Giveaway winner!

Congratulations to Vanisha who will soon be receiving a package of assorted Norwegian goodies in the mail! "Soon" is of course relative, Vanisha is living in Australia! And I don't want to reveal the contents of the giveaway surprise since there is always a chance that she may be reading this...but maybe she will let us know when she gets it. :)

Giveaways are pretty sweet--Vanisha has a great blog and I would have most likely never come across it if I hadn't bribed you all to like my professional Facebook pages. ;)

Try a giveaway if you haven't...and let me know about it. I want to enter (and win).

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First Ever Giveaway!

My first official job in Norway was at Restaurant Valuta. If you feel like it, I'd be most honored if you liked us on Facebook. The food is delicious and it's really a one of a kind place. I have blogged about it before, so I won't bore you with the details again. But know--the food is legit!

After a short while I started working at one of my bosses' other restaurants, Victoriahaven. Again, don't be shy, get on in there and like us on Facebook! I fell in love with this place right away, and that was positive because I put in a lot of hours there! The concept is quite a bit different than Valuta (which is a lunch place btw) but the food is just as good! It's a bit fancier and focuses mostly on dinner service. Turns out I've blogged about this place too, so I won't blab too much more now. But yes, it's really awesome.

And then I got made manager at my boss' newest place, Volume which we opened in June last year. Find us on Facebook! You might remember reading some of my posts about how crazy it was before opening, or how they profiled me in the local paper. And yeah, I can definitely recommend this place as well! (Duh, I love it.)

I hadn't actually started this post thinking I was going to do a giveaway, but come on, everyone loves a chance to get free, cool stuff in the mail! Here's how you can put your name into the pool:

Like Valuta on Facebook.
Like Victoriahaven on Facebook.
Like Volume on Facebook.
For you locals (or die-hard travelers) visit one or all three of the restaurants and write on the corresponding Facebook wall about your experience!
Follow my blog Little to Big.
Follow my blog Shutters in Time.
Re-post this post on your blog.
Follow Meredith's blog. Just because. ;)

That's 10 chances total.

I will mail the prize anywhere! I am not sure exactly what will end up in the box but it will be an assortment of awesome Norwegian stuff. . . chocolate and candy for sure, jewelry, mittens, a print from my photo site? The possibilities are endless. I will contact the winner for input!

Comment with how you have participated!
Deadline is MONDAY JANUARY 23rd! 
Lykke til!

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Norwegian Christmas, Take Four

Yeah, I know Christmas was about a month ago.
I realize that I have a duty and an obligation to share my Norwegian experiences,
and that I have been slow and letting you all down!

Luckily there is no expiration date on pictures and sharing. :)

Part of the problem is is that I no longer think of these experiences as "Norwegian experiences" and super exciting, must-share happenings!
This is my fourth Christmas in Norway. My FOURTH!
These experiences have become routine, normal and nothing out of the ordinary.


And wonderful! Wonderful, yes, yes, that too of course!
It's been long enough that these traditions feel like my own.

For the past four years we have traveled to Tynset to celebrate Christmas with Lars' family.

We decorate a local tree with Norwegian flags and simple ornaments on the night before Christmas Eve. The Christmas tree lights look like candles and are white--not colored and not blinking! No fancy business.

We enjoy great food, drink and company later that night at the Snarvolds and watch Hovmesteren on TV. We laugh a lot and eat arguably too many Christmas cookies. The same procedure every year.

We eat rice porridge (grøt) with the entire extended family at noon on Christmas Eve (Day).

We take it for granted that we will have a white Christmas.
It's just the way it is deep in the heart of Eastern Norway (although this year was strangely "warm").

We clean and decorate the entire house for Christmas! Again, it's just the way it is; everyone does it.

Sometimes we go to church, sometimes we don't.
This year we didn't. Sometimes we sleep on the couch.

And we always set the table, and use the fancy china and no one gets mad if you spill a little aquavit here or there. And everyone eats seconds because it's delicious food, but also because it's tradition and that's what you do.

