A Norwegian Christmas and American Candy Sushi!

It has been a lazy couple of days around here at Nylendene. So I thought I'd share a couple things from Christmas.

In the states we're used to listening to Christmas carols around Thanksgiving, putting up the Christmas tree just after Black Friday and attending Christmas-y events and parties all the way up to Christmas Day. Here, Christmas celebrations don't really get started until just before Christmas Day. It seems Christmas Eve is the big kick off to a week of family and community gatherings celebrating Christmas until New Years. The rush and hubbub of the season I'm used to is slowed to a comfortable and friendly pace. Family members eat large meals together and/or gather for coffee and cake/cookies in the late afternoon. It's a nice change to the running around I've always done. It is late afternoon now and I am still in my pajamas!

We have typically been to at least one family gathering a day since Christmas Eve. Svein Arild keeps apologizing for this but I enjoy it! Today we were to go to his parent's house but Agnete, his mother, has caught the bug that has been going around. I'm glad she is getting some rest!

We awoke this morning to a chilling rain that has lasted all day forcing us to forego any outdoor activities. The lovely foot and a half of snow we had has diminished to an icy few inches. It's a good thing we shoveled yesterday or we'd have thrown our backs out with the weight of the wet snow today. Today has been clean-the-kitchen/laundry/organize-cabinets day for me and Svein Arild is insisting that I take a break. So, I'll share with you some pictures from a couple Christmas celebrations followed by some treats I made for the family.

CHRISTMAS EVE AND DAY

We spent Christmas Eve in Nordfjordeid with Svein Arild's sister, Kari and her family. It was such a wonderful night spent singing Christmas carols while walking around the Christmas tree, opening gifts and eating the traditional meal of sheep and sausages.

Clementines are always available for guests.

Beautiful ornament on Kari and Jørgen's tree - Christmas Eve.

Walking around the Christmas tree singing carols.

Alv, Agnete and Miriam open gifts.

My mom sent some quackers (noise makers that look like duck bills) for his family. Svein Arild and I made some traditional American stockings and added the quackers as little trinkets!

Quack, quack!

Agnete got a pink one!

Christmas day we were treated to a beautiful large spread of meats, cheeses, eggs, jams, breads and other goodies! Norwegian breakfasts are really amazing and I wish we did more like them in the states!

A bountiful spread!

CANDY SUSHI!

So, one of my favorite treats to make in the states is candy sushi and I thought it would be a nice surprise to make some for his family. The only problem being Norway doesn't have, well, pretty much any of the ingredients! I brought them from home (save for the marshmallows which Svein Arild bought here). I think it's safe to say that this is the first and last time I'll be making them here. Not because they weren't liked but because of the difficulties in getting the ingredients. 

Here is what is needed:

Parchment paper (NOT wax paper or plastic wrap)

6 cups Rice Krispies cereal

1 package large marshmallows (or 4 cups mini marshmallows)

3 Tbsp. Butter

Fruit Roll-Ups

Gummy Worms

Swedish Fish (candy)

Orange or red Non-pareils

Melt the butter in a large pan and add the marshmallows. Once the marshmallows have melted into one large lump, add the rice cereal and stir. This will work out your biceps for sure!

Spread the Rice Krispie Treat mixture onto some parchment paper while the mixture is still warm. Place another large sheet of parchment paper on top and roll out the Rice Krispies until it's about 1/4 inch thick.

Rice Krispie Treats rolled to 1/4 inch thick.

Lay out two gummy worms on the rice mixture and use a pizza cutter to cut the right amount to wrap around the worms. You'll find what works best for you.

Un-wrap a Fruit Roll-Up and set the candy aside. Use the plastic from it to roll the rice mixture around the worms tightly. You'll want to smoosh it quite hard and the plastic won't stick to it but is stronger than regular plastic wrap.

My workspace for candy sushi.

Take the Fruit Roll-Up and, using the plastic again, wrap the candy around the rice and worm roll tightly as seen in the picture below.

A candy sushi roll prior to being cut into pieces.

I then trim the edges and then cut each roll into four individual pieces of sushi. I save the trimmed bits of Fruit Roll-Up to use to wrap around the nigiri sushi using the Swedish Fish (pictured below). Nigiri sushi is a bit of fish on a pile of rice that sometimes has a piece of sea weed wrapped around it.

"Nigiri sushi" using a Swedish Fish.

 It is really hard to find green Fruit Roll-Ups. They were popular around the time Shrek was out in theatres but I had to order this pack of candy from Amazon.com. Really any Fruit Roll-Ups will work I just like to use the green/blue when I can. You can always pass the other colors off as soybean paper.

A close-up of the candy sushi.

 Some sushi is also served with a quail egg on top. My housemate's mother (who showed me candy sushi to begin with!) used banana flavored Laffy Taffy shaped into little eggs. Svein Arild and I found some bags of Norwegian candy that had these fried egg candies in them so I put some icing on the sushi to hold the eggs on top. You may see a couple pieces with solid colored worms...those were sour worms. The other sour worms are in the rolls with the eggs.

