Lets just start on this whole attempted attack on the Delta flight this week. You know what really pisses of old Mr. Sank? The predicted government reaction,

First of all, thank goodness that 1) the dumb-ass who attempted to burn up the plane was only able to light his leg on fire. That’s great and I hope they don’t treat him. 2) There was a passenger on the plane willing to jump over a seat and beat the crap out of this guy. Double thank goodness that they dude failed and the virtually no one on the plane was injured, except for the perp. Yeah.

However, lets examine the Department Of Homeland Security, the Code Orange peoples reaction to this. The entire flying public in the United States of America is now going to have to pay the price of yet another dumb shit terrorist attempting to attack us. The latest news, airlines will limit our carry-ons even further to no carry on, basically. Or one purse or computer. A computer which BTW, you won’t be able to use the last hour of the flight, ‘cause you can’t leave your seat (wear depends?). And this is typical of just how inept we are at fighting terror.

Oh and by the damned way.. when the airlines exec looks into the camera and tells us that this is for our good.. tell me he isn’t thinking that this also means we can crack down on those travelers who aren’t paying $15 to check a bag, those damn freeloaders. It’s all working for the dumbshits who run our biggest airlines. Oh that we had Southwest as the national carrier.

Two years ago we had to start taking our shoes off because dumbshit tried a shoe bomb but couldn’t operate a lighter. I keep thinking thank goodness it wasn’t in his underwear. Now we have the TSA.. in my experience, a group who couldn’t get a job in retail, putting on a great show at our airports screening passengers and making the flying public feel safe but actually, doing not much. At least not much more than we ever did before our tax dollars paid for those spiffy white shirts and blue gloves.

Folks, REALLY, REALLY, REALLY… they’re not doing anything more than the old system we had, except making us wait even longer to get on planes. It is such a crock. In America we look for things to hijack a plane with. Use a boxcutter.. all sharp objects are banned. Try to use explosive liquid, liquids are banned. Use your shoe, we now inspect all shoes for tampering.. At some point we’ll be walking through security neekid.. or virtually neekid as we have that technology, although we wont use it cause it’s intrusive. I think to many people viewing the entire flying public virtually neekid probably we’re getting acid reflux from vomiting in the back of their mouths a bit as people like me walked through the machines.

And what exactly have we stopped? A bunch of flying Imam’s in Minneapolis who did everything in their power to provoke a reaction so they could sue everyone they could think off. Go figure. Since 9/11, every attack attempt I know of started overseas.

Now suppose the terrorist, who has somehow managed to get through the TSA rigid screening program, the preflight security screenings and passenger lists, well, he has to stay in his seat the last hour of the flight because THATS when these bastards like to attack us. By making everyone sit tight with their hands on their laps the last hour of the flight, boy we’ve thwarted um baby.

You won’t be able to tell me we’re serious about airline security until we’re “Israel Serious” meaning, we fuc#ing profile passengers. Israeli’s have sort of adopted the idea that it’s not the gun that kills people, it people who kill people, and their right. If you do a better job evaluating each passenger you have a better chance of being attacked. In other words, lets look for the terrorist and keep them of the plane, cause grandma’s nail cutter ain’t gonna hurt nobody.

Israel- no one gets on a flight at Ben Gurion airport until a trained, chances are, FEMALE security officer has talked to them punim l’pumin (face to face in Yiddish, couldn’t resist) .

Why Female? The TSA, because they’re wanna-be cops adopt like to stare at people like prison guards or something. Look at me all bad-assed. They have a no talk rule for the most part and just rifle through your stuff. The other way, in Israel, is to have a woman strike up a conversation at the security check point, and since women are more sensitive to the non-verbal cues like people who are nervous or distracted might give off, there’s a better chance that a guy like Umar Farouk Abdul Mutllalab won’t get through. And if you don’t think this is true ask Tiger Woods how long Mrs Woods suspected that he plays more than the standard 18 holes in a given day.

AND, when you go through security in Israel, you do it before you ever get to the ticket counter, and with your bags. Clear security and at that point carry on anything you damn well please and you don’t have to take off your shoes or your belt and turn in your water bottle. They’ve already screened you and all your stuff. You’re no risk anymore.

