Julekaketradisjoner

En viktig del av juletradisjonene for meg er kakene. Da vi var barn lagde vi hvert år hvite kakemenn og pepperkaker, og mamma lagde kransekake, krumkaker, og noen ganger sandkaker. Men best av alt er bestemors julekaker. Sirupsnipper, berlinerkranser, peppernøtter, strull, goro, fattigmann og flere andre sorter. Mange av oppskriftene har hun arvet fra sin bestemor, som var kokke på storgard på Hedmarken. Det føles ekstra bra å videreføre en slik gammel arv. Oppskriftene er dertil, mengdene er nok til å mette en liten hær av gardsfolk. "En kvart porsjon er nok" har bestemor notert i oppskriftboken et sted. At oppskriftene er gamle er helt tydelig. Det er flere ganger "mel til passe deg", og så min favoritt, "anis for 30 øre på apoteket" (ca. to teskjeer er nok til kvart porsjon av denne).

Da jeg etterhvert skulle feire jul i Oslo måtte jeg jo ha julekakene mine! Det første året fikk jeg oppskrifter på sirupsnipper. Neste året berlinerkranser. De årene vi feirer jul i Oslo setter jeg min stolthet i å ha minst syv sorter, om enn ikke av den tradisjonelle typen. Kakemenn blir som oftest en av dem. Sirupsnipper, berlinerkranser og peppernøtter er de faste gjengangerene. De siste par årene har jeg inkludert strull og kransekake som faste innslag. Årets nye er brune pinner, det har jeg aldri laget før. Siden de fleste av de gamle oppskriftene kun inneholder ingredienser, og i beste fall temperatur og steketid, så må jeg prøve meg litt fram på utformingen. Skal smøret smeltes, eller smuldres i melet? Skal eggene piskes? Det ble brune pinner til slutt, men fremgangen nok litt annerledes neste år.

Kakemenn er en av mine absolutte favoritter. Siden i fjor har vi fått en ny tradisjon med baking av kakemenn sammen med venner med barn. Det er morsomt med forskjellige figurer, og maling med konditorfarge etterpå. Tradisjonen tro noterer vi aldri ned hvor mye det blir, lager minst like mye deig neste år, og baker i evigheter. Jeg har minner fra barndommen der pappa stod på kjøkkenet og kjevlet kakemanndeig lenge etter jeg og lillesøster var ferdig med å trykke ut - og spise deig.

Det er ikke alltid det hjelper å ha laget noe før. Noen år vil det på mystisk vis ikke fungere. Sirupsnippene blir tykke, berlinerkransene flate, eller som i år, strullen myk og kransekaken hul. To forsøk på strullen ga en full boks med myke kaker. Og så var det kransekake da. Det er veldig greit å lage flere når man først lager, så jeg tilbyr meg gjerne å lage til svigerfamilien. Som sagt så gjort. Første kaken ble hul inni, helt sprø, og ringene hang fast i formene (som var badet i formfett). I løpet av første "runde" forsøkte jeg å steke med og uten varmluft på 2-3 forskjellige temperaturer, uten store endringer. Ny deig, litt justering. Omsider har jeg fått ut 5 nesten hele (de største ringene er utrolig vanskelig å ikke brekke!) kransekaker. Det tok bare halvannen dag, denne gangen. Vi prøver igjen neste år!

Bath Weekend

Even though I am not sure I would like to live there, I love Bath for it's history and all the old buildings. I love the thought of people going there to relax and enjoy through thousands of years.

The second weekend in November, I caught up with Tollef who was attending a conference in London. I flew in on Thursday afternoon, an met up with him after work at Charing cross. After a quick dinner we went to see memorial at the Tower, surrounded by thousands of poppies remembering the British losses in the First World War. An impressive sight to see.

The next morning we took the train towards our intended destination for the weekend, Bath. The Airbnb lodgings were even more central than I expected, and after dropping our luggage we headed to the city center. We had a little time before our lunch reservation at the Pump Room, so we went to see the Bath Abbey first. I particularly liked the Prayer Trail that took you through prayers at different places in the Abbey.

