Soup Soup a Tasty Soup Soup

I just made myself a most outrageous hearty soup. There was a shooting right around the corner last night. I didn't hear anything. But then I was... um, under influence. I've also had some tea, and I'm wearing a scarf. I don't think I should take any chances! This is not a good time to be sick! It's a meaty soup, even though it has no meat in it, but beef stock and beef fond. It's got some coriander, piri-piri, mushy peas, potato and carrots in it. And thyme and rosemary and some olive oil. Mmm!

Sometimes soup is exactly what you need! I should've had some bread with it. But there are extents to which not even a desperate person like me, would go. Seriously.

I did put some cheddar cheese in it. THAT hit the spot.

Alright, I will stop ranting about food, my apologies!

It's just that when the soul and flesh is in a weak spot, food is sometimes the only comfort.

I'm alone!

I'm home alone this weekend, and so far I've only really been alone for like two hours, because I spent almost all day walking around Oslo and had ice cream with my friend!

So I wasn't given much opportunity to miss Helge, but bizarrely, I suddenly did! It is weird, because I suddenly missed him a lot more intensely, and I realized that it was because of the time of day. The exact time he comes home from work. Haha! That's really weird! Like my brain was suddenly expecting to see him!

:(

I will on Sunday though!

Here are some pictures from the summer!

Pizza! Before the cheese!

I washed the windows!

We made cupcakes! I forgot to take a picture with frosting on them. And they weren't that amazing, so for most part they have been chucked away in the fridge, so I threw them out this morning. What a waste :<

I am here, and there are you

I have got to say I am a little jealous at the poor, messy, smelly souls that live in tents at the different festivals around Europe right now. God, why aren't we at Heineken Open'er for example? Cut Copy, Deadmau5, Prince, The Strokes, The Wombats and Two Door Cinema Club are playing, to name a few! Whyy?

Whyy? And the atmosphere at Roskilde! I would love to be there right now, despite the filth. Really. I really would. Arctic Monkeys are there, and The Strokes, Portishead, Deadmau5 (craai), Jesus CHRIST, Deadmau5 is at Hove as well. It is NOT a funny joke. It is as if I am being avoided on purpose.

Mau5, this isn't funny. When are you playing in Oslo? Hm? Hm? HM?!

I am not sure why I am telling you this, or why I am telling myself this, for like the millionth time. I suppose it is some twisted kind of self-harming. It's not healthy to be dwelling on things that can't be done! Should rather be focusing on the things I have!

Like the biggest fly I have ever seen, that is sitting on my door right now. I have a really big fly, that's what I got. And a shopping list, a loooong one. Will stretch my arms by at least 10 cm carrying this stuff home.

But I also have an ice cream machine! GLORIOUS! That I got for Christmas... Which is like ... six months ago! And I still haven't used it. But it's in the freezer now, so tomorrow! Ah-hah! I will commence the ice cream making! Oh yes! Banana ice cream actually! Because I have a lonely overripe banana that cries silently at me when I open the fridge. And I just can't throw it out, because I feel so sorry for it.

Not one of my characteristics to over-empathize or humanize objects. Not at all. Just look at all my stuff, surely not a heap of junk acquired mostly because of "the package has glitter on it!!" or "nobody else wants it :( :( :(" or the classic "Look it is so ugly, it is cute. Naawh. It's ALL aloooonehh :( I HAVE to buy it".

*cough*

And I have Nigella on Youtube! -- Even though I said I would stop that.

But I CAN'T. I am only human.

Mess

Made pizza with pineapple, and Helge had some beer

There's no more pizza!

I love these Buddah's, they're good company

Look at ma lamps! That nightlamp I got for Helge, if you push it on the head it glows green!

Scissors are important, and paint brushes and markers

That's a present up there, and some DVD's

My cupcake storage device, very sneaky. You think it is just a stale old cupcake, but it's not! It's full of treasure!

Books! Licorice, and that orchid that ought to be dead a long time ago, just saying.