Matter of fact they screened you BEFORE you got to the airport. Your name is Farouk? You get ushered to different security line than Grandma in the wheel chair. Here, TSA pats down grandma and lets Farouk waltz on the plane.

Even worse, here, Farouk was a on a dammed list! Richard Ried was on the same list and flew to Israel on El Al, where he was singled out and when they couldn’t exactly keep him off the plane they had an armed air marshal shit next to him and watch him. He behaved. They let everyone named “Farouk” know that they’re paying attention to them. The Israeli’s have made the correlation that we in America are forbidden by law to make and that is more people named Farouk have attempted terrorist acts than people named William. It’s racist and it’s a fact and when Norwegians put down their lutefisk and lefsa and start attacking airliners.. we’ll come up with a check for herring breath that will screen them as well.

Oh, btw.. single woman flying alone on El Al? You’re at the top of the security risk list because many terrorists recruit European/American looking woman because they themselves could get on a flight.

And When you get to to El Al terminal in New York for example.. you’ll find three separate waiting rooms, based on your possible risk you wait with others of your profile. Single woman and Farouks over there, flying Imams with seatbelt extenders in that room, Norwegian Cod Terrorists over there, and in the very back of the room, Larry Craig in a wide stance.

I digress.

I don’t even know what the point of security in this country is. We have it backwards allowing terrorists to board our flights, but just trying to take away all their weapons to make us safer. We’ll never learn  in this country, we will never learn.

And, if I have to check every thing and fly to San Francisco with nothing to do on the flight but be strapped in and wear depends because I can’t go to the bathroom, well.. I would advocate for a national boycott of air travel.

It’s to much of a pain in the ass as it is.

Chinese (Cantonese) : Sun nien fai lok

Chinese (Mandarin) : Xin nian yu kuai

Danish : Godt Nytår

Dutch : Gelukkig nieuwjaar

Farsi : Aide shoma mobarak

French : Bonne année

Gaelic : Aith-bhliain Fe Nhaise Dhuit

German : Gutes Neues Jahr

Hawaiian : Hauoli Makahiki Hou

Hebrew : Shanah tovah

Hmong : Nyob zoo xyoo tshiab

Indonesian : Selamat Tahun Baru

Italian : Buon Capo d’Anno

Japanese : Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu

Norwegian : Godt Nyttår

Pilipino (Tagalog) : Maligayang Bagong Taon

Polish : Szczesliwego Nowego roku

Portuguese : Feliz ano novo

Romanian : La Multi Ani

Russian : S Novym Godom

Spanish : Feliz Año Nuevo

Sudanese : Wilujeng Tahun Baru

Swedish : Gott Nytt År

Turkish : Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun

Welsh : Blwyddyn Newydd Dda

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My boyfriend took these beautiful shots today from my mom’s terrace (go here to see photos of the same view during summertime). It’s been snowing for a while, and this was probably the first snow timeout and sun glimpse since we came to Norway December 23rd. Despite the hassle for those who have to shuffle snow and dig out their cars everyday (I feel for you), I’m really enjoying having a white Christmas for the first time in many years. Also, I am very happy to spend time with my dear family and friends, and I’m excited that my boyfriend could come with me to Norway this year. I wish you all a Merry Christmas (or whichever holiday you’re celebrating), and a promising Happy New Year! Oh, and thanks MUCHO for reading my blog!

Our outdoor holiday decorations got a beautiful covering of ice last night.

Today is a special day for my husband and I — it’s our very first Christmas as husband and wife!  We are staying here in Nebraska for Christmas this year, and getting together with my hubby’s side of the family tomorrow.  It will be my first Christmas not in North Dakota in all my 28 years, but as I joked with my aunt, it will also be my first lutefisk-free holiday of my life!    Lutefisk is something my Norwegian and Swedish family has enjoyed all my life.  This year, I will be enjoying kase knoepfla with my husband’s German-Russian family!  It’s fun to discover what Christmas traditions other families have.

