Thursday 16 December 2010

Domestic Goddess

borrowed from the Internet

Life has just been a whirlwind this last week with all sorts of farewell-do's from office parties to farewell lunches and end-of-year-productions. Mixing into this is my pre-Christmas trip to Norway, so no wonder it feels like I am on a merry-go-round... But this time of year is always like this and although I enjoy it, I am looking forward to next week. Advent is the best part of Christmas for me. The build-up, the anticipation and the preparations are what matters. Come Boxing Day I am kind of done with Christmas...

I therefore tend to take the week before Christmas off so I can thoroughly enjoy being a Domestic Goddess! There is no end to my plans for all the cooking, cleaning, decorating I have in mind ... I even woke up at 5.30 am today with all sorts of plans spinning around in my head...!

;-)

Most of the gifts are done or at least thought of, but I am sure I will make time for some visits to the shops. It kind of goes with the territory to be stuck in the shops for some hours.


The Pinnekjøtt for our Christmas Eve dinner is in place, and yesterday I accidentally discovered that our local butcher can supply me with pork belly with the ribs on so I can make "ribbe" - traditional Norwegian Christmas fare - for Christmas Day
(or perhaps wait till Boxing Day as it tends to become a lot of food on Christmas Eve...).
I wonder why I never asked them before! This will be the first time in the 11 years I have been here that I make it, so even more things to look forward to!

The local butcher is such a blessing and we are lucky to have an old fashioned butcher in our neighborhood!
I noticed that today is the last day to put in your order for turkeys before the holidays. We don't bother with turkey in our family as it is simply too much food and we find the meat rather bland and often too dry. Goose is also very popular over here. However, it seems to have become even more popular to order ready prepared from the butchers "Bird within bird within bird" which is a boned goose stuffed with a chicken, stuffed with a pheasant with pork & orange stuffing between each layer.

Sounds very interesting, but again, too much food for us, I think...

9 comments:

  1. Ja, massevis som foregår i desember. Sosial måned!
    Får man ikke ribbe utenfor Norges grenser? Men en herlig miks av fugler, det får man altså? Ja ja, høres strålende ut med en lokal slakter.

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  2. Hei, god jul og godt nytt år til deg! Klem fra Wilhelmine

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  3. Enig med deg i at ofte blir det rett og slett for mye mat i julen, men litt overflod må det være. Denne julen drar jeg på jobb 06.00 første juledag og kommer hjem på kvelden tredjedag så jeg kommer nok til å savne den tradisjonelle julematen- og kosen....Lykke til med forberedelsene og fridagene neste uke, jeg har også fri til og med 23.desember.

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  4. Hei!! Det høres ut som om du er bra i rute!! Så deilig!! Jeg har lest i en kokebok, om fugl inni fuglen, inni fuglen. Spennende men litt mye?? En observasjon i matbutikkene er at man skulle tro ingenting er åpent på mange uker.... Folk hamstrer..... Idag er det den store gave handledagen for meg og min kjære. Spennende å se hvordan det går!! Ha en fin dag!! AnneKari:-)

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  5. You sound sooooo organised.

    I too enjoy the Domestic Goddesss lead up to Christmas, but somehow feel I fall short of your picture!! Planning to cook the gingerbread for the house this afternoon.

    Who is your butcher he sounds brilliant? I tend to buy from the Gogs farm shop.
    Must try that drink of yours :-)

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  6. Hi Tracy,

    So fun to see you reading the blog!

    Good luck with the gingerbread house. I have given up on those as I find the air here too humid... Besides - it tends to be consumed too quickly to make any lasting impression on the decoration of the house...

    I use the butcher in Newnham, but the GogMagog farm shops are excellent, too! The best beef ever is from the farm shop opposite the Catholic Church.

    enjoy the last days in the run up!

    cheers mette

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  7. Så organisert du er - inne i hodet mitt er vi nettopp ferdig med august og jeg har faktisk flere måneder igjen til jul - så jeg har ikke gjort noe som helst. Vel, jeg har strikket ferdig noen mulegaver, det er jo noe det og.

    Så bra at det er flere som ikke føler for kalkun. Jeg kan ærlig talt ikke utstå den - stygg er den også. Usj ;)

    Ribbe høres jo nydelig ut da. Jeg har nettopp fått overtalt Gjeter Tommy til å gi meg lammeribbene fra lammet - jeg skal prøve å lage pinnekjøtt. Men det blir vel ikke før neste jul det.

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  8. I agree: you are extremely organized!
    Our Xmas is going to be different too, celebrating this year with non-family ... but because of that I'm hoping for a more pot-luck kind of experience. And, one German friend, is going to bring a goose! I'll do a small turkey too, so we can do a taste-test. Like you, I'm not overly fond of turkey, so maybe this will convince the people in my family to make the big shift!
    Let's talk soon!
    Take care,
    Sarah

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  9. Hei Mette!
    Wow, så flink du er. Da vi bodde i England lagde vi aldri norsk julemat. Det gikk for det meste i kalkun, og mye mince pies, hi hi! Fikk aldri tak i erter til ertestuing, men kjøpte fiskeboller på Sjømannskirka ;-)
    Ønsker deg en riktig fin helg.
    Klem

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