Focaccia Bread And Friendships

This past weekend we were at a double puppy show for Cookie. Her first! She did really well and brought home a best in breed on Sunday. Her breeder, Heidi, showed her for me. I had shown her on Saturday and since it was a first for both of us (first time in the ring, on a leash, etc etc, for Cookie and first time showing little dogs for me) we ended up in second place behind Heidi and Cookie´s half sister, Ida. The critique was great and very promising on Saturday and even more promising and glorious on Sunday! Cookie managed to charm the judge like nobody´s business on Sunday. As she skipped (hopped) around the ring she made a quick dash for the judge, where she placed her little paws up on the legs to the judge, inviting the judge to pick her up and cuddle with her. I said to my kids, jokingly, as the judge picked her up she was probably sticking her tounge out at the other puppies! As if to say, "Nanna nanna boo boo, I´m cuter then you and the judge loves me..." hahahahaha...of course this is all in my wild imagination and she didn´t really stick her tounge out...just in case you were wondering! 

Instead of driving 2 hours home on Saturday we were so lucky to be able to spend the evening with one of the dearest friends I have. Mona and I met each other 21 years ago at a picnic for the Norwegian club in San Antonio, Texas. Mona was an aupair living in San Antonio and it was Mona who introduced me to the Captain. She knew a nice Norwegian boy (The Captain) who was living in Austin as an aupair and we could spend the night with him when we went up to Austin to go out and party on the famous 6th street. The rest is as they say history! I´ve always joked with Mona that since she started this "eventyr" (Adventure) with me and the Captain that she was bound to be a part of my life forever! She has no choice! Hahahaha! Unfortunately Mona and I have moved at different speeds in life. While I was busy raising little babies and living on the beautiful but oh so quiet island of Averøy, on the west coast of Norway, Mona was living the single life in Oslo, traveling, dating, and living up life and couldn´t understand why I couldn´t do a little more exciting things just because I had young children! Now my children are much older and Mona is in the beginning of her parenthood days with a beautiful 3 year old and a baby on the way. I have no idea how she finds the energy since she is a year younger then me and we´re no spring chickens! Never the less she is a great mother and her daughter is sweet and charming just liker her mother. What I love about my friendship with Mona is that even though it can go long periods between times we visit each other or talk together, we can always pick right back up where we left off. It is always comfortable and easy going and that is a great friendship! Mona means a lot to me and always will. I love her like a sister and I think such friendships are rare these days so that makes her all the more special to me. Below are some photos of Mona and her beautiful daughter who was really good with little Cookie! Perhaps she will be a dog trainer someday? ;-) Potato chips were very effective training goodies!

 What I also love about Mona is every time I visit her she is always making something I wouldn´t have thought about trying on my own. This past weekend we got to try tapas with her. Lots of goodies and most of which I had eaten before but she served a couple things I hadn´t tried before. One was dates wrapped in a prosciutto type meat called spekeskinke here in Norway. The mixture of salt and sweet was and always will be a hit with me and I wasn´t disappointed this time either. I had never eaten dates before but will definitely try them again especially if they´re wrapped in the salty goodness of a prosciutto! I also tried green olives in a lovely herb marinade. I thought they were ok, a little strong in taste but when I ate them together with a meatball and they were heavenly! So now I can say I´ve tried those and they didn´t kill me!!! HAHAHAHAHA!! 