Refreshments

Dusty. Could do with some cleaning! Clean clean! Any volunteers?
Spring is really nice, the smell in particular. Eaten a lot of strawberries. And had pancakes with banana Nutella and bacon. BNB Pancakes. Delicious. You ought to try it out.

I need to start doing stuff instead of watching Nigella and going "mmmh!"

Oh MIEU

I am out of TEA!

Strrrreeeeeessssss!
I look rather pleased in my drawing, but I can't help that. I once had a stroke and now  I can't stop smiling.

That, and my blood is actually liquid toffee so it's not so easy to move without looking sweet.

Chocolate crumbs

And the other day (actually that was today, earlier today, just a few moments ago) I experienced that my chocolate was leaving crumbs all over. And I think "Oh! A Chocolate crumble!" but it's not. I know what you're thinking, it wasn't mice poop. I know you have rather low thoughts about my lodgings, but please...

Anyway, you are doomed if you get chocolate crumbs on you. Because when you try to pick it up - it melts right away. Right into the fabric. It truly is hopeless.

And I am faced with these situations on days like these when I have postponed this extremely awful assignment to the last moment and punish myself with chocolate. Because I deserve it.

Chocolate crumbs!
fml.

I tell you about your Lifestyle

I got this in the mail from my sister. I like it.

 This woman is 51.

She is a TV "health guru" advocating a holistic approach to nutrition and health, promoting exercise, a pescetarian diet high in organic fruits and vegetables. She recommends detox diets, colonic irrigation and supplements, also making statements that yeast is harmful, that the color of food is nutritionally significant, and about the utility of lingual and facial examination. 

  
This woman is 50.
She is a TV cook, who eats nothing but meat, butter and desserts.

My Gingerbread cutters

This is my window sill, that jar with stars in are actually some really weird outlandish treats meant to be deep-fried before served. Honestly I didn't try, I put them in a jar. Was I disappointed when it wasn't colourful pasta!

Here are my gingerbread cutters! I guess they are also eligible as cookie cutters or other things cutters. Not for paper though! I've used some of the bigger ones for pancakes, they get really hot, but the pancakes turn out beautiful. To be honest some of these are actually Helge's, but I bought them for him last year because I wanted them myself and needed an excuse. What? At least I'm honest!

The fox, moose, bear, snail and hedgehog are from IKEA, the one shaped like the moomin is from the Iittala Outlet. 

Fish, dinosaurs, foot, jigsaw and crocodile are from Christiania Glasmagasin while the squirrel is also from IKEA.

Keep them in a box so the drawers don't get stuck all the time. (Well, they do - but I tried).

I also bought some gingerbread dough at IKEA. Their recipe is actually really nice and is good to work with so when I'm constructing my annual... uuum... construct... of gingerbread I wont have to do much but roll it, cut it, bake it and glue it together! But I am a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to gingerbread houses - I try to make sure every part of it is edible so it is glued together with hot sugar. It is deadly stuff. And I always end up burning others as well when I ask them for help. You should've seen the hand of my younger brother!

But all of that later. I do hope I get to do a gingerbread construct this year! Any suggestions as to what I should make? Are you making one this year? Any tips and tricks?

Tummy diet

Ok, so this is very weird, I know. But it is weirding me out, too (MORE than it will you) and I just need to vent it a little bit.

Because I went to the doctor because of my achy stomach, and he took a lot of tests, and will take some more next week - so until then I am on a restrictive diet.

Okay, I get it. A billion people are on a strict diet every day - but I'm not! I've never had to think much about what I eat at all, as long as it's not hairy in places it's not meant to be hairy. Hell I even eat from the ground. But I'll tell you something, it's not at all bad this diet, it is just the principle of having to check ingredients and having to mentally prepare ahead for every meal that freaks me out. The doctor also recommended that I eat small meals, but often, grazing, if you like.

And that's fine, yeah.

YES	NO
Lots of fibre (with every meal)	Red meat
Pork	Liver, Kidney
Chicken	Dark fish (salmon, tuna, mackerel)
White fish (cod, flounder, halibut)	Cauliflower
Cooked vegetables	Horseradish
	Raw tomato
A LITTLE	Radishes
Uncooked fruit and vegetables	Melon
Dairy	Banana
Cooked meat in sandwiches	Soybeans
	Alcohol

But I can't have banana!! Or melon! And I JUST bought a lot of golden bananas and a perfectly sweet melon, and some lush tomatoes. Well done.

