posted on 28th January 2009 under Food, Sports
Blogging about Norway; our culture, traditions and habits including food, it would have been a disgrace not to mention today’s big event: Geir Skeie was the winner of the 2009 Bocuse d’Or:
Geir Skeie (born July 2, 1980, in Fitjar, Norway) is chef, winner of the 2008 Bocuse d’Or Europe and now the 2009 world final. He made the decision to pursue this goal already in 1993 when watching the chef Bent Stiansen on television having become the first Norwegian to win the contest, and subsequently worked towards it for the last fifteen years. In contrast to his fellow candidates in the 2009 finals who have lodgings in Lyon where they make their last preparations, Skeie rented a large semi-trailer truck with an installed training kitchen. (Photo: Jarle Vines – from Wikipedia)
The Bocuse d’Or (the Concours mondial de la cuisine, World Cuisine Contest) is a biennial world chef championship. Named for the chef Paul Bocuse, the event takes place during two days near the end of January in Lyon, France at the SIRHA International Hotel, Catering and Food Trade Exhibition, and is one of the world’s most prestigious cooking competitions.
The theme and ingredient for the 2009 competition was:
Meat dish to serve 14 persons: Scotch Beef Aberdeen Angus
1 Angus fillet steak 2 kg to 2.5 kg
1 ox tail (approximately 1 kg)
2 ox cheeks (approximately 500 g per cheek)
3 beef ribs (3 to 4 kg total, supplied not stripped)
Fish dish to serve 14 persons: Norwegian Sea Products
Norwegian Fresh Cod: 1 piece 5 to 6 kg (11 lbs – 12 lbs), complete with its head
Norwegian King Scallops, 45 pieces with their shells (12-13cm)
Norwegian Wild Prawns, uncooked, 3 kg (6.5 lbs)
One would think that Geir from Norway is natural talented when it comes to the fish dish 
In an interview on the news this evening, his mother said she assumes he started to cook as she wasn’t that good in the kitchen herself. A Swede came second and France took the bronze medal.
I consider myself far from being a chef, but my regular readers know I love to cook – especially together with my wife – and seafood is our favourite. As an example, you might like to read Diane’s guest post: Something Fishy in the Norwegian kitchen.
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posted on 24th January 2009 under Habits, Winter
Even though I am still home sick with back and stomach problems, I try to get out for a short walk around the neighbourhood as often as I can. It’s important to get some exercise and stretch out my sore muscles. It’s also good to get some fresh air and see something besides my own living room, and most of all; allow my thoughts to wonder to other things. Being out among people and nature always gives me new impulses and inspirations.
When I approached the local school I could hear it before I saw it. It was after normal school hours but the afterschool program was in full swing (all pics taken with my Nokia N82 – click to enlarge and enjoy!):
In Norway all schools provide an after school program for children of working parents, or just for social activities. All children over the age of 3 also have the right to go to preschool and we have now accomplished nearly 100% coverage. This isn’t only because of working families, but also because we believe it is good for children to be socialised with others. A major part of the school and preschool program is outdoor play.
Children use the time to build up friendships, while building trust and confidence in nature through positive experiences, learning and mastering!
When I saw these children having such a good time in the snow it reminded me of my own childhood, and I just had to share it with you. Outdoor activity is so important for Norwegian children’s development. There is nothing which stimulates the imagination like building and digging in the snow with your friends:
Snow can be anything; it can be a cave, a ship, a house, a plane…whatever the child’s imagination wants it to be. I still remember the fortresses we used to build when we were small. They were enormous!! Or at least it seemed enormous to us.
When I came in closer to get better pictures a cute little boy came up to me in open curiosity and asked, “Whose grandfather are you?” Hahaha! I have to admit I wasn’t quite prepared for that. I answered “I don’t have any grandchildren yet, but 50 years ago I played in the snow just like you do now.” Then I really had to laugh. He was so sweet and very diplomatic; he didn’t say anything but you could see in his eyes that he thought that must have been back in the STONE AGES!!
Well seeing these children eagerly playing in the snow makes me feel young at heart at least, and my fantasy is as healthy as it ever was! The child in me just loves it
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posted on 20th January 2009 under Habits, Nature, Winter
Since I’ve no place to go…let it snow let it snow let it snow…..! Snow is no sensation in Norway of course, but even here the weather has been unusual. In the last couple of days we have had quite a blizzard. Between 50 and 70 cm (1.7 – 2.3 feet) of snow has fallen in south/eastern Norway and the Oslo area. It is not often that we get so much at once, and the community has been working overtime to clear the roads and make them safe for travel.
However the snow is not just a headache for vehicles and a back ache for those cleaning their walks, but it is also lovely for the eyes and the soul. Nothing is like a snowy day, the whole landscape blanketed in white. Everything looking clean and fresh like a whole new world waits outside your doorstep. I so much remember the joy of new snow when I was a boy. I couldn’t wait to finish my breakfast so that I could put on my warm winter clothes and go out and play in the snow!
