has, quite cozily, placed a pair of chairs. A nook to escape the world, on warm and too sunny days.

    This, I want to replicate the feeling of… as I don’t have a garden.

    I have the chairs and a balcony. The next purchase will be a sun shade of some kind. So I can use my outdoor space on sunny days.

  • Books for summer

    Books for summer

    I’m a librarian, and I do spend a lot of time reading. What I look for in a summer book:  it should be easy to get into and worth the effort. So many books, so little time.

    Nonfiction recommendation
     I first saw this in Berlin, and had to read it. I read the biography of Angela Merkel a while back, and it sort of gave me an interest in stories about growing up in East Germany.

    This book is not about Merkel. Although, it is the same era. The history of Germany from the end of WWII to the fall of the Berlin wall.  It is the story of a family, where the oldest daughter escapes from East Germany, and the rest of the family remains behind the Iron Curtain. I liked it, because I feel like I don’t often get this duality of the history presented so personally.

     

    I am sort of reading my way through the Kennedy siblings, and their parents, if I can put it like that. It first started with Jack, in an old biography of my Dad’s. Then another one on him. And then came the books on Rose, Rosemary, Kick, Teddy, Jean… and now Eunice. (and I’ve also read the Schwarzenegger biography on the same read-through and recommend that as well.)

    What I like about this, is that Eunice is by no means portrayed as a perfect person – despite the title. So often, I feel like I am reading biographies and they’ve suddenly turned into saints. But here, there are foibles and flaws.

    Now, onto Robert, maybe. I’m not sure if biographies on Joe, Joe Sr. and Pat exist?

    I’m not sure why I picked this up, to be honest, but the story of going through astronaut training – and later on spending a year in space on the ISS was truly captivating. I keep recommending it to patrons at the library and now I recommend it to you.

    Fiction

    A college-aged, diverse story, with an asexual heroine. It is more a coming-of-age story than a true romance, but still has its happy ending. I was truly sad to see this book end.

    With the football world cup going on, the romance novel Kulti with its football playing characters (male hero is a German former footballer, turned assistant coach, female heroine is an American footballer on the team he is assisting.) is a delicious seasonal read. It is just gloriously fun to follow the characters through their romance.

    A male librarian hero? I can tell you that (probably) none of the fellows I studied with have a romance blog on the side, but other than that I adored this view of working in a library, as a vibrant community and not a stuffy, silent morgue-like room filled with books. And the romance was nice too.

    I also read non-romance novels. Really. I do. This one, for example, about an Icelandic man who has reached the end of his tether, and decides to leave Iceland for a war-zone. I read this in its Norwegian translation and found myself moved. I chuckled at certain parties in the book and felt like weeping in the others. And in the end, it felt like the book was properly wrapped up. I could imagine it being turned into a television show.

  • I’m already done with my summer holiday

    I’m already done with my summer holiday

    So, here is a picture of peonies from the Botanical gardens in Berlin.

    It took about 45 minutes by bus to get there from Checkpoint Charlie – but the bus ride was worth quite a bit of sightseeing as well. And the trip out there was so worth it. Peaceful. Flowers. Though the heat was murder either way, getting some shade from the greenery was also golden.

    Basically getting away from the tourists was lovely. (Yes, I get the irony of a tourist celebrating this…)

  • Prince Henrik of Denmark is dead

    Prince Henrik of Denmark is dead

    The Prince passed away last night at Fredensborg palace after a long hospitalization.

    He was returned from the hospital to spend his last days at Fredensborg.

    Expected after the long illness, but still sad and shocking. RIP.

  • Sugar

    I think my goal for 2018 is going to be cutting food/drink from my diet that has unexpected, unecessarily added sugar/sweetener.

    I’m not going to radically stop eating sweets, but I find it incredible to see sugar listed twice on the ingredients of a frozen pizza, for example. If I eat a chocolate or a piece of cake, I have made a choice to eat sugar. If I eat frozen pizza, I generally am looking for a quick meal – not a dessert…

    I’m going to have to try to make mayo from scratch, since that has sugar in it. And look at the ingredients on the sliced meats I buy at the store. I found a brand of liver pate that doesn’t have sugar in it – and it really felt like half the battle was won there in terms of breakfast.

    If

  • Sniffles

    Curling up in bed, trying to stave off the cold/flu that I feel is coming. Doesn’t hurt that there is a book or two to be read, either.

    Of course, today’s original plan was to finish filling the new pantry. But anyways…

  • Yearly question

    Yearly question

    How did the Christmas break pass by so quickly?

  • Take a deep breath…

    Autumn (in combination with the hormonal cycle) is wreaking its havoc on my mood again. Things that aren’t usually affecting me – feel like the end of the world.

    Taking a deep breath – pausing – and doing something concrete and positive instead.

    I’m not good at that.

    Not good at disconnecting from it.

    I have a mental list of projects, but those are forgotten in the lethargy of it all.