In other news from a grown person getting totally freaked out because she can't eat bananas - I'm wondering why my neighbour is up at eight in the morning to watch the tellybox. M, there we go, just to have a fairly gay smoke out the window in his wifebeater. I get it.

I can really start to see how living in these apartments awake a primal need for slandering. I'm the worst of them. The pair across the street even got full-covering blinds eventually, I thought I looked quite inconspicuous hiding behind my curtains and scrutinizing their odd Disney-fondling (I don't know how they do it!) or their strangely romantic way of cooking together. I call them the Disney couple. There's not a lot of action going on at my wall-to-wall neighbours, especially since I can't peek through their windows without climbing the façade.

Lot to do lately? Yes, seriously. All the prepping for our Bachelor is going to wring me into a sock. I don't know how, but soon you will meet me on the street and you'll say "Tora, what has happened? You look like a sock" and I'll say -"Yes" and look at my foot, my one big foot protruding from my neck, and add "it sucks".

Me and my stomach

I did get your attention. Thank you Kronk!

My stomach and I are not friends.

We have a very bad way of communicating to each other. I can't really understand what it is trying to say when it is aching, expanding and making me feel horrible. And it certainly doesn't answer when I am trying to figure out what is making it upset.

It is like having the most cryptic girlfriend communicating only through domestic violence.

I know I have a very varied diet, and especially for being a student. I eat a lot of vegetables and a lot of whole wheat bread and other stuff that is meant to be good for you like green tea, fruit and a lot of snap n' crackle.

Seriously though, It must be some sort of allergic reaction, and it occurs more often on Fridays than on any other day of the week. Which doesn't make a lot of sense, and I assure you it is certainly not stress-related. You might know me, and because of that I wont have to explain. I don't have very well-developed stress glands. So it must be something that I'm eating. But what? I'm not consuming anything now that I haven't always eaten every now and then.

But yeah, this weekend my diet will consist of toast and Biola until I get better.

My trip to Istanbul

Some delicious looking mosque

Okay, flay me alive and call me a suitcase! I actually came home from Istanbul on SUNDAY, which is several days ago. And I am so sorry for not telling you "all about it" and posting pictures, or anything at all. Accept my humble apologies!

But yes. I wont bore you more. Here are all the juicy, not so juicy and all the dry details!

Dad and stepmum enjoying some  Lokma Tatlisi

I travelled with my dad, my stepmum and Helge last Thursday like at the crack of dawn. The trip was originally a gift from my dad for my 18th birthday, which is three years ago. And now we had finally found the time to go! We had a flight connection through Riga, Latvia and landed at the Ataturk airport in Istanbul where we sat and watched our own perspiration for half an hour because the driver was stuck in traffic. They really do drive like mad men those Turks! I tell you that much. But somehow he got us to our small hotel close to Sultanahmed on the Golden Horn (which we may consider the "old" part of town, even though most of the city is so old anyway that it really doesn't make that much sense).

Balik Ekmek! Nom nom!

The staff at our hotel were so strange. During a power cut one night we approached the hotel doors and the receptionist pretended to give us a sci-fi face scan in the dark with sound effects and all to see if we would be allowed to enter. It was hilarious! And the waiters at the rooftop restaurants were so animated and gesticulated so wildly that we were entertained every minute we sat there. It would appear the Turks have a really inclusive sense of humour.

All over Istanbul there were old Hamam's (Turkish baths), mosques, remnants of Byzantine city walls, fantastic wooden palaces and parks, pavilions, side walks the size of dachshunds, and stalls selling assorted Turkish fast food. Of which I loved the most the Simit (the skinny bagel-shaped breads covered in toasted sesame seeds),  Lokma Tatlisi (sweet, deep fried doughnuts smothered in syrup, cinnamon and ground pistachio), and the Balik Ekmek (fresh grilled fish sandwiches with onion).

