{Sundagsvaflar: Norwegian Sunday Waffles with Raspberry Jam}

It is no secret that I love eating vaflar – waffles – as often as I can. Recently I read a post about rømmevflar at What's For Lunch, Honey? and it left me with an urge to bake a batch there and then. Reading what she wrote is always lovely, but since bloggers rarely write about Norway and our cuisine, it was extra special to read that paticular post.

Making waffles reminds me of my grandmother, my mormor, everytime I pop over for a visit. Like most grandmothers in Norway, mine begins making a batch of waffles the minute I ring to inform her I'm visiting. ''Ja, den er greit, berre kom! Eg skal laga vaflar til deg,'' (Yes, sure, just come. I'll make waffles) she'll reply. ''Med bringebærsyltetøy?'' (With raspberry jam?) I ask, hoping against hope she still has a jar of jam left. I don't have to ask. She always does.

{Very Merry Berry Tartelettes... and Berry Season is Nigh!}

When you are from western Norway, eating berries is like breathing.

It's a way of life.

June is spent picking berries from my black and red currant bushes in the garden and turning the berries into saft – a sweet syrup which you blend with water and jam. The remaining five or six kilos of currants are frozen for later use. In July, my mum will buy twenty kilos of raspberries at the local farm; ten of which are then used to make raspberry jam. And the remaining raspberries are, yes, you guessed correctly, frozen. August means the start of blueberry season, aka. traveling to my Uncle's farm to pick several kilos of those as well. And freezing the remaining kilos you haven't already eaten. 

{C'est plutôt riche!}

{Madeleines au chocolat and thinking of Japan}

Every once in a while, there are tragic happenings that occur that makes you realise just how fortunate you are.

The earthquake and tsunami in Japan has made me realise how lucky I am. Seeing images of the ruins and wrecked cities is devastating. It makes us all realise how everything you love and hold dear could all go away in an instant. In a second, all can be lost...

The pictures and videos which have come from Japan have also brought back a particular childhood memory.

{Ratatouille... and a visit to Jærmuseet}

I am deeply in love with my origins. No, not my Norwegian origins – although I am proud of those as well; my Jærske origins. At this point, you may begin to wonder what on earth Jæren is, and I don't mind informing you either. So here it goes:

Jæren is a coastel region in south-western Norway consisting of the three municipalities Hå, Time and Klepp. Jæren is the largest flat lowland area in the country, with large, sandy beaches surfers from all over the world come to enjoy. It is also the most agricultural area in Norway, with the HQ to the world's largest producer of agricultural machines in the world, Kverneland Group.

So there you go. That's where I'm from. My little corner of the world. 

 

Fastelavn | Time for Bollar

{A drink to keep me warm}

{In need of comfort...}