Being the carbo-holic I am I fell in love with the focaccia bread Mona made for us. I talked her into giving me the recipe (which wasn´t difficult) and decided to try making it tonight. Here are the results:

Here is the recipe for the Focaccia:

30 gram fersk gjær (30 grams fresh yeast)
6 dl lunkent vann (6dl warm water)
800 gr hvetemel  (800 grams flour)
2 ss sukker         (2Tbsp Sugar)
1 ts salt                (1 tsp salt)

Hev 30           (let rise for 30 minutes)

Lag dressingmix/marinade   (Make the dressing mix/marinade)
ca 3 dl olivenolje          (about 3dl olive oil....I would suggest slightly less..)
3 hvitløk                          (3 garlic cloves)
2-3 ts rosmarin(krydder)  (2-3tsp rosemary. I used about 4 twigs of fresh rosemary)
Bland i food prosessor.    (blend in a mixer until you get a a dressing consistency and everything is chopped finely)

Trykk deigen ut i en langpanne. Lag hull med fingrene og hel marinaden over.Bruk gjerne pensel for å få det gjevnt. Bruk så mye du synes er nødvendig. Kan se mye ut men det blir veldig godt selv om det er blir litt fettete. Hev så i 30 min igjen.  

Pat the dough out in a long pan. Make holes with your fingers and pour the marinade over. Use a brush so you get the oil evenly divided on the dough. Use as much as you deem necessary ( I used a little too much I think- exactly what the recipe called for- and next time I think I´ll use a little less) It can look like a lot of oil but it´s actually very good to use the majority of this marinade even if it looks fatty. Let it rise again for 30 minutes. 

Stek så i ca 25 min på 200 grader.  Bake for 25 minutes at 400F.

I also sprinkled a little coarse sea salt over the top once I brushed the marinade on!

I served this tonight with a yummy egg pasta with scampi, sugar peas, and red onion in a creamy sauce. 

This weekend we´re heading back down to Oslo on Saturday and Sunday for two more puppy shows. There are only 2 puppies entered each day. Cookie and her half sister owned by her breeder, Heidi. However, Heidi is awaiting puppies and if they don´t arrive by Saturday they aren´t coming. So it will just be us. Not very exciting being in the ring alone but we´ll look at it as great practice. We won´t be spending the night with Mona this time but the show location is only 1.5 hours away (each way) so we´ll be ok. Sunday is Mother´s Day in Norway. Isn´t that odd? It´s the only country who celebrates it now rather then in May....go figure?! I don´t mind, I think a mother´s job is so important that I tell my kids they´re welcome to celebrate me twice...once in February and once in May! I´m worth it! HAHAHAHAHA! ;-)


Have a great weekend everyone, not sure I´ll get to post this weekend but I´ll be back as soon as I can after the weekend. In the meantime give that focaccia a try, you won´t be sorry! 


Until next time my friends!

Warm Winter Sun And Warm Whole Grain Rolls

Winter is on my head, but eternal spring is in my heart.
Victor Hugo

Up rose the wild old winter-king, And shook his beard of snow; "I hear the first young hard-bell ring, 'Tis time for me to go! Northward o'er the icy rocks, Northward o'er the sea, My daughter comes with sunny locks: This land's too warm for me!"
Charles Godfrey Leland

                      “Laughter is the sun that drives winter from the human face.”- Victor Hugo

It was one of those March days when the sun shines hot and the wind blows cold: when it is summer in the light, and winter in the shade. - Charles Dickens

Another warming thought on a cold winter day is whole grained rolls. I guess what isn´t fair to those of you reading this and hoping for some recipe to follow is that I never follow a recipe when I make these which is why I get different results each time. But for these I used approximately the following: 1 kilo of whole grain wheat flour, 50 grams of flaxseed, 100 grams sunflower seeds, 200 grams oatmeal, 2tsp salt, 8tbsp veg.oil, 1 liter warm water, and 50 grams fresh yeast. I used my kitchen machine and mixed everything until I got a dough that released itself from the sides of the bowl. I let it rise for about 45 minutes. Then rolled them out and let them rise again for about 30 minutes and then baked them at 180C/350F for about 20 minutes or until golden brown. This is an easy recipe you can add too if you´d like...want some nuts in your rolls? Add em´! Want some herbs? Add em´! You can pretty much do what you want, but the more dry ingredients you add the more you´ll want to increase your liquids so you can get a dough that will release from the bowl or not stick to your hands. 

