Norwegian Food Illustrated (by an italian)

Another Roadside Attraction - Falconara/Senigallia

2012-01-29T13:09:00.003+01:00

Hello! I am partecipating at this drawing challenge over at My Paraphernalia ! The theme is Another Roadside Attraction.. Sorry about the quality, but I have a sick baby at home with high fever (I wonder if its Chickenpox? ) and a big need to be hugged all day.. But I found this theme very interesting, so this is my contribution. Take a look here for a list of the other contributors...!

Blogs I love...

2012-01-28T19:28:00.000+01:00

Bilde lånt av A Foreigner in Italy!

Today I would like to share this post from a lovely norwegian lady living in Italy. She writes so well about..well the opposite of what I do here. I found this post so funny because I was a bit of a strange lady in Italy too, just because I am half norwegian and I have always loved to walk (and still do) and to do all the other norwegian things that people thought were strange...including the refleks thing!

Take a look at A Foreigner in Italy!

PS. Soon my contributions to Demie - Another Roadside Attraction theme!

Egg & Bacon

2012-01-27T08:34:00.001+01:00

Low carbs breakfasts are hard to digest.

Five things....

2012-01-24T21:50:00.001+01:00

Hello!

Thanks my friends for the kind words on my previous post...! It really helps to know that a) I am not alone in this b) it will get better!

So I was reading Lises blog and she wrote this post about how we are so good at telling ourselves the things we are NOT good at...and she challenged us to write down 5 things we are good at instead.
I found it so difficult...I know a lot of things I am maybe a little good at...but does "really good at appreciate the bad weather" count? haha. I found 3 things. Working on the last two. Not bad I think, being in the mood I am (but I am getting better)! What about you? What are you good at?

Hello!

2012-01-22T22:14:00.000+01:00

Hello!
How are you doing?
I am doing just fine. Ok I will tell you the truth.
I am not doing so well.
I tought it was the january blues. But it snowed and I love snow! And that didnt help.
There are a lot of I in this post.
I am sorry.
You guys who are scared of things like feelings, and real people, and just want people to smile and say Det går bare bra! (I am fine!) all the time, you are welcome here another time.

Whats wrong? Nothing is wrong, and yet. Nothing is right.
I just learned that this is just me. I am funny, and nice and creative. Sometimes.
Other times I am a little worm, trying to go on, one day at the time. Hoping and knowing that the sun will shine again. But not now. But I do things, I work, I do everything that is required.

But i am gonna share some other things, the things that make me feel better.

Love

xxx

La Befana!

2012-01-06T17:00:00.000+01:00

Today is La Befana
(the epiphany)

And old children song goes like this:

La Befana vien di notte
con le scarpe tutte rotte
col berretto alla romana
VIVA VIVA LA BEFANA!
(use google translate to read it in english + a good laugh)

So its a holiday in Italy, but not here in Norway! And nobody gave me candy today...! Outrageous! ;)
Don`t you think we should introduce LA BEFANA to Norway? Yes, another excuse to

1) Wait with the new years diet/eat healthy thing
2) Eat candy (see 1)
3) Don`t work

Happy New Year

2011-12-31T22:44:00.000+01:00

May 2012 bring a lot of goodness to you.

I am really thankful to have this space to express myself

and to have readers who care about what I put in here.

I myself am sitting at home making lists.

My daughter is asleep, my man is out partying and I am sipping white wine and dreaming.

I might sound like a loser - sitting at home alone! - but I dont care.

I really am glad to have this precious time for myself.

So cheers!

To us.

To our dreams.

Its never too late to do what you really want to.

To become you.

See you next year!

Serena

Playing with food

2011-12-28T11:01:00.001+01:00

Nothing more happening these days..Taking life easy..eating good food, so much that sometimes we dont eat it and just play with it... (well we eat it at last, I hate to throw food away)

Have a nice day!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-24T11:00:00.000+01:00

Snow on the west coast of Norway..

2011-12-23T23:24:00.001+01:00

Dont worry.

The slush has already melted...!

Here on vacation, so relaxing...yes even without the snow...Wish you a very nice holiday...

Days like this

2011-12-15T10:20:00.000+01:00

Happens to everybody.

I wish for you to meet sweeter clementines today!

Norwegian knitting

2011-12-10T10:06:00.001+01:00

The best gifts I get are always gifts for my daughter, I think when you have a child you feel like she deserves all the best, always! That is why I am so thankful to those who spend time on knitting for my little T, look for eksample what my sweet auntie knitted for her. Traditional pattern from Telemark and all!

