Wednesday, June 20, 2012

It's been too long...

I know I have not posted anything for awhile, the reason being that I have been super busy applying for jobs, 32 and counting to be exact.
We have decided that if I find a decent job in Norway we'll move, so for all of you dying do offer me a job, now is the time!

I didn't even have time to do any sewing, but I did manage to make Milo a small house to put up on his wall where he  can put all his most valuable possessions, like cars, shells and so forth. I glued some paper in every room and it looks quite nice, but of course not perfect, shabby!

On the Italy front, it is so hot here this week and I prefer to stay inside with Tobia the Dog. Poor thing, with all that fur. We give him showers with the garden hose, but you can't shave them. They get depressed...
We haven't been to the beach yet, but might on Sunday! We usually go close to Terracina, because the water is so nice, but Nettuno is closer so we'll see.

Cooking when it is so hot, is not something you do that much in Italy. Either you wait for the sun to go down or you eat something cold. Prociutto e Melone, Caprese, Pasta Fredda or Insalata di Riso. Husband makes a mean rice salad.
But if you are not where it is 40 degrees at the moment, then this is one of my favourite pasta dishes;

Pasta con carciofi e salsiccia, artichoke and Italian sausage. I like to use a short pasta for this, like penne or rigatoni, because then all the yummy sauce goes inside the pasta...When it comes to the artichoke, I would try to go for fresh or frozen. If you can not find either you can go for the boxes or glasses. The reason I'm sceptical is that the texture is not the same and it could become too mushy. Right, the sausage is very coarsly cut, lots of chunks, if you can't find it, use mince that you mix with salt, pepper, chili flakes and fennel seeds.
I start by cutting an onion in to small pieces, put it in the pan with good olive oil, let it get soft, add the salsiccia and let it get cooked through. Cut the artichoke in to small pieces. Soak the in lemon water as fast as you can otherwise they will turn brown. Put the in to boiling water and let them cook until soft. Then you add them to the meat and add some white wine. When the wine is almost gone you put in the cream, stir and put in grated parmegiano. At this time you taste to see if it needs more seasoning or if the seasoning from the sausage is enough. Let it thicken and mix with the pasta.
Buon appetito!

This all made me hungry so I'll go have some lunch!

Friday, June 8, 2012

New day, new dish

Today I have to be short, believe it or not, I have a lot to do today! But you got to eat, so tonight we are having turkey leg, with mixed spices and soy sauce in the terracotta dish, it's called schlemmertopf in German, but I have no idea what it is called in English. As a side dish, contorno, we will have boiled leafy greens. They are called cicoria. You fast boil them and then you saute them in olive oil, chili's, garlic, salt and pepper. Yummy and so good for you!  Buon appetito!

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Norsk i Italia

As the heading says, I am a Norwegian in Italy and even if I have lived here for almost 4 years, I can tell you that sometimes we are really different!
I love the Italians (I married one), don't get me wrong, but sometimes I don't understand them.(I speak Italian) And I guess it is even more so now after I became a mother. Italians and especially Romans are very loud and very enthusiastic. Should it be a market, restaurant or sports arena and of course you have all the gestures that followes it. Some are good, some less so. I can now proudly say that I now know almost all of them and I use them as much as I can. Another thing is as on the contrary of Norwegians, Italians are not afraid of telling you how they feel right to you face, complain on food in restaurants or to give whatever opinion they might have. Norwegians don't like to confront people and I really have to work on that, but I'm getting better at it.
I hope in me writing this nobody will feel hurt or offended, it is only the way I see it. I mention this because I have noticed that the the Italians complain about Italy all the time, how things don't work, how corrupt, how there is no work etc., but if a foreigner pinpoint anything that is not working, they would defend it to the day they die.

