Alternativmessen = Alternative Fair

Palm readers, clairvoyants, Native Americans, UFO seekers, and...climate change? I just spent the weekend at Alternativmessen, the largest alternative living fair in Oslo and, as you can see from the list, "alternative" has a fairly broad meaning in Norway.

From the table where I was volunteering with a environmental organization (Framtiden i våre hender) it was like watching a circus go by. On one side we had a HARD CORE animal rights group handing out pamplets and across the way was a stall filled with crystals, dream catchers, raw hide, and fox tails that you could clip on the back of your pants to look like Daniel Boone. I was surpised that the two groups didn't confront eachother at some point.

But really, the most intriguing thing about the event was the diversity. Out of the woodwork came the "alternative" community of Norway. People in handmade costumes, crazy hippies with dreds, importers of peruvian shawls, and row upon row of tarot card readers and reike practioners. A real live Indian from South Dakota was offering autographs. A few tents where offering "scientifically" produced photos of people with their "auras" for just 200 kroner. (Geeze!) And then the best one was a station where you could get an "ionizing" foot bath and watch the water turn black and brown until it looked like tar. There must have been a little something extra in the bubbling pump to add to the drama of it all.

At our table we offered free buttons, fair-trade coffee, magazines, and a carnival game where you could knock down cans representing CO2 emissions to win a documentary film called the 11th hour, with Leonardo DeCaprio. Seems a little ironic that we had to compete for attention with crystal worshipers and believers in extraterrestrials.

Weekend in London

Snø = Snow

Bilder/photos: (http://picasaweb.google.com/roaring.tree/First_Snow#)

Første Snø = First Snow
Jeg var veldig overrask at vi hadde snø ønsdag. Det var bare 29 Oktober, to dag før Halloween. Min kollegaer sa at vi skal ha snø, men jeg trodde at de snakket om fjellene i Nordmarka og ikke sentrum av byen.

I was very surpirsed that we had snow on Wednesday. It was just October 29th, two day before Halloween. My coworkers said that we would have snow, but I thought they were talking about the mountains in the Nordmarka and not the center of the city.

Jeg sto ved vindu og kikket og kikket i morgenen. Jeg kunne ikke tro at der var sant. Men gaten var ful ny, hvite snø. Jeg gikk på kontor langsome. Jeg gikk på veier og i den graveplass og ned trapper og langs Akerselva. Det var så pent, vakker, og kaldt. Over natten, byen har forandret til en eventyr land.

I stood by the window and looked and looked in the morning. I couldn't belive that it was true. But the street was ful of new, white snow. I walked slowly to work. I walked in the streets, in the graveyard, down stairways, and along the Akerselva river. I was so attractive, beautify, and cold. Overnight, the city had changed into a wonderland.

Grønn Gourmet

Tomorrow were hosting a "Green Gourmet" dinner night with a wonderful local environmental group called Framtiden i våre hender. I put out the idea of having the event at our apartment after I went to the last Green Gourmet about a month ago. Simply put, it's a cooking party. The host provides a recipe and some raw ingredients that the guest assemble into a meal that they share together at the end of the night. So far, we have 12 RSVPs confirmed and I don't know how we will all fit in our cosy apartment, and we don't have 12 matching bowls, but that's part of the atmosphere.

Here's a sneak peak at the menu.

White bean, butternut squash, kale and olive stew

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 large onions, chopped
• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 3 1/4- to 3 1/2-pound butternut squash, peeled, seeded, cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes
• 3 red bell peppers, seeded, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 1/2 cups canned vegetable broth
• 1 1/2 large bunches kale, thick stems trimmed, leaves cut crosswise into 2-inch strips
• 1 tablespoon dried rubbed sage
• 5 15-ounce cans cannellini (white kidney beans), rinsed, drained
• 1 cup Kalamata olives, pitted, halved
• 2 cups Freshly grated Romano cheese

Heat oil in heavy large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onions and garlic; sauté until tender, about 10 minutes. Add squash; sauté Add bell peppers and stir to coat with onion mixture. Add broth. Cover and simmer until squash is just tender, about 10 minutes.

Mix kale and sage into stew. Cover and cook until kale wilts, stirring occasionally, about 8 minutes. Add beans and olives and stir until heated through. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Transfer stew to large shallow bowl. Sprinkle generously with cheese.