The platter of sushi!

 And, finally, after many times of making candy sushi and using multiple different products for the "roe" (fish eggs - a common sushi garnish) I have settled on orange non-pareils which are easily found in the supermarket baking aisle. I think they work very well for the roe despite rolling around on the plate. I tend to sprinkle them all over and then press them in to the tops of the sushi letting the rest roll loose on the plate.

Orange non-pareils add to the illusion as "roe."

So that's candy sushi in a nutshell. Please feel free to ask for clarifications! I didn't purposely take pictures of the process for a blog post so they're kind of incomplete.

JULETREFEST!

And here is a picture of the Christmas Tree Party we attended yesterday down the road from the house. The community gathered to watch the local Children's choir sing, hear the story of Christmas, sing carols around the huge Christmas tree, have coffee and treats and the kids received little goodie bags from Santa Claus!

The party was held in the building where our wedding reception will be so it was nice to see all its different uses and that it does, indeed, have enough room for a large crowd!

The tree almost reached the ceiling!

WEDDING CAKE....STILL!!!

Finally, I just thought I'd share just how much cake we still have left!! We have put some in the freezer for next year but we still have soooo much cake! Please, come over for coffee and cake to help us eat it before it goes bad!! We have taken the cake to a couple different family functions and it doesn't seem to get any smaller despite people actually eating it!

It's really yummy! You know you want some!

So, that's it for this rambling post. Svein Arild has just returned from Stryn and it's time for me to make dinner from the groceries he just picked up. I hope you enjoyed this random post and, again, if you want any tips or tricks for the candy sushi just leave a comment below or send me a personal email! It makes a very colorful treat for parties!

{P.S. Svein Arild got the mail and there were some surprises! A beautiful card from my Aunt Karen, a Christmas letter from Arve and Gudrun and a Christmas card from my grandma with a CD of family pictures! Thanks to you all for the kind words and thoughtful letters!!}

RECIPE - Eggs Degas!

Merry Christmas!!

This was the scene that greeted us this morning! We got about six inches of snow over night! What better way to warm up in the morning than a delicious and beautiful breakfast full of protein?

I've mentioned, once or twice, Eggs Degas which is Svein Arild's new favorite breakfast for me to make. I made it for my bachelorette brunch and my girlfriends all loved it and I've been asked many times for the recipe/process so I'm going to use this post to explain the deliciousness that is EGGS DEGAS!

First, a little history: It is called Eggs Degas because it is from The Degas House in New Orleans. My mom visited the bed and breakfast a few years ago and bought the cookbook. This recipe was in there and since then I've made it for many Christmas brunches over the years. It looks very fancy and all "Martha Stewart" when you pull it out to serve it but it is really very easy to make! 

Here is the recipe from the book:

EGGS DEGAS:

12 slices Canadian bacon

12 ounces shredded Swiss cheese

12 large eggs

1 cup whipping cream

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

1 tsp paprika

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a greased 9x13 inch baking dish place a single layer of bacon slices, cover with shredded Swiss cheese. Gently break the eggs onto the cheese layer, spacing them evenly apart, careful not to break the yolks. Pour the cream over the eggs. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake ten minutes. Sprinkle with Parmesan and paprika.

Bake ten minutes more or until set.

Remove from oven. Let stand for ten minutes before cutting into 12 egg-centered portions.

Can be served alone or on toast or English muffins.

Americans can use the above recipe and just follow the pictures below for the process. I make it a little differently and I've adapted it to my liking so I'll explain the process here:

Swiss and parmesan cheeses as well as Canadian bacon are kinda hard to find here in Norway. I substitute them with Jarlsberg for the Swiss (they have a very similar taste), Norvegia for the parmesan and kokt skinke (it's basically ham) for the Canadian bacon. You'll also need some butter (brelett), eggs, and krem fløte (heavy cream).

Preheat the oven to 275 C. Our oven is quite old so you might want to just keep an eye on your first batch to see what temp works best for your oven.

Norwegian ingredients.

Next, take a paper towel and lightly spread some butter on all edges of the pan including the sides. You don't want to have the food stick to the dish! It just takes a light coating and if you have cooking spray, you can use that too.

Our pan is small because our oven is small so we can only make four a time instead of twelve.

 Next, take your shredded Jarlsberg cheese and pile it high on each piece of ham.

Next, use your finger to make little "nests for the birdies." Make the hole just big enough to fit an egg yolk on each piece of ham. The whites of the egg will ooze through the cheese.

Nests for the birdies!

 Crack an egg into each little nest. The cheese will hold it in place. This is important. Oh, and be careful not to puncture the yolk!

Oh, dear, here comes the part where you start to feel guilty about cooking this! Drizzle some heavy cream over the nests - being sure to coat each yolk. Sprinkle them with salt and pepper.

Cheese *and* cream!? It's divinely evil!

Pop the pan in the oven and set the timer for about 7 minutes. We like our egg yolks to be oozy delicious but if you want a harder yolk, leave it in for a little longer.