Free colouring sheet for kids (and not!): christmas food

2011-12-07T19:37:00.000+01:00

I am really looking forward to Christmas, and more time spent with Little T. So I made this colouring sheet that we can colour in together and its free for you to download and print! It is pretty isnt it? I really like the pandoro in the middle. It`s an A4, just click on it to view it bigger and lets C O L O U R !

And the winner of the giveaway is...

2011-12-05T20:43:00.001+01:00

Thomine made her mind right away, she wanted that piece of paper and no one else. Congratulations demie! And thanks to all of you!

Blood (not another vampire movie)

2011-12-05T10:00:00.000+01:00

Blood bank in Oslo: here

Norwegian (& swedish) blood pudding: here

Swear words & Haugesund

2011-12-04T22:14:00.001+01:00

Oh my! I dag skulle jeg (eller min Lille T) trekke ut en vinner til verdens tidligeste julegiveaway! (kanskje). Men det ble altså ikke sånt. Vi bakte kakemenn og spiste en del marsipan med litt røde og grønne E-stoffer i og så ble det plutselig for seint for Lille T, hun skulle til sengs!
Da trekker vi en vinner i morgen. Og i kveld har vi istedet bannekonkurranse (med fokus på Haugesund)! Glad i dere kjære lesere!

Hello, I am gonna pick a winner for my giveaway tomorrow, my little helper Little T was too busy baking and eating marzipan to pick up a winner... Will ask her again tomorrow! But for now, some typical swear words from my boyfriend hometown. HAUGESUND!

Italian, norwegian, as long as it is sweet!

2011-11-25T21:10:00.000+01:00

Delicious home made dinner, 5 courses. You have eaten so much, so much! You feel like you are going to burst.. What happens then? Somebody brings dessert.

Feel free to win a book in my giveaway!

Pølser pølser pølser...

2011-11-24T20:25:00.001+01:00

Sausages! Salsiccie, sosisser. De hvite de brune de rosa de røde! I drew red danish sausages once for a norwegian magazine (here) and swedish blonde boys and sinnataggen! But now its pølsetime again, this long and thin guy that nobody wants to know what he is made of ! (and if you try to tell me I close my ears and go DADADADADA) Did you not-norwegian-people know about this, that you can eat sausage with a cake! A waffle! And its fully legal here in Norway! I rest my case. Norway I told you before. I love you. Now even more.

My giveaway is still on! Enter HERE for a chance to win They Draw and Cook book!

GIVEAWAY TIME!

2011-11-22T21:44:00.001+01:00

Hello!

I am so happy to announce I am gonna have my first giveaway!

My blog is almost 2 years old, its almost december, I am almost norwegian, all reasons to celebrate!

So I bought two of these colourful books, one for me and one for YOU!

For a chance to win this amazing book from They Draw and Cook you will need to:

A) post a comment here - get one ticket

B) post this post on your blog/facebook/twitter - one ticket each

Kom igjen folkens :)

Giveaway ends on sunday, december 4th!

A cheesy post...

2011-11-16T20:33:00.001+01:00

Ps. Have you seen the cutest NISTEPAKKE? More cheesy pictures on my Instagram, @vesleserena

Pizzabua

2011-11-10T19:42:00.000+01:00

I have been in bed for a week. Moaning. Driving my boyfriend crazy (neida!). Craving feel-sorry-for-myself-food. Do you have some food you can eat only if you are ill, or (if you are a girl) if you have your period? Mine is ice-cream, fudge and bad-pizza. But now I am fine, no more feel-sorry-for-myself-food.. wait, that`s a reason to feel sorry for myself!

Tonsillitis

2011-11-07T07:34:00.000+01:00

:( need I say more?
I could show you some disgusting pictures of my throat too...just kidding.
I think I will need lots of this, and antibiotics.

(picture found here)

Cookbooks #3

2011-11-02T08:00:00.000+01:00

Ok so you remember my cookbooks #1 and #2 right?
Here is a cookbook which I dont really use for recipes. It is a witty italian cookbook written in 1891 & it is as much about food as it is about italian culture, full av anedoctes and tasty recipes.
If you can read italian, please do it in the original language, otherwise english will do (don`t know if they sell it in norwegian) It is from Pellegrino Artusi and it is called La scienza in cucina e l`arte di mangiar bene - you can find the english version here.

(and if you feel like buying yourself an early christmas gift, here are some beautiful classics)

Its getting DARK outside...

2011-11-01T21:27:00.000+01:00

Time to put on your fancy yellow

Cookbooks #2

2011-10-30T13:05:00.001+01:00

I cherish this old cookbook. It was my mums, she passed away 10 years ago. Her name still in the first page. I used to make her bookmarks, she loved books, so I made her bookmarks all the time. This one says: I love you.