Beets with Yogurt

• 2 pounds small beets2 cloves garlic
• 2 cups strained Greek-style yogurt
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt
• handful of chopped mint or parsley

Cut the stems and leaves 2/3 of an inch above the beets. Cut each in half and lay them on tin foil on a baking pan. Lay tin foil over the beets. Roast at 400 degrees F for 1.5 to 2 hours un until tender. Cool and peel. Cut into thin, half moon slices.

Crush the garlic and beat it into the yogurt. Spread the mixture on a serving plate and arrange the slices on top. Beat the lemon juice with the oild and a little salt and stir in the chopped herbs. Spoon generously over the beets and serve.

Optional: add 1.5 teaspoons tahina to the yogurt.

Rose hips

This weekend, when we were visiting Matt's friend at his new abode along the coast, I found another edible plant! Rose hips are red fruits, about the size of small cherry tomatoes that are left behind after the bloom has died. Although nearly all rose bushes produce rose hips, the tastiest come from the Rosa rugosa variety which are planted all over the Oslo area. The flavor can be described as a mushy version of a cranberry or sweet red pepper. The fruity part only extends about a fourth of an inch into the center and then the rest is mostly seeds. But, some varieties have more fruit than others.

Right now in mid to late October is the best time to harvest them, just after the first frosts. They seem to taste best when they are plump and yeild to gentle pressure. But, the older ones that are soft and wrinkly lack the tart flavor. I've seen the bushes everywhere in parks and open spaces without realizing that they could be used for anything. Now, I'll have to pay more attention.

As it turns out, rose hips are high in both vitamin C and antioxidants. Some recipes advise that you avoid using metal pans and utensils when processing them so you don't discolor the fruit or reduce the vitamin C concentration, but I don't see how or why metal pots would have any effect on it. If it were the case, why aren't there similar warnings on recipes involving red peppers and tomatoes?

Here are just a few convenient ways to store, or cook the tasty fruit:

Dried rose hips
Rose hip tea
Rose hip puree
Rose hip leather
Rose hip candy
Rose hip jelly
Rose hip apple sauce
Rose hip pudding
Rose hip soup
Rose hip syrup
Rose hip nut bread

Links:
http://homecooking.about.com/library/archive/blrosehips.htm

Becoming a bookworm

Since my commute to work is relatively short, and our grocery store is just outside the apartment building, I have plenty of free time to study and read. The city library is great. I've been taking full advantage of it, filling the evenings with international news, science journals, thought provoking books. I just finished a book about global warming, called "Six degrees" which was a bit frightening and now I'm in the middle of "The Ages of Gaia", biography of the planet that looks at life on Earth as one, self regulating organism. The author, James Lovelock walks through each eon showing how each successive wave of organisms unintentionally moderated the temperatue, atmosphere, geology and conditions to sustain life. It's a bit dense, but entertaining and inspiring.

Speaking of atmosphere changes, Norway's season are quite dramatic. Fall has finally arrived in full force and the ground is covered in colorful leaves. Now the tops of the trees are starting to show bare branches and the tree outside our balcony is suddenly barren except for a few hanging seed pods, ready to drop.

It's raining more and more which intensifies the waterfalls near our apartment and up in the NordMarka. Along the river you can see old flour mills or factories from the turn of 19th century, now transformed into office buildings or apartments. Last weekend on a run with the running club we came across a glassy lake at the base of a gushing fall at least 50 feet tall. The sun broke out for just a moment illuminating the bright leaves agains the slate gray rocks and the black bark.

The pace of my running has slowed down because it takes so much effort to avoid all the puddles and streams on the rocky trails. Some of the more experienced runner just laugh and plow straight ahead through muddy streams up to their calves. If you're shoes are already wet, it doesn't make much of a difference. And at some point, I have to just give in and get soggy. As the Norwegians say, there is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing. But perhaps they should say that there is no such thing as bad weather, just unwaranted hesitation.

Taking a Break

Hi all, Hubby Gray here.
Laura is still taking a break from writing on her blog while she continues to gather more material. I will write in a later entry about the band after we have our first performance in October. For now an update.

We have settled in quite nicely here. The sun has returned after a couple of weeks of drizzly weather all over most of Europe. The fall colors are beginning to show and the temperature is dropping quite fast. In a couple of weeks there will be snow in the mountains. You can now get great deals on mountain bikes and last years skis. Every few days folks are slowly adding a new piece of warm clothing to their outfits; a scarf here, a hat there.