They also had stalls all over selling grilled or boiled sweetcorn, roasted chestnuts and their famous "stretchy" icecream, Dondurma. Of which the latter the Turkish eat a staggering 2,8 litres each a year! This strange icecream is made of a product derived from orchids called "salep" and also arabic gum ("mastic" - not the same as gum arabic!), which is why it is so stretchy. I thought it was quite nice, but as with all other Turkish desserts it is intensely sweet. I wonder what they think of our desserts.

The Bagdad pavillion inside the palace

Detail from a door inside the harem

Anyway, we visited the Topkapi palace which was the home of the Ottoman sultans for 400 years. It was extremely big, and we got to hear of the grand viziers and the concubines - which was exotic to say the least. By the way the audio tour is a grand ripoff and it basically just reads you what it says on the plaques positioned around the palace. Actually - it doesn't even do that. It said less. Anyway. We didn't get to see the treasury because of all the crazy tourist people that had formed a line the length of the great wall of China. We did however get to see the relics - including a golden cast of the hand of John the Baptist, the turban of Joseph, the sword, a cloak and some of the Prophet Mohammed's beard(!). Oh, and of course the staff of Moses - which if I may add - looked very springy despite being about 3500 years old.

Detail from one of the harem windows.

The view from the palace was grand, the harem was the most interesting bit, we saw the guards gigantic mirrors that allowed them to keep watch around corners - the hamam (Turkish bath) of the concubines, the sultan's mother's quarters and even the sultan's toilet! We also visited the large swimming pool "where the dwarves did tricks" according to the audio guide. The dwarves were not mentioned before nor after this statement was made during the tour. But apparently it was probably good entertainment when you were sick of toying with your 300 concubines. 

We also saw the Blue Mosque which wasn't really as impressive as I'd expected. First of all it wasn't nearly blue enough, and though the grand dome and the intricate iznik tiles were very splendid indeed - the spectacular mosque seemed somewhat smaller on the inside because of the low wrought iron chandeliers that hung low above the floor. But now I've been there and at least that's one more thing checked off my list!

One of the gold streets in the Grand Bazaar

We did spend hours traversing the Grand Bazaar which is one of the largest indoor markets in the world. They mostly sold a lot of junk to be honest, we did buy Turkish tea, teacups and a gunmetal hookah that is quite awesome if I may say so myself. I also got a longer gold chain for my opal necklace. The carpets and the jewellery was simply amazing and among the things that are definitely worth purchasing when in Turkey.

Iskender kebab. Really nice!

I would've bought tons more myself, I am just not cut out for haggling it appears. And being a naive Norwegian I absolutely hated to make purchases. They were always trying to rip you off, quite nastily. And because everything is so sickeningly expensive where I come from - then how could I possibly tell? Luckily my stepmum is a badass haggler and dad drove a carpetseller to the edge of madness. He wanted to sell his 250€ carpet for 50€ because he got so desperate when dad didn't want it. Giggle.

So the haggle culture was what I disliked the most, definitely - that and that it felt as if I couldn't trust anyone, they would take my tourist money without blinking if the situation allowed it.

Constantine's Pillar was really nice, and positioned quite near one of the Grand Bazaar entrances. Constantine himself had it brought over at around year 330 to mark the transfer of the seat of the Roman empire from Rome to Istanbul (Constantinople). He also supposedly buried some relics beneath the fantastical porphyry pillar, like the axe Noah used to build the Ark. Yay!

The Bosporus strait

We went on a boat trip up the Bosporus (the strait separating east from west) and saw all the fantastic luxury hotels and houses, the old fortress, a graveyard and countless amazing mosques and wooden palaces.I will definitely recommend such a trip to anyone who wants to see as much of Istanbul as they can if they don't have a lot of time on their hands.