I heart Iphone

2011-10-26T18:00:00.000+02:00

Yes, finally, I got myself a smartphone, the one with a little apple on. And got hooked! That is probably why I didnt get one earlier, I knew it would be so time consuming...but Instagram! So fun! Still learning though...So if you would like to see pictures of my coffees and cat and other things you can "follow" me - vesleserena is my username.

My morning coffee

I actually drink cappuccino in the evening too..even if its forbidden by the (italian coffee league) law

My cat, I think she is cute, but somebody calls her DJEVELPUS!

Grateng!!

2011-10-18T07:15:00.000+02:00

This post is in norwegian, but the illustrations are easy to understand :) Its all about the Monday - all you have left in the refrigerator - Pie, italian and norwegian way. Notice the style of the italian girl when she cooks dinner? They are all so perfect, all the time! (Not me, thats why I live in Norway, to wear comfy trousers and forget to put make up on). Have a good week!

good morning!

2011-10-14T08:02:00.000+02:00

Enjoy your morning coffee and remember:

(bilde funnet på Pinterest )

Tidsklemma

2011-10-11T06:07:00.001+02:00

Velkommen i klubben sier dere :) Skulle gjerne kjøpt Dagbladaet i dag, for der er det sikkert et eller annet om tidsklemma. Åh nei vent, det er lavkarbo som gjelder nå. Too bad jeg har nettopp spist frukost med brødskiva+bringebærsyltetøy og en diger kaffelatte med sukker i. FY. Neida. Så det var det da. Tidsklemma. I kveld skal vi klemme den. Eller kjøre på den, med denne fine fine 500.

Ha en fin dag!

Look what came in the mail!

2011-10-03T20:15:00.000+02:00

My own ELLE Girl, from Korea!
And look what a nice article about food & illustration (feat. among others Nate from TDAC)
Look better there is a TRAN bottle too! :) I am featured in the last ELLE Girl Korea, thank you so much for interviewing me!

Det er mandag, gi meg PÅFYLL!

2011-10-03T19:39:00.000+02:00

Monday monday monday...who needs coffeine? I do!
Even if its norwegian coffee, sometimes it is very good (like here) or very cool (like here) or very cheap (like here) or organic (like here) or together with a good bite (like here) or great bread (like here) or close to home (like here)

PS.
Thomines birthday was so fun! Looking forward to the next one. She even got a CROWN from the nursery school!

***I forgot to mention the real PÅFYLL!

ONE YEAR

2011-09-30T08:08:00.000+02:00

One year ago. So excited, so scared. So much pain! And then you came. In a moment you were there. And my life changed completely. I am so glad you came into our life, with your smiles and small hands!

I just cant figure out what I did to deserve all this! Happy 1st birthday Thomine!

Misunderstandings....

2011-09-29T17:00:00.000+02:00

Some of the norwegian words I completely misunderstood, and sometimes still do.

1) BRYNSENG, aka BRYNs ENG, the metro stop, I thought it was called Bryns bed, and I imagined maybe it was shaped like a bed, or it was a nice place to sleep...

2) JEG ER BONDE, I bought this button on Egertorget the summer I came to Norway. I had my hair dyed black back then and I thought, what a clever idea, I will show everybody that I am really a BLONDE. But people just laughed when they read it... It said: I am a FARMER!

3) GUERRILLAMEL, or Griljermel. This one I know couldnt be true, but I kept reading GUERRILLA...how could flour had to do with war I thought. Well it doesnt.

I think its funny and some of the words I misspelled had become part of my familys vocabulary, I wonder what my daughter will think of her weird mother when she finds out that those words really dont exist! :)

Another piece of advice...

2011-09-26T08:00:00.000+02:00

Actually there are two, but blood and meat, they fit well together :)

(the picture is an old photo of Markveien, found here )

Meat Free Monday
Eller Kjøttfri mandag & giblod.no

Have a nice week!

Fårikål

2011-09-25T08:46:00.000+02:00

Today I am gonna eat this. A sheep on a cabbage. Fårikål
(from my sketchbook)

La bilen stå i morgen!

2011-09-23T20:55:00.000+02:00

Tomorrow is Moving Planet day! Let us gå tur!
I couldnt agree more.

We do not own a car, and I am kinda proud of it.. We used to have one Mitsubishi, but we didnt really need it, so its gone, and now we walk a lot. And take buss trikk bane all the time. It works perfectly well in Oslo. I know many people in Norway is dependent on having a car, but at the same time I think there are too many people buying cars that are too big and expensive...Small men in big cars, what to say....We all know what you are trying to compensate for!