Today you really had to be careful to clean out the right car, the snow was piled so high that it was smart to clean off the license plate first…otherwise your neighbour may be very grateful and you might be late for work! (click all pics to enlarge and enjoy):
Even the animals like the snow, this little fellow came up and talked to us. He wanted a little pet and to be talked to before he ran along the snowy way!
We don’t have ‘snow days’ in Norway however, even when there is a record snowfall the schools and preschools are still open. Here you can see a young mother pushing her child along in a good Norwegian carriage to the local preschool down the street.
You don’t even need toys in the snow; just playing in the snow is enough…as long as you have a proper snow suit and wool underneath you never get cold! If you are lucky enough you had a sled, or skis or a shovel then you could use the whole day playing outside in it. Just like this little boy we saw on our walk, so eagerly helping his grandpa find the car:
I hope you have enjoyed our morning walk, and that you’ll find a scenery as beautiful outside your door.
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posted on 16th January 2009 under Habits
This post is first of all dedicated to my readers, faithful visitors and friends out there in the Blogsphere who supported me and voted for me, and who are always touching my everyday life with their visits, comments and emails.
The Weblog Awards are the world’s largest blog competition with over 545,000 votes cast in 2007 edition, also the Blogworld’s Oscar! This year the competition grew to 933,022 votes cast in 48 categories and nearly two million votes cast in all editions since 2003.
RennyBA’s Terella was a finalist in the Best European Blog category. This is a geographical category which includes the nations of the EU, Iceland/Greenland, Norway, Russia and its former republics. Voting for the 2008 Weblog Awards is now over and this year’s turnout was simply amazing; 3.2 million page views, 2 million visitors. Thanks to all of you who came in and voted and made this years competition a smashing success!
Here you can see the final results for yourself. I am proud to announce that my Terella came in 4th place, and was very happy with the turn out. I could follow along with my activity tracking tools and see that my friends, and their friends, were visiting me and voting. I really appreciate all the support I have received.
Your comments and feedback is the most important part for me. It was an honour to be among the finalists in such a great competition and it was great fun campaigning and checking the results from day to day, or okay I admit it, even from hour to hour!! (minute to minute…) It was close right up to the end between us and “An American Expat in Deutschland”. I do hope to compete again next year! I offer my congratulations to all the other finalists and do hope that you had as much fun as I did participating in the contest.
Since I still am having problems with my back I have been less active then usual, and it is especially difficult for me to write at the computer. It is great to see that you are all still coming in and visiting and I am keeping up with your blogs as often as possible. This year again, despite being a bit incapacitated, I still managed to get some press coverage for the competition. Here you can see the article in ComputerWorld’s online edition.
As the good old saying goes; ‘
All press is good press’ and it’s always fun to get some attention. If you like, you may read about the outcome from last year by
clicking here.
I also created an event on Facebook, which was a very fun tool to use and it was great to see many of my friends there too! I experimented on my Twitter as well of course!
I will be home this weekend getting better so that I can come out and play with you all some more in the near future. Have a lovely weekend and thank you again for your support.
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posted on 13th January 2009 under Nature, Winter
The beauty of the nature never stops fascinating me, especially with focus on the natural elements: air, water, soil and of course fire. When you combine all four, to me; one are close to nirvana. I had series of quality times together with my wife the last week of 2008, including our New Year celebration in our vacation home in Mariestad, Sweden and one in particular, I would like to share with you. We went to the local beach around 4PM, to watch the sun set and this was the scenery which greeted us:
Along the shore of lake Vänern (the largest in Northern Europe – ) it was frozen and the sun made a spectacular image in the sky and mirrored it on the icy surface. This skies on fire phenomena occurs as sunlight passes through the thick layer of air at sunset, since the shorter wavelength portions of sunlight are absorbed or scattered away. This leaves the longer, deeper penetrating wavelengths to pass through the atmosphere – these are the red, orange and yellow wavelengths. It happens all over the world of course, but more regularly at the northern hemisphere around winter solstice, when then the sun is furthest away. You might have heard the good, old weather saying too: “
Red sky at night; sailor’s delight –
Red sky in the morning; sailor take warning.”
So let me share some more of this Scandinavian, Winter Wonder Land beauty with you (all pics are taken with my Nikon S2 – click to enlarge and enjoy):
Two hours later (around 6PM), it was even more mysterious:
Another interesting phenomenon about the Nordic countries, and one of the main subjects on my blog, is the significant four seasons. I mean, when these pics was taken, it was around -10C (14F) and if you aren’t dressed properly, you’ll freeze your butt off. However in 6 months, people get rid of almost all cloths (yea, topless is quite normal) and have great fun, swimming in the lake in the temperature around 20C (68). Let me give you an example:
Left: Januar the 1st 2009 – Right: July the 15th 2006.
Whatever the time of year it is most important to take advantage of the beautiful nature all around us. When the daytime is short it is especially important to get out when it is still light out and you appreciate the daylight much more. In the summer when the sun stays up until almost midnight where we live, then you look forward to late August when you can finally see the stars again. One thing is for sure, the beaches and sunsets are just as beautiful both winter and summer and each season has its own mystical charm. Hope you are taking advantage of the beauty where you live. Stop in and tell us about it here!
Click the banner to see the result!
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