Cake week

OKAY! So this week was interesting because I baked my first cake from scratch, and even made cake out of fish.  I'll explain later on...

Considering I made a cake for the first time, the kitchen became

a complete mess.  This is only half of the unorganized cake making

activity that can only be described in one word...catastrophic.

For those of you who are unaware, I prefer things to be neat,

tidy, and organized.  The process of cake making was anything

but that.   

It was a caramel apple coffee cake from a "Southern

Living" website.  I love fall, coffee, and the south, 

therefore this was a wise decision.  Kristine mentioned

AFTER the cake had been made that I picked one that 

was very difficult for a first time cake maker.   

I had NO IDEA how many steps were involved.  

Between making the homemade streusel topping, 

caramel sauce, and sauteing the apples.  It was an 

up hill battle from the start.

As it turns out, it was a success!  Somehow, by the

grace of God, the cake was actually good.  For those

of you who may be interested in making this cake, 

copy and paste this link into your search bar: 

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/caramel-apple-coffee-cake-50400000123170/

We all know Norwegians enjoy their seafood.

Considering we live on an island surrounded

by the North Sea, shrimp (reker in Norwegian) is

readily available everyday.  Perhaps not Sundays.  

The shrimp come in their shell or peel so we peel 

them just before eating.  

Unlike Red Lobster, here, most Norwegians

eat their shrimp either in soup or plainly on bread,

often times adding a little mayo on top.  

This fish is called a "lyr" in Norwegian, and Pollack in English.

Notice the orange along the side.  Not all Pollack fish have the

orange on the side so it can be confusing.  For awhile, I thought

I was catching two different fish before realizing they're the same

species.  

This fish is called "sei" in Norwegian and in 

English it's known as Saithe.  They travel in 

large schools just like Mackerel.  I actually 

caught 30-40 saithe the other day but no good

size.  10-15 inches was the average size that I caught.  

Another common Norwegian food is fish soup.

"Fiskesuppe" in Norwegian.  The main ingredients

are Cod, Salmon, and Shrimp.  Earlier in the day

I went out fishing in hopes of catching a cod but

had no luck.  Instead I caught two Pollack fish.  We

used that instead.  

  

This is the end result.  It's a thick creamy broth

that also includes carrots.  It's one of my favorite 

foods here in Norway.  Shrimp, Cod (usually), 

and Salmon make a great soup combination.

I think you may even like this, dad.  

Blake and I enjoy our little adventures together.

Sometimes there is no set goal, we just walk.  This

particular area is a sheep field near our apartment.  

Notice the stone fence.  Hundreds of years ago

people used this to mark their land as well as keep

livestock contained.  It was also beneficial because

the farmers used rock from the field to build the stone

fence.  

Since my car was in the shop getting the rear brakes

repaired, Kristine and I borrowed her dads Volvo for 

a few days.  It was nice out so we decided to take a trip

to visit her grandparents at Amdahl farm.  Blake was

excited to go and was in the vehicle an hour before we

left for the farm.  

I've taken many pictures similar to this one but I 

can't help myself if I have the camera near by.  I love

waterfront properties!  

Eivind is doing his best to get the ball back from Blake.  

At Amdahl farm, there happens to be a small soccer

ball.  I suppose it's for the younger children but Blake

loves it even more than sticks.  

Kristine doing a fine job setting the table for supper.  

I was out fishing on the pier and Eivind decided

to drive the four-wheeler down.  

Around the pier and under the docks there are many

small fish, much smaller than this one even.  I took

a pan fishing bait that I happened to bring to Norway

just to see if I could catch a little fish.  I'm not 100% 

sure what this fish is called but I was told in Norway 

they called it blue fish (blå fisk).   

We're guessing this day was one of the last nice days so 

Eivind decided to go swimming one last time.   

Blake on the look out for potential fishing spots.

As the sun was setting, Kristine, her grandparents,

Eivind, and I had an evening snack of ice cream and 

berries.  I was informed that this meal is called "bisk"

at Amdahl farm and only at Amdahl farm.  

Such a nice evening!  We try to take advantage of 

the nice weather.  

This is one side of a pier I often fish at.  

I took a picture of the nearby village of Sandve.  It's

a really nice area.  I wish I would have taken a better

picture to show you more.  

Picture of the pier looking back.  

This is the largest fish I've caught so far.  A Pollack

of course.  Obviously there are much bigger fish around

but they're hard to come by when only fishing from

piers and shoreline.  This Pollack was 60 cm long.  

I caught it just before dark.  I don't have a fish net so

luckily my friend David was there to help bring the 

fish out of the water.  The fish fought harder but 

basically felt like a large Walleye.      

So here we go, fish cake time!  In Norway, it 

is common to eat food they called "fisk kake".

I think of them as burgers made from fish and

most commonly from Pollack. They're about the

size of burger sliders.  The large Pollack I caught made

about 30 fish cakes.  They can be eaten by themselves

or on bread.   

Here's a closer look at the fish cakes.  They're

made by putting the fish in the blender and adding

onion, milk, and few other ingredients.   Then placed 

in a frying pan with lots of butter.   

Blake's new backpack looks nice.  Now he can

carry his own belongings on our walks/trips.  

Kristine and Blake playing fetch.

He loves the water so if it's nice out we encourage

him to swim.  

After her swims in salt water needs a bath.  That's 

the only bad part about him liking the water so much.  

