With loving hands.

Readers of my several blogs have heard about my special birthday this year for weeks now. My anticipation, the family celebration in Italy, the "real" day and the coming garden party in June. I guess you are fed up long ago, but as my blogs are just as much my memory diary as it is written for my readers, I can't let this period pass without photos and words about the chocolate cake my husband and youngest daughter made for my birthday.

With celebrations before and after The Day, April 10th, 50 years since my birth, was a quiet day. Though with family around we were still 10 around the dinner table, and afterwards around the coffee table. I am usually the cake maker in our family (Marta seems to be the one soon to take over though), but Terje has had his own speciality through almost all of our soon to be 28 years of marriage - a chocolate cake which we call "Mokka kake".

Wednesday I was sent out of the kitchen, and father and daughter made my chocolate dream together - yet another Mokka kake from The Blue Café.

Cheese souffle and a salad, and a few thoughts about food

Friday and Saturday nights are nights with something extra good to eat. Normally we eat our dinner around 5pm, but these nights we eat late, and I enjoy my time in the kitchen preparing the food. After a long period of pastas and pizzas I felt it was full time for something else, and my choice fell on a cheese souffle. Marta was the only kid at home and souffle (except chocolate souffle) is not her choice, but we had some leftover tomato soup in the fridge which she was more than happy to have.

Eating together, taking time to enjoy food and company is important. And soemthing we tend to forget more and more. I am a supporter of the slow food movement, and though our days are often busy, we love to share stories and silence over a meal. It can be a simple meal or it can be more sophisticated, company and time is always important. And for me it is a rule (very seldom broken) that we have no television on while we eat. The company we have in each other, the joy and pleasure we get from the food is not to be ruined by today's "house god", the television.

Back in my own Kitchen

Two weeks in Italy are over. I enjoy Italian food and have brought back ideas and new recipes. As time goes by I will share some of them here, but tonight, after long and busy days at work this week, we have been enjoying a fruit salad. It is good to be back in my own kitchen. Good to know that the food I prepare is rich and healthy, good to know that my family enjoy my cooking.

Friday Night Fruit Salad

one pear

one banana

two blood oranges

a small box of diced pinapple

grained dark chocolate

raisins

pinenuts

juice from the half of a lemon

Top the salad with yoghurt before eating.

More lemon - a taste of Italy

We are going down to Italy with the first flight tomorrow morning, all of us, me, my husband, four kids, a boyfriend and my parents. To celebrate my birthday. The others will stay for one week, I will stay for two. We have been to church this morning, on Palm Sunday or Passion Sunday as it is also called, and now we are all busy packing. But first we had lunch, and without any spesific plans I decided to try to empty the fridge before we all leave the house. Spaghetti is always in a cupboard, I had a lemon, a squash and the half of a paprika to challenge myself with. When I also found some cream I knew that the lunch was saved. Spaghetti with lemon sauce.

Cut the squash, the paprika and some garlic and braise it smooth in extra virgin olive oil. The lemon was cut in two halves and the juice from one of the halves found its way to the pan. (I still have some lemon left from my late tea tonight). Add cream for a thick, creamy and tasty sauce.

The spaghetti was boiled al dente and was served with the sauce, cold water and bread. A perfect taste of Italy.

I will not be able to update this blog during my two weeks away, but I will try to write a few posts at The House in the Woods.

Marta's Limonade

I have called Marta, now 12, my apprentice. This is not the right title anymore, I must change it to co-chef. She loves reading cookbook (just like her mother) and she loves playing in the kitchen (just like her mother). I have been "on the road" yesterday and came home late. She was not in bed yet, "you know mum, it is Easter break now and I can't go to bed before you have read a chapter from Harry Potter!" (We have only a few chapters left of the last book, what shall we read next.......)

Well, instead of a sleeping Marta I was met with a delicious smell from the kitchen. Marta was just finished making waffler and coffee, perfect supper for her, me and daddy. And as soon as we had finished the waffles I had regained enough energy after my long day of working to read yet another HP chapter.

I have written about waffles here at The Blue Café already, so instead I'll give you the recipe of one of Marta's specialities; limonade:

1 1/2 l water

6 tablesp sugar

peeled lemon skin

1dl lemon juice

ice cubes

sparkling water

Boil water sugar and peeled lemon skin, let boil for 5 minutes. Cool.

Add lemon juice

Cool in fridge for a couple of hours

Decorate the top of the glass with sigar and lemon juice.

Enjoy the limonade cold with ice cubes.

Fried rice with walnuts, onion and chives

An unexpected day at home, and a craving for something extra for lunch! Well, the first step is to look through the fridge. I found some left over cooked rice and decided it could be a good start for something. With some extra virgin olive oil, a couple of chive boats, the half of an onion and an almost empty box of walnuts, and soon my lunch was finished.

First I fried the chive and the onion in the olive oil, after a while I added half of the walnuts and the rice. The rest of the walnuts I fried in a corner of the frying pan to use for garniture. Eating alone really doesn't mean that the food shall look just plain! With a piece of bread and a few pieces of parma ham I could have a feast together with my book.

I am reading Dervla Murphy's One Foot in Laos. I visited Laos myself a few years ago and fell in love with the sticky rice which were served to all meals. My fried rice was not sticky, but good as well.

A Month since my Last Post

It really was not my intention to keep away from The Blue Café for a month. It just happend, and I have no reason. I keep on makijng food every day, I even almost always take photos of the food I make..........

So the other day I suddenly came to my senses when I was in the kitchen frying some salmon for dinner. I caught my camera and decided it was full time to think about blogging again. And why do all food photos fpr blogging have to be so fancy and perfect. Here I had a kitchen with all signs of a kitchen in use, and the smell of the delicious fish was teasing my sences. If this isn't worth a blog post, nothing is.

So here I am, back again. Hopefully with more kitchen talks and recipes for you. I hope all my readers haevn't left me :-)