The Inside Story....

English mince pies with English clotted cream. Made in Norway.

Outdoors

Why do the Scandinavians need hygge? Why do they make so much effort for ‘cosy’?

Because of outdoors is why.

Outdoors gets cold; very, very, cold. And dark. And icy.

I said I wanted snow at Christmas and I got snow. What I didn’t want was to drive in snow on uncleared roads. But I got that too anyway. Just so you know; I drove several kilometres on a motorway and then up a steep snow-deep hill, and I slipped and swerved but I didn’t crash. It was tense.

We went for walks. A walk through the forest was long and snowy, getting lost on ski tracks and practically climbing vertically in some places. Five kms later we saw the orange lights of home [dimly in the mist, behind the trees like some eerie Narnia].

Everything had a dusting of snow. All trees looked like Christmas cards and the air was quiet and still. It was mostly a majestic 'hush' in the countryside. Nearly every porch carried a sheaf of grain, to feed hungry birds. On one walk near a town I saw a child in a snow suit playing in a snow pit. Talk about tough....

Towns were just the same as ours after a snowfall; the mushy grey slosh that gathers in the gutter and hardens into icy pavements. Though, once inside the shops you can appreciate all the funny little things the Norwegians have as 'normal' but that fills me with fascination. Woollen underwear for children. [Knitted. Expensive.] Ice skates in a sports shop. And skis of course.

Indoors.

It was warm, very warm. Too warm to wear my new sheepskin slippers, so I saved them for my UK house which has draughts and no underfloor heating.

We made mince pies [with mincemeat brought from the UK] which we ate warm with clotted cream [also brought from UK]. I made konfekt kavringer, boller and Berliner kranser.  I learnt how to say ‘Skru den ned!’ to my Grandson when his playstation was too loud, and ‘Vil du gå ned?’ to my little Granddaughter when she had finished eating in her highchair.

We ate traditional Norwegian salted boiled lamb and mashed swede, the popular Christmas Pork Ribbe, and a very tasty moist cod garnished with mushrooms. My husband’s favourite was Fenalår, a salted, dried and cured leg of lamb which is sliced thin with sour cream and eaten with tiny crackers with walnuts and honey.We went to bed late and got up late. Some days the sky was so dull we passed from morning to evening without any apparent daytime in between. Some days had brilliantly clear sunshine with light reflected in the crisp white snow, and the glare pierced your eyes.

We were surrounded by grandchildren and friends, sons and a daughter and in-laws, we lived it up royally with no responsibilities. I may have emptied a dishwasher or two, and done a brief spot of baking – but I mostly lazed around doing nothing. My husband experienced a day of work helping one son build a house in the middle of a snow field.

It did prompt me to think about the traditions we have in England at Christmas, and to be proud of them too – just like the Scandinavians are proud of theirs. But for now, I will just leave you with a string of pics from a Norwegian Christmas and write about English Cosy another time….