This is it!

2011-09-23T20:33:00.000+02:00

So this is it! It actually looks better now, and soon we are gonna get the sofa from here and even a new working table! Do you see the little Respatex table, I am sitting there now. It is little, but pretty. And we have 2 blue chairs. I am looking forward to hanging pictures on the walls! Puskhkina loves it too.

Slowly slowly...

2011-09-17T22:37:00.000+02:00

Dear blog readers!
I am not gone, just been very busy*...!
But I didnt quit drawing
and I most definitely didnt quit eating,
so I will be back soon and in the meantime enjoy this wonderful yellow season!
Thank God the bikini season is OVER!
See you soon!

*packing, moving, unpacking, buying stuff, camping at Ikea for days, having my italian family visiting us, baptizing Thomine (well not me, a very cool priest did that, in this church)...

Telemark People

2011-08-22T01:14:00.000+02:00

We, the people of Telemark! I have family in this beautiful county. Did you know that? I am so proud. I have a cousin working here and family here. My mums family was from here and here.

So last week I rented a car and drove to the Telemark mountains. I found nice friendly people, very good food, I had an elk in my garden and I saw lots of birds and squirrels and dead lemmings, fish, berries, rain, bunader, fela, old volvos and trees so many trees and mushrooms and cows. Oh my. I love it.

A lot of tea in a slightly pornographic mug was involved too. Haha!

(still no drawings, still my scanner is somewhere in a box.)

We are moving!

2011-08-08T22:18:00.000+02:00

Hello! I am sorry if the blog is gonna be quiet the next couples of weeks or so, but we are moving moving moving from the very nice & colourful Grünerløkka to the family friendly & I hope quiet Lambertseter, (in the south of Oslo) more exactly to Pynten Borettslaget! I am so looking forward to living in a borettslaget ! How norwegian is that! I want to make friends with all the people there! I want to take part in the dugnad! Thomine is very excited too. She is going to get her own room! A lot of exclamation marks!!!!!! Now that you know, I still have one drawing to go, but I need to find my scanner, where is my scanner? Somewhere in a box........
Now, back to Gilmore girls (yes, my BF is out and I am eating Gjende and watching my secret favourite show)

Oh those lovely sunny days!

2011-08-03T23:44:00.001+02:00

It is time to move on...

2011-07-28T22:52:00.000+02:00

...but how do you do it? How do you forget, forgive, how can you stop thinking about what happened.
I want to move on. I dont want the actions of that miserable man to ruin my life, to darken my thoughts, i dont want him to cause more damage than he has already done. The sun is still shining, the birds are still singing, the people are still out on Olaf Ryes plass drinking beer and eating a good pizza (I can hear them from home). I am going too. Tomorrow. Or in a week. But right now, I still need to mourn.

Love beats hatred

2011-07-24T21:35:00.000+02:00

A young survivor from the shooting at Utøya in Norway 22. July 2011 was interviewed by CNN and asked if they now wanted to fight terror more intensely. Her answer was:

WORDS FOUND HERE

I have no words...

2011-07-23T20:09:00.002+02:00

I am so sorry. Thinking about all the victims and thir families. <3.

Now you can LIKE me. I mean REALLY like me.

2011-07-21T22:18:00.000+02:00

I just made a FAN PAGE on Facebook, so you nice people could all click on LIKE here
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------->
and make me very happy. Or not. I will probably be a little less happy, but still happy.

If you like me even more, you can find me on Google+

and if you would like to see what I like you could check out my boards here

Me trying to use my kid to get more Likes.

Norsk Kjøkken

2011-07-19T12:00:00.011+02:00

I was sitting at the kitchen table at my parents-in-law house, in Haugesund and it struck me how ALIKE the norwegian kitchens look...I mean...the real kitchens, not the kitchens people use to keep shoes in ...look around, do you have at least 3 of these things? I do!!

Italian postcards II

2011-07-19T10:00:00.002+02:00

Italian postcards I

2011-07-18T22:14:00.000+02:00

Things I miss about Italy

2011-07-02T11:23:00.000+02:00

The APERITIVO

A Tasty taste of summer!

2011-07-01T10:00:00.002+02:00

Hei again, I am back to my beloved NORGE! How are you my friends? I am goood. Its so good to be HOME. I have got a new computer (hurray!) but I still need to fix the old one...I have not been taking enough backups and now I am afraid I could have lost a lot of Thominepictures and drawings! :(

I had my birthday last week! I enjoyed a relaxed afternoon eating ice cream in the sun and later home made hamburgers and white wine (from here)..The wine didnt match the food at ALL, still it was such a nice day.