But their tradition is to get together on Christmas Day only, so we have Christmas Eve all to ourselves.  It’s been just glorious to think of what traditions we want to start for our very own family.  Our agenda for the day has included lots of movie-watching, book reading, video game playing, and a walk outside with our pup.  Here are a few photos I snapped of the ice as it covered everything in sight:

Icicle branches

Icy evergreens

Soon we’ll be off to church, then home to a cozy steak and potato dinner, then gifts and “It’s a Wonderful Life.”  We’re making scrambled eggs and blueberry muffins for morning, when we hope to find some treasures left by Santa.  Then it will be off to celebrate with family…..another year come and gone.  It’s been a good one.  A Wonderful Life indeed.

I hope you have a chance to kick back and relax this holiday, even if you’ve got a house full of kids and/or family.  Here’s a treat I always enjoy:  a small plate of Jarlsburg cheese, green olives, and almonds.  Top it off with a glass of wine or beer — pure heaven!

Kick up your feet, watch a few movies with someone you love, and soak in the leisure.  The busy start of another year will come soon enough — now is the time to savor the passing of 2009.

Afrikaans :  Geseënde Kersfees

Afrikander :  Een Plesierige Kerfees

African/ Eritrean/ Tigrinja :  Rehus-Beal-Ledeats

Albanian : Gezur Krislinjden

Arabic :  Milad Majid

Argentine :  Feliz Navidad

Armenian :  Shenoraavor Nor Dari yev Pari Gaghand

Azeri :  Tezze Iliniz Yahsi Olsun

Bahasa Malaysia :  Selamat Hari Natal

Basque :  Zorionak eta Urte Berri On!

Bengali :  Shuvo Naba Barsha

Bohemian :  Vesele Vanoce

Brazilian :  Feliz Natal

Breton :  Nedeleg laouen na bloavezh mat

Bulgarian :  Tchestita Koleda; Tchestito Rojdestvo Hristovo

Catalan :  Bon Nadal i un Bon Any Nou!

Chile :  Feliz Navidad

Chinese :  (Cantonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun

Chinese :  (Mandarin) Kung His Hsin Nien bing Chu Shen Tan (Catonese) Gun Tso Sun Tan’Gung Haw Sun

Choctaw :  Yukpa, Nitak Hollo Chito

Columbia :  Feliz Navidad y Próspero Año Nuevo

Cornish :  Nadelik looan na looan blethen noweth

Corsian :  Pace e salute

Crazanian :  Rot Yikji Dol La Roo

Cree :  Mitho Makosi Kesikansi

Croatian :  Sretan Bozic

Czech :  Prejeme Vam Vesele Vanoce a stastny Novy Rok

Danish :  Glædelig Jul

Duri :  Christmas-e- Shoma Mobarak

Dutch :  Vrolijk Kerstfeest en een Gelukkig Nieuwjaar! or Zalig Kerstfeast

English :  Merry Christmas

Eskimo :  (inupik) Jutdlime pivdluarit ukiortame pivdluaritlo!

Esperanto :  Gajan Kristnaskon

Estonian :  Ruumsaid juulup|hi

Ethiopian :  (Amharic) Melkin Yelidet Beaal

Faeroese :  Gledhilig jol og eydnurikt nyggjar!

Farsi :  Cristmas-e-shoma mobarak bashad

Finnish :  Hyvaa joulua

Flemish :  Zalig Kerstfeest en Gelukkig nieuw jaar

French :  Joyeux Noel

Frisian :  Noflike Krystdagen en in protte Lok en Seine yn it Nije Jier!

Galician :  Bo Nada

Gaelic :  Nollaig chridheil agus Bliadhna mhath ùr!

German :  Fröhliche Weihnachten

Greek :  Kala Christouyenna!

Haiti :  (Creole) Jwaye Nowel or to Jesus Edo Bri’cho o Rish D’Shato Brichto

Hausa :  Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!

Hawaiian :  Mele Kalikimaka

Hebrew :  Mo’adim Lesimkha. Chena tova

Hindi :  Shub Naya Baras

Hausa :  Barka da Kirsimatikuma Barka da Sabuwar Shekara!

Hawaian :  Mele Kalikimaka ame Hauoli Makahiki Hou!

Hungarian :  Kellemes Karacsonyi unnepeket

Icelandic :  Gledileg Jol

Indonesian :  Selamat Hari Natal

Iraqi :  Idah Saidan Wa Sanah Jadidah

Irish :  Nollaig Shona Dhuit, or Nodlaig mhaith chugnat

Iroquois :  Ojenyunyat Sungwiyadeson honungradon nagwutut. Ojenyunyat osrasay.