Have a great hump day everyone!

Until next time my friends!

Smoke On The Water

“Snow flurries began to fall and they swirled around people's legs like house cats. It was magical, this snow globe world.”
― Sarah Addison Allen, The Sugar Queen

“My old grandmother always used to say, Summer friends will melt
away like summer snows, but winter friends are friends forever.”
― George R.R. Martin

“I do an awful lot of thinking and dreaming about things in the past and the future - the timelessness of the rocks and the hills - all the people who have existed there. I prefer winter and fall, when you feel the bone structure of the landscape - the loneliness of it, the dead feeling of winter. Something waits beneath it, the whole story doesn't show.”
― Andrew Wyeth

“Winter is the time for comfort, for good food and warmth, for the touch of a friendly hand and for a talk beside the fire: it is the time for home.”
― Edith Sitwell

Until next time my friends...

Warm Thoughts On A Cold Friday

Life is about trusting your feelings and taking chances, losing and finding happiness, appreciating the memories, learning from the past, and realizing people change.

To be honest with you, I don't have the words to make you feel better, but I do have the arms to give you a hug, ears to listen to whatever you want to talk about, and I have a heart; a heart that's aching to see you smile again.

To the world you may only be one person, but to one person you may be the world.

Life is good. Knowing how to enjoy it is even better.

One of my Mom´s favourite snacks was the oatmeal raisin cookie. Julia made these for us the other day. They were wonderful and they made me think of my Mom. Warm, sweet, melt in your mouth, chewy goodness...if you´re in the mood to bake this weekend..these babies are the way to go!

It warmed my heart that Julia made these too. A small glimmer of hope that perhaps she could be interested in baking...a hobby dear and near to me. However, that thought was shattered when she was done and said, "Phew thank goodness I´m done...I do not like to bake!" *sigh* Oh well...it was a sweet thought while it lasted and these cookies were proof that she can bake if she wants too! 

Julia and I are off to Oslo this weekend for Cookie´s first puppy shows Saturday and Sunday. We´ll be overnighting with a dear friend and her family. I´m looking forward to seeing all the dogs at the dog show, seeing how Cookie enjoys herself, visiting with my friend again whom I haven´t seen in a long time, and most importantly spending time with Julia just the two of us. It´s so seldom we get time just the two of us so I´m really looking forward to it!

Have a great weekend everyone...

Until next time my friends...

You Share Your Advice And I´ll Share Some Recipes

The other night I made some scallops with Hoisin sauce which were sooooooo yummy! I got my inspiration for this meal HERE. 

I will not proclaim to be an expert scallops maker. I know so much lies in the timing of these babies in order to get the crispy outside and juicy (yet cooked thoroughly) inside but I think I didn´t do too badly here. I served mine with broccoli and whole grain pasta...if you´re looking for a seafood meal (and it´s recommended to eat seafood three times a week) I highly recommend these scrumptious morsels from the sea....

This July the Captain and I will be married for 20 years. For those who follow my blog regularly you know that a couple years ago it wasn´t a given we would get to 20 years. We hit a bump...a very very big bump that nearly de-railed us. Thankfully though we made it through that horrible time together and while I would never wish anyone to go through what I went through during that time...when I look back on it, I see that I needed a wake up call. He needed one too. We were both existing...living day to day taking care of the necessities of life and being the best parents we could to our kids..but we had forgotten that we were a couple and needed to take care of each other. So while I wish we could have gotten the wake up call in some other way, I´m glad we got it and I´m glad we were able to work through things and talk and even more important- hear each other. 