Last weekend we went to a free environmental festival. There was a free tour around the fjord. It was fantastic to see all of the little island communities. In little over a week Oktoberfest Oslo style will begin. Not sure what that entails. I do know that around this time of year Norwegians enjoy a popular dish of lamb and cabbage. I was disappointed to hear that my friend Ulrik will not be serving this dish at his party this Friday. He is having people over to watch the American debates and in honor of that he wants to serve meatloaf with a little American flag sticking out.
He asks me if I am excited about the debates. I tell him my stomach hurts just thinking about it.
Maybe a slice of meatloaf will fix it.

Speaking of which; Laura and I met an American in our Norwegian class who is so happy to be away from American press and any news about the election. He said it really used to stress him out and now he is happily taking a break. Not a bad idea. The American news has become so insistent these days, like the fast flickering of a TV screen, screaming out "look at me look at me, I am all that matters, feel the tension conflict and the utter outrage." Maybe I need to to take a break myself. I don't mean pretend its not there, I just think turning down the volume a bit will do. There are so many amazing things all around us everyday, expressing eternal beauty and connectedness. All one has to do is turn away from the laptop and head out for a walk on the beach, or climb a tree, build a porch, a spend some time playing a board game with one's kids. NOT MONOPOLY, at that point one might as well go back to reading the news.

Anyway, we miss all our friends and family back in the states and we so look forward to our vacation in December where we can sit around and play all in poker while we discuss the economy, and have some stiff eggnog while we discuss the election results... ahem, yeah...
Think I need a walk on the beach.

Joining a Punk Band vol.1

By Matt (Lead singer of Konge Familien, The Royal Family)

A 13 year olds dream come true!

At 41, I am ready to rock the house, tear the roof off, slam, thrash, mosh and shred; a dream come true really. Ever since I was in 8^th grade I wanted to be a singer in a band. Like many 13 year olds, I used to close my bedroom door, turn on my boom box and pretend I was a rock star. While young girls would grab a hair brush and pretend they were Olivia Newton Jon, or Belinda Carlisle of the GoGos, young boys would air guitar pretending they were Eddie Van Halen, Jimmy Page or Pete Townsend. Myself, I used to air guitar to the live version of Free Bird, off the Lynyrd Skynyrd, “One More From The Road” album. Either that or pretend I was Bob Weir of the Grateful Dead, or that I was Peter Tosh; wishing I was black with long natty dreads, instead of just a kid from the burbs.

What do Brahms and the Ramones have in common?

And now I am the lead singer of a power chord punk band in Oslo, Norway. Our first gig is at a place called the Fun House in downtown Oslo, opening for an 80s punk cover band. How the heck did this come about, you may ask. Over a year ago I joined the San Francisco Choral Society and had a great time. And so, when I moved to Oslo, my first order of business was to find a chorus. One evening I was out with Nils and he had a friend along named John-Åge (Pronounced yoon oh guh.) John-Åge was the drummer of a punk band who was pretty well connected to the Oslo music scene. So I asked him if he knew of any choirs about. His face lit up and he said that his band was looking for a lead singer. The band had been around for years, and while the musicians are all quite good in his band they have been having a hard time finding a singer who can come up with good material, sing well, and show up for rehearsals. He asked me if I would like to audition.

Dead Cow

Before coming to the audition, I listened to a few of the tracks of the original band with the old singer. (You can hear these clips on the Kong Familien “Myspace” page.) The band sounded incredible with fantastic bone crunching power-chords, however, John-Åge, was right about the singer. He basically growled through the songs unsure of what to sing. An example is the song, “Dead Cow”; the first verse, goes like this, “You ain’t nothin’ but a cow, You ain’t nothin’ but a dead cow baby, You ain’t nothin’ but a cow, You ain’t nothin’ but a dead cow baby, You ain’t nothin’ but a cow, You ain’t nothin’ but a dead cow baby.” The chorus is an exact repeat, except in this case the last line goes, “You ain’t nothin’ but a cow baby YEAH.” So the Yeah makes it different. The other songs have the same kind of lyrical depth. Songs about getting too wasted, impotence, and other subversive topics, reserved for artist like Frank Zappa, who can throw some amazing arrangements behind them. Having never written lyrics down, I knew it would be a challenge but I figured I could at least improve on the previous content. Right?