I had a lot of adventures on our way back from Italy, maybe I will tell you about them in a drawing..still too fresh to laugh about :) New illustrations are on their way, in the meantime take a look at this website, you will find my illustration on the front page. Have a nice day!

HEIA!

2011-05-24T12:31:00.001+02:00

Hei! I didnt forget you my friends, but I am in Italy, my mac crashed (this time its the HD, so its a bit worse then the last time) so I am just dropping a line here to tell you....I will be back! In the meantime, I hope you are enjoying this wonderful may..I got a superhigh italian ticket for my car - 1000 euro - my babygirl got sick, lost my car key, my mac crashed as i already told you, but I am super happy to be here!! Home is home!
Love from Vesle Serena on a sticky computer inside a really hot and steamy CALL CENTER in Italy...can you imagine the smell in here?? Still. Love! From me.

Change of habits...

2011-04-27T10:35:00.000+02:00

A friend of mine is doing this total makeover, take a look at her blog. I am not aiming that high. Just going back to good habits after all that EASTER CHOCOLATE!

Ord & Uttrykk

2011-04-25T10:30:00.002+02:00

I heard this norwegian saying once. Translated: There is a lot of good food in an old tie ! HAHA! I love this! But what does it mean?

Easter eggs. Yellow.

2011-04-23T21:42:00.000+02:00

Yeah! Easter! I am super norwegian these days, spending my days at the hytte (cottage) on the west coast (just outside Haugesund) sitting in the sun reading KRIM by Unni Lindell (crime books) eating TONS of chocolate...Sometimes you norwegian really know how to have a good time, or as you would say, KOSE SEG!

Have an happy easter everybody.

Grannies, Röyksopp, flowers, dresses.

2011-04-13T20:13:00.001+02:00

<p>&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;gt;This</p>

This video has it all.
Grannies, flowery cups, meringues, pink lips, dresses, teeth, all the details and the colours.
And the nice music.

A little (unwanted) break...

2011-04-08T17:12:00.000+02:00

My dear mac said goodbye. Doesnt want to get charged anymore! I am suffering and working on the old mac, but I dont have any programs on it anymore. No photoshop................Too old and tired for that.

I will get McMac back next wednesday. In the meantime, some cute pictures. From me to you.

Happy weekend!

Koke en bok. Kokebok!

2011-03-29T10:30:00.004+02:00

What is your bible? Apart from the bible bible, maybe?
This book is mine, Den rutete kokeboken, by Ingrid Espelid Hovig.
This woman is so adorable, watch her here.

Coffee!

2011-03-28T11:00:00.002+02:00

I was drinking coffee and doodling the other day. Watching people drinking coffee is so interesting. There are so many different ways of drinking coffee in Norway.. In Italy we just drink it in 5 seconds. Slurp! Here, you can really express yourself while drinking coffee...Like here.

Vaffeldagen!

2011-03-25T21:28:00.000+01:00

I dag er det vaffeldagen!
Today its the international waffledag! I just love those hearts. I hope you had some today. But...everybody has its own recipe, I dont know what is right anymore! I need to ask Ingrid Espelid Hovig... Do you have a special waffle recipe to share with me?
Vaffelsmykkene fra Tasty

Pizza pizza, who wants pizza?

2011-03-24T10:34:00.002+01:00

Did you know that I have a master BAKER in my house? Its not the cat. Even is she does "bake" the wool blanket. Its mr. G ! He made the perfect norwegian pizza crust the other day. So good and thick and a little crispy on the sides. PERFECT!

New food for new people.

2011-03-23T09:34:00.000+01:00

So I have this new roomie. I had her for the last 6 months. We share the bedroom, its cheapest that way. She is kind of tiny. Somebody would call her "little". Almost a baby! :)
We are experimenting in the house. What will the little princess eat today? Will we guess? Will it be a mess? (thats ok, we have so much fun when she is messing with the food).
We try and we fail. And we try again. One thing she loves though, is this nice orange mousse. Made with nice orange (and yellow) root fruits! We love root fruits, hurrah!

Fish cookies - Judith Spesial

2011-03-20T11:19:00.001+01:00

There are two sure things about Haugesund. The rain, and the good food. I can live without the grey sky and getting always wet in my socks (I refuse to wear rainwear, I am italian after all!) but the yummi food...is alone worth a visit! Fishy and lamby food! Like kumla and pinnekjøtt. Another great dish are the home made fiskekaker that my mother in law makes for us EVERY time we visit. Thanks Judith! Here is the recipe.
(BTW she is making kumla right now) Lucky us!
Have a nice sunday!

