All posts tagged: nesodden

Expanding the flock with a broody hen

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Our chicken adventure began a few years ago when we joined a local CSA farm (Community Supported Agriculture), we wanted our children to get a better understanding of where their food came from and enjoy the experience of being with the animals that provide for us. It was not long until we were so enamoured with the lifestyle, that we decided that we would have both chickens and bees at home. True to my nature, I read up on everything I could to figure out what would suit our family and property best. It was quite clear that having a rooster was not going to sit well with our neighbours, many of which have hens as well and also conceded to ‘no roosters’, so we needed a plan on how to expand the flock when that time came. When we chose our girls, we purposely selected heritage breeds and wanted one of those breeds to have a strong instinct to go broody.(see Broody Hen Notes at the end of this post). For that reason we chose two Icelandic hens, and …

Bagels – Montreal Style!

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Anyone who has ever been to Montreal for more than an airport layover knows about our bagels. No, even if you have eaten bagels in Boston, New York, Toronto or anywhere else, you still have not tried the good ones. It is a simple matter of fact.. and no.. I am not in the least bit biased 😉 Montreal bagels are the perfect combination of sweet, savoury, crunch and chewiness! They are anything but a bun with a hole in it. Sunday morning bagel runs, 3AM post party bagel line ups at Fairmont or St Viateur, waiting your turn at the bagel factory watching them come straight out of the wood fired oven is a Montreal ritual, you do not even need to put any toppings on them. But if you do, you know that nothing beats ‘bagels and lox’! It was only when I moved to Norway that I learned that salmon is called ‘laks’ in norwegian, I loved that, having calling smoked salmon ‘lox’ since my childhood. Every time I visit my gang back …

foraging – spruce tip syrup – granskudd sirup

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Living and eating through the seasons means one needs to enjoy the bounty while it is at its peak and preserve it. Our home, a timber summer house built in 1921 is known by the name Granbakken, which means ‘Spruce Hill’ in norwegian. It is simply appropriate that spruce tip syrup is on the agenda for local goodness. The children and their friends are more than happy to gather the ingredients for many of our concoctions 😉 Spruce has many purported benefits, and one can preserve spruce tips in a variety of ways: dried and combined with salt as my dear friend Louise does with a variety of plants made into a tincture/dram/schnapps via infusing with alcohol made into a pesto similar to ramsløk/wild garlic using pine nuts, garlic, olive oil and parmesan/pecorino romano dried and pulverized and added to a multitude of recipes but one that we enjoy purely for the taste is syrup, and it is so simple to do! bring the spruce tips and water to a rolling boil turn down to medium …

Foraging and Ramsløk – wild garlic pesto

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Ramsløk as it is known in Norway, is also known as ramsons, buckrams, wild garlic, broad-leaved garlic, wood garlic, bear leek or bear’s garlic. Latin name: Allium ursinum Long overlooked, Ramsløk has made a comeback of late, gourmet restaurants and epicureans everywhere are hoarding what they can. There are few places locally where it grows, and hopefully those special places, much like favourite mushroom spots will remain secret such that it will continue to grow and those who harvest it are responsible and follow the foraging rule of take no more than 1/3 of what is available. Doing so will help it thrive for generations to come. Last year, our family took a course on local wild edibles, wandering the path and woods, collecting and nibbling as we walked. It was a revelation to see what can be foraged locally and was of immense value to increasing our knowledge about local food. We are fortunate to live in an area where we are able to obtain wild mushrooms, game, mussels, oysters, fish and more. We are blessed to …

“you say you want a revolution…”

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In 1975 a visionary named Masanobu Fukuoka (1913-2008) wrote a book, The One Straw Revolution. He was a farmer and philosopher, who foresaw the problems we face today. It was clear to him that the industrialization of agriculture and the seeming ‘progress’ of the last half century was misguided… and yet only now is the rest of the world truly understanding what was so evident to him. The answers are clear, we know what we need to do. We need to create a sustainable plan to provide our communities with ethically produced food from smallholder farms, championing seasonal diets from local resources and care for our soil. Now we just have to do it. For the last 6 months I have been fully immersed in working on a solution for my local community, and in doing so met and listened to so many passionate souls from around the planet who wish to do the same for theirs. Whether those communities are remote rural towns, urban centres or major cities the likes of Oslo, New York, Washington or London. What has become obvious is …

