Iceland day 2 (only pictures, no explanations)

Iceland day 1 (only pictures, no explanation)

Leaving for Iceland!

So, tomorrow morning (way to early) I leave for Iceland.
I haven't really had time to look forward to it, or even plan what to do, so I'm leaving with an open mind, and fingers crossed.

There's supposed to be WiFi at the hotel, and if so, I'll try to update a couple of times during the week.

Inspired by my newest friend Kristen, who's wonderful blog you can read here I will only update with pictures, and not write anything before i get back home.

Be good!

How to be good: update your blog!

Forgive my short leave of absence!
These last two weeks have been crazy. However, now the summer holidays have finally arrived!

Monday I leave for Iceland with my mother and sister. After that it’s a couple of weeks with doing _nothing_ (while doing all the things I haven’t had time to do)

Saturday I had my graduating class over for a graduation-party, and I thought I would be clever and make tapas!
Now, you might think; what a wonderful idea! When your goal is to try 200 new recipes in 500 days, tapas must be excellent! You could try several at once!
And yes. I could have. I should have. I was planning to.

How many did I actually use? 1.

For all the 18 dishes I made, I used 1 recipe. 1.

That one however turned out really good.
It was a recipe for hamburger-buns, and I nicked it here I used them for mini hamburgers (technically what you American-readers [ for some reason I have more American readers than Norwegian ones] call sliders I think) And the recipe was really good!
However, we don’t have instant yeast here, so I used normal dry yeast.

Well, it was a successful tapas table at least, and included these dishes;
Potato salad with yoghurt dressing and mint
Chicken rolls with pesto and feta cheese (wrapped in bacon, always fun)
Mango Chutney
Tomato and Mozzarella salad
Mini Hamburgers (sliders)
Mini pizzas
Roasted potatoes
“Pickled” sugar snaps and red onion salad
Chick peas and spicy sausage
Teriyaki pork
Orange honey pork
Sausage mix
Tzatziki
Stuffed mushrooms with rice, mushroom and thyme
Stuffed tomatoes with meat, onions, mozzarella and spicy tomato sauce
(Shrimp) Scampi with a mango/chili marinade (these were really good!)
(Shrimp) Scampi with a Greek marinade
Deviled eggs (these never came on the table)

Request recipes if you want them!

I also started two more dishes that I didn’t finish.

I’ve also decorated myself a new pair of shoes. Here’s a funky “before and after” as well as an even funkier “after”.

I think they turned out pretty good the green line was there when i bought them, and it's really not that bright. I just messed it up in photoshop, and couldn't be bothered.

I promise to be back soon with more tips and tricks (I’ve made a whole section on domestic “natural and easy cleaning” tips, as well as the continuation on “how to be good).

Until then;

Be good!

Mother in laws birthday, and a bit about marmalade

Today was my mother-in-law’s birthday, and we celebrated it at their cabin by the sea.

I am grateful for that cabin!

This cabin is one of my favorite places in the whole world. It’s right at the end of a beautiful fjord, and gives me peace of mind and a feeling of bliss.

My mother-in-law also has an amazing, unfailing talent for creating cozy hideouts from every nook and cranny. She buys a lot of old stuff at flea markets and auctions. Look at the wall in the left picture for instance. Pieces from an old oven.




She’s also got real green fingers and can make just about anything grow. As a result, everywhere plants can grow at the cabin, they grow. In pots and pans, boxes and boats alike.

I didn’t grow up by the ocean, so I still love spending hours with my nose inches from the surface, looking for crabs, fish, shrimps and seashells. And there’s no better place than their dock.

Both my husband and my brother in ran around pointing out things they found.
The weather was nice and was a really nice day!

I brought my mother-in-law a glass of each of the marmalades as birthdaypresents.

Decorated two wooden tags with stamp and ink, and wrote the name of the marmalades on the backside.

The lemon-lime-grapefruit marmalade is good, but really citrusy. It’s sour and sweet and a little explosion in your mouth, maybe even a bit much.

Next time: more sugar, more boiling.

Also, since I decided to use only the zest, pulp and juice, it took a whole lot of time, and I haven’t definitely decided it was worth it. Peeling 500 grams of limefruits free for all except pulp, is really not a pickninc.

I like both the marmalades myself though,and that counts for something.

It's been a great weekend. Only one normal workweek left, before my long and well deserved holiday kicks inn. Will be awesome!

Do you have any plans?