We could jam in Joe’s Garage

A few weeks later I prepared some rock standards and came to the audition ready to rock. The rehearsal space looks exactly like the kind of picture you would find in next to dictionary definition of "garage rock rehearsal space." It was in a back alley lot, all the broken windows boarded up. I walked into the small beer soaked studio with carpet on the walls. And saw the practice equipment shared by all the other bands that fill time slot rent on the space. In walked Glen, with his guitar on his back, followed by Frøde the base player. The guys had not preformed in months and were glad to have the excuse to get together and jam even to just audition some guy they had never met and hope for the best. I did a few vocal warm-ups while the band plugged in, John-Åge taped his drum stick to his fingerless right-hand, and did a few loud flourishes and fills. I threw out a few song suggestions of stuff I knew. Glen wasn’t sure of the punk covers I suggested. The LA scene is very different then what caught on in Europe. It turned out the band knew the Elvis version of the Little Willie John standard, “Fever”.
Not really a song I associate with punk, the band kicked off a speedy power chord version of the song. I tried to sing very tentatively, and hit the right notes, but my energy wasn’t where the band was. I felt like a timid karaoke singer. Suddenly something came over me, and I started wailing out the lyrics, the band responded and we were off. After a thundering finish, they all looked at each other gleefully, Frøde exclaimed, “YA DA MATT!” (Norwegian for f*** yeah!) I felt very good. That was it I was their new singer. Now I just had to write some new material on top of the old songs and sing it. I will talk more about my experience with trying to write punk tunes in the next installment. As it stands now; we have written a total of 12 new songs together, and have rehearsed for two months now. I am so happy with the results and the energy with the band is fantastic. We have yet to post any of the songs with me singing on the myspace page. Stay tuned we will be in the studio soon enough. Meanwhile if you are in Oslo on the 17th of October, come and see us. You WILL be entertained, we will show you a great time.

Stay tuned...

Annie Get Your Gun!

My first entry: The Magic of Mølde
Hello all! Hubby Gray here with my first blog entry.(Cue fan fare and confetti.) Our story begins just a couple of weeks ago when Laura and I traveled with our good friend Nils, up north to a place called Mølde. How can one explain Mølde. Ah yes, Mølde home of the body bag, if ya wanna get shot wear the wrong color rag. No, that’s not it… let’s see. Mølde, where kids are king, come on down because we are the dealingest. No that’s not it either, I think a more accurate description would be close to what the great Garrison Keillor often says about Lake Woebegone, “Where the women are strong, the men are good looking and the kids are all above average.”

Yes Mølde, is a magical place, with delightful people, and incredible mountains and fjords. Many of the mountains and valleys have been sculpted out by massive glaciers, in much the same way as Yosemite Valley, however in the same way that Yosemite is truly a one of a kind place; the same can be said of Mølde. I must say, in regards to the people of Mølde, the Lake Woebegone reference fits quite well, as I explain the rest of my journey below.

Norman and Jorunn
We stayed for a few days with Nils parents Jorunn and Norman. They are two of the sweetest and most hospitable people I have met. This was my third time visiting them with Nils. And I must say our friendship has really become a connection I cherish. Often when I come to visit we stay up late at night talking into the wee hours and on occasion enjoy a few sailing trips around the fjords together.

Where the women are strong
After our too brief stay with them, Laura, Nils and I headed a short distance away to have brunch with Nils’s sister Anne and her family. We first had to board a ferry to take us across the Fjord. After boarding, Nils encouraged Laura and I to buy a special kind of pancake served on the boat. I went to the counter and order, behind the counter was Nils’s niece, a slim young woman of about 19 years in age. She came over to our table to take a break from her work and tell us all about her winning first prize for her age group in a strong man competition in Mølde. A video of the competition can be found on youtube following this link. she can be seen at about 5:12 into the video, lifting a variety of heavy objects, and the smiling sweetly for the cameras.

Mølde's very own Annie Oakley
I don’t know about you, but I am impressed. So just who is the mother of this strong young woman? That would be Nils’ sister Anne. A very fitting name, for a woman considered to be the Annie Oakley of Mølde.
Annie in Action
Annie in wiki
Annie Get Your Gun

Every time a motorist hits a large animal on the mountain roads, if the animal runs off after the accident, it is the driver’s responsibility to call in and report it to the highway patrol. At that point the highway patrol calls in Anne. She and her husband then load up their three German bred blood hounds into her truck and then head out, often into the darkest early morning hours. They track down the large animal, (moose, reindeer, or bull elk) and try to determine if the animal has the ability to survive its wounds, or if the animal suffering they put it out of it's misery.