We dress up and eat ribbe on Christmas Eve in those fancy clothes. Yes, it's true--no pajamas, no Christmas morning and no stockings! And that means no mimosas either (yeah Dad, I caught onto that as a teen)...

But there's wine! And coffee, and cognac and Baiiley's and whatever you could wish because after dinner we eat dessert--a different variant of rice pudding (riskrem) with berry sauce or cloudberries and cream (multekrem) and then, and only then, do we open presents! 

We eat an insane Christmas breakfast with the neighbors on Christmas morning.
Sometimes this includes aquavit, sometimes it doesn't.
And then we stretch our legs with a long walk afterwards. Dogs are welcome.

We enjoy each other's company. We laugh and make merry and remember a year well lived.

We celebrate Christmas Norwegian style!
And after my fourth go at it, I realize that when I make it back to the US to celebrate Christmas again that I am actually going to miss these traditions...
...these "new", "Norwegian" traditions that have become my own.

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thoughtful gift

 Buying presents for your significant other isn't always the easiest thing in the world. Heck, buying presents for any adult person isn't super awesome all the time. It seems like we have gotten to an age where we buy what we want with our own hard earned wages.

I think Lars was really feeling this phenomenon this year and was having a hard time figuring out what to get me for Christmas. I think we can even go as far as to say he was a little stressed out.

He ended up hitting the nail on the head and got me something I really wanted but hadn't even considered asking Santa for---a tripod and a new lens for our camera! What a stud...

 And there is one of the very first pictures taken with the new equipment (the tripod, not the lens).

If you have been following my blog for awhile you have probably figured out that photography is a hobby of mine! I even have my own photography site! But I have neglected this hobby of late, so big points to Lars for a well-timed, thoughtful gift!

Thank you kjære!

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Julebord

Have I ever explained the Norwegian tradition julebord? If I have, I probably haven't done it justice. Aha--I found what I've written about it before in an old post from 2010:

Norwegians are good at celebrating a year well worked. It is common to have a julebord, literally "a Christmas table", where one dines and wines and drinks and drinks and drinks with a group of friends or coworkers. Hopefully we will get to have a julebord sometime soon so I can share a bit more about this Norwegian tradition. We'll probably have to have ours after Christmas haha--I think I can count my days off before Christmas on my own fingers.

So julebord is a Christmas work party!  It's pretty serious business--most gatherings include speeches, suits, fancy dresses and maybe even some entertainment.

Our boss rewards us nicely; instead of a traditional julebord dinner, we have been treated to a Christmas cruise the past two years! We skip over the speeches and the hired entertainment and tend to entertain ourselves haha...which explains why I am having problems finding any blog-appropriate pictures to share of our julebords from the past two years... ;)

In 2010 it was Oslo-Copenhagen...

And in 2011 it was Oslo-Kiel.

We all cut loose and had a splendid time. The only downside was getting acquainted "Emil" (a storm) on the way back. He wasn't that friendly. Oh, and having boat legs days afterwards.


Ever been on a cruise? It's crazy how long that boat feeling can stay with ya.

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Christmas Eve Dinner

Most Norwegian families eat ribbe on Christmas Eve (Wikipedia tells me 60%). I think the best translation for this is pork loin, but do correct me if you know better. It's pork at least! And it's soo good.

Here you see how Lars' family enjoys ribbe year after year. In the top right hand corner you will see peeled, boiled long potatoes, or almond potatoes (langpotet/mandelpotet), from the neighbors' farm. This kind of potato is essential to most Norwegian Christmas meals and comes from the same region as Lars and his family!

Clockwise from the potatoes is a juicy piece of ribbe, a julepølse (Christmas sausage), three brussel sprouts and a small helping of homemade sauerkraut (surkål). Not pictured is tyttebærsaus (lingonberry or cranberry dressing) and ribbefett (gravy/fat).
 
Ribbe gets better and better each time I eat it. I am even starting to like all the tilbehør (side dishes)!

Merry late Christmas!
And Happy New Year while I'm at it!

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