Hagia Sophia from a distance

But there you go. We saved the Hagia Sofia (Aya Sofia) for last. Thank goodness, or nothing else would've seemed impressive. The huge structure is a 1500 year old church that served as a mosque during the 1500s and is now a museum. Kind of both, but neither. Underneath painted plaster are amazing, ancient mosaics of Christ and standard motives - while the world's biggest calligraphy plaques are hung in four corners of the dome. The stained glass are with calligraphic motives, there is a mihrab, minbar and outside is an Islamic washing font. A religious fusion cocktail. At the southern entrance there are Byzantine bronze doors that were added around year 800, really beautiful.

The dome of the Hagia Sophia, if you enlarge it you can see the masked and unmasked angels - the faces were discovered earlier this year!

The dome which is almost 60 metres above the floor took my breath away. It was created by some Greek architects that also decided that the centre of the earth was within the church, slightly to the right in the main hall. It was seriously huge. From the outside it looked like a city all in itself, and it still holds many uncovered secrets as a lot of the original mosaics are still plastered up. It was built with a lot of stolen goods from plundered pagan temples such as some incredible Hellenistic porphyry columns. You see the Byzantine were incredible at recycling. It was the most amazing thing we visited that didn't include food on this trip!

Hagia Sophia seen from the side

We ate insane amounts of kebab and köfte (Turkish meatballs) and drank litres of Turkish apple tea whenever possible. We journeyed home, had some depressing "Soviet-pizza" at the airport in Riga (although it tasted nice!) and when we came home our house wasn't on fire. That's nice.

So yes. I don't think I could've made that any more informative and dry. Sorry. But it's all true what happened. And I am thoroughly fascinated, so forgive me. I am guessing it is TLDR anyway.

Sunset over Istanbul.

Thanks for a fantastic trip everyone!

Happy Birthday!

Thank goodness there is nothing good on tv in the middle of the night. If the distractions of the insanely addictive internet weren't bad enough - well let's just say I'm grateful. And I should be sleeping.

Today has been my birthday! And my 21st. one at that! Turns out my boss had given me the day off because it was my birthday, even though I hadn't asked for it! It was a lovely thing to do, but I should've known sooner and I could've made more exciting plans for the day!

We had a lazy morning, then met Tink for lunch at a Korean-Thai (Asian fusion) place. (No wonder everyone get so confused by the differences in Asian cuisine when all the Asian places serve food from all over their continent but are usually only named after one or two random countries). But either way - Helge and Tink had sushi while I had some really nice spicy green chicken curry with lots of mysterious vegetables. Tink and I then shared a fried banana for dessert, which was luscious. Nom nom!

We then proceeded to do pretty much nothing. I fell asleep at some point. Then I was awoken by Helge and that we had to leave for our table reservation at six thirty. It was a completely random idea grown from the discovery of a tiny restaurant called "Smia" ("The smithy"), which is not far from us and that we found randomly once when on a walk. It was the menu that got us interested. A very short, seasonal menu with some very ... different flavour combinations. And, obviously - covered in snobbery, serving desserts like "Pineapple carpaccio" which was raw pineapple thinly sliced on a plate (but delicious!).

And yeah, so - we had dinner there! Helge had the entrecôte, while I had whale, he had the carpaccio for dessert while I had the pavlova. Honestly - it has been a long time since I've eaten something so expensive, but at the same time it was a lovely place, the mood was right, the service was great. And the food was different, but delightful. Very inspiring. And because it was my birthday I was given a wrought iron rose! What do you know?

When we came home we were so full we wanted to die, seriously. I played Deathspank! Which was awesome, and I got to answer all the greetings on Facebook and we listened to the rain outside. Thanks everyone for having my phone buzzing practically all day, absolutely lovely.

Happy birthday, Tora!

OOooh Suuundaaay

Yeah, I'm sorry, it's just so awfully funny.

My closet has performed ritual suicide again. A perfect seppuku that could pride any samurai. I would take a picture for you, but there are levels of decency. It's all been put back to normal though, it's just that the shelves cave in on themselves sometimes because they're held up by these tiny pegs that they are just barely touching on each side because they're a little narrower than the cupboard. But anyway!

Hey! Trysil-Knut is on tv! Too bad I have to make pie. Haha! It looks bad, even from here.