Italian :  Buone Feste Natalizie

Japanese :  Shinnen omedeto. Kurisumasu Omedeto

Jiberish :  Mithag Crithagsigathmithags

Korean :  Sung Tan Chuk Ha

Lao :  souksan van Christmas

Latin :  Natale hilare et Annum Faustum!

Latvian :  Prieci’gus Ziemsve’tkus un Laimi’gu Jauno Gadu!

Lausitzian : Wjesole hody a strowe nowe leto

Lettish :  Priecigus Ziemassvetkus

Lithuanian :  Linksmu Kaledu

Low Saxon :  Heughliche Winachten un ‘n moi Nijaar

Macedonian :  Sreken Bozhik

Maltese :  IL-Milied It-tajjeb

Manx :  Nollick ghennal as blein vie noa

Maori :  Meri Kirihimete

Marathi :  Shub Naya Varsh

Navajo :  Merry Keshmish

Norwegian :  God Jul, or Gledelig Jul

Occitan :  Pulit nadal e bona annado

Papiamento :  Bon Pasco

Papua New Guinea :  Bikpela hamamas blong dispela Krismas na Nupela yia i go long yu

Pennsylvania German :  En frehlicher Grischtdaag un en hallich Nei Yaahr!

Peru :  Feliz Navidad y un Venturoso Año Nuevo

Philipines :  Maligayan Pasko!

Polish :  Wesolych Swiat Bozego Narodzenia or Boze Narodzenie

Portuguese : Feliz Natal

Pushto :  Christmas Aao Ne-way Kaal Mo Mobarak Sha

Rapa-Nui (Easter Island): Mata-Ki-Te-Rangi. Te-Pito-O-Te-Henua

Rhetian :  Bellas festas da nadal e bun onn

Romanche :  (sursilvan dialect): Legreivlas fiastas da Nadal e bien niev onn!

Rumanian :  Sarbatori vesele or Craciun fericit

Russian :  Pozdrevlyayu s prazdnikom Rozhdestva is Novim Godom

Sami :  Buorrit Juovllat

Samoan :  La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou

Sardinian :  Bonu nadale e prosperu annu nou

Serbian :  Hristos se rodi

Slovakian: Sretan Bozic or Vesele vianoce

Sami: Buorrit Juovllat

Samoan :  La Maunia Le Kilisimasi Ma Le Tausaga Fou

Scots Gaelic :  Nollaig chridheil huibh

Serbian: Hristos se rodi.

Singhalese :  Subha nath thalak Vewa. Subha Aluth Awrudhak Vewa

Slovak :  Vesele Vianoce. A stastlivy Novy Rok

Slovene :  Vesele Bozicne Praznike Srecno Novo Leto or Vesel Bozic in srecno Novo leto

Spanish :  Feliz Navidad

Swedish :  God Jul and (Och) Ett Gott Nytt År

Tagalog : Maligayamg Pasko. Masaganang Bagong Taon

Tami :  Nathar Puthu Varuda Valthukkal

Trukeese: (Micronesian) Neekiriisimas annim oo iyer seefe feyiyeech!

Thai :  Sawadee Pee Mai or souksan wan Christmas

Turkish :  Noeliniz Ve Yeni Yiliniz Kutlu Olsun

Ukrainian :  Srozhdestvom Kristovym or Z RIZDVOM HRYSTOVYM

Urdu :  Naya Saal Mubarak Ho

Vietnamese :  Chuc Mung Giang Sinh

Welsh :  Nadolig Llawen

Yoruba :  E ku odun, e ku iye’dun!

*************************************

When I was a kid, about the only link to my mom’s Norwegian heritage was the food we ate at Christmas: Norwegian meatballs (not to be confused with Swedish meatballs!), lefse, rosettes, melting moments cookies and one of my favorites: krumkake.  Krumkake are wafer-thin cookies rolled into cones, slightly sweet and not a little addictive.