Before moving to Norway, I wasn't sure how 

good Blake would be a climbing or moving around

the rocky terrain.  It turns out he's absolutely fantastic.

I suppose I would be better too if I had a lower

center of gravity, four legs, and sharp claws.  He 

goes up and down steep cliffs all the time and I 

still don't know how the laws of gravity allow him to 

do so without injury.   

This was an attempt to photograph little shrimp

recently hatched in shallow water, a new experience

for me to see.   

Moving through life as fall approaches...

Brief disclaimer: I apologize for the lack of blogging lately.  It's not that I have nothing to blog about, but rather, I forget to bring the camera to events worth sharing.  I do, however, have a camera on my phone.  After all it is 2014, but it's not near as good as our actual camera.  The picture quality on the phone doesn't match the camera quality.  In the future I'll bring the camera everywhere I go regardless if I walk, drive, or bike.  The pictures of events to follow are random and in no particular order.    

                                          Last week we took a trip to Kristine's parents cabin.

                                          It's located 2 hours NE from us in the mountains.

                                          Her grandparents, and great aunt Marit came up for 

                                          a hike in the rain.  Pictures of the cabin are on my

                                          blog from last summer so I didn't take any this time. 

Considering it was raining, we decided to take a

break under a bridge.  The bride was a crossing

over a stream that ran down from the mountains

and eventually into an inland lake or out to the

ocean.  

Kristine, her mother, Blake, and myself

posed for a picture in front of a freshwater

lake near the cabin.  Being from the Mid

West in American, I love freshwater fishing

so eventually I will get more involved with that

here in Norway.  

It was a great night at the lake. 

Mountains surrounding the lake made

it seem like I was inside a portrait and

 the lake stood so still that we could view 

ourselves as if we were looking

into a mirror.  

Early this week we decided to go for 

a picnic.  Blake goes everywhere with us

so once the hatch is open, he jumps in for

another adventure.

We decided to picnic at a Viking

village.  I blogged much more about this

place last summer so some of this will be

repetition.  

This building stores a large Viking ship.

Kristine's mother and grandfather are

getting the disposable grills ready.  

It's a nice little area with old Viking 

buildings and nice trails to walk on.

The building that happened to be right

behind our picnic area.  

Blake and I felt the need and desire to 

search for potential fishing spots.  As 

usual, we were on a serious mission.  

Another look at the Viking ship storage

building.  

Children often come to this Viking village

and spend a few days "living like Vikings".

This was a large dock that the village boats

were kept.  

I left my fishing gear in the car...20 

minute walk.  It was sad...

A picture of our picnic spot.  This picture

consists of Kristine, her grandparents, 

and brother.  

Blake mysteriously returning from one

of his many adventures.   

Kristine's grandfather helping Amalie 

walk.  She was extremely focused.

Amalie is Kristine's cousin.

Kristine LOVES children so she was having quite 

the time with Amalie.

Having fun in the sun!  I wore my 

fishing/hiking gear anticipating a

vigorous hiking trip.  Turns out I 

was the only one prepared for the 

unnecessary activity.  

This boat was returning to the village.

It's not a Viking ship (obviously).  It actually

has a motor.  Other than that, I have no 

other information.  

I took pictures of the boat because I thought it

looked neat.  

Blakey close-up 

Another Blakey close-up

Because of Blake constantly complaining

about the sun being in his eyes,

I came up with a solution!  

Kristine's grandmother walking with

Amalie.  She's just over 1 year old so

the whole idea of walking isn't that familiar. 

For some unknown reason I felt inspired to 

photograph my fishing pole and fish bucket.  

This is a long pier Blake and I ventured 

out on just before dark one night.  

My favorite time to fish is in the evening

as the sun is setting.  

When I go fishing, I enjoy biking to my

destination.  It makes me feel more in tune

with mother nature.  As you can see, I use

bungee cords to secure my fishing pole to 

my bike.  When I take the bike fishing, I

use a telescoping pole because it's more

mobile.  The bike also has a basket.  After

I catch fish, I place them into a plastic

bag and then into the basket.  I also bring 

a hiking backpack along.  In this bag I pack

the following:

- Water for Blake

-  Water for me

-  Knife

-  Plastic bags

-  Extra fishing line

-  Lots of bait, for ocean fishing

-  Rain jacket

-  Water dish for Blake

 Since we live on an island, using a Bike

as a primary means of transportation works

well.  The fact that I am surrounded by water

in literally every direction makes me happy :) 

Many people have yet to see this terrific

quilt my grandma Meyer made for Kristine

and I.  It was a wedding gift, and a gift to 

cherish.  I made the picture larger for visibility 

purposes.  As you can see, piano keys boarder

the sides, while some triangles have trumpets in them.

The center square has drums.  This quilt is a work of art

which is why we found a good place for it.  We hung

it in our bedroom safely on the wall.         

After purchasing our Ford Focus we realized

that eventually we needed to change the rear 

brakes.  Well...that challenge turned out to

be a 6 hour project of extreme complexity.  

Most Ford cars sold in Europe are manufactured

in Germany.  I know from experience that Ford

vehicles have interchangeable parts that are 

normally easy to find and easy to install.  Perhaps 

that bit of logic only applies to Ford vehicles in 

America.  I blame Germany for making what's

supposed to be a simple project into an absolute

nightmare.    

Another view of our under the bridge coffee time.