 The lunch at the Pump Room was everything expected. Live, classical music, elegant atmosphere and nice food. I also had a taste of the famous waters, which turned out to be as promised - not very tasty! As the weather was brightening, we decided to do the Roman Baths the next day, when the forecast said it would wain. Instead we went back to our lodgings for a short rest, before we headed out again for a bit of shopping. I found the perfect birthday gift for my mother, and we had dinner at the Salamander. In the evening we went to the Thermae Spa, and enjoyed two hours of the famous spa waters. Lounging in the rooftop pool watching the fireworks was really great!

On Saturday we started out at the Roman Baths Museum, which turned out to be a lot larger than it looks. I loved it, even though I would have appreciated more information about the use and history of more recent years, not only the Roman history. Afterwards, we wandered about the city, checked out the Guildhall Market, and of course visited Shakeaway for a taste of my favourite milkshake. In the evening we went to the nearby brew pub and had a short tour about their brewery. It was ok, not very impressive, but it's rather small and new. For dinner we had their sausage plate, and we both filled up with loads of different tasting sausages.

 On Sunday morning I made some last minute shopping - some long needed clothes - and took a walk across the famous Pulteney Bridge, before we took the bus towards Heathrow. For the first time we used a lounge, and the two hour wait for our boarding was a really relaxing experience.

Roads of California

I've never had a strong wish to go to the US. It is too much exposed through TV and media to be really exciting, I suppose.

Anyways, with another winter coming on in Norway and Tollef starting to work for Fastly in San Francisco, we decided to put the yearly "get somewhere warm and sunny for Karianne"-trip in the area. California has a lot of interesting sights as well as a comfortable climate, and the planning went accordingly.

On our way out we flew via Copenhagen and had a quite nice and mostly uneventful trip. The time zone adjustment went surprisingly well for my part, maybe because it is quite easy to get up early in the morning and go to bed early.

Already on the first day we headed to Alcatraz, it being our only weekend to spend in SF. I was a bit disappointed, it wasn't THAT exciting compared to all the fuss about it, but the audio-guided tour was quite interesting and it is still a must-see. We had a bit of rain, but mostly before and after the tour itself, so we also got some nice views from the island. After the trip we walked over to Fisherman's Wharf and the nearby shopping-area, and had a real American Diner Lunch.

On the second day, the time zone-change hit me hard, and I spent most of the day just relaxing in the apartment that Fastly had gotten for us, slightly disappointed that the rain kept Lindy in the Park from happening. In the evening we headed out to meet some friends of Tollef, and had a really nice time of it. Also, we accidentally met a colleague of Tollef from the time working for Canonical, really weird, in a nice way!

On Monday was Tollef's first day at work, and I joined him there before I headed out on my own to do some sightseeing and shopping. I walked past the pyramid and through Chinatown, saw the tram and checked out the bigger shopping areas. I got a new suitcase for hand luggage that I needed for my planned trip to Palm Springs, and a few nice pieces from Victoria's secret and Aerie store, both of the stores being a lot less expensive than I expected.

I had rented a car beforehand, and Tuesday morning I picked it up at the airport and headed south toward Palm Springs. It took most of the day to get there, but it was kind of nice to get an experience of the motorways as well, even though it was not that exciting. Some of the views along the roads were quite nice though, and it was fun to see what I later identified as orange fields. The roads were OK, not as good as I'd expected. Also I used some time to figure out how to fuel, as none of my cards worked at the gas station. When I finally arrived in Palm Springs it was pitch dark and no street lights, really weird.

There had been some misunderstanding about the rental car and GPS, so first thing Wednesday morning I headed to the airport in Palm Springs to sort things out. From there it was only a short way to the riding stables, so I decided to drop by and have a look, which ended by me getting on a two hour ride in the desert. It was a rather slow ride with only walking, but nice to see the desert and nearby oasis from horseback. I talked to the owner afterwards, and got a really good impression of how they keep the horses, making sure they are all well cared for and get enough rest both on a weekly basis and a longer break during the summer.

After a couple of relaxing days in Palm Springs, Tollef flew down from SF and met me. On Friday morning we first visited the Living Desert Zoo (quite OK, apart from the wolves and big birds in way too small spaces), then he took the Aerial Tramway while I did some shopping. I am not really a shopping person, but it was high time for some new clothes, and I managed to use a good handful of dollars before we left for LA and Hollywood. LA was surprisingly easy to navigate, very nice, and we walked the Boulevard in the evening, identifying a few of my favourite stars. The Beatles were well hidden, and we had to look them up the next morning, as we went to take photos of the Hollywood sign as well.