Krumkake was one of the few things I wasn’t allowed to help with as a child – now that I make them myself, I understand why.  It’s all about timing, and getting into the zone, which is hard to do while wrangling a small child. Spoon the batter, close the lid, wait, turn, open, remove, roll, spoon the batter…

When I turned 21, my mom gave me her krumkake iron, which had been given to her when she turned 21 by a dear family friend.  I hope to continue the tradition.  You can probably find your own iron at Olsen’s Scandinavian Foods in Ballard or online.  The one I have was made by Nordic Ware in Minneapolis and fits over a stovetop burner; newer ones are electric.

If you’re up for a bit of a challenge, they’re well worth the effort!

3 eggs (well beaten)
1/2 c sugar
1/2 c butter
1/2 c flour
1 tsp almond, lemon or vanilla flavoring

Mix sugar to beaten eggs; beat well.  Add melted butter, then flour and flavoring.   Drop by teaspoon (we always use a dinner spoon) onto krumkake iron.

There’s a pretty good primer on the process here.  The first few you make probably won’t look pretty and that’s okay.  Some people fill them with whipped cream and fruit, but we always preferred them unadulterated in the traditional Norwegian way.

I have no idea how many this makes, to be honest.  Probably around 2-3 dozen.  Store uncovered or loosely covered so that they retain their crispness.

Want something a little easier? Try my great-grandma Anita Butler’s Melting Moments cookies.  They’re basically shortbread with icing.  Whenever I make them for a party, they’re gone in a flash.  Seriously.  I’ve seen people fight over the last one.

1/2 lb butter
1/2 c powdered sugar
1/2 c cornstarch
1 1/2 c flour

Preheat oven to 350°.  Mix powdered sugar into softened butter, then add cornstarch, then flour.  The dough will be fairly stiff.   Form into approximately 1″ balls.  Bake for about 8-10 minutes, until just barely golden brown on the bottom.  While cookies are cooling, make a powdered sugar frosting:
2 TB melted butter
dash of milk
about a cup of powdered sugar
white vanilla (you can use regular vanilla, but your cookies won’t look as powder-white)

Play around with the consistency by adding more powdered sugar or more milk until you get it right – not too drippy, not super thick.   Dip top of cookies in icing and place on a bakers rack or wax paper to dry.  If you like, you can add sugar sprinkles as well.

These will take several hours to dry.   Makes around 3 dozen.  Try not to eat them all at once.

NEWS PRESS RELEASE
For Immediate Release

Contact: Patricia OKavage
1-800-614-8514
716-809-4890
patty@twosisterstravel.com

PATRICIA OKAVAGE OF TWO SISTERS TRAVEL COMPLETES PhD @ SEA PROGRAM

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European guilt after Holocaust lead us to accept Israeli occupation of Palestinian land.

The Norwegian priest Olav Fykse Tveit takes over the leadership of WCC in January.

This is the words of Olav Fykse Tveit, a leading Lutheran theologian. In January He will take over the post as General Secretary of World Council of Chuches (WCC).

«The Christians in Palestine are a very fragile group of people. The full Palestinian people are in a tragic situation», explains Fykse Tveit.

One of the reasons are the guilt that the European people felt after fhe Holocaust. That lead us to accept a Israeli occupation of Palestinian land. This is a situation that Olav Fykse Tveit kan not accept.

«We as Christians are called to love both the Israeli and the Palestinian people. Vi can not continue to put the one above the other, but have to support those who supports peaceful solutions», says Fykse Tveit.

When Dagen.se meets Fykse Tveit, He as returned from Bethlehem where a document called «moment of truth» has been signed. This document is inspired by a document signed by South African leaders in 1985, who were fighting against Apartheid. In the signed document Palestinian Christians demands that the International community «must help them» to end the Israeli occupation. Among the tools needed is Churches around the Globe, boycotting Israel.

Source: The Swedish Christian Daily, Dagen.se.

My comment:

Olav Fykse Tveit is accusing God of the Bible of being a liar. Because the Lutheran leader fail to mention that the land of Israel belongs to the Jewish people, the sons and daughters of Jacob, who was renamed Israel. And that the Messiah Jesus is going to rule over the house of Jacob forever.

To claim that the Jews have ganged up on the «Arab Palestinians» because of the Holocaust, is a blunt anti-Jewish and satanic inspired statement.

