Kransekake
One of the many good things about a celebration in Norway is the Kake.
Two outstanding examples of celebratory kake are Kransekake and Bløtcake. Christmas 2007 I was the recipient of the former.
Many of you amateur linguists will want to break the compound word Kransekake apart into its two components Kranse - meaning a "crown of elfish origin", and Kake meaning "hat".
As you can guess these are worn for the duration of the celebration only and then are eaten - hence the famous Norwegian expression "I'll eat my hat" as an alternative form of saying goodbye.
Mine has managed to survive past Christmas and the use-by date is in 2009, so they can be long-lasting. These are almond based, you know the sort - they can be crisp and crunchy, or sometimes soft and chewy. I found a recommendation to put a peeled potato in the box on the day before eating; i might try this as I prefer the chewy texture.
For you interest here is a sample of construction details (not tested). Special construction rings are required. More can be found through a google search.
Here is a version of the Kransekake Recipe (from USA - "the land of cups")
2 cups (450 g) soft butter
1 cup (225 g) almond paste
2 cups (265 g) sifted confectioner's sugar
1 teaspoon (5 ml) almond extract
4 egg yolks
5 cups (636 g) sifted flour
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Grease forms well with softened butter.
Cream together butter, almond paste, sugar and extract until smooth.
Beat yolks in well.
After sifting, measure flour and add gradually, mixing until smooth.
Put dough into cookie press or pastry bag and press onto greased ring forms.
(Cookie press hole should be 1/2" in diameter, or roll dough by hand.)
Bake for 15 minutes or until very lightly browned.
Remove from rings only after they have cooled.
Each form has 3 rings, for a total of 18 rings of different sizes, so they can be stacked on top of each other to form this marvelous cake.
Frosting
For decoration and cementing components together. Use a simple icing recipe.
Assembly & decoration
It is possible to anchor the lower rings to a skull-cap using confectioner's wire. This allows greater confidence when socialising and protects the hair from sticky crumbs. Many use an adaptation with a ribbon-strap to secure the Kake by tying under the chin.
Photo slideshow now working
Now the slideshow works, and the new arrangement on Bhutan looks good! Leave some comments if you want, that will test something new for me too!
London & Tokyo - revisited
A trip this December almost ended before it started.
Following my own advice I bought a BA ticket from Brussels to Tokyo via London at a very good price. There were two prices - a lower one for a same day arrive & transfer in London at around 3200 euros for business class, and about 500 euros more for a stop-over for several days. I took the cheapest.
Because my plans changed at the last minute I did not travel from Brussels. When I tried to check-in at Heathrow they refused to accept my ticket. As the ticket was bought through a travel agent BA refused to help in any way. I enventually managed to contact the travel agent in Belgium who indicated that they could reassign the ticket if I agreed to pay an extra 5000 euros!
Fortunately a call to our friendly UK travel agent got me a flight leaving a couple of hours later with a Japanese airline for aroud £2000 - about the same as the original BA price.
[Why all this trouble for a BA ticket? - Because of the lie flat bed, which is the only way to get some good sleep in flight!]
Reorganise Bhutan
I devoted some time to selecting and reorganising the Bhutan pictures. Unfortunately some buggy software on Etribes means that the slideshow function seems to get stuck. The same for the resequencing program.
I have elimiated a lot of the original pictures - if you miss something of you want a copy on DVD let me know!
White Squirrel Again
On 23 December 2007 a pair of cream-white squirrels seen running from the apple dump at Cross Tree farms. Still waiting to find the definitive white squirrel UK story ...Bhutan short trek April 2007
Trekking in Bhutan. The Dragon Kingdom trail follows the Druk path from Paro to Thimpu. There are pictures in the accompanying photo albums.
What to take to Bhutan? What do you need on a trek? How to fly into Bhutan at Paro. Why is the capital Thimpu nowhere near the airport. When will the new King of Bhutan officially take over from his father? How will Bhutan survive its economic development? What is the main future source of revenue for Bhutan? How do World Expeditions stack up against other tour operators going to Bhutan?
Brits in Bhutan. Kiwis in Bhutan. Boers in Bhutan. And not to forget Australians in Bhutan.
The pictures are almost in order. Three months after my return there is still a bit of sorting and selcting due, and probably there is still far too many to provide a simple and good view of the holiday. Better to publish than not though ... getting this itinerary at a size that can be read is just one of the difficulties, but one by one these issues are overcome!
Here's the current reference to the trip on the website of World Expeditions http://www.worldexpeditions.com/uk/index.php?section=trips&id=42. Based on our limited view of others doing something similar WE and their partner in Bhutan provide a better quality service.
For the moment most of the picture albums are password protected. Contact me if you need a password.
The best way to look at the pictures is through the slideshow view. Unfortunately this is not a full screen view - which is much more impressive!
To download a picture - use the album view, click on a picture to enlarge it, and in the frame you will see the option 'download original'.
Here is some good local advice!
White Squirrel
http://www.bbc.co.uk/southerncounties/content/images/2005/11/24/squirrel_woods_203_203x152.jpg
I thought I had found a rare species. Or a regressive one. By Cross Lanes (Apple) Farm over a period of almost 2 years I disturbed what seemed to be a white squirrel. Last seen in or around March time this year, I've not caught sight of it (them?) since.
The owners are cross lanes are equally curious and would like to sell you some apples www.crosslanesfruitfarm.co.uk
Does anyone else have experience of white squirrels in Oxfordshire / Berkshire UK?
London & Tokyo
On Friday returned from meetings in Japan.
I can confirm that the BA business class lie flat seats are the most comfortable between London and Tokyo. After mostly flying on ANA and JAL I can also confirm that the other technical aspect of the BA seat is quite poor. The Japanese airlines provide films from a menu which can be started and stopped on demand - like running your own video machine; and power is freely available for a PC, so you can watch your own DVD that way if you want - or work for hours. BA movies start at some indeterminate time and just carry-on through the trip; and to use the power connector you must buy a device for £60 or more.
For some reason BA tickets are much more expensive than ANA & JAL in UK - almost double in fact - although this may be connected with the deal your travel agent has. For me, ANA & JAL business class costs about 2200GBP, whereas BA costs more than 4000gbp unless I am mistaken. Better to buy BA tickets in Europe - this way you pay around 3100 euro and get some 'free' flights between a European city and London Heathrow.