So we´ve been talking about what we would do to celebrate our anniversary this year. When we first got married we said if we made it to 10 years we would re-marry each other again but in a big fancy wedding with white dress and all. You see we were young and it was I guess what you could call a "shot-gun" wedding. Sarah was already on her way and the Captain was an aupair at the time...we didn´t want him to have to leave and head back to Norway so we decided to get married. I know...not exactly the most romantic reason to get married, but it seemed right...and it was right. I´ve never doubted that the Captain was the right guy for me...even when we hit our bump. Which is why I fought so hard and I think I can safely say he has no regrets either...otherwise I don´t think we would have gotten back on track after almost being de-railed. When we hit the 10 year mark though we had young children and no money...so there was no new marriage ceremony. I can´t remember exactly but there is a strong chance the Captain was out at sea also. He isn´t always home on big special days...it´s ok though, I´ve gotten use to that. We celebrate when we can...no big deal! Now after 20 years of marriage I know that the big fancy wedding isn´t that important. It´s not what makes a marriage. What makes a marriage is everything afterwards..the good, the bad, the ugly, the amazing, the beautiful. The highs, the lows...the sickness and the health...it´s talking and listening, it´s giving and taking, it´s compromise. It´s loving someone at their worst and encouraging them to be their best. It´s not about white dresses and big parties...although those are fun...they don´t make a marriage. 

So...after much yaddy yaddy yadda...(It´s impossible for me to make a long story short...can you tell?) I´m turning to you my dear readers to ask for your advice. What can the Captain and I do to celebrate our 20th anniversary? Something romantic- preferably a trip somewhere. It doesn´t have to be a white beached tropical destination but romantic would be very nice. I´m thinking a long weekend to a week away with just him. Rome is hanging heavy in my thoughts...I absolutely adored that city...but something new could be fun too...maybe Barcelona? Let me know what your ideas are for a romantic 20th wedding anniversary ok? While you´re thinking about that I´ll share with you tonight´s dinner...Roasted pepper, garlic, and tomato soup Ala Amy :-)

This is such a great meal because it´s extremely flexible. I had some tomatoes and red, yellow, and green peppers I needed to use up. I threw in some yellow onion and garlic- all after how much you have and your own taste preferences. I love garlic so I always use LOTS of it. For this soup I used 4 red tomatoes, 1 green pepper, 1 yellow pepper, and 1 red pepper, 1.5 yellow onion, and 8 garlic cloves. Put this in a baking dish, drizzle olive oil over and roast in the oven for about 20 minutes or until it starts to get a little burnt on the edges. Stir every now and then. 

While these beautiful veggies are roasting in your oven, get about 2 liters of beef broth warmed up on your stove. Once your veggies are done roasting run them through a blender until everything is pulped into one big mash- pour into the beef broth and add two boxes of canned chopped tomatoes which have also been pulped in a blender..let all of this simmer together for as long as you can possibly wait...the longer the better as the flavors can marry for a long time and taste incredible. I always run my soup through a colander to get rid of the chunks that are left as my kids don´t like chunks in their soup. After you´ve gotten rid of the chunks you can add some smoked sausage pieces like I did..protein is important did you know that?? ;-) 

I´m hesitant to write this as sometimes my kids read my blog and sometimes they don´t...but they asked me tonight if I added something spicy to the soup and I said no....hehehehe.....but I did....hehehehe....I added a couple dashes of garlic chili sauce and a couple dashes of Sriracha Hot chili sauce. I can´t help it....I like it a little spicy and spices like chili increase your metabolism so you can burn calories faster...who wouldn´t want a couple dashes of that magic stuff??? Just don´t tell the kids will ya?? Finally a little garlic pepper and sea salt just to taste..(I didn´t need much)..voila...this is soooooooo I mean....SOOOOOOOO....SOOOOO good....and when you have some whole grain rolls that are getting slightly old...like I had you can butter those, splash a little garlic powder over them and top them with a little cheese, finally a dash or two of pizza seasonings and in the oven for a wonderful cheesy garlic bread you can dip in your soup! I´m telling you I can´t get enough garlic...EVER!!! 

