Fjords, Farming and a few bites..

So here I am, plunked down in a little village in Norway called Åndalsnes. I'm here to spend the month with my wonderful man before heading on to Copenhagen to perform in the Songwriter Festival - more good people and music ahead - YAY! In the mean time, I'm enjoying the iconic fjord landscape while scouting out local eats and naturally grown fruits and veggies.

Where, in the HECK, you might ask, is Åndalsnes? I'm sure most of you have heard of the Norwegian Fjords - spectacular mountain walls that tower over waterways running for miles from sea to the valley mainland…. Right? If you haven't, here's a picture to give you an idea of what this looks like - we went to nearby fjords (Geirangerfjorden for one) just the other day to soak some of this in.

Geirangerfjorden 

Åndalsnes is one of the administrative capitals in the Northwestern region of Norway (specifically, the Rauma valley).  It's like Lord of the Rings all over again, here. The sheer size of the walls on these mountains is sublime - there's just no other word for the reaction they produce. It's been almost always chilly since I've arrived - somewhere between 50 and 70 degrees - on really warm days, it may reach 75 Fahrenheit, and this is the summer time.. During the winter it is colder and there is plenty of snow.

Let's get back to food - that's why I am writing, n'est pas? While I was on the boat traveling through one of these fjords, the loudspeaker caught my attention - there were small FARMS on these incredibly steep mountain walls. See picture below - that tiny white house is a FARM on the mountain - you can also see the slight field below the house. I got dizzy just looking at the way the houses were resting on a slant.. One story told of a farmer that grew apricots and apples, others had sheep, goats and some cattle for dairy. I'm still in disbelief. Most farms were abandoned in the late 1950s. Living circumstances could not have been easy and were most definitely isolated.

Family Farm on Fjord Wall

Interestingly enough, these mountains are warm enough to grow fruit and not so cold that you can't farm a bit. Cascading fresh glacier water abundantly falls from the mountain walls and flows down the hillsides into the valleys. While contemplating steep hill farms and family clashes within them, I had lunch, which consisted of sheep + goat sausage, accompanied by potato salad and mustard. The sausage was quite strong - earthy in flavor, but balanced out by the sides and mustard (which was slightly sweet). I will try it again before leaving the country :)..

Sheep and Goat Sausage with potato salad

More abundantly grown (and farmed) in the Rauma valley these days (closer to Andalsnes) are potatoes, strawberries (we found some wild ones growing right by the road - see pic below), blueberries (which also grow wild in the forest mountains we went biking through), rhubarb, and most likely others that I haven't come across. Right now I'm just reporting on what I see around me.

Wild Strawberries growing on the mountain trail to Trollstigen

Also well known is the abundance of fresh salmon - which they do also farm in this region (I witnessed one on the way to a nearby village yesterday) and catch wild here as well. The salmon supply has been somewhat depleted in the last two decades due to a virus infecting the fish - which they are trying to fight and restore to the area. Sea Trout have increased in numbers during this time, so there is plenty of that here for consumption.  The salmon here is incredible. I've been buying large quantities of it lightly smoked (lox) from the grocery store and devouring regularly. In the frozen food section you see whole fish vacuum-sealed - pollack, salmon, trout, etc. I will often make lunch with smoked mackerel and tomato on top of fresh bread - sooooo good. 

For now I'll leave you with a common Norwegian dessert/snack they have here, which I tried for the first time on the boat. Don't mind the spoon from my coffee in the background.. :) A slice or two of 'Brunost' - what some would call Norwegian Brown Cheese is stuffed within a folded-over pancake - the type we Americans eat for breakfast. 'Brunost' is basically caramelized goat cheese, which tastes slightly salty and very rich in flavor. A slice alone would be too much, but stuffed in a pancake it is DELICIOUS. 

Svele M  Brunost - Norwegian dessert

And heck, here's a picture of me - happy as a clam on the chilly boat through the fjords. More Norwegian food discoveries and cooking to come!

fertilized the out-of-control tomato plants

Yesterday I fertilized the tomato plants. There was much rejoicing. I also fertilized the peppers and the eggplant, yada yada yada.

I am not sure what to do with the tomato plants. They have all grown out of control. Top heavy, loaded with big fruit, gnarled and angry in some cases, distressingly tall in others. I've staked them all now, given that they destroyed the cages that I initially placed them in.

I don't know what to do. I want tomatoes to continue through October, but I am at a loss as to how to control these crazy vines. The harvest so far has been brilliant, so may it continue.