We arrived at her home by the fjord and had a lovely brunch outside on her porch. After we finished eating Lingon berries and vanilla cream, we headed out to the shooting range with Anne and her Husband. The shooting range was a short distance from their house, a large shed-like structure with barn doors on the back side that slid open to a large ravine. Far across on the other side of the ravine were the moose and deer shaped targets. The targets are connected to monitors inside the shed where the shooter can see immediate feedback on how close they hit the bull’s-eye. The moose target in particular is quite difficult, since the only way to bring that large animal down is a direct shot to the heart; an area just a little larger than one’s hand. This target is only exposed when the animal is in exact profile to the shooter. If the moose is angled away from tracker by just a few degrees, the target is blocked and the opportunity missed. In most cases, the shooter gets one opportunity. In Anne’s case, she gets one opportunity in the dark of night climbing up mountains and through brush.

Bull's-eye
I have never been fond of guns, and feel the world would be a better place without them. This is one of those rare instances where I can see there is no alternative. I had only ever fired a weapon once before, with Laura’s cousin Ben, a professionally trained soldier, who had served in both Iraq and Afghanistan. In that instance I shot some pretty large rifles that freaked the crap out of me when I pulled the trigger. Especially the very large shotgun, the Ben insisted that I fire once with the stock down looking through the site and again with the stock up firing from the hip like Clint Eastwood. The second time I fired, I was so overcome with nervous anticipation, that I may have closed my eyes at the last moment, just like I did the first time I swung a bat in little league. Jumping ahead now to Mølde, this time I put on ear protectors and stood several feet back with Laura from where Anne was positioned. The sound was incredible and I marveled how relax and steady she kept her body and focus. Most impressive was how close her shots were all grouped dead center in the bull’s-eye and in the exact same spot. She turned to me and asked if I was ready. I really REALLY didn’t want to. But since I was the guest, I saw there was no way out of this request. So I relented, shrugged my shoulders and got down into position next to Anne. She helped me quite a bit and gave some fantastic instruction. I was actually able to calm my nerves and heart rate down, and turn my concentration to the target. The target was far enough away across the ravine that my slight pulse was causing the crosshairs to bob passed then target with each heart beat. The key was to settle into this context until I could anticipate and pull the trigger at a predictable moment. And wouldn’t ya know it, that I Matt Gray brought up in the comfy California suburbs of lawn mowers, and leaf blowers, managed to hit the inside of the bulls-eye. OMG! I actually hit it on my first and second try. She asked if I would like to fire one more time. I declined in order to keep my record as an expert shot intact. What a thrill! Still as I stepped back for moment, I am sure it is quite a different experience after scrambling up steep ravines in the dead of night chasing a large frightened animal. Still I can't wait to tell Laura's cousin Ben.
Takk på leser, Matt

Fall begins = Høst begynner

NORWEGIAN
Etter en levetid i California, detter er mitt første virkelige høsten. På første dagene av september været snudd. Nå om morgen luften er skarp og kjølig. Det er på tide de finner hatter og votter gjemt bort i boksene. Hver dag, lys endringer og hver uke trærne viser noen flere blader av gull. Kontrasten er mest dramatisk i Nordmarka hvor tepper av berry busker transformere dag etter dag fra lys grønn til mørk grønn till fiolett, rød og oransje. Eventuelle uke nå temperaturen synker noen få hakk, åsene vil være i live med farge.

ENGLISH
After a lifetime in California, this is my first real autumn. On first days of September the weather turned. Now,the morning air is crisp and cool. It's time the find the hats and gloves hidden away in our boxes. Every day, the light changes and every week the trees show a few more leaves of gold. The contrast is most dramatic in the NordMarka where the carpets of berry bushes transform day by day from bright green to dark green to purple, red, and orange. Any week now, when the temperature drops a few more notches, the hills will be alive with color.






A historic building near the Holmelkommen ski jump. For more pictures of the last days of summer, click here.

Learning Norwegian = Lære Norsk

(for English translation scroll down)

NORWEGIAN

Ikveld Matt og Jeg hadd en første norsk kurs på Folk Universitetet i Oslo. Dessverre, det være veldig kjedelig og meget treg, men, jeg synes det vil bli flere fort nest tid. Vi har en venner på kurset. Han heter Zdenek og han kommer fra Czech. Nå bor han i Oslo hvor han arbeider sammen vi.

