Home Grown Treats

What do you do when your Mum drops off a bucket of beets on your doorstep? You make treats for the annual BBQ at your friends house of course.

With the help of garden herbs, some olive oil and a little basamic vinegar these red bombs were transformed to a baked beet salad.

Baked Beet Salad

3 to 4 big beets
3 spring onions
Handfull of pumpkin seeds
Fresh herbs
Balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Dijon mustard
Sea salt
Pepper

Set your oven to 225 degrees celcius. Peel and cut beets. It helps to rub a bit of olive oil in your hands before you begin. I find they stain a little less that way. Put in a bowl and drizzle balsamic, oil and chopped herbs over them. I used oregano. Season with salt and pepper. Lay out on a baking tray and bake in hot oven for 15 minutes.

While the beets cool make a vinaigrette of 2 tablespoons of balsamic, one teaspoon mustard, salt, pepper and olive oil. Toss luke warm beets in dressing and add chopped spring onions and toasted seeds. Save some for garnish.

Lay beets on serving dish and sprinkle with greens and seeds.

The cucumbers are from Dad-in-laws garden, and perfect for making tzatziki.

Tzatziki

You need 1 to 2 cucumbers. Grated.

Some herbs. In this case mini-basil and parsley
300 grams of greek yoghurt
Zest and juice of half a lemon
2 cloves garlic
1 tbs sugar
Sea salt and pepper

Grate cucumber, salt and strain. Leave while you mix the rest of the ingredients in the yoghurt. Squeeze the water out of the cucmber and add to the yoghurt. Easy peasy. And yummy.

Lighting My Way

My mind is full of plans and schemes at the moment. I think it might be the little alien boy in my tummy reminding me that things are going to be very different. Very soon. Well at least in November (which, alarmingly, feels very soon at the moment).

But my mind is not on cots, prams and nesting. It's on the future. On photography. On the Rest of my Life.

I guess it is the inevitable change bringing it all on. But with this change comes a pause. Peace in the mundane. In smiles. Sleep. The little things.

And everything will speed up and slow down at the same time. Plans will be put on hold. Life will evolve around, well, living.

Untill the restlessness takes hold again. And then.

Who knows ...

Soft Limbs

I'm so glad that even though he's getting bigger and bigger his feet are still soft and gorgeous. He loves being bare foot, and has a few splinters in his feet from that deck. Hopefully they will come out by hemselves. They're not infected at least.

And don't get me started on  those hands. My heart melts a little every time he curls up next to me and grabs my hand. Softly and carefully. Almost as on autopilot.

Please tell me it will stay like this for a while longer. At least.

The Garden

... Dad-in-laws that is. In full bloom.

Gorgeous.

And the best part is that I get to bring some of it home. This time our 'payment' for watering the cucumbers and tomatoes was lilies and dahlias. And some huge cucumbers. The sun is still working on the tomatoes.

Life in the Country

Endless days of freshly laid eggs, bare feet in the grass and wonderful breakfasts in front of the fire. These pics are from my best friends cabin. I think it's 150 years old and they've had it for 30 years and did it all up on their own.

And She's Back

... just like that.

On the Road Again

Heading south. To swimming and fishing. Self grown vegetables, wild strawberries and oak trees. To bare feet in grass. To summer.

Going Green

Didn't get this.

The other day we took a family trip down the coast and ended up at these greenhouses. They belong to a huge tomato-grower in Norway, and obviously he grows some flowers and veggies on the side.

I picked up about four cheap cheap pots of herbs now ready to use on my steps. Some cheap tomatos and some flowers. But what I really regret not buying is this pot of ready to eat zuccinis because I really didn't know where to put it in my garden as we are doing up the house and it will be a mess for the next year or so.

But I've done nothnig but think of zuccini-scones and stuffed flowers since I befriended this green monster. I should have just got it. Stuck it in a bigger pot, and made loads of yumminess.

Got that.

Got some blue ones of these.

Didn't get chinese cabbage.

Old skool play area.

Thank you for visiting.

Finnøy

We went to a birthdayparty at Big Mans best friends cabin. We celebrated with cupcakes, egg races and a sun that managed to break through what was supposed to be rain.

Gorgeous cabin, gorgeous surroundings and only a 45 minutes drive from our house. Finnøy is an island that just got an under-sea tunnel to connect it to the mainland.