Tuesday 29 May 2012

Back in Touch

I am thrilled to have more followers, thank you all so very much. I know I haven't written much lately but given the state of my home at the moment I am finding it rather difficult.  Having no kitchen to speak of and dust coating every surface, it can be a bit too much. I know that the change of weather is on my side with beautifully hot days but it did rain solidly for the first 3 weeks of the build.  I am progressing though and with the good weather I have cracked out the barbecue.  More on the culinary delights it has delivered up in my next post.

Not quite ready for cooking in!


 Windows and doors would be good.

All this upheaval and lack of anything interesting to eat will be worth it.

We have been very fortunate though with a trip to Norway a few weeks ago to celebrate our friends 40th birthday and their move to Froya Island from Trondheim.  I enjoy going to Norway, it's always heart warming to see friends that make you laugh and smile from the off.  I was amazed how much Froya really reminded me of Connemara on the west cost of Ireland.  Perhaps it was the windswept barren isolation of our surroundings that had me thinking of home.

The Girl with her camera - Froya Island



An island community.




 A greyer day on the most westerly tip of Froya.

On our first night we were treated to a fantastic Norwegian dish of baked salmon with sour cream and new potatoes accompanied by the most delicious eggs which had been soft boiled, deshelled and then mixed with what must have been a pound of butter, this I am assuming as I was given a wry smile by our host when I asked. Not a combination I would have thought to put together but really fab. There is no picture evidence of this dish as it was in my gullet before my brain had time to react.

A very windy day.

My dear friend Kat having read my post on making krumkrakker gave me a wonderful present of a cast iron one, I could have cried it's so lovely. Now my ice cream cones will be tasty and beautiful.

 See how pretty my krumkrakke is!

The second evening was a celebration of crayfish and scallops. Having been cut in half and cooked over an open fire the crayfish was served with a simple salad and dressing. (I have never had lobster before but I can't imagine that they would be any sweeter or tastier than crayfish).  The scallops so fresh they were served raw. Nothing more was needed. The following night had more crayfish and scallops but with the addition of Bacalhau, a Portuguese salt cod dish, it was another evening of glorious dining.

 Crayfish ready for the BBQ.

We had waffle's almost every day, I absolutely love them with raspberry jam and sour cream - I know I could have waffle's here, but they wouldn't be the same.
The decadence of our foodie weekend was not lost on me and so I savoured it as we started our journey over land, sea and air to our nonexistent kitchen on the Monday morning.

 Strangely they were giving away the mug in a craft shop we were looking in - can't think why!