A little of this, a little of that

The smell of lemon - lime- and grapefruit marmalade is filling the apartment, and i can finally say; it's the weekend, and what a week. With exams coming up, end-of-year-feelings buzz around the school like really angry bees and teachers and students alike dream of holidays in faraway places, there is no rest for the wicked. And I am wicked. Wicked busy if nothing else.

I do hope I'll be able to get some things done this weekend, and make an outline for the first of my creative dream projects. Haven't even decided what it will be jet.

When it comes to "good person" "good body" and "good friend" I have some ideas.
One of them is proving hard to commit to. Which is sort of the point, and therefore even more challenging. What use is trying to explore what it means “to be good” if you are not willing to commit to the hard parts of the project?
So I will try. But it might be a project for the wonderful month of July I feel.

It has been raining heavily today, but now the sky is clearing up, so I have high hopes for a long walk tomorrow.

Take care, and be good!

Good cook: How to make marmalade!

Guess what I’m doing right now?
If you guessed “Eating bread with warm marmalade” you are absolutely right!
If you guessed something else, you are probably (depending on what you guessed) way less creepy!

I did it!

Granted, I did a couple of mistakes. This follow-the-recipe-thing is hard to get used to. I have to develop a technique for recognizing all the small things in the text, and not assume.
However, the taste is really good, just like normal marmalade!

I’ve written the recipe like I did it, not like the cookbook said, just because… this is how I did it. I will however point out what I did wrong. (I will however count this as a success since i TRIED to follow the recipe and didn't fail on purpose)

Marmalade of this and that:
(“inspired by” Andreas Viestad’s recipe in the book “Mine beste sider”)

1,5 kg mixed citrus fruits (I used one grapefruit, four oranges and several kumquats)
1,5 (or more) kg sugar
1,5 liter water
2 cloves
1 star anise
1/3 vanilla pod, sliced in halves.
3 teaspoons citric acid
Liquid or powdered pectin (if you want thicker jam)

First wash the fruit and peel of the zest (here’s my first mistake. You’re supposed to use the entire peel, I just used the zest. I don’t really mind though, because the jam got really delicate)
Cut the zest and the fruit meat in very thin pieces.

The white stuff between the peel and the fruit meat as well as the seeds (and in my case some of the peel) you put in a small kitchen towel or a cotton bag to be boiled together with the jam. This you will take out at a later time.

This takes a lot of time, but don’t lose your patience towards the end. Smaller is better!

Cover the fruit, the cotton bag and the zest with water and add the spices (here is mistake number two. You’re supposed to add the spice towards the end of the boiling, but I put it in from the start. The taste was still not very spicy, so I don’t think this is a bad idea)
Leave it to soak overnight.

The next day (I waited until I got home from work in the afternoon) put to boil on medium heat.
When it has boiled for an hour add the sugar and the citric acid, and let it boil for another 1,5 – 2 hours. If you turn up the heat you’ll get the dark kind of marmalade.

Add the pectin as explained on the box. I’ve got two types, one that’s added from the beginning, and one that’s stirred in towards the end, so check with the box. Take out the cotton bag with the seeds and squishy things, and squeeze out all the jam you can from it.
Extract the spices as well. (You can leave them in the jars for a stronger taste if you’d like)

Remember to use heated jars, and boil the lids right before you put the jam in. If you use normal jars (like those of pasta sauce) put them upside down until they’ve cooled down.

As you can see, I got enough for one really full big jar, one small jar (this is a present) and one half full will-soon-be-gone-jar.

Inspired by this I’ll try to do it right, and make another type of marmalade this weekend.

Velbekomme!

How to be good: Be grateful!

So this is one of those rare days where I'm just not feeling to good, my body disagrees with me, my head can't seem to focus and i don't have the energy level i would prefer.
But I am one thing, that always gets me through these days with a smile on my face.
I am grateful.

For the last year i have regularly updated my facebook statuses with gratefulness. From big lifechanging things to small everyday pleasures.
Gratefulness is the largest word on my wall, the thing i keep reminding my self to feel.

And it has changed my life. Gratitude is rewarding, it makes you appreciate the small things, just because we all "run out" of large things to be gratefull for really fast.
By reminding yourself to be gratefull for new things every day, your mind opens to the things around you that you previously maybe took for granted.