This is a huge platter, so imagine these tomatoes as fist to two-fist size...

New Yorker Wandering Abroad

I've lived in New York City as a songwriter and performer for 11 years - more specifically in the often-labeled 'hipster' neighborhood of Williamsburg (in Brooklyn). I am not a hipster, FYI - although some have accused me of this. If hipster means someone who creates their own sense of fashion and does not operate through the main-stream norm in terms of culture and lifestyle, then yes my friend, I am officially a hipster. I am NOT a yuppie-turned-ebay-vintage-designer-clothes-shopping asshole with no taste for quality and a bad haircut to impress their wanna-be lawyer friends (other definition for hipster created by jealous onseekers of the original 'hipster'). Nothing against lawyers or e-bay shoppers, of course - I am just trying to make a point. I hope it's coming across given my history with the neighborhood..

More preferably, I claim to be a 'New Yorker' - especially having lived through Bloomberg's term extension, the last major blackout (complete with all-night fire grilling on the sidewalk and little to no looting), so-called 'Hurricane Irene' (which ended up being a tropical storm), and the all-too-dark memory of September 11th - which good friends of mine witnessed up-close as I was on my way to move into the city. I was thankful I hadn't arrived yet...

New York is both a wonderful and depressing place - it's loud and exciting, lonely and cruel, colorful (both in personality and creativity) and diverse beyond any other city I've known in terms of sheer numbers (of different nationalities and cultures within a confined space). This all can be both thrilling and overwhelming when you are a newcomer, depending on how you handle yourself while in its grasp. Truly, all possibilities are on the table - complete with disaster or triumph at the end. I've most recently described New York as a wonderful lover but a terrible wife. You want it again and again, but it won't take care of you. You must always fight for the right to enjoy her and survive her at the same time.

But onto the next phase - my travels as a musician have recently taken me further East to Europe, where I will be for the next 6 months. Stops will include Norway, the U.K. (London), The Czech Republic, Germany, France, Switzerland, Denmark (Copenhagen), and potential others. Having lived in New York City with so many diverse food options, a person can get quite spoiled - in fact, down-right snobby about food. But as we all know, New York is a land of immigrants - of people from different cultures everywhere, bringing traditions with them to create their own version of whatever their imagination ignites. This is what makes it such a wonderful place. But the traditions come from everywhere else, not New York.

So my contribution to this blog will be as a wandering traveller exploring local cuisine wherever I land - attempting to make a few of those dishes and perhaps adding my own New York flair to things as I go. Music is what has brought me here, but being the hungry food-obsessed girl I am, this will be a project close to my heart as to eat good is to feel good, and in turn is to live well! Buon appetito!!

latent fertilizing

garden, west view (during rainstorm)

I unfortunately missed a post about my last fertilization, which occurred sometime before I left town on July 4. I'm waiting to fertilize again given the massive rains we have received this last week. The soil is soaked and soaking more every day. No extra water needed, and no need to dilute the fertilizer just yet.

Single Malts?

Caol Ila (pronounced: Cull Ila). Smoky and sea air. Artisanal.
Cardhu. Smooth and mellow speyside.
Glenkinchie.The last lowlands distillery. Light, fresh, and creamy.
Clynelish. Traces of smokiness (not hardcore like the islays). Highland distillery.
Dalwhinnie. Malty sweet clean taste.
Glen Elgin. Speyside. Sweet, honeyed, light. 
Glenkinchie. light. floral. blend?
Knockando. perfect balance. 
Lagavulin. peaty. peaty. peaty. Islay.

Fear and Loathing at Whole Foods

I don't shop in midtown Atlanta on principle. But I make three practical exceptions to this rule. Trader Joe's I will shop once every few months or as occasion demands. I visit Green's liquor whenever I need good bitters, a specific kind of liquor that I can't get at the Main Street Package, or I just happen to be in the area. And Whole Foods. It is invariably a special occasion that takes me to Whole Foods, or the need for a special product.

Such it was today. I was after tonic. Q Tonic, to be specific, and Whole Foods Midtown is one of the few places that carries it. Because I needed a few groceries, I chose Whole Foods over Tower Liquors on Memorial, which also carries Q.

Why do I want Q? Ever since the cocktail revolution ruined simple mixed drinks for me (I haven't had a bourbon and coke in over a year), I've been craving a decent gin and tonic, but cannot stomach any longer the swill that lives in supermarket aisles.