After lunch and a walk on Santa Monica Beach, we headed north for a couple of hours, planning on doing the Pacific highway the next day.

Sunday was our big driving day. The breakfast at the motel we stayed at appeared to consist of coffee, muffins and sweet orange drink (not juice), luckily we had leftovers from the dinner the night before. Going north on the pacific highway we saw the Morro Rock, Moonstone Beach, sea lions, a waterfall in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, Bixby bridge, and finished with a dinner in Monterey. The highway was no really that spectacular if you are used to driving Norwegian coastal roads, but it was a very nice drive. I would have loved to stop and see more of the national parks and Hearst castle, and Monterey in daylight, but it wasn't time to see everything. Maybe next time.

On Monday it was actually fairly sunny, so I rented a bike from a place nearby, and biked through Golden Gate park, where I saw the really nice Japanese Tea Garden, the playing fields for the dogs, and at last the beach on the other side. In the evening we met some other friends of Tollef for tapas, they were really nice and almost, but only almost, convinced me that SF might be a nice place to live.

On Tuesday I had a nice and quiet day, mostly packing up and getting ready to leave. On Wednesday we checked out and left for the office, where I left my luggage and headed out for some last minute sightseeing. First I headed up to the Golden Gate Bridge, and took some photos of Alcatraz from "the other side". Then I took the bus back, and walked across Fort Mason to the Ghirardelli Square and Fisherman's Wharf, getting some gifts for my family. In the evening we took a taxi to a hotel near the airport, and finally arriving there, it appeared we was re-booked into another hotel a bit further off. The hotel was noisy and the rooms was cold, so I was quite tired by the time we went to the airport to check in, and discovered that my booking did not exist. Too early in the morning it was all I could do not to cry. Luckily it solved in time for take-off, and we got both to New York and further on to Oslo without any incidents. Tollef's luggage didn't, it was sent to Sweden and used another day getting home. At least we didn't have to drag it on the airport bus home...

You can see the photos here: 

San Francisco

Palm Springs and LA

Pacific Highway

2013 - A résumé

I don't often do this, but I think the last year need a summary. I can hardly remember myself, what I did!

• January: Health was not very good. A lot of work organising a dog show in February. Resigned my job, and got a new one!
• February: Obedience course w/Odin. Organised a dog show. Work trip to Poznan to train my successors.
• March: Riding holiday in Morocco. Easter in Molde with my family.
• April: Started new job parallell to finishing the old one. Mostly work.
• May: Rally obediance course w/Odin. Weekend trip to Hemsedal.
• June: Birthdays. Short drop-in on Arcon. Weekend in Larvik.
• July: Preparing dog show in August. A week in Ringebufjellet and Molde.
• August: Road trip to UK for summer holiday. Organised dog show (successfully).
• September: Work trip to Alicante. Weekend trip to Trondheim. Good competition w/Odin.
• October: Tollef away a lot, so mostly work, dogs and rest. Weekend obedience course w/Odin.
• November: Another good competition w/Odin. Weekend trip to Molde for Christmas baking.
• December: Baking. Trip to La Manga for New Years.

Looks like I got to travel a bit after all. Kovu is also still here, but gets mostly long walks, and join the occational group trainings. He got a chip for chemical castration in October due to some hormone problems. And is still himself, mostly.

This year, there's already a lot to look forward to. In February we're going to San Francisco for two weeks. If that doesn't earn a separate blog post I'll be disappointed!
There's a few dog courses I'm looking forward to do with Odin, and I do hope to get us to elite level competitions this year. I also may take Kovu to some rally obedience competitions.
In May my sister is expecting her first child, and being first of his generation in our family he will certainly get his part of the attention.
In July I will larp again, first time in a very long time. It's been a combination of health issues and timing preventing me from larping but I really expect to make this one. I already have some plans for my costume, just waiting for more information from the organisers.
There is of course a few travels I'd like to make, preferrably including a riding holiday, if time and health permits.

Happy new year! I hope all of you have had some nice memories created in 2013, and exciting events to look forward to in 2014!