The menu:
- Salmon carpaccio
- Pasta with pumpkin or amatriciana (tomato, bacon, chili++) sauce
- Panna cotta with raspberries

Some of my friends came early to help out (thankyouthankyou!!). But I made the dessert all by myself the night before. A nervous dessert-making session. I am not good at baking or making desserts – probably because I generally prefer eating a starter rather than digging in to this sweet stuff. But panna cotta is the exception that proves the rule. Not when it comes to the making of it, but when it comes to the eating. I simply LOVE panna cotta, and figured that I just had to try to make my favorite dish although my last attempt did not work out at all. After all, every recipe I looked up would mark this as an “Easy” dish to make. And this time it actually was!

PANNA COTTA WITH YOGURT
3 sheets of gelatine
3 dl whipping cream
2 dl plain yogurt
1 dl sugar
1 vanilla beam

RASPBERRY SAUCE
5 tablespoons of sugar
1 dl water
250 g rasberries
1 vanilla beam
Limejuice

Split the vanilla beam lengthwise, Scrape out the seeds with a knife. Put both beam and seeds in a pan with the cream and sugar. Heat it while stirring, but do not bring to boil. Remove from heat for 20 minutes. Put sheets of gelatin in cold water for about 3 minutes. Put the pan back on the stove on medium heat. Remove the vanilla beam. Take the sheets of gelatin out of the water, and squeeze them gently to remove any water before adding them to the pan. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved. Turn off the heat, and add the yogurt gently while stirring. Pour the panna cotta mixture into 4 glasses. Put in fridge for about 4 hours.

The raspberry sauce is just one of many ways to add flavor to the panna cotta. But rasberry sauce – how to: put water and sugar in a pan, stir while bringing to boil. Remove the pan from the heat, add a split vanilla beam, the seeds, the berries and some drops of lime juice to enhance the taste. Let the mixture rest for an hour before removing the vanilla beam and put the whole berrysaucethingy in a blender or something. Add some tablespoons of sauce to the panna cotta before serving – just to cover it. Too much sauce will ruin the delicious yogurt/vanilla flavour of the panna cotta. So. Less than on the crappy iphone photo above, then :)

Yummy!

The latest screenings at Galgeberg Kino:

• Law-Obiding Citizen
• The Informant
• Up In The Air
• Creation

Oh, and this little thing just to make us laugh:

The life of a nomad is one thing. All the choices to make when renovating is another. Although my main concern is to get a bathroom that is not leaking, all of a sudden I have to choose things within the world of tiles, sinks, taps and mixers, toilets and shower doors. I really thought I couldn’t care less about what to fill my 2,4 m2 bathroom with. Now I am very enthusiastic when it comes to my Damixa Tradition basin mixer and my Porsgrund Seven D toilet with a black “Slow Close”-seat.

My dad is worried that I am more enthusiastic about basin mixer choices and tile patterns than making sure the carpenters do their job right. I definitely want them to do everything by the book. However, I haven’t read that exact book, so how am I supposed to point out any mistakes they might make? I guess I’ll just have to keep my fingers crossed while reading a book I actually want to read – The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman.

When lounging for some minutes after a bunch of concerts I told Veronica about these remarks I usually get. We agreed that these drunk people are stupid, and that my glasses are really nice and frame my face in a good way. Then she went to the ladies’ room, and I went to buy us a hot dog to share. A minute later I come running into the ladies’ room with a hot dog in hand to tell Veronica this story through the walls:

Hot dog guy: What do you want?
Me: Well, I want a hot dog – I will just check if I have enough cash.
Hot dog guy: I will give you the hot dog for free. Just because you have such nice glasses.

If I get free stuff, then I can handle the stupid remarks.

Veronica and me at By:Larm last year. I am the one with the glasses, obviously.

Yesterday’s concerts:

• Hafdis Huld (ICL). She needs to practice her English pronunciation, but a funny girl, cute songs.
• Humming People (N). Charming, energetic boys. Straight forward rock.
• Forza (N). They made two very hungover girls dance, scream and shout at an early hour. Highlight! Hip Hop/Balkan/Folk/Latin.
• Kathinka (N). From what I heard – very good. Glasses no help when tall people are standing in front of me.
• Manna (FIN). Charismatic vocalist, very enjoyable concert.
• The Pink Robots (N). “Hello. My name is Macintosh”. Fun!
• Asha Ali (SWE). Talented girl with a great voice and some catchy tunes made Mono extremely crowded and hot hot hot.
• Cacadou (N). Crazy ol’ Norwegians with clarinet, accordion, banjos++. Made me dance funny.
• [ingenting] (SWE). We saw [nothing]. We ate hot dog instead.

Oh No Ono (DK) @ Samfunnsalen was a pleasant surprise. I had not listened to any of their music, but their weird pop harmonies and nasal voices really impressed me. I will definitely get to know them better now. Starting here.

Casiokids (N) @ Rockefeller. Yeah. They’re big in Norway. And lots of tall people like them, and love to jump very high to express their joy and love for songs like Finn Bikkjen. Me and my small friends had to step away from the fun to survive.

Seabear (ICL) @ John Dee. I guess my very high expectations made me disappointed… For some reason I did not recognise any of the songs I had listened to lately in the set they played. Songs like: I Sing I Swim and Arms. Oh well.

Montée (N) @ John Dee. Another good thing late at night. If it wasn’t for my tired, hurting feet, I could have travelled back to the 80’s and dance the night away with this pop band. I ended up in a more static position through this last concert instead – while admiring this angle-like girl for her guts to show up on stage without pants. Dreams Too Modern and Isle Of Now is a good place to start.