Yes, today we are having dinnerguests! What do you know? That's only like the ... err... fourth time or something! So that ought to count for something. Such beautiful weather today, really stunning, sunny and delightful and all the leaves are starting to pop. Looks like it might be summer here after all. In other neeews, next week is the last for our annual project at school - we're lagging behind so it's going to be dirty, but there you go - it's not so easy to make games as what you might think! But then, we are hopefully finishing it one way or another, which means in turn, you can play it too! If you want.

Now where was I? OH! Yes, I have been so busy interneting that I have completely forgotten about breakfast. Can't survive on tea alone you know! Aaaand last but not least - before I go and ravage the fridge, here are the books I've bought this week:
(Of which, I have started three, but not finished one of 'em!)
"The Satanic Verses" by Salman Rushdie
"The Unbearable Lightness of Scones" by Alexander McCall Smith
"The Careful use of Compliments" by Alexander McCall Smith and
"Mistress Oriku, Stories of a Tokyo Teahouse" by Matsutaro Kawaguchi.

I think... about 15 tips!

This was a jewellery shop we encountered in Singapore. Brilliant name!

Here I have gathered a few tips for you, if you feel like you need it. And if you do, please tell me how it went.

You have nothing to do.
Tip 1: Turn OFF the television-box, there you go - that's a whole lot better now, isn't it?
Tip 2: Try painting yourself naked.
Tip 3: Go knock on the neighbours house and ask if you can borrow a cup of sugar. Go around to all your neighbours and see if you've wound up with enough sugar to last the rest of the year. Next: Flour!

If you've made some lefse, and worried that it will dry up before anyone finishes them?
Tip 1: Ask for my recipe - there's never any left!
Tip 2: Wrap the finished lefse in a moist kitchentowel and store in the fridge - keeps em fresh and soft for a few more days.

Sigrid is coming to visit and you're worried you have no music to play for her
Tip 1: Buy some discrete earmuffs, say they were a gift and wear them the whole evening
Tip 2: Put on something like this. (Success!)

All your brown sugar keeps drying out in its packaging - slowly becoming one huge block of inseperable sugary mass.
Tip: Store it in the fridge! Nigella taught me this, and it works wonderfully. My brown sugar is always lovely and loose in a non slutty way.

You have something to say to your roommate, but no paper - and you have to leave now!
Tip 1: Use a whiteboard marker, water soluble!! (I felt this was worthy of being a tip of its own).
Tip 2: Write your message on the fridge!

You are hosting a dinner-party on a short notice and have no dessert!
Tip 1: Freeze some grapes! A good 2-3 hours should do it, they're almost like sorbet after.
Tip 2: Serve candy! This might be the easiest dessert ever. Just run to the grocery store and heap up on the most colourful and weird sweets you can find. And then, as dessert is introduced - slab it all into a bowl and ask them to help themselves!

It is awfully quiet in your room.
Tip 1: Whistle a good tune, try "Last Christmas" or "Never Gonna Give You Up" and it will sort itself out in your head.
Tip 2: Go to RCRDLBL and download Take You (feat. Ninjasonik) (Tete-A-Tete Remix) ha, BOOM!
Tip 3. Or, possibly the best tip ever: Go to http://www.prettylightsmusic.com/ and download the lot. Ka-chang! It's all free and delicious, too!

You have a lovely steak, but no sauce!
... er... You have a real problem here.

This is a Singaporean garden gnome from the botanical gardens. I liked his teeth so much.

Sooo. Now give me your tips!

Floorboard Dining

Yeah, I wish I could explain this. But I just found it, and as far as I recall it was an idea I had for a videogame about apple jam.

I think we are getting just a slight bit obsessed with this bacteria thing. There's anti-bacterial soaps and wet-wipes and if we get the chance we'd carry antibacterial in aerosol cans and just give us a body splash whenever. And when the bacon-flu "struck as worst" we couldn't possibly have gotten more phobic. Every snort, every hiccup, every leaf falling - it was the sound of  a lung-splitting, pus-spraying showering sneeze evenly coating your presence in a wiggling film of deadly flu.