Norsk kurset er lite, og det er elve andre studenter. Læren heter Trine og hun er høy og tynn. Kurset møter to dag hver uker på tirsday og torsday. Hver dag vi møter fire timer med to pause. Jeg håp et vil bli flere fort.

ENGLISH

Tonight Matt and I had our first Norwegian class at the Folk University (which is similar to a community college). Unfortunately, it was very boring for me and very slow, but I think it will speed up next time. We have one friend in the class. His name is Zdenek and he comes from the Czech Republic. Now he lives here in Oslo and works with us.

Our Norwegian class is very small and there are only 11 other students. The teachers name is Trine and she is tall and thin. The class meets two days a week on Tuesday and Thursday for 4 hours each day with two breaks. I hope it will speed up.

Molde Weekend

For the rest of the trip photos click here.

Words and pictures hardly do justice to the incredible landscapes that we saw this weekend near Molde which lies 7 hours north of Oslo, by car. Imagine Yosemite Valley, back home in California, then imagine dozens of similar valleys lying near eachother. Over each mountain you can see even more beautiful waterfalls, cliffs and rock formations sweeping down into forests and meadows. And some of the valleys are filled with crystalclear snowmelt or open up onto vast bodies of water. This is the Molde area, in a nutshell.

Nils' parent were kind enough to host us and we spent two days hiking straight up steep hillsides, climbing over boulders, exploring caves, and enjoying wide vistas.


Nils' parents weren't the only ones with a grass roofs. This traditional building style is alive and well. Speaking of green roofs, check out this article in the New York Times.

Frogs = Frosk

If a thriving frog population indicates a healthy ecosystem, then Norwegian forests and mountains are doing well. It's hard to miss these active amphibians on our hikes. So far, we have seen at least four distinct varieties.

1)The first frog is the largest and the body measures at least 5-6 inches long. Round circles are clearly visible beside the eyes and noticable stripes appear along the legs. The coloring ranges between orange, yellowish, and olive tones.


2) We found this toad among sheep droppings on steep hillsides where it blends in easily. Notice the wider body, distinct bumps on the back, and the prominent, oblong, puffy patches just behind the eyes. It moves slower than the frogs, perhaps because of its' short and stubby arms and legs. It measure about 4 inches long and 3.5 inches wide.


3)Norwegian frogs come in all sizes including this minute species, less than 1.5 inches long. Just compare it to the blueberry in the upper right hand corner of the photo. Like it's larger cousins, it has a strong dark markings under the eyes.




4) This last frog has the same dark patch under the eyes. You can also see white coloring on the throat, a black line down the body and strong stripes on the legs. It appeared to be about 4 inches long.

Sømmelig (Symaskincafe & Kaffebar)

Three blocks from our apartment is a sewing and craft studio called Sømmelig (Symaskincafe & Kaffebar). You can have coffee, read craft magazines, buy vintage or handmade clothing, learn how to sew, join a knitting club, or rent a sewing machine. They even have surgers!!! I'll post more about this later. I was introduced to the cafe by a young woman named Ragnhild.

Here's a map:
http://www.gulesider.no/kart/map.c?q=nordahl+brunsgate+13&imgt=MAP&id=a_188743

This is Ragnhild who introduced me to the cafe.

Apples in Norway

Local apples going to waste
There are ripe apple trees everywhere but I can't find Norwegian apples in our supermarket. It's hard to understand the logic behind this. When I go from runs around Oslo, I'm tripping over fallen apples, there are so many. Almost all the houses with yards have a few trees. There are crab apples, green apples, and red apples planted along the streets, near schools and in the courtyards of hospitals and even office buildings. And, some varieties taste great (I tried a few over by the university).

Fading food traditions
Of course, these trees must have been planted for some reason other than decoration. They make too much of a mess to be merely lawn ornaments. From what I hear, apples used to be prized, seasonal treats. Norwegians would gather them in the fall and keep them in their basements, wrapped in newspaper. Dried apples were enjoyed at Christmas time.

The lure of perfect foreign substitutes
But, I don't see people harvesting or using local apples these days. We can buy large, perfect apples from Chile, New Zealand, everywhere except Norway. They're available in the same generic varieties year round, without fail, and look exactly the same as the apples back home at the Safeway in Palo Alto or San Francisco.



