Innocent
September 30, 2010 | Family,Health,Heart
She is. And we just found out today that her heart murmur is too. What a relief.
Posted by Becky @ 1:56 pm | 4 Comments
Food: Verdens Beste (The World’s Best Cake)
September 20, 2010 | Family,Food,Norway,Traveling,Vacation
Remember how I told you my mother-in-law makes the best fish soup in the world? She also makes the world’s best cake. No, really. That’s what it’s called, Verdens Beste. It really is one of the best cakes I’ve ever tasted.
Here’s her recipe.
Chopping.
Mixing.
Cleaning up. (It’s always good to have help in the kitchen.)
Sprinkling.
Baking.
Cooling.
Cutting.
Flipping.
Spreading.
Placing.
Perfection!
Verdens Beste, The World’s Best, aka “Bodøkake” or “Kvæfjordkake” and of course “My Mother-in-law Makes the Best Cake in the World
(With help from Norwegian National Recipes: An inspiring journey in the culinary history of Norway by Arne Brimi and Ardis Kaspersen, translated by Lisa Gay Bostwick.)
Cake
100 grams butter
100 grams sugar
4 egg yolks
3 tablespoons milk
100 grams flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla sugar
Meringue
4 egg whites
200 grams sugar
100 grams chopped almonds
Filling
1 portion rum cake filling (see recipe below) OR make a package of vanilla pudding if you don’t want to make the whole rum pudding
3 dl cream
Mix butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add egg yolks and milk. Add flour, baking powder and vanilla sugar. Mix well. Spread even in two 10-inch buttered springform cake pans. Beat egg wites and sugar until stiff. Spread meringue over cake batter. Sprinkle with almonds. Bake 15 to 20 minutes until meringue is golden brown. Remove from pans carefully and cool on grill. Prepare rum filling. Combine filling and whipped cream. Place one cake on nice serving plate, spread with filling and place other cake on top.
Rum pudding
1 quart cream
3 envelopes Knox gelatin
6 egg yolks
100 grams sugar
2 dl rum
Beat egg yolks and sugar until light and fluffy. Bring cream to a boil. Add egg mixture carefully to cream and bring almost to a boil. Remove from heat. Add gelatin and mix well. Cool. Beat egg whites until stiff. Fold into egg cream.
Refrigerate. Turn onto glass serving dish. Decorate with whipped cream. Serve with red fruit sauce.
Note (from cookbook): In old, handwritten cookbooks, there are many recipes for rum pudding. All these puddings have gelatin as an ingredient and would today be called fromages. Rum was often used in desserts. Many of these desserts could lighten the mood of even the most sober social gatherings. This dessert is modest in that regard.
…
Next up, Karamellpudding. Stay tuned.
Posted by Becky @ 6:00 am | 3 Comments
Books: Calling Out for You
September 16, 2010 | Books
I just finished reading Calling Out for You by Karin Fossum, a Norwegian author. (The book is also known as The Indian Bride, as it was published in the United States.) Interesting read, but the book ended so abruptly that I wondered if something was missing from the book. I liked her writing well enough to read another of her books, but I feel as if three chapters got lopped off the end of this book.
I still get hung up on some of the translations. In some other books written by Norwegian authors, I thought it was odd to see a napkin called a serviette, which is what it’s called in Norway. But, no, I guess that’s what they call it in British English too. In this Fossum book, the one that popped out at me was when someone took out a “griddle cake,” which I believe was probably lefse. It would have made more sense to me to call that a flatbread.
Ah well. That’s the fun of reading various translations.
Music: Justin Bieber
September 13, 2010 | Music
Justin Bieber certainly doesn’t need my help. But still. Y’all act like you’ve never seen the likes of him before. Seriously? Ever heard of Donny Osmond?
I mean … c’mon.
Posted by Becky @ 6:00 am | 2 Comments
Books: Berlin Poplars
September 12, 2010 | Books
I just finished reading Berlin Poplars by Anne B. Ragde, a Norwegian author. This was also recommended to me this summer in Norway. Wow. Love this story. Love this author.
Books: Astrid & Veronika
September 11, 2010 | Books
I recently read Astrid & Veronika by Linda Olsson, a Swedish writer. I’d heard about this in Norway this summer. It’s an amazing story by an amazing author!
Books: The Redbreast
September 10, 2010 | Books
I just finished reading The Redbreast (on Kindle) by Jo Nesbø, one of Norway’s most popular authors. He’s also a musician, and he’s from Molde. I’m not sure why I never read him before and why it’s taken me so long to get around to reading him because he’s fabulous.
The kids and I are also reading his Doctor Proctor’s Fart Powder, which is a lot of fun.
The only odd thing about his books would be the translations. They’re translated into British English, which, yeah, I know is different from American English. But some of the things just throw me off a bit. For example, his books never translate “gate” to “street.” Yeah, I get that it can be part of the proper name, but it’s still weird to keep thinking about gates and fences everywhere, when it’s really streets. And the children’s book is obviously set in Norway, translated to British English, but the money is dollars and cents. Try explaining all that to curious 6- and 7-year-olds. *head spinning*
Still. LOVE this author.
Books: Women Under Glass
September 9, 2010 | Books
I recently read Women Under Glass: The Secret Nature of Glass Ceilings and the Steps to Overcome Them by Eric Shoars, and I got to meet the author at my local bookstore. This book actually fits together with a couple other books I read over the summer. I’ll be working on a roundup of sorts.
