Norway in Mexico

Sunday we had a Norwegian breakfast out on the patio and invited Manuel our friend from San Luis Potosi who is now care taking the property next door to us. We filled our pancakes, which are like a crepe, with the handpicked lingonberries our daughter Emily harvested in Northern Alaska. Lingonberries are the lowbush cranberry, only found in Arctic countries such as Northern Scandinavian countries, Russia and Alaska. They are very tart, but wonderful, and healthy. They were a major food in keeping people healthy in Sweden during the long winters. We may even be picking lingonberries in September when we visit Emily and Luke in Fairbanks to celebrate their marriage that took place July 28 in the wilderness of Alaska.

For those of you without access to the fresh berry, you can find them at the Swedish IKEA stores in the U.S. and eat them in their restaurants. By the way, the bright orange fruit in the bowl shown in the photo, is cut up papaya.

You can get better ideas of what can be done with lingonberries when you see all these photos of foods prepared with them, and people eating them in IKEA cafeterias.

If the lingonberries have made you curious about other Norwegian delicacies you have heard of, at Epicurious.com you can read about gravlaks, gjetost (caramelized brown goat cheese), and more.

More great Scandinavian recipes can be found at the website New Scandinavian Cooking, with Norwegian chef Andreas Viestad and chefs from Sweden and Denmark. I used Andreas' recipe for the pancakes in the photo above. I did use whole wheat flour to make them more healthy. Here it is:

NorwegianPancakes Ingredients for serving 4 persons In Scandinavian cuisine pancakes are used both as savory dishes and as desserts. Here the pancakes are served with blueberries or strawberries and makes a lovely dessert. Serves 2 to 4. 2/3 cup (1.5dl) all-purpose flour 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 large eggs 1½ cups (3.5dl) whole milk 1 tablespoon sugar or honey, plus more for serving 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus butter for cooking This is how you do it Combine the flour and salt in a medium bowl. Add the eggs, milk, and sugar, stirring with a fork until you have a light batter; make sure there are no lumps. Stir in the melted butter. Let rest for 30 minutes. Heat 2 teaspoons butter over medium heat in a cast-iron or other heavy skillet. Add 1/3 cup of the batter and immediately tilt the skillet so that the batter spreads out evenly. Cook for approximately 3 minutes, until the batter has set on top, then flip, using a spatula. Cook for 2 minutes, then transfer to a plate. Repeat, stacking the cooked pancakes, until you have used all the batter. Serve the pancakes warm with berries and sugar, or cheese and ham.

Our cats Sheila and Sharmaine have been growing, but not yet full grown. You can see how beautiful the have become in the photos. This is Sharmaine in the lower picture, the more slender, delicate one. I love her coloring and her hair is very soft and fine. She has the tiniest voice. Sheila her sister is the opposite, with a thicker and more muscular body, a loud screaming voice and she is very playful and wild.