Here are my gratefulness tips:

1. Make a gratefulness journal
Be it a scrap of paper in your pocket, a blog, your statusupdates, a daily twitter or a designated book, try to write down 3 or more things each day that you are grateful for.
If it seems hard to commit, put a timeframe to it. 30 days, 50 days, half a year, or even a week if that is what you can master.

2. Think big
Look at your life as a whole. Yes you might be grateful for your friends, your family, your boy/girlfriend, your job, your car and so on. But these points will run out after a day or two.
How about the fact that you have a job? The fact that your lungs fill with air. That you can move, smile, talk. That you are allive. That you have a roof over your head. Huge things that we often take for granted, but that are importent to notice and be grateful for.

3. Think small
Look at the everyday things you appreciate. The taste of your favourite tea, your new nailpolish, the way roses smell, the cat that lives down the street, the way your kid smiles and so on and so forth. Little things that makes life better.

4. Contemplate
Start noticing the way you feel when you meet, feel, smell, taste, experience or see new things. Notice your reaction.

5. Spread the word
After I started puting my gratefulness journal in my status update, people have shared the things they are grateful for. Some of them have even written comments that they are grateful they have a friend who reminds them to be grateful.
Telling people you are happy they exist, that you appreciate the way they smile or something they have done is polite (we should all say thank you more often!) but also turns both you and your friend's attention towards being grateful.

These tips have worked very well for me.
I noticed the change best when i had to face a person i find it hard to respect and talk to, a person who makes me feel small and unworthy. I tried to turn my attention towards being grateful and came up with these points:

- I am grateful I am not like him
- I am grateful I have learned so much self control after meeting him
- I am grateful he has made me stronger
- I am grateful even people like him can be loved
- I am grateful I don't have to meet him too often...

Shrimp with homemade mango chutney

For the shrimp:

16 shrimps
1 squash
1 clove of garlic
oil

For the Chutney:

1 ripe mango
1 small onion
1/2 chili (take out the seeds)
1 lime
1 tablespoon of sugar
1 tablespoon (or a little mor) of oil
Salt and pepper

Start with the Chutney as it gets better when it is left to set for while.
Cut the mango, chili and onion in to pieces, squeeze the juice from the lime.




Mix in sugar, oil, salt and pepper (go by taste).
Here I needed to resist the urge to blend it all in a blender. But i did as the recipe said. Good girl.


Peel and rince the shrimp (if you're insecure how, use youtube, I will spare you the details)
Chop the garlic and the squash.

Fry the garlic, shrimp and squash in some oil, for a couple of minutes until the shrimp are pink and the squash looks delicious.

Serve with rice and chutney for a main course, or with just the chutney for a starter.
With rice it looks like this;

The taste? Really good!
Both me and the husband was sort of surprised how good it was. The sweetness of the mango and the acid of the lime worked really well with the rather bland squash and the lovely shrimp.
Simple, easy and really tasty.
And i didn't stray of the recipe once!

I found this recipe in the book "Bordet fanger" by Norwegian food writer Andreas Viestad.

Next project is marmelade. Looks hard!

As we say in Norway when the food is served;

Velbekomme!

Bring on the recipes!

200 recipes might not seem a lot over 500 days for some people. I am not one of those people.
I absolutely love to cook. I love to stir, whisk, poach, bake, fry, boil and mix all sorts of delicious food. Cakes, cookies, steaks, stews, omelettes, oven baked chicken, barbeque or broiling I don't care, bring it on, i love to cook.

However I can not (and will not) follow recipes. I follow them for a step or two, then i ad a little of this, ad a little of that, and just a liiiittle pinch of...
200 recipes followed down to the last letter. No "adding this for extra flavour", no "adding a little body" or "giving a little punch". Step by step, follow the book, be a good cook.

Now i realize that the proceess of experimenting and the creative mind is valued in the kitchen. And that the great cooks all can create fabulous dishes with a hint of this and that.
But I am not a great cook, and i have not struggled through hours of training, follow the reicpes first. I even remember ditching the recipe when i was 8 and making dinner for my family, thinking it wasn't "interesting" enough.

So today i start, first of is "Scampi/Big shrimp with home made mango chutney and rice". And tomorrow/wednesday i will make marmelade.
Now i hear the water boiling.
Result will be posted.

How to get things done

I am a girl filled with visions and ideas, but with a somethimes mind-boggling lack of followthrough. This has led me to a constant need of new techniques of "How to get things done".

This is the one that never fails me, although it is incredibly boring and very obvious. The thing about very obvious things, is that we never seem to bother with them.
This tip however, is completely worth it.