Collaboration – just like bees in a hive

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you can’t make honey alone, and even if you could… wouldn’t you want someone to share it with? Lately the concept of collaboration and sharing  has been at the forefront of what is going on in my life. Having received many comments about how refreshing people find it that I freely share my knowledge and skills – I am always taken a little aback – and think about why that is so unusual? Isn’t that what makes everything work? We all have our strengths and weaknesses and when we band together to share, don’t we all win? I redesigned the website this week to encompass the changing aspects of my life and projects, but one thing has not changed, collaboration is something I hold near and dear to my heart. I have made some wonderful friends working on joint projects, everything from FeltUnited, to Ekebo our CSA farm, to the farmers market, to our Lavvo project for the school spending many a weekend sweating in the woods with a hammer and a saw.  😉 My latest endeavour, a local food coop project …

dehydrated vegetables and herbal salt

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An interesting day at Hellviktangen’s farmers market this weekend. A lot less people came, likely due to the rain, but the ones who were there were very keen on hearing details about the products that I had available. One  item that brought about great interest was my seasoned salt. Such a simple ingredient to have on hand and it can be used on so many ways. Throughout the growing season, while everything is fresh and abundant, I do my best to preserve what I can. One of the methods I use is dehydration. My pantry is full of mason jars with a huge variety of dried goodness in them. My trusty mandoline which has been well used for over a decade makes quick work of the task, and once thinly sliced, I place everything in the dehydrator and let it go to work over night. I dehydrate at no more than 40C (104F) in order to maintain the optimum nutritional value. While I do not adhere to the Raw Diet, I choose to use this process for dehydration …

Calendula salves and ‘tub tea’

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Calendula.. ahh.. such an amazing plant! This week for the farmers market at Hellviktangen, I am putting together more of my salves and ‘tub teas’. Throughout the summer I collected calendula from Ekebo, our collective farm. The more you pick, the more buds appear, it is amazing what mother nature can do. Once home, I laid them out on trays to set in the dehydrator. I prefer to keep the temperature down and wait longer than to rush the process and risk overheating the flowers. Once they are bone dry, I remove the petal from their stems and store them in a clean airtight jar to be used in a myriad of ways. In order to make an infused oil from them, fill a clean jar halfway with petals and then top up with the carrier oil of your choice. Many use olive or coconut oil, but I prefer almond oil for skin products. Vitamin E can also be added to help prevent your oil from going rancid. Let the oil sit in a warm spot …

Granbakken at the Local Farmers Market

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This weekend Hellviktangen Kulturhus is hosting a mini farmers market. It was a very last minute invite for those who grow and/or create things with local produce, and while looking in my pantry after a season of ‘making’ I thought why not! Every year throughout the late summer and autumn, I put together a good sized batch of homemade goodness, most of which is given out to friends, family and neighbours. This year, I have more than enough! Why ‘Granbakken’? Granbakken (which translates to Spruce Hill) is the name our our property. Our home is an old timber summer house from 1921, and whenever I label something from my kitchen, it has had the Granbakken name on it. I find it very appealing to keep the history of our home alive. So I have been in the studio designing, printing and plotting labels for jams, jellies, salves, tub tea and more! I love being able to combine studio life with kitchen creations 🙂 My children have also been asking when we will be using the fruit press and crusher, and as our usual fall …

Bees are buzzing!

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Always keen on trying out new pursuits in life, it was just a matter of time until apiculture was on the agenda. Many who know me are surprised, given my distaste (for lack of a better word) of bugs, but these little girls (and their drones) are just lovely! With hopes of harvesting honey, all the while helping the environment, the adventure begins! So along with my cohorts at Ekebo we have set up our hives and are learning all about what we can do for the bees, as well as what they can do for us. Enlightening is the word I would use to describe apiculture. There is simply so much to learn about how bees do what they do. A little overwhelming at first when you are reading about it, but once you have your own bee colony to follow and learn with, you simply go day by day. The bee gang at Ekebo consists of new beginners, a few who have taken beekeeping courses, and some who have some solid experience to help us all out. I can …

it is the process not the product

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One thing always holds true, I love to learn. My husband is forever in awe as to how I am never bored. Curiosity, it is a gift, one that I hope to never take for granted. For the last while, my curiosity has had me spending a little less time in the studio, and more time in the kitchen and beyond. Creativity can be expressed in many facets in life, and these last years have been a delicious adventure. I have long thought of starting a new blog, as this one has focused mainly on my studio work, but the truth is that being a ‘maker’ does not have to be confined to my art. Many who know me have heard me say time and time again, that it is the process and not the product that is important for me. Diving in head first and learning everything I can about a subject is something that I love, and in the end, it is the knowledge and experience that I cherish more than the final product… and boy have I …