I can't say I didn't take precautions either. But I work in a shop and had a lot of contact with random people - and also their infected money - but didn't catch it. At least I don't think I did. and I haven't got a clue why, it really didn't make much sense. Hey, I even ate from the floor!

Some people think it is disgusting to pick up food you've dropped and eating it anyway. And sure, I wouldn't do it in most public places. Tee hee. But you must understand that it has merely become a part of my lifestyle because I have no choice. A human with my coordination, and with my love for food - what am I supposed to do?

Can you even imagine how skinny I would've been if I didn't eat whatever I dropped?! Maybe I wouldn't even exist!

Whhuueeeooaaa?! Oh, and I don't eat muesli off the floor usually.

And Cleo, you better move in with me, because I am eating much more off the floor now that you can't beat me to it.

Err. And what about you,? Do you eat things from the floor?

Ha- π birthday!

Today is the birthday of π!

Why this is the birthday of π? Well I tell you why, biddlewiggle! The three first digits in π is 3,14 - which matches the date of today, March 14th, the third month and the fourteenth day -- 3.14. Ha-π birthday!

Bananarama

My breakfast usually consist of banana and raisins with "bird food" - seeds, weird little grains and the like, very cheap, it is. And if I'm feeling luxurious, maybe some "Special K". I wouldn't say "K" is all that "special" if you know what I mean, so far I haven't seen it do a single thing out of the ordinary. The only slightly supernatural thing it does is crackling quietly in the milk before dissolving into mash. Like fireworks inside wet loaf. And what is so "special" about that? Even Cornflakes knows how to do it. Speaking of special! I know something that truly is special, passion fruit.

The best ice cream I've ever had was in Cambodia (of all places), it was a passion fruit sorbet. It must've been home made, it was so refreshing and every spoonful was different in its own way. It came with a mango sorbet I think, or maybe it was lemon - the passion fruit stole the show completely. I got a special little dimple in my heart especially for passion fruit. It is so tangy and fresh, and so sweet - there are really no fruit quite like it I think. It is exquisite.

"Fruit Mosley and Yorkert" - the Cambodian twist to fruit muesli and yoghurt.

Even though I also love banana. And it's sad - the reputation of banana, it is the most exotic thing. But here it is so ordinary, when underestimated, the flavour can be quite bland, I guess - and you can purchase a banana pretty much anywhere in the world these days. And this makes it so recognisable and common that it is quite disrespected here in Norway. And this is so unfair to this fruit!

A thick-skinned sausage that belongs to a herb family but grows in a palm tree! And it grows in a cluster of other bananas and they go from green to yellow as they ripen, hey! That's cool, right? Banana has a wonderful flavour that can be tamed or made to dominate and has a real meaty texture that makes it incredibly versatile. But I think my favourite must be banana pancakes, or milkshake, or muffin -- wait, banana bread! No, banana ice cream. Or banana in cereal, or on a slice of bread. Or maybe banana deep fried! Yum. Hey, banana yoghurt! No, wait, what about banana and lime cake? Oh, I don't know. Please don't make me answer!

What did you have for breakfast today? And what is your favourite fruit?

Snoodle snoodle

So what else is new? I can't wait to go to Singapore to visit Sigrid, I'm most excited. At the same time it appears I will have my hands full until then, Got some pretty massive assignments to do at school.

Do other people elsewhere in the world eat their bread with smoked mackerel or are we just plain weird here? If you don't, I can't blame you - it makes your burps taste funny.

It's snowing again, despite the fact that the weather on Sunday was delicious in every way, went for a walk aaaall the way to Kampen and looked at the beautiful old houses. (It's not really that much of a distance, but it's uphill all the way!) Of course I didn't bring my camera, but you know I'm kind of useless. At least it was very pretty bathed in sunlight and all the icicles massive and dangerous looming over the sidewalk - dripping conspiratorially.