I like to use the large shredder for the Jarlsberg then the fine shredder for the Norvegia...just a side note!

While you're waiting for them to cook, pull out some whole grain bread and set the table. English muffins are also hard to find around here so we use homemade bread. I need to find a recipe for English muffins that I can make here...(note to self!)

When the timer goes off, check it to see if the eggs are set to your liking. As I said, we like ours a little runny so I pull them a little early (according to the original recipe).

Now, take the finely shredded Norvegia (or parmesan) and sprinkle it on each egg. Then sprinkle the whole thing with some paprika. Return it to the hot oven for just a couple minutes until the cheese is browned.

When you pull it out, it should look something like this (without the large amount of paprika on the left! Oops!) Let the eggs rest in the pan for a couple minutes so the cheesy cream can set up a little bit. Doing this will make them easier to serve.

Finally, using a large spatula, remove the eggs from the pan being sure to take the ham with them! Then place them on the bread or English muffins and enjoy!

I let these sit a little too long in the pan so the yolks hardened a little. But they were still delicious!

We finished off our breakfast this morning with some Nidar Sfinx chocolates from Svein Arild's best man! Tusen takk Tor Åge! 

Here is the recipe with Norwegian conversions (as best as I can...)

For serving 12 people:

12 slices kokt skinke

600 grams shredded Jarlsberg cheese

12 large eggs

2.5 dl krem fløte

salt and pepper to taste

200 grams finely shredded Norvegia

paprika to taste

Again, I just use my eyes to gauge how much of each ingredient to use but you can use the above as a rough guideline. If you have any questions about this recipe please leave a comment below and I'll answer it for you! 

This recipe is so easy but ends up making you look like quite the chef! I hope you enjoy it!!

Juletredag! (Christmas Tree Day!)

Yesterday, December 22, we went out with the family to cut down Christmas trees! I had been to Christmas tree farms before with my family but had never just pulled off the side of the road, hiked a bit and picked one out!

The view of Nordfjord from our front window.

We were quite the tour of people with the various families picking out which tree would best fit their homes. 

Walking along the road to the starting spot.

Alv, the patriarch, suggests where to search for the best trees.

Family meeting in the woods!

Svein Arild and I stumbled across ours relatively quickly *and* spotted a great spot for a cache nearby so look for that cache on geocaching.com in the next week or so! Svein Arild was quite the gentleman and let me do the honors of cutting the tree down myself!

Svein Arild and our tree!

Chop chop chop! Or, rather, saw, saw, saw!

I am a lumberjack and I'm okay!

(Side note: Svein Arild and I are wearing our Christmas presents from my parents. They are called Ribz and are packs designed for hiking that distribute the weight evenly and keep everything handy. They are very practical and comfortable...they just look a little funny :) Thanks, Mom and Dad, for the packs! We will definitely use them on our caching expeditions!!)

Since we were done with selecting our tree we decided to stay along the road and wait for the rest as they ventured down the mountain. So I played around with my camera...

Crystals in the snow.

Weeping rocks.

Really sad weeping rocks.

Then I got a spark of "genius" and decided to put my camera on a ten second timer and put it on the ledges behind the ice in the wall of weeping rocks. Here are my two favorite shots...

What the rocks see behind the tears.

We were having a little too much fun with this!

We were walking back to the car with the tree and our neighbor, Oddvin, stopped to say hello and congratulate us on Paper Day!

A neighborly greeting!

 After cutting down the Christmas trees, it is tradition for the Bergsets to gather around a campfire to roast hotdogs and sip hot cocoa or warm juice. The roasting sticks were made years ago and they just use the same ones every year.

Warming by the fire.

Mmm grill pølser!

A nice family gathering!

Most of the family.

We balanced the tree on the trunk of the car all the way back to Nylendene! It only almost fell once.

I decided to warm up by taking a shower before heading over to GOBU for the juletregraut, a "Christmas Tree Porridge." It was a delicious rice porridge which you top with sugar, cinnamon, raisins (if you're not me) and butter.

Bowls awaiting the juletregraut!

Also served alongside the porridge were some salt-cured hams and sausages.

Porridge coma! We were so full!

After a lovely evening with the family we went home and crashed. Poor Svein Arild is sick as a dog so he has been trying to get better today. But he did take some time from resting to help make some Christmas goodies and to decorate the tree we cut down yesterday!

What better way to decorate than with the Carpenter's Christmas Portrait album playing in the background, some apple cinnamon tea and cookies made by Agnete and Gunnhild! I brought some ornaments from home (though I left most of them in Branson) and we used the popcorn chains we made the other day as garlands!

Mmmm tea and cookies!

Our first Christmas tree!

Our first Christmas ornament looks like Nylendene and has a charm that reads "December 21, 2012: A day to remember"

A felt ornament made by my great-grandmother Elsie, or as we called her, Mimi.

We are now enjoying "Home Alone" playing on Norwegian cable and wrapping Christmas presents! The next couple days are going to be very busy so I'm not anticipating any posts until after Christmas. 

From both of us here at Nylendene, we wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

God jul og godt nyttår!!