1. Make a list!
I know, it's boring, and you've heard it beofre, but try. If you're doing a spesific project, make a list over each step. If you have serveal things that needs to be done, just write down the most important thing first.

2. Hang it somewhere you can see it!
Visibility is key. Both because you get a constant reminder, but also because it makes step 4 feel a lot better.

3. Do one thing at a time!
Many like me get easily sidetracked when there's to many things to do. I often start doing something simple, and end up doing so many things on so many places it ends up looking even worse than when I started.
Focus on getting one task at a time done. And enjoy repeating step 4 over and over and over...

4. Cross things out!
This is wonderful. Big fat green, pink, blue or red lines telling you that you're done! This feels good, looks good and is rewarding on so many levels, and even more so if your list is visible for others to notice how good you've been.

5. Don't forget the reward!
If you don't get as turned on by crossing things out as me, you'll probably enjoy this point more. The Reward! Promise yourself something pretty when you're done with the first 3 tasks. Or make plans with a friend for when you've finished the list. It doesn't have to be fancy, I often promise my self a cold glass of soda when I'm done with the next task, or that I'll go for a walk as soon as I'm done.

Taking my own advice, I made this list for things I need to get done by friday:

1. Paint new words on the wall - Done (Really happy about the result!)
2. Put all the DVDs in shelves - Done (Also counted them; we now have almost 900 titles)
3. Sort out all the art books and put them in a new bookcase - Done (Part of my puting projects in to action plan)
4. Sort out all the books you want to give away - Done (anyone want a whole lot of books??)
5. Make sofa cover - Done (cheap and easy!)
6. Sort through all the books and CDs in the "library" - Almost Done
7. Hang what you need of the paintings on the wall, make collage, put rest of stuff in storage
8. Tidy up the "library"
9. Sort out all the fabrics and make a system (I have no idea how I'll do this)
10. Tidy up and clean the place¨

You've got a list?

A delicious start

I am watching Julie & Julia.
Inspired, slightly high on sugar (and filled with an intense craving for boeuf bourguignon) I’m now throwing myself in to the blogosphere.

I have wanted to write a blog for years. My entire life, my notebooks, my e-mails, my facebook posts, my walls and my furniture are filled with words. I love sharing my ideas, thoughts and inspiration, but somehow I always end up containing them to e-mails, text messages and to be honest; mostly to the pages of my notebooks.

This is where that ends.

Lately I have started to explore the phenomenon “being good”. Being a good wife, being a good girl, being a good daughter, being a good sister, being a good friend, being a good housewife and so on. The result is quite amazing; many of us are wasting huge amounts of time feeling guilty for not being “good”(me included) but we rarely take the necessary steps to do anything about it. And if we do, we put in immense effort for a couple of weeks, feel good for a month, and then end up right back where we started.

Also what I’ve found out is that it very often takes very little to "be good". It might take a postcard, a mnemonic device, a short sentence, an easy technique. Small things, that should be easy to remember!

Now, no one is perfect and trying to be good, will always mean “trying to be better”. And I realize that.

This blog is to sum up the tips and tricks I learn on my way, as I strive to be good.

These are the conditions for my experiment.

1. My timeframe is 500 days. During which I will try to figure out the way to “be good”, divided in to these categories and goals:

Cooking – Trying 200 new recipes from all over the world, working my way to culinary bliss.
Creativity – Making 3 of my dream projects come true, which for me is all about being brave enough I think.
Healthy body – Working towards the top of Mt. Kilimanjaro, January 2013. This is my goal, my dream, my wish and I will need to prepare my body.
Healthy mind – Will find techniques for dealing with stress, being present in the moment and being happy. A part of this will be a gratefulness journal.
Friendship – Not sure what the exact goal will be, any tips?
Housekeeping – Find the secret! How do people get these tidy, clean houses?! I will work my way toward being a domestic goddess. And believe me, this will be the hardest goal for me.
Relationship – Trying to be “The perfect wife”
Self realization – Start my company, make it work, believe in my projects and find out… you know..
… how to be good

2. I will document my progress through this blog, sharing tips and tricks along the way. I’m hoping these will come in handy for others trying to be good.

3. I will take request for things to try, figure out and explore, so please feel free to give me tips
or challenges. I’m ready!

4. I will write in English although I'm Norwegian. Please feel free to point out mistakes, I'm thankfully still learning.

Let the games begin!