Fastelavn in Norway Many cultures celebrate the days leading up to Lent with a big feast or celebration like Mardi Gras, Fastnacht, and Carnival. In Norway and other Nordic countries this is Fastelavn. While the 40-day fast period of Lent largely lost significance in Norway after the Reformation, Norwegians have…
Norwegian
-
Continue ReadingMy friend Lisa celebrated her birthday here in Bergen last week, and she kindly let me bake a cake for her birthday party (so that I could share the recipe on this blog). Lisa is allergic to nuts, and I quickly realized that most of my favorite Norwegian cakes contain…
-
Continue ReadingNorwegians make a lot of different kinds of pancakes, but probably my favorite are their thin and eggy, crepe-like pancakes. These are incredibly versatile and can be filled with all sorts of different things. They can be served sweet for dessert, or savory. While I’m usually more of a Norwegian…
-
Continue ReadingI grew up in the US, but my mother is Norwegian so my family would often spend our summer vacation in Norway, which I loved. Well of course I loved it, because I eventually moved to Norway. I loved the mountains, I loved the fjords, I loved my grandparents’ dog…
-
Continue ReadingLapskaus is secretly one of my favorite Norwegian dishes. I say secretly, because I suspect that lapskaus might be considered old man’s food. At least, when I worked in a supermarket our kitchen would make lapskaus, and it always seemed to be the older, single male farmers who would buy…
-
Continue ReadingToday is my mom’s birthday! And I’m celebrating by baking some of the best Norwegian Christmas cookies: mandelflarn, or almond lace cookies. Or at least my family always makes these for Christmas, but you really can bake these any time of year. They’re very similar to their oat cousins, havreflarn,…
