Carolling isn’t something Australians are used to.  There is just something not quite right with wearing thongs (flip-flops) and shorts in the scorching heat singing ‘Dashing through the snow…’.  Carolling in Norway just makes sense. In Norway, it is our family’s tradition to go carolling on Christmas Eve.  I thought it would be awfully freezing [...]

You’d think that Christmas dinner is either on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, however, in a land where juletid is recognised from December to January (thanks to the Vikings), Christmas dinner is an everyday occurrence. The most popular Christmas dinners, lutefisk, pinnekjøtt, ribbe, julepølser and medisterkaker, are eaten throughout the whole of mørketid (dark time). [...]

Christmas Rib isn’t just for Christmas dinner but the whole Christmas season.  Likewise with the other traditional dishes lutefisk and pinnekjøtt.  Roast rib eating can start as early as November, in fact, you can buy rib all year round from the frozen section of the supermarket.  But fresh rib is typical for Christmas. Norwegians have [...]

Have you ever heard of making your own gravy stock balls?  Farmor is a master at it.  Every pre-Christmas she prepares a batch of her gravy balls to last the whole holiday season. She slowly cooks down a home-made paste of spices, flour and flavours on the stove top until it is firm enough to [...]