Skål! A visit to the home of aquavit, Norway’s storied liqueur  

Some things are uniquely Norwegian: The world’s greatest cheese slicer, dominating the Winter Olympics and aquavit.

Aquavit, which means water of life, is a Norwegian liqueur served year-round, but is most popular at special occasions such as Christmas or May 17, Norway’s Constitution Day.

I’ve been drinking this schnapps at least once a year for the past 18 years. Even when we lived in the States, we always had a bottle on hand, always happy to give our friends a taste.

I was thrilled when … Read more ...

Living in Norway: Wait… It’s Thanksgiving??

Can you believe that I forgot it was Thanksgiving? How un-American of me, right? Well, living in Norway it was just a regular Thursday.

While walking my kid to school, a Norwegian mom wished me a Happy Thanksgiving. I was shocked and frankly I wanted to hug her, but I already have scarred enough Norwegians with my physical displays of affection. So I just said, “awww, tusen takk!” (Basically, awww, thanks.)

Anyway, I had a busy day planned preparing for something we here have called Read more ...