Any must-sees here? Let me know:

* [ingenting] (S)
* A-Laget
* Alit Boazu
* ALTAAR
* Anchor
* Anna von Hausswolff (S)
* Asha Ali (S)
* Audrey Horne
* Bjørn Hellfuck
* Blood Command
* Bushman’s Revenge
* Cacadou
* Casiokids
* CCTV
* Children and corpse playing in the streets
* Chimes & Bells (DK)
* Chrome Hill
* The Cumshots
* Daniel Gilbert (S)
* Danny & Pumba
* Death By Unga Bunga
* The Deer Tracks (S)
* Denga Denga
* Diskjokke
* Donkeyboy
* DUNDERBEIST
* Dunderhonning
* Easy & Toshybot
* Efterklang (DK)
* Elephant 9
* Emmett Brown
* Eplemøya songlag
* Filmvisning: All Tomorrow’s Parties
* FINAL
* Fontän (S)
* For a Minor Reflection (ICL)
* Forza
* Giana Factory (DK)
* Goat the Head
* The Good The Bad (DK)
* Haddy N’jie & A Few Good Men
* Hafdis Huld (ICL)
* Haust
* HOWL
* Humming People
* HYPERTEXT
* I See Horses
* Ingrid Olava
* IZAKAYA HEARTBEAT
* Jabaman
* Jaga Jazzist
* Jens Carelius
* Jesse (FIN)
* Jesse Jones
* Joensuu 1685 (FIN)
* Jonathan Johansson (S)
* Julie Stokkendal
* Jóhann Jóhannsson (ICL)
* KAKKMADDAFAKKA
* Kathinka
* Katzenjammer
* Kavaleriet
* Kira Kira (ICL)
* Kollwitz
* Kristian Skaarbrevik
* Kråkesølv
* Lady Moscow
* Lars Vaular
* LidoLido
* Line Larsen
* Lise Karlsnes
* The Little Hands of Asphalt
* Manhattan Skyline
* Manheads
* MANNA (FIN)
* Mari Persen
* Maria Due
* Markus Krunegård (S)
* Masselys
* Mathias Eick Quartet
* The Megaphonic Thrift
* Mhoo
* Moddi
* Montée
* Monzano
* Moto Boy (S)
* Munn til Munn Metoden
* Murmansk (FIN)
* Narum
* Navigators
* Negash Ali (DK)
* Nephew
* The New Wine
* Nils Bech
* Noora Noor
* Obliteration
* Oh No Ono (DK)
* Phone Joan
* Pica Pica
* Pow Pow
* Premierevisning: Athletic Sound 25/ Live fra Halden
* Proviant Audio
* Purified in Blood
* Ragnhild Furebotten og Tore Bruvoll m/ Hekla Stålstrenga
* Rakija
* Razika
* The River Phoenix (DK)
* Rubik (FIN)
* The Rumour Said Fire (DK)
* Samsaya
* Seabear (ICL)
* Serena Maneesh
* Serenity Trace
* Shining
* Shot At Dawn
* Sigrid Moldestad
* Siri Nilsen
* Skatebård
* Skjelvekommode
* Social Suicide
* Solveig Slettahjell
* Supersilent
* Susanna & the Magical Orchestra
* Susanne Sundfør
* SVER
* Svermere
* Sweat Shop:Oslo Break Fest (OBF)
* TBA
* Therese Aune
* Thom Hell
* Thomas Eriksen
* Thus:Owls (S)
* The Tiny (S)
* Todd Terje & Dølle Jølle
* Twins Twins (DK)
* Ungdomskulen
* The Urban Blues Band (Union Blues Band)
* Urban Tunélls Klezmerband
* Valkyrien Allstars
* Vinnie Who (DK)
* Vinter in Hollywood
* Vreid
* Wardruna
* When Saints Go Machine (DK)
* Zoomvinner 2010: Jack Dalton
* Årets Urørt: The Pink Robots
* Æ

There’s actually no rules against the pants – but there probably will be after this…

I couldn’t care less about the Olympic Games and I was planning to stay away from all TV-sports the next weeks. Until I remembered that curling is a part of it. I discovered this weird sport when zapping through the channels back in 2002. Equipped with teflon shoes and brooms Norway swept their way to the final in the 2002 Olympics, and ended up bringing the gold medal back home from Salt Lake City by beating Canada in the final.

Norway met Canada again yesterday in their first match. This time the Norwegian team was armed with more than shiny shoes and brooms. They were dressed in clown-like pants, designed to draw everyone’s attention away from rocks and brooms, and onto disturbing red, blue and white argyle pattern. Why? WHY?! Would anyone comment on the huge elephant in the room? Had I missed out on a sarcastic remark by the commentator? Or did everyone else find this outfit perfectly normal? My questions were many, and although the race between Norway and Canada was quite close, I could not really pay attention to the game until I got my answers.

The elephant has been noticed. The Norwegian Olympic Curling Team’s Pants fan page at Facebook has reached 30.000 fans – and the pants made their public debut on the TV-screen just about 30 hours ago! I found the WHY there:

It’s just that it’s Norwegian colours and our shirts weren’t that bright so we just figured we would spice it up a little bit with some colours. It’s really nice fabric! [...] There’s actually no rules against the pants – but there probably will be after this.
Christoffer Svae, The Norwegian Olympic Curling Team member

Do you want some fancy pants too? Buy them online!

—
UPDATE (Feb 28th 2010):
The fan page on Facebook has now 545.116 fans! The pants made it to the final where they met Canada once again. Unfortunately the magic pants’ power wasn’t enough to bring the gold medal home to Norway. But we like silver. It does match the argyle pattern much better anyway.

Watch the full-size image with all 28 happy party people here.