Solutions
Still, it's absurd that so many calories are wasted while seasonal food traditions fade into the past, and so much energy is spent to bring in foreign substitutes. I wonder if Oslo has any grassroots organizations trying to rectify the situation. If solutions like the ones listed below exist in San Francisco, they might be around here as well.

1. Food for the needy
In San Francisco, a number of groups salvage produce from backyards for charities or other purposes.
Free Farm Stand
The Valley of Hearts Delight
EcoMagic
Second Harvest Food Bank

2. Resurrecting traditions
A merging trend called the Slow Foods movement reconnects people with local foods and their food heritage.

3. CSAs
CSA, or Community Supported Agriculture projects are local farms that supply food directly to people living in their immediate area. Members sign up for seasonal or year long subscriptions and receive boxes of produce on a weekly or bi-weekly basis. While this won't directly solve the local apple problem, CSA members who eat local foods become more in tune with the seasons. In place like Oslo, CSAs would probably function for half the year thought they might be able to supply eggs, meat, dairy, and staples like potatoes year-round. I did find one article mentioning three pilot CSA project in the Oslo, but they may still be in their infancy. Unlike the standard wheat farms that I've seen around here, CSAs grow a wide variety of produce on one plot of land. Sometimes CSAs offer work-trades where members can volunteer on the farm in exchange for reduced subscription fees. A great example of this is Hidden Villa farm in Los Altos, California.

Berry Jam

Did I mention the berries enough yet? I can't get over how many berries there are. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it's fairly rare to find berries on a trail, except perhaps a few blackberries, if you're lucky. And, at most you might find one handful, maybe. In Norway, blueberry bushes blanket the forest floor and raspberry bushes crowd sunny spots along the roads and clearings. At one time laborers were brought in to harvest the fruit but now the cost of labor is so high that commercial picking happens elsewhere, and the ripe berries lie neglected in July and August. What a shame!! You can walk for miles to the north of Oslo, knee high in berry bushes and the farther you go, the better the harvest. Earlier, I saw a sign on the road organizing a berry picking event for local resident near the reservoir, but when we visited the same area a week later there were plenty of tasty morsels left. After less than two hours we filled our stomachs and two tupperware containers.

My boss, who is obsessed with cowberry jam, lent us a berry picker for the weekend. The device is a red plastic scooper with handle on top and metal prongs at one end. As you scoop, it shaves off the berries along with a few leaves and twigs, so it takes some time afterwards to clean out the debris. But, it saves time trying to individually pick every branch. I don't know if it harms the plants in any way, but it speeds up the process to some extent.

The next step is jam making. We were going to start this weekend, but we didn't have the right jars. So, that will have to wait till later. I just hope we don't run out of time. I don't know how long the bounty lasts.

With high food prices, the thought of harvesting and wildcrafting becomes somewhat economical, but I think the entertainment value still outweighs any actual savings. :)


Does anyone have any good recipes for blueberry or raspberry jam?

Mushrooms of Norway

For the rest of the photos, click here.

On a hike this Saturday, Matt and I discovered an fascinating trail peppered with colorful mushrooms near the local reservoir. Everywhere we turned we found a new varieties, some as small as sewing pins and others the size of dinner plates. We've seen people harvesting mushrooms on our weekly runs with the HHH club, but we didn't dare taste these ones (see images at the bottom of the page). I don't know anything about Norwegian species, but they look suspicious.

Mushroom hunting is a very popular activity in Norway and there is at least one safe and tasty choice in the woods around Olso. Kantarells are yellowish orange and have irregularly shaped caps that curve upwards like a trumpet (see image on the left). According to others, they have a delicate, nutty (sometimes fruity) flavor and a somewhat chewy texture. Unfortunately we didn't find any on this expedition because it was a popular area near a residential neighborhood. Good kantarell hunting locations are closely gaurded secrets.

The city of Oslo offers a free mushroom verification service, and experts are available on the weekends at designated locations to inspect wild mushrooms for novice hunters.

As soon as I can find a good identification guide, I'll fill in the real names. But, until then we made up our own names. Can you guess which is which? Daisy plates, Fire twigs, Purple marshmallow clouds, Dutch crunch, Red shelf, Soft peaches, the Purple projectile, the Epidomy of an absolutely perfect baby mushroom.