There were people everywhere! Well, in a Norwegian way, so not crowded or anything. But people were skiing up around the church under the old trees, and both icerinks were covered in stiffly sliding children flapping their arms not to fall. It was a nice day, a very different take on Oslo from what I'm used to. I've always thought of Oslo as a tasteless, semi-soviet city of concrete and chewing gum. But the old part of town in which I currently live - there are so many adorable, brightly coloured wooden houses snuck together, it looks unreal, like Disneyland. Obviously we live in one of those concrete monsters, but you can't win every time. I'll bring the camera next time though, and show you!

I got this dragon for Christmas, that my dad brought aaall the way from Australia, and you can put a candle in it, so it looks great in the dark. Bleuhrg, mackerel. I better go drink some Biola to make it go away.

Raisins in buns

I recently heard that a man died a slow, lonesome death and didn't come to heaven. And do you know why? Because he preferred his buns to be without raisins. That's like I've always said. Buns without raisins is like music without sound.

If that's the way you like it, there's no point in eating buns.

Life has no value without raisins. Life is like an empty shell - a gnawed out carcass with no spirit, no charm. No pleasure! There is no hope without raisins!

How can you do this to your own life?!

Buchanan's Fairtrade Assorted Toffees Review

Today I am reviewing these fabulous Scottish hard fairtrade toffees. And when I say hard, I mean hard. When you manage to get through, they become the kind of chewy variety that has you going for a good five minutes and then for a good week picking it out of your teeth. Yum!

The treacle toffee has a dark, burnt colour which reflects in its enticing and seductive treacle taste. It diverts from a toasty sweetness to the fruity delight of brown sugar. It's not an instant hit, quite an aquired taste, but the lovely sticky texture and the waves of flavour makes it an interesting and worthwhile experience.

The Rum & butter toffee has a light, pale toffee colour and a similarly light rum flavour. The butter, however, is drastically more present and introduces a wall of fatty, creamy, mouth-filling flavours. I liked it, I did, couldn't have too many of them though, and disappointed in the pathetic lack of rum.

Similarly, the coconut toffe had that very light golden, pale toffee colour - but smelled rich and heavy of coconut shampoo. But as with the rum - there simply wasn't enough nuttiness, the butter came in like a donkey in a poncho - stealing the entire show. Butter, butter, butter - though rich and creamy, not so nutty. It was o-kay.

The Devon Toffee is also light in colour and has a mild, buttery vanilla scent. These features are definitely reflected in the flavour as not only is the vanilla protruding, it bathes in the butter until it has a bright, almost fruity flavour. Don't get me wrong, because this is still a heavy toffee, but its mosaic of sweet vanilla flavour makes it very sophisticated.

The Mint Toffee smells like a bright peppermint and has that same, light and pale toffee colour. The flavour is very fresh for being captured in butter-hell, and though the sweetness is overpowering, the mint cuts through beautifully. This is an interesting symbiosis that works... I think, even though it occasionally has a slight resemblance of toothpaste.

The Butter Toffee has a mellow, rich and sweet smell, it is hard to catch but, when you do - it is like walking in to a candy store and being overwhelmed by how sweet a scent can be. The flavour is, not surprisingly - very buttery. Every time you chew it is like the warm, buttery juices are being massaged into your mouth. Unforgivably rich, it will sink your ship like the kraken on drugs. I am not exaggerating. This toffee seriously takes butter to the next level, and we pray we never have to go any further than that.

The Licorice Toffee is pitch black with an upbeat licorice smell. In fact, both the scent and the taste is so fresh it is almost fennel-like in its buttery licorice-fusion. This sounds weird, I know, and it is weird, but it really works. This is a delicious toffee that explodes with interesting flavour and I enjoyed every second of it. One of the best ones.

For some reason the Treacle Toffee and the Licorice Toffee really struck the right chord with me, they were weird, I agree. But they were also both delicious in an original way. This bag of funky toffee shouldn't be what you hand out to the kiddies trick or treating this weekend, they certainly wont like it.

I'd recommend you these if you enjoy your toffee, but don't fret if it's a bit weird and different. I'll always want to try things I haven't tried before, and though I doubt I will try them again, at least I enjoyed them while they lasted, and there's still some left if you want some too. Have a great weekend!