NOLA: Olivier’s

October 11, 2011 | Traveling

We asked the concierge if she could recommend a nearby restaurant that’s quiet. Quiet? In New Orleans? (I’m sure she wondered, “What is WRONG with these tourists? Who comes to New Orleans for quiet?) She knows her restaurants. She recommended the perfect place, Olivier’s Creole Restaurant.

Except for some fairly loud, very well-dressed girls who showed up after the Hanson concert at the House of Blues (I somewhat expect to get struck by lightning just for writing that), it was very quiet with great drinks and delicious food.

Here’s our waiter, Chris. He looked up how to make a Zombie for us.

Here is that amazing food.

We went back the next day to get pictures outside. What a fabulous place!

Summer vacation to Missouri

August 11, 2011 | Family,Missouri,Summer,Traveling,Vacation

The kids and I took off for a summer vacation with my aunt and uncle in St. Joseph, Mo. I used to do that as a kid, and I have great memories of spending time with them. I wanted to give some of that to my children.

Time to pack.

Stopping for lunch.

It doesn’t take long to break out the games!

Yes, that’s an original Nintendo Entertainment System. (I also remember playing Atari Pong for the first time at my aunt and uncle’s house way back when and telling Grandma that it was “modern.”)

Back at the airport

July 2, 2011 | Family,Iowa,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

Time to say goodbye. That’s always the worst part of a visit. Next time we see each other, some of us will be taller, some of us grayer. But we’ll always be happy to be together again.

This was still in my folder. It’s from the airport two years ago when we sent them on their way. (Kids are eating Gjende cookies Bestemor had in her bag. We like to call them Gjendem cookies. :)

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.

Over the mountains & through the woods

August 14, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

My last hike was with my husband over the mountains (yes, more than one) into town to my sister-in-law’s home.

It was Charming Marie’s last hike in the Norwegian mountains. I’ve had lots of fun with her this summer!

We took a break at this lake. It was so quiet and pretty there.

We saw sheep everywhere.

See that bump in the background? That’s the top of Jendemfjellet.

See that yellow spot there? That’s a boy. We watched his progress over the top of one mountain and down another until he met up with us. He was RUNNING. The whole time. Makes me want to have a heart attack just thinking about it.

Skihytta — this is a ski cabin that’s open in the winter.

Getting close to town. These are ski paths with lights (for the winter). Folks use them for all kinds of things during the summer … hiking, biking, walking, running, etc.

Just about there! I think I can smell dinner from here.

I thought I’d slow things down, but when we were done, it hadn’t taken any longer than “normal” — about three hours. Yay, me!

Eidskrem

August 13, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

Every time I see this sign, I sing, “I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” Every. Single. Time. For almost 20 years now. I sang it out loud with the kids in the car. So, who knows. Maybe I’ve infected them too.

Troll Church

August 10, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

Ever been to a troll church? Come on.

I’ve been a couple of times before, and it was all my idea to take the kids.

“It’s not as steep as Jendemfjellet,” I said.

That’s true. And it’s about half as high as Jendemfjellet. However. The hiking was much harder than I remember, with lots of water, non-existent paths and steep, slimy rocks. It took us twice as long as the suggested time to hike up and back. But, hey, we made it.

Ready to go!

First stop for a look at the view.

There’s Jendemfjellet.

Rough climbing.

See the path? Neither do I.

Still have a ways to go, but this was a good place to rest.

Welcome to the Troll Church.

See the ladder in the back there? That’s how you get down from the mountain into the cave. Below the ladder is a steep cliff where the waterfall continues to flow. Whatever you do, hold on and don’t slip!

On our way back down.

And … what hike in the Norwegian mountains would be complete without Charming Marie?

Charming Marie 7 & catching fish

August 4, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

We took a boat trip to visit a cousin and her family. I thought Marie would enjoy coming along.

Looks like the late sunlit nights finally caught up with someone. She fell asleep within 10 minutes.

We had a great visit with delicious food and good conversation, a sweet little baby and a charming dog. I had been hearing all day, “Canwegofishing? Canwegofishing? Canwegofishing?” from a certain 7-year-old boy, who was dying to go fishing with his bestefar on his bestefar’s boat. So, on the way back home, we went fishing.

We tried a few spots, and I started to wonder if we’d catch even one fish.

Then, bam! They started coming in one after the other.

You should have seen how big the 7-year-old’s eyes got.

We joked that the seagulls sang, “Fish heads!” as they swarmed the boat.

Fresh fish is a real treat for the little fisherman!

Hytte & Charming Marie 6 on the ferry

July 31, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

Here’s Marie on the ferry. She went along with us to stay at a cabin for a couple of days.

There was grilling.

And trampolining.

And rainbowing.

And boating.

And more boating.

And fishing.

And inspecting the fish before throwing it back.

And hiking.

There was lots of fun.

Bursdag i Bud

July 30, 2010 | Family,Norway,Traveling,Vacation

We spent the day in Bud to celebrate my mother-in-law’s birthday. We visited the cemetery and hiked along a new (to me) path near the water. On our way back into town, we passed by her childhood home — which was sold after her mother died a couple of years ago. The new owners saw us, opened their doors wide and invited us all in to see the remodeling they had done to the house. It was quite a treat. We had dinner at the restaurant Bryggen i Bud, visited the war memorial and stopped to see the vacation rental where Oldefar’s boat house once stood. It was a great day.