Ahmad tea and sweet dates.

Last night I had my last meeting doing some local board duty, and before the meeting was over, I was surprised with a basket of sweet treats. The work I have done has been among immigrants in Trondheim, so a suitable food basket consisted of Middle East treats. Oh, how I look forward to try it all :-) I do have my first try this afternoon though, after a spaghetti carbonara dinner enriched with vegetables because we ended up so many around the table (both girls had friends staying) - a mug of Ahmad Ceylon Cardamom Tea, and a small plate of sweet, rich dates.

Carrot Soup

Marta's handball practice starts at 4pm two days a week. She has 90 minutes from school ends and till she has to be in the sports hall, and during this time she must walk home from school, change clothes, make herself something to eat and walk to the sports hall. She has been quite good at making herself (and often a friend) some healthy snacks , but is very happy when she can come home from school to a ready dinner. I must go back to work tonight for a meeting, but was able to come home early to make a light dinner for the two of us before her handball. She was very happy when she heard that I would make one of her favorite soups - carrot soup (or sometimes called tomato soup)

Since we have so many carrots still from the sack we bought from a local farmer a few weeks ago, today's version is a carrot soup with the orange colours dominating. The soup consists of olive oil, onion, cellery, carrots, water, salt, pepper, saffron and a finishing touch of white wine.

Braise onion and cellery in olive oil, cut the carrots into thin slices and add (cut the tomato into boats and add, or leave the tomato). Add salt, and after braising for a few minutes cover the vegetables with water. Add more salt, some pepper and saffron to give a warm, yellow colour. Let boil for about 15 minutes. Add a glass of white wine and boil two more second if you are going to use the car in the afternoon. Never any alcohol in connection with driving here in The Blue Café

Serve the soup topped with "rømme" (sour cream) and eat with bread dipped in balsamic vinegar or butter and salt.

Left overs can be eaten for supper with more bread.

Before the night train

I am going with the night train tonight, up north of the Artic Circle. But before going I plan to eat some bread with my husband. Home made "rundstykker", small breads made by my mother, some with ham, others with cheese.

The Book Corner is open.

I have a huge appetite for cookbooks. I braise them, I bake them, I make salads and I eat them raw. Sometimes I eat all, other times I am satisfied with just a piece of cake. And I love to share. So hereby you are invited to a new corner of The Blue Café - The Book Corner.

There will always be pots of fresh coffee here, and a colourful variety of china will be used for serving, home made cakes will fill the plates on the tables, and please don't hesitate to remove the stack of books from the chair before you sit down. And don't be afraid, I don't mind coffee stains in my books, they will taste even better I believe :-)

I plan to open the Book Corner once a week, and I would love to have guest bloggers here. Let me know if you have a book about food you want to come over and share. The Blue Café has its special gift for all guest bloggers who takes part.

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The first book out in The Book Corner is The French Kitchen by Joanne Harris and Fran Warde. Being a huge fan of Harris and her fiction books for years, I was curious to see what she could write about cooking. Well, of course I knew she could write about chocolate in such a way that I gain kilos just by reading about it, but that's in her fiction books of course.

I had nothing to fear. Absolutely nothing! The French Kitchen is filled to the brim with Joanne's wonderful writing topped with her love for food and her amazing collection of old family recipes. With chef Fran Warde she has cooked it all together to one of the best meals I've had in a long time. Warm Goat's Cheese Salad, Blue Cheese Bake, Roasted Aspargus Spears, Roulade Bicolore.............luckily I have just had dinner (Terje's fantastic moose soup). If not I would not be here writing, but in the kitchen cooking right now.

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Do you want to be a guest blogger in The Book Corner? Send an email to knitwoman1958@yahoo.com and let me know what you want to blog about.

Warm and sweet foccaccia

In pouring rain, Terje and I was out in the garden this morning to do the very last winter preparations. Now the garden is ready for winter.

The rain made us freezing all through our bodies, and as soon as were finished I went in to make a sweet foccaccia. Originally I got my foccaccia recipe from Ilva's food blog, and I make it several times a week. Sometimes topped with salt, or olives, sundried tomatos or whatever I have at hand. Other times I am in a more sweet mood and top it with sugar, almonds, raisins, berries or other sweets.

I love a rising dough in a warm kitchen. Love the anticipation of the fragrance I know will fill the house when I start baking the bread, love the anticipation of a meal, alone or with family or friends.

Todays foccaccia was topped with olive oil, sugar and almonds. I still have almonds left over from last Christmas, and will use them before I start shopping alot more for this year's Christmas baking.

Still hot, the foccaccia is served on plates handpainted with Provence memories of a dear friend of mine.

Carrot and cabbage stew

Family life is changing here at the Blue Café. From a full table every day with four kids and an unknown number of friends who found their seats around the huge diningroom table, there are now more and more days when Terje and I have our dinner just the two of us. Both girls were away today, so again it was dinner for two. I had a day off work (to "work" with something else.......), which means I have spent most of the day in my studio with books and the computer. From my studio window, which is on the first floor, I see right out into the Blue Garden and our front porch, and I was quite amazed at noon when I finially lifted my eyes from what I was writing, to see two mooses right outside our porch. My camera was at hand, and I got some quite good photos of the "mother and child".

But this blog is about food, and believe me, we don't have moose steak on the menu today, though my mother just called to let us know that she and my father will come tonight with some moose meat which they will put in our freezer :-), from my uncle, the moose hunter. Good though that I found some meat in the freezer today which Terje and I had for dinner - so now there is room enough for what my parents bring.

What I am blogging about today though is not the meat but the carrot and cabbage stew sidedish. We have a hug bag of carrots bought directly from the farmer, and I love to find different ways to use the carrots. When making the stew I peel and cut the carrots and cook them for a few minutes in salted water. While waiting for them to finish I make the white sauce, melting butter, adding flour and then water from the carrots, and at last salt, pepper, mustard and capers. And today also green cabbage (from the freezer, originally grown by an old gardener friend of my parents)

Tea with Mma Ramotswe

Do you know Mma Ramotswe and her The No.1 Ladies' Detective Agency?

Mma Ramotswe is a good friend of mine, and I love to have tea with her. Rooibush tea of course, tea made from this special red African tree. For Mma Ramotswe it can never be any other type of tea:-)

I love this series written by Alexander McCall Smith about the Botswana lady detective Mma Ramotswe. You say that you haven't read them...yet? Well, all I can say then is that these books are a must! And of course always with rooibush tea!

Happy reading and happy tea drinking!

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(This is a repost from January)