Intervjustafett - Little interview - #3

2011-03-19T15:56:00.001+01:00

Nevn 4 ting fra din ønskeliste

4 things from your wishlist

Bade der det er varmt

Mange fine dager med min datter

Røde gummistøvler

Min egen atelier/verksted

Swim in the warm water

Days of joy with my daughter

Red boots

My own studio

Thats not wishing too much, is it?

Help Japan & buy something nice for your wall

2011-03-18T13:41:00.000+01:00

We are all worried about it...and Japan has always fascinated me a lot. So when I saw this over at Pikaland I decided I would do something good for them and for me as well.

Lovely poster by japanese artist Mogu Takahashi.

Intervjustafett - Little interview - #2

2011-03-18T12:51:00.000+01:00

Hvilke 4 ting liker du dårlig?

4 things you dont like.

Hudfarget strømpebukser

Blod

Å prate i telefon

Skallet på agurken (den smaker fisk!)

Skincoloured pantihose

Blood

Talking on the phone

The green thick skin of a cucumber. (tastes like fish!)

Intervjustafett - Little interview - #1

2011-03-18T12:03:00.001+01:00

I have been challenged by Bringebær (who by the way make some very cute embroideries, like these) So here are my answers.

Hva har du gjort i dag?

What did you do today?

Kjøpte årets første tulipaner

Lagde og spiste veldig gode burgere

Drakk kaffe med Thomines oldemor

Laget babymat med rotgrønnsaker

Bought my first tulips this year

Ate home made burgers (good!)

Had coffee with Thomines grand grandmother

Made babyfood with rootfruits

Not everybody loves smoothies...

2011-03-13T18:09:00.000+01:00

...like we do :)
Thomine wanted to try our smoothie today. Just looked at our smoothie and at us with her blue eyes, mouth full of water...So we gave her a little. Banana+blueberries+apple+orange. She had banana and apple before, but maybe the orange was a bit more sour than she thought it would be? Poor kid. She liked it though!

Doodle + Food = Sant

2011-03-08T10:40:00.000+01:00

Jeg fant tilbake til min første kjærlighet! Doodling! Så nå kan jeg både lage mat, tegne og passe på en liten T som krever stadig mer oppmerksomhet... Doodling er altså dette

I dag var det også en fin dag for å skrive litt på norsk...Etter en flott Oslo VM tenker jeg at vi er alle litt stolte av å være norske (ja, jeg er faktisk norsk jeg og!)

Lets get back to my first love, doodling! Now I can be the multitasker I have always dreamt of: cooking, drawing and watching Thomine at the same time. And yes, I wrote in norwegian today, because of the great Oslo World ski championship 2011 we just had. I feel a little proud to be norwegian!

(I am still trying to figure out how to avoid my pictures to have a shadow...any suggestions?)

The first sunny weekend!

2011-03-07T09:39:00.003+01:00

Deserves good food and good company. Saturday we had a great breakfast at Villa Paradiso, which is an italian restaurant/pizzeria just around the corner...Thomine was sleeping outside in her pram in the fresh sunny air so we enjoyed our first meal out, just the two of us...it was very romantic!

Lille T og Monster T

2011-03-06T21:49:00.005+01:00

I took some pictures of my babygirl playing with this crazy funny softie made by Tania @ Ninon (do take a look at her creations, she is a great plush artist!)
Thomine loves him! I dont know if those pink hair are 100% babysafe...But then again there are a lot of things out there which are more dangerous than some pink plush!

You say tomato....

2011-02-28T22:36:00.001+01:00

Did you know that a tomato is not a vegetable but a berry just like blueberries? In Italy we have two kind of tomatoes with Protected Geographical Status, the Pomodoro di Pachino and the San Marzano (excellent to make tomato sauce!)...

Yum!

Tromsø

2011-02-28T06:31:00.003+01:00

D & D, originally uploaded by vesleserena.

They have some nice signs in Tromsø!

Vegan Food? Yes please.

