Cloudberries, known as multebær, begin popping up through the moist terrain around mid-summer. They are truly a treasure to find, if you know where to find them or happen to stumble across them.
(more…)Category: Summer
-
Fireweed Juice (Geitramssaft)
Rows of purple-pink geitrams, also known as fireweed, rosebay willowherb, and great willowherb, line the landscape at this time of year. Their shoots emerge in the spring and by late summer they blossom. By the autumn, they become tall, wooly-looking stalks of seeds with silky hairs to be spread by the wind before the winter arrives.
Fireweed is one of those incredible wild plants that is both beautiful and edible, but might not get a second glance as it is generally referred to as a weed. Yet, like a phoenix, fireweed rises from the ashes. After a forest fire, they are one of the first plants to return, hence the name fireweed. They are able to quickly colonize an open area; their buried seeds able to germinate after a fire or disturbance in the land. Thus, making them an important part of managing the land and encouraging regrowth and revitalisation.
(more…) -
Wild Nettle and Pea Soup (Brenneslesuppe med erter)
Bring on the wild nettles.
It’s the season again when these wonderfully nutritious, wild greens pop up all over. They pack a punch with their sting, but once tamed they make the most wonderful feature in any dish or dessert, such as this Nettle and Honey Cake.
(more…) -
Pavlova Cheesecake (Ostekake) with Fresh Berries
In moments of indecisiveness, inspiration can come unexpectedly. Sometimes, it just takes a good friend and a simple conversation to provide a little clarity that sparks an idea. That is how this cake – a combination of pavlova and cheesecake – came to be.
You see, the month of May is prime cake table ´kakebord´ time in Norway. With confirmations, weddings, celebratory parties, and, of course, 17 Mai (Norway’s Constitution Day), there’s no reason not to bake or at least indulge in the dessert conversation. There are traditional cakes, like kvæfjordkake, bløtkake, marzipan cake, kransekake. There are also newer favorites such as pavlova and brownies. One thing for is for sure, whether it’s chocolate, vanilla, meringue, marzipan, simple, extravagant, old or new, the most important thing is the love that is poured out and shared during the occasion and the cake is just a sweet indulgent that adds to memory.
(more…) -
Sour Cherry Crisp with Almonds and Seeds (Smuldrepai med Kirsebær)
The slender tree branches, laden with luscious, dark sour cherries, seemed in dire need of relieving their seasonal burden. As always, it’s on a first come first serve basis: us or the birds.As I walked through my friend’s delightful garden teeming full of berry bushes and fruit trees (each with a long history and proclamation to the land which their roots sink deep into), I couldn’t help but begin to recount all of the times my friends and I would use the garden as our own playground when we were little. We would pluck fruits from the trees in such earnest that our hands would be stained, the lower parts of our shirts became makeshift baskets, our conversations became limited as we kept our mouths full of our succulent findings, and our greediness was shown outright as we left with full bellies and more fruit than we could carry. (more…)
-
The Southern Coast {Sørlandet} + Seawater-Poached Salmon Steaks
A smoldering heat enveloped me as I gazed out from the brygge (docks) toward the sea; one hand shading my eyes from the sun’s bright rays. The blue waters appeared never ending – with small, rocky, and only somewhat-barren islands jetting out as the seagulls danced around the them. The breeze gave only the slightest sense of relief from this year’s endless heat wave, but the beauty and tranquility of the landscape alone was enough to take my mind off of it. (more…)