Ok, but back to the differences, Italian mothers all have a phobia about bacterias. They disinfect everything, have wipes for any part of your body, kids playing in sandboxes are a no go. Kids are not allowed to be very dirty here, instead in Norway how dirty you are measures how much fun you been having. Said that, there is something that doesn't ad up. If the Italian mothers are so scared and concerned about their kids, why do they let the kids loos in a car with no car seat? They are in front, in the back, standing up, sitting on the lap, all over. Even on the way home from the hospital after giving birth, the mom sits in the back, holding her baby in her arms. I know I was not allowed to leave the hospital in Germany until the saw the car seat and I think it is like this in other countries as well. If someone crashes or breaks really hard here, you can not hold the baby and when they get older they will just the same fly out of the front windshield like a rugby ball!
It is hard being a Norwegian mother in Italy. You have grown up with a set of "rules" and now you are confronted with a hole other set. And you want to adapt, but only to some extent. Like they change Milo's clothes after every little spill, they are much more strict to small kids than I are used to and one thing that for me will never be ok, they still use physical punishment. Instead of talking and explaining to them, they spank...but then ticks the Norwegian confrontation fear in again, should I say something or not? Very difficult this.

On a lighter note, Italian food is some of the best in the world and they only use the produce when it is in season, which I really like. Today I think I will make a pasta dish for dinner: Spaghetti allo scoglio (Seafood pasta).
I choose long pasta for this dish, because they soak up more of the great juice. I start by cutting the one onion, the finer the better, put it in a pan together with a good slug of olive oil, and a clove of garlic, that you squeeze with a knife. Add some dried chili's and let the onions be soft and shiny. Cut some parsley and add that to the pan, stir and add a good amount of white wine. Stir and leave it to simmer on low heat. Add the pasta to the boiling water,REMEMBER to not salt the water until it boils, Italian rule, when it is about 6 min left until the pasta is al dente, you add the seafood mix to the pan. Here in Italy you get these frozen which are great, but whatever you get you hands on are fine. Stir and when pasta is done, don't trust the timer on when the pasta is done, TASTE!, you put the pasta in to the pan and stir quickly, plate it, ad extra parsley and serve. Buon appetito!

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

The day of a housewife...

So what is it like to be at home when you really would like to work, but can not for the love of God find one.
Well, I wake up around 7.30, start to wake up my beautiful son Milo that strangly enough on weekdays, when it is time to go to school, doesn't want to wake up at all, but on weekend he will wake up at 7, go figure. I make him breakfast, get my first dose of coffee and make myself ready. Get Milo to school by 9 and then go back home.
Might surf the Internet for a while, checking out the likes of finn.no to see if it is any jobs, vg, dagbladet and other norwegian newspapers. Then I might start on a new sewing project or go grocery shopping. One of the highlights of my day is to figure out what to make for dinner. Reading cookbooks, improvising you know, I am a food crazy girl. I have lunch, which usually is a salad or leftover dinner since it's not so much fun to make food just for me and of course Tobia, my bernersennen dog. Here is a pic: So cute. Then I might do some actual housework beleave it or not and the it is time for me to pick up M from school at 14. Then we go home, he fills me in on everything that happend at school, which is so funny, because the things that really matter for a 3 year old, can be so different from what you are expecting. Like yesterday he told be about how he won a fight over a pillow with a bigger guy and he told me that he won because he ate all his dinner the day before and it made him get more muscles! We go to bed for a nap (yes me too) and when we wake up it's almost time for Husband to come home from work and to make ready the dinner. I feel very Pleasantville when I have dinner ready. I have to admit that I don't do that much of the floorcleaning, we have a lifesaving cleaninglady that comes on Mondays. And you know what, when you read this, you might think that this sounds great, but I can tell you that for maybe a month it is, but then it gets so boring, you don't know what to do other than slam your head against the wall! I have always worked and I miss it so much. The people, something to do...So thats how I bought the Singer and started sewing.
Just tought I would show you some of the things I've been working on lately. Hope you like it.

Welcome!!!

Hi and welcome!

I just started this blog so I need you all to have some patience with me. For you who already know me, I am not a computer wizard!

I want this to be a blog where I can show you what I do most days, namely making things with my Singer, maybe you'll even find something you would like to purchase. Who knows?

There will also be a lot of recipes coming, since I'm a total food junky, mostly italian since we live her, but also norwegian, german and whatever I find yummy!

Might also be stories about how it is to live in Italy, about my family and how it is to be a housewife when you def. would rather be out working!

Until next time I will try to figure out how all this thingy's work and see you soon