I hate shopping at Whole Foods. I should make this clear. I have nothing against the market itself, but I cannot stand Whole Foods Midtown. The bile rises as I curve eastward down Ponce in the perilously narrow lanes, dodging illegal left turners and schizophrenic pedestrians. The shopping center that houses Whole Foods is a testament to everything I tried to avoid when I chose my neighborhood in Atlanta. BMWs litter the lot. Bored shoppers in designer sunglasses walk obliviously. Everyone drives like they are late for an appointment, and common courtesy (like letting someone turn into traffic in the face of a line of SVUs) is ignored. My teeth are regularly clenched until I finally turn off my car.

Inside Whole Foods Midtown is queer. The market feels like most other Whole Foods markets around the country. The clientele is wealthy, hip, or cool, or some combination of the three. Gym built bodies, ankle tattoos, Ralph Loren Chinos, meticulously disheveled hair, immaculate makeup. The staff is unbelievably knowledgeable and helpful. The gentleman I asked to point me in the direction of Kalamata olives asked if I had seen the olive bar. This instantly made me picture martinis, but I must have shaken my head, because he touched my arm and said "you will LOVE it." When there were no Kalamata olives at the olive bar, he fetched three different brands in bottles for me to choose from.

It occurs to me at some point that my discomfort around so many beautiful people is unnatural. Or unreasonable. Or both. Or whatever. The point is, after collecting all the materials necessary to construct tabouli, shrimp for a Saturday cookout and various other supplies to get me through a week, I realized only after I paid and had put the groceries in the trunk that I had forgotten the Q Tonic. But because I will have gin and tonic this weekend, and because I made the goddamn trip anyway, I went back in.

Adobo Chicken, Philippines style

While searching for cooking instructions for adobo chicken, I came across this Philippino recipe, which I must try some time. Might be a good weekday chicken preparation--simple and quick. For instructions on crockpot cooking, check this site.

garden up!

The flowers on the Barbarella eggplant first bloom ...

... then swallow a grapefruit

Look ma, no suckers!

All in all not bad

Pollinators in a short bed

Did a few things today worth talking about.

1) I've begun really trimming off the suckers, especially from the bottom of the plant. This helps air circulation (apparently) and more importantly discourages bugs.

2) For what it's worth, the suckers on my Orange Blossom vine grew fruit. But now those low arms are hanging on the ground. And I found ants all over my Orange Blossoms. On one in particular. I knocked them off, but no telling what this means. I propped up both the lower branches to get them off the ground.

3) I planted two more perennials in my mailbox plot, both of which are supposed to fill out the bed and provide more flowers to attract pollinators. In addition, I moved another cutting of golden pineapple sage to the front, making three in all. They really do thrive, and should send up beautiful red flowers in the fall to attract the pollinators.

first fruit

The tomatoes are beginning to produce. The first large tomato was, to no one's surprise, the Orange Blossom. Also in the basket are red sweet olives, yellow Juane Flamees, and a cucumber. I'm getting four or five cucumbers a day.

Raised Bed Gardening

I have a variety of new seeds to plant (a gift from a neighbor), and would like to begin the process of raised bed building. I've found good instructions in Sunset magazine, they are for sale by square foot gardening, and I found some great ideas (all well out of my reach, but oh well) on houzz.

I would like to start with two raised beds, simple enough to do. One would be for moonlight green beans. I think I could do something simple and small, like a 4 x 6 (or 8) box. I'd also like to raise a small corrugated tin box in my herb garden to raise my herbs, preferably by about one foot. It would be easy, and then I could also plant vines that would drape down over the metal and onto the rock barrier.

Here are a few ideas about unorthodox raised beds:

<div><a href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/1046835/Edible-Garden-eclectic-landscape-san-francisco'><img src='http://st.houzz.com/simages/1046835_0_3-5592-eclectic-landscape.jpg' border=0 width='240' height='320' /></a></div><div style='color:#444;'><small><a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/photos/eclectic/landscape'>Eclectic Landscape design</a> by <a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/professionals/landscape-architect/san-francisco'>San Francisco Landscape Architect</a> <a style='text-decoration:none;color:#444;' href='http://www.houzz.com/pro/arterra/arterra-llp-landscape-architects'>Arterra LLP Landscape Architects</a></small></div>

OK, the picture did not embed.  Here's a link. Bottom line is that I am somewhat reluctant to start building temporary raised beds out of wood. I would much prefer to use reclaimed materials, especially galvanized tin. I am looking for an aesthetic as well as a practical solution.