There has always been a remnant of Jews in the land Fykse Tveit and the Roman Empire called «Palestine». The first massive modern move of home coming to Israel started around 1885 A.D. By the mid 1920-ties, the city of Jerusalem had a Jewish majority. The British Parliament approved the Balfour Declaration in 1917, and the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) agreed with United Kingdom, that the Jewish people could return to their homeland in Zion. That was more than 30 years before the Holocaust.

Fykse Tveit is a learned man. He know that the successor of the Holy Roman Empire in Germany, the Third Roman Empire, Nazi-Germany massacred and slaughtered six million Jews in gas chambers.

If the Jews had been permitted by British Authorities to return home to Israel before 1939, these sons and daughters of Abraham might have survived. You have no shame, blaming a satanic British refusal of Jews to return, live and build in Zion on a full blooded genocide in Nazi-Germany.

May I remind you that the Nazis quoted from Martin Luther in their defense during the Nuremberg trials. In a dark moment of Luther`s life, Your Spiritual leader approved burning of Synagogues and violence against Jews.

Olav Fykse Tveit. You need to repent, or you will perish.

Your are a hypocrite, a brood of vipers. You have never spoken by The Holy Spirit. Basicllay do not have a clue about the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God you claim you are serving, the Father of the Messiah. Your father he devil has made you a puppet of Islam.

Read more about WWC supporting Islamic terrorism against Israel: Click here

Vørterbrød is the Norwegian name for wort bread, apparently. I really didn’t know how to translate this, or what to call this bread, until now, that I found a definition of what vørter beer, one of the main ingredients, is.

Vørter beer (wort beer) is a non-alcoholic, unfermented drink produced through the carbonation and sterilisation of wort made from malt, hops and water. It is thus, per definition, not a beer and should not be labelled beer, but was given a dispensation to this in the Norwegian Beer Act of 1912 regarding production and taxation of beer. The reason for this is found in the history of Vørter beer.

Vørterbrød is a type of the traditional Christmas bread with raisins like panettone, stollen and other variations that seems to be part of many different Christmas cuisines around the world. Here in Norway there are two kinds: Christmas bread and wort bread (or cake, as some call it) The Christmas bread is made of wheat, raisins and sometimes succades.

Wort bread, one the other hand, is made of part wheat, part rhye, raisins and spices like anise, ground cloves, cinnamon and pepper. All good Christmas things into one. It has a much richer taste, and maybe it takes some getting used to, because it tastes a lot more than the ordinary Christmas bread. More spices, more syrup, more dense, more of everything and a lot better in my opinion! I love it. And the smell…..Oh, the smell. Lovely licorice-like and a dark brown colour from the rhye and the syrup.

You have to try it. Warm thick slices straight from the oven with a thick layer of good quality butter. Or a slice of Norwegian brown cheese – gjetost, if you’re into that. I’m not, but a hear this is the perfect combo. Well, what do you know. I’m back from my divine lunch, and I have a confession to make. I’m a brown cheese convert. That wasn’t bad at all. It was delicious. I, a non-brown cheese eater, can recommend brown cheese on wort bread. It’s delish. The bread is quite spicy, well not spicy, but filled with spices and flavour. And the cheese is very sweet, so together: A match made in Christmas heaven.

I found a recipe on the net that I was going to use. For some reason, I started to flip through the pages of one of my breadbaking-cookbooks from the bakery Åpent Bakeri, and found a recipe there. To simplify, meaning not having to write down the recipe from the net or dragging the computer into the kitchen, I decided on this recipe instead. And when the dough was done and I was done kneading, it hit me: The wort beer! I forgot it! I read through the recipe to check, and to my surprise, no wort beer in the wort bread recipe… That is strange. Well, at least I didn’t do nothing wrong. So I guess I’ll have to use it next Christmas. Or sooner. Or else: One more year in the fridge. (yes, I had some left from last year.)

Vørterbrød
250 g raisins
5 dl water
600 g wheat
400 g rhye
10 g (2 ts) sea salt
100 sugar
50 g yeast
100 g syrup
0.5 ts ground pepper
0.5 ts cinnamon
0.5 ts ginger
0.5 ts ground cloves
0.5 ts ground anise
50 g