Ok, don´t forget to leave your romantic 20th anniversary suggestions in the comment box below...I know there are romantic people out there who will be reading this and have some wonderful ideas to share with me! Put your thinking caps on, I´m counting on you to help me with some ideas that can make this a wonderful anniversary! And one more thing- our celebration doesn´t just have to take place on one day or a weekend or a week- we can celebrate in small ways all year long too!  However a trip could only be a long weekend to a week- otherwise let your creativity flow and fill that comment box below with all your amazing ideas ok?


Have a great evening everyone!


Until next time my friends......

A-MOOSIE

I´m going to share something with you that only those near and dear to me know...my Dad gave me a nickname growing up. Several actually, although the majority of nicknames played off the original. Are you ready? A-Moosie, or Moose....or Amoose. Yeah, I know...sweet eh? What every teenage girl wanted to be called...I know...you see as I was growing there was a period I went through three pairs of tennis shoes in three months. That is when I got the nickname from my Dad and it stuck. I was growing as big as a moose...then my name Amy....A-Moose....Amoosie...you get the drift...


It wasn´t the best nickname I could have thought of for myself at the time but over the years it´s grown on me and I find it endearing now. Of course no one calls me that anymore...not even Dad really. However when I see these guys....

I can´t help but feel a sense of unity with them...how lovely to be associated through a nickname to such a magnificent animal. 

I sat in my warm home drinking a cup of coffee and watching this fellow/lady through my binoculars in utter awe and amazement. Such a patient and slow moving animal. As I opened my window to take these photos the cats who were outside heard me and began crying...Mr./Ms. Moose heard the cat and stopped and stared for what seemed like forever in the direction of the house....not moving, simply looking like a statue...then ever so slowly turned in the slowest motion and moved quietly and slowly even further into the woods....

This amazing animal lives somewhere in the woods across from my house. I don´t see him/her that often which is amazing considering this isn´t a very big island...but I see footprints and I see he/she is on the move a lot...you´d think as slowly as they move and as small as this island is and as big as the moose is you´d see them more often but amazingly enough this is a rare experience and one I treasure every time I get it. 


The other night I made a stew with Moose meat. I know, all animal lovers are probably angry with me over that one...but such is life. Moose meat is actually a fantastic meat if you´ve never tried it. My kids had it for the first time the other night and then all of them in unison said we needed to catch the moose we had seen so we could have more of the wonderful meat! They are such little Vikings these offspring of mine! Have you ever tried moose meat? What is the best way you´ve had it prepared?


Tonight we´re doing scallops. If the recipe I am planning to use turns out I´ll share it with you. I would have shared the moose dish with you but totally forgot about blogging and photographing that evening- can you imagine? 


Until next time my friends....

Balsamic-Glazed Salmon Fillet

Because yesterday´s post was way too long I decided to keep it short and simple tonight. We all know fish is good for us and there are numerous ways to serve fish....imagination is the only thing standing in the way. In case your imagination needs a little help here is a dish that is really yummy and turns plain ol´salmon into a magical dish. You can find the recipe HERE. 

I served our salmon tonight with whole grain pasta and fresh veggies. For my pasta sauce I totally winged it but it turned out really good. I used the sauce for the fish that I had left over (probably 1/2 cup?) and mixed in about 100 grams of cream cheese, 1/2 cup cream, 2 TBSP light crème fraiche, about 1/2 cup parmesan cheese shredded and about 1tsp onion powder, garlic pepper, and salt to taste. Let it all simmer together until you get desired thickness and pour over pasta and mix well. 


With the leftover pasta I´m already thinking of lunch tomorrow. I think I´ll sauté some onions and mushrooms together in a little olive oil and then add some chicken breast meat to the onions and mushrooms- give it a little zip in the pan and then add it to the pasta. I also have some sugar peas which would be perfect to add a little color to my chicken pasta salad :-) I´ll let you know how that works out tomorrow! 


Have a great Hump Day everyone!


Until next time my friends....