2011-02-26T12:48:00.005+01:00

While I am in Tromsø, I want to share with you what I have been trying to do the last couple of weeks. I had to cut out milk and dairies from my diet because of Thomine, and feeling inspired by it, i decided to explore the VEGAN world! No meat, fish, eggs, & milk, in other words, nothing coming from animals. I have been vegetarian before, but cutting out milk was really frightening to me. I love my cappuccino! Well I found good replacements for almost everything (still have to find a good replacement for Parmigiano...), have more energi than ever, feel great and have a clean consciousness. Even if this was only a test (I am breast feeding and will have to eat whatever is best for my child) I know now that a vegan life isnt bad at all!
Check this site out for great recipes (in norwegian) and this (in italian)

Cardoons - Cardi

2011-02-25T13:23:00.002+01:00

Alsa called GOBBI in my language - dialetto anconetano!
Do you know about this delicious plant called Cynara cardunculus?!
I think its one of the best thing the winter has to offer (in Italy, I mean. Nothing grows on the ice!) Its in the same family as the artichoke, but has a slighter milder taste. And it grows biG!
Here is my father with a fine piece of cardoons.

We ate GOBBI IN UMIDO, which means, wet cardoons, its a simple recipe with onion and tomato and a bit of cinnamon!

Have you ever heard/tasted this?

Meet Harry...This time for real!

2011-02-25T13:00:00.016+01:00

Ha! Did you like my teaser? This time I want to talk about something funny. The Harrytur!

Harry in norwegian means...someone with bad taste, low culture, not very interested in quality, maybe likes big cars and lives in the country...I think! I am not sure though. Could someone tell me why it is called HARRY? If you live in Oslo or Østlandet you know about the Harrytur. Everybody does that, the food in Sweden is cheaper and EXOTIC! I like Sweden, there are a lot more choices if you have allergies or are vegetarian. But still, driving to Sweden to buy food is H A R R Y !

In other news, I am going to TROMSØ this weekend. Have a nice one!

Meet Harry....

2011-02-24T10:00:00.000+01:00

Watch out for Harry, soon to be seen on this very blog!!

So much to do, so little time...

2011-02-23T11:15:00.002+01:00

I am always struggling with TO DO lists, ranking what is the most important thing to do right now, what can wait until later, and what can wait until...well..until I get the time to do it! I make lists using my brain, and its not always the best thing to do...Because I always end up tired after washing the house, paying the bills, cleaning my shoes and things like that. I never give myself the time to do NICE things, things I like! Like drawing and building fun stuff. Cooking. I should make more lists with my HEART. Play with Little T. Draw a story. Watch the sky. Take photos. Oh well...
So today I asked my boyfriend, how should I get the time to do all I want to do? I will never have that kind of time anymore! He answered me with a drawing (remember, he cant really draw :))
He wants to give me the time to be myself. I think its cute.

Long Time No See!

2011-02-22T10:10:00.004+01:00

Hei!
Its been a long time! Me & Little T went to Italy to visit our family and friends...It was supernice. I wish I could go back and forth in half an hour..Instead its almost a 10 hrs trip with train and plane and train...A bit much for a little girl (and her mum!) Ancona was a bit foggy and cold, and that was a good reason to spend some more time in the kitchen, or at the table..eating..

Little T got his own beautiful food T plate!

2011-01-07T10:03:00.002+01:00

My friend Parul aka Just Noey sent Thomine this beautiful T for TEA plate (find it here) So nice of her! Looking forward to feed Thomine from it (I am thinking of giving it to her when she turns 15...I dont want her to break it!) I would love to share my own pictures of it in our living room, but we have been having italian guests all the time and the table is always a mess! So much food. Mostly its my Norwalian-Itawegian food...Norwegian food with an italian touch? And by that I dont mean adding PESTO to a pizza GRANDIOSA!

In other news, I will be going to Italy tomorrow. Its good news, I will have time to draw, but no time to post anything...you know internet connection, scanner...far too hi tech...

I wish you a pretty fantastic January!

An owl for breakfast

2010-12-28T10:14:00.002+01:00

Ugla maionese, originally uploaded by vesleserena.

This Christmas has been good. Now waiting for the 2nd part of it!

Happy holidays!

2010-12-22T20:00:00.000+01:00

Happy holidays norsk og ikke norsk people!

All those great christmas food ideas will have to wait,

I have got more important things to do:

KOS (with Thomine) og SPISE!

Isnt she worth all my time?

See you next year!

Den forsvundne pølsemaker

2010-12-08T10:33:00.002+01:00

Pølsemaker, pølsemaker...

Hva har du gjort av deg?

Gløgg Gløgg Gløgg -- Glühwein, mulled wine....

2010-12-07T10:24:00.009+01:00

Ah that nice time of the year is here at last! Stress! Money! Crowded shops, crazy ladies running around with thousands of bags! Not for me thanks! I am grounded at home almost everyday (too cold to go outside for my little T) drinking warm things like coffee, coffee, more coffee, hot chocolate and...gløgg!

