Tante Åses Rhubabra Pai med Vanije Saus.

Pastry

175g butter

250g flour

2 tbs cold water

1 egg yolk

2 tbs sugar

Mix pastry ingredients until "right consistency" add extra flour or water if needed.

Chill in the fridge for at least 1 hour.

Rhubarb Pie Filling

1/2 kg rhubarb

3/4 cup sugar

2 tbs icing sugar

1 tsp cardamom

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp corn flour

Stand for a couple of hours to draw out the flavours. Then add some corn flour to thicken the rhubarb mixture. If the rhubarb filling is too sloppy then the pie will be no fun to eat.

Vanilla Cream

200 ml milk

2 tbs sugar

2 egg yolks

2 tbs corn flour

1 tbs vanilla sugar

Bring milk and sugar to the boil.

Mix vanilla sugar, egg yolk, corn flour.

Mix vanilla mixture into milk mixture.

Bring to boil and then simmer until thickens. It thickens quite fast.

To assemble pie:

Roll dough, and place into pie dish.

Layer the vanilla sauce and the rhubarb.

Add some chopped almonds to the top.

My aunt decided at to also add a layer of meringue on top of the pie. To do this whisk the left egg whites and some caster sugar until soft peaks form. Then spread on top.

Bake in the oven at 180 degrees for 45 minutes.

Folkehøgskole.

This year I am spending a year studying Norwegain language and culture at a Folkehøgskole. It is located in Søgne a small town on the southern coast of Norway.

So I guess most people will wonder what Folkehøgskole is.

Basically people go there when they have finished high school and are not sure what to do with them selves. You choose a main subject to study over the course of the year. At my Folkehøgskole they have art, photography, outdoor education, rhythmic jazz, tourism and a Norwegian course for international students. I am doing the Norwegian course. Then you also choose some other classes to take once a week, for example Spanish, Russian, line dance, salsa, barista training ect. This year they don't have a Spanish teacher so two of the other international students and I are taking the class. Can't wait! We plan to teach language, culture and do some Spanish cooking.

Folkehøgskole is kind of like being in Big Brother. You watch as people who have never met before interact. You watch them become friends, become couples, become enemies. It is also a bit like being at boarding school because you live in dorms of 2 people, eat all your meals together and have classes together. And it's unlike boarding school because there are no grades, and you have a lot of freedom. All the students are over 18, so the teachers don't have to take responsibility for out safety.

We eat SO much food at Folkehøgskole! Breakfast at 8am, lunch at 11.30am, dinner at 2.45pm and supper at 8pm. Then there is the coffee problem. I am going to return to Australia a complete caffeine addict. There is always a pot of freshly brewed coffee sitting on the counter, so I end up drinking about 6 cups a day. INSANE.

Students are not allowed to drink alcohol or store alcohol on school premises. So on Saturday everyone went to the supermarket, bought beer and hid it in the forrest. Then after dinner, we collected our beers from behind the trees and walked for about 20 minutes through the forrest to a girl guide hut. Thirty of us dragged all the wooden benches together, into a massive line and sat by the lake drinking our beer. Pretty fun and very random.

I'll keep you updated. With 107 students living together there is bound to be some interesting stories to tell.

Grandma's Buttermilk Waffles.

There is nothing like fresh fluffy waffles for afternoon tea. Especially when your grandmother makes them for you, and serves them with her homemade strawberry jam. In fact my grandmother even grew the strawberries to make the jam. Pretty impressive for an 89 year old. Unlike Belgian waffles, these waffles are not crispy on the outside. Instead the whole waffle is fluffy due to the buttermilk.

2 1/4 cups plain flour 1 tsp. baking powder1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. baking soda 2 eggs, beaten 2 c. buttermilk 8 Tbsp. butter, melted 1/4 tsp. cardamom powder

Strawberry jam and cottage cheese to serve.

Whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and baking soda. Add eggs, buttermilk, spices and butter. Stir together well.If batter seems too thick, add a tablespoon or two of buttermilk; if batter seems too thin, add a tablespoon or two of extra flour. Stir to mix.

Still not sure what a fjord is?

20 Interesting Facts About Norway.

1. Norway is not the capital of Sweden.
2. It is against the law to buy alcohol on Sunday.
3. There are no stop signs. You just have to look both ways at every intersection.
4. Nobody goes out for breakfast. And even if they did, there would be no pancakes with bacon and maple syrup, or eggs hollandaise or big breakfasts. :(
5. It is acceptable to eat lunch at 11am and dinner at 3pm.
6. It is acceptable to eat soft serve for lunch. It is also acceptable for the young icecream shop attendant to have a competition with their colleagues to see who can put the most soft serve in a standard cone. The consumer of the soft serve will then have a heart attack or a panic attack from the sheer volume of lard.
7. For Christmas dinner it is typical to eat salted then dried sheep ribs. You serve them with mashed swedes. By the way, did you know that IKEA in Norway doesn't sell potato mashers? Magnus thinks that it's so that Norwegains can't mash swedes. HAHAHA. Get it?
8. Norwegains are known for hosting "Sheep head parties", whereby each guest is served a sheep head. Yes, that includes the brain.
9. Speeding fines are in some cases stricter than the fines given to people caught with small personal amounts of class A drugs. It is common to spend 30 days in jail for speeding.
10. Norwegians eat a crazy amount of frozen pizza. About 50 million a year.
11. When a stranger on the street smiles at you, a Norwegian assumes that: A. He is drunk. B. He is insane. C. He is American D. He is all of the above.
12. People don't hold the door open for strangers.
13. If you do hold the door open for a stranger, don't expect to be thanked.
14. In the city of Tromso, 95% of the buildings are built from fish bones.
15. Electricity generation in Norway is almost entirely from hydroelectric power plants.
16. Norway's dark winter days slow down the speed of pregnancies.
17. Norway has the highest rate of one night stands per capita in the world.
18. Mothers are entitled a year of paid maternity leave. Fathers are able to take it instead of the mother. In many families the mother will take 6 months and the father will take 6 months.
19. Norwegian's wear their wedding rings on the right hand. I thought it was a Scandinavian thing, but apparently it's only Norway which does it.
20. Seven per cent of Norwegian men and six per cent of women wear the same pair of undies for at least a whole week before changing to a fresh pair.