Wasps and Lions

2010-12-01T10:34:00.001+01:00

Yesterday I went to this italian café and bought these nice nice boxes of pastiglie LEONE
(there are candies inside, but who cares? look at the colours!!) They have a lot of other things too, like Panettone - the italian christmas cake, a little selection of sausages & cheese, and other good stuff....

Kakao - Hot chocolate!

2010-11-09T15:30:00.009+01:00

I love everything sweet and hot, and I just found out about this new (new to me!!) way of making hot chocolate with real chocolate. Just put the chocolate in the cup and hot milk on top! Yummi! I love winter. All you need is good music, something good in your cup and candle lights...and if you are lucky a strong arm to hold around you....

Food with strange & politically uncorrect name...

2010-11-08T09:47:00.003+01:00

I made these sweet chocolate "balls" yesterday, they are yummi! But the name? Negerboller? Maybe they should be called kakaoboller or something?

Tasty - tiny food jewelry // Christmas gifts ideas!

2010-11-02T22:09:00.000+01:00

Last year at the Designers Christmas market at DoGa in Oslo, I found out about these ladies. Maiken and Siri run a little café with delicious goods, and i was totally blown away by these jewels. Tiny reproductions of the most delicious norwegian food, so delicate and with so many tiny cute details...I am gonna put this on my wishlist for christmas...

Here are some of the goodness, find it in their etsy shop:

Join their fan page on facebook here!

All pictures by Tinytasty

How to look like a superhero in 2 minutes!

2010-10-29T11:51:00.003+02:00

Hello! So its raining again, and the air is getting colder...Here in Norway (and everywhere else too...) you can beat the cold wearing clothes like an onion (layers on layers) and with superundertøy (= super/wool underwear) under all the layers... Its nice being warm and all, but why does it have to look like I am going XC skiing? I want some urban superundertøy, something that looks good!! Any suggestions?

They Draw & Cook

2010-10-20T09:00:00.003+02:00

If you love food illustrations, you should check this site right now!
They Draw and Cook

You can find some great recipes illustrated by very talented people from all over the world, this is just my kind of thing, its so inspiring! I just want to send more recipes right now :) This time I sent a simple italian dish, Spaghetti al pomodoro, but next time I will most definitely send a norwegian recipe!

Take a look and spread the word :)

Høst!

2010-10-19T12:23:00.000+02:00

So, I have been busy with a little cute girl these days, but we still got the time to go for a walk everyday in the beautiful yellow & red Oslo. I really like the autumn here. I really really like it here. I wouldnt live anywhere else. I can wear layers of wool and wool socks and I love it. Thomine seems to like it here with us too, I am so happy she chose us. She is such a sweet cutie pie.

Boobs and baby food

2010-10-09T10:00:00.001+02:00

I must admit, having a baby is definitely changing my life, I am drawing boobs now! :)

N E W S !

2010-10-09T09:00:00.001+02:00

A few days ago I drew this

and now I have to tell you the big news!

Espresso...

2010-09-27T09:30:00.008+02:00

And with a pink cake you will need a good old fashioned espresso (and maybe something strong and dry to go with it, like anise Varnelli?

Kake!

2010-09-27T06:28:00.001+02:00

Can you really say no thanks to a nice slice of pink cake?

Catch of the weekend

2010-09-21T16:34:00.000+02:00

We went to the flea marked in Grønland last satruday and I found this beautiful TORO meat stock box. It was a bit rusty so we got it extremely cheap!

Something cute to begin the week...

2010-09-13T10:00:00.002+02:00

Hello! Here is a little cute doodle to start the week :)

Its apple season these days and I just L O V E norwegian apples, tasteful, spicy, fresh, crispy, juicy.....! Yummi, I am gonna have one right now!

In other news... I am getting a little tired of having 2 blogs, so I decided that this one will be my ONE and ONLY blog from now on! At least for a while!

Pizza Grandiosa

2010-09-10T14:46:00.003+02:00

and for tonight, not food but norwegian music.

2010-09-09T23:26:00.001+02:00

the new album from Röyksopp

Hest er best...

2010-09-08T09:00:00.002+02:00

For all of my friends who love HORSES!

Horses are the best...on a slice of bread!

Tough week? Take a karsk!

2010-09-07T10:00:00.006+02:00

Karsk is a norwegian drink - STRONG - typical mostly from the region of Trøndelag (middle Norway) and the north. You can often get it served at barn-parties in the countryside and of course at home. But dont ask for it in a bar, or you will get a good laugh, at least here in Oslo!

I am not an expert here but I tried it once (or twice) in Hitra - and it was good! At least with A LOT of sugar :)

Ps. The text is in Trønder-slang at it means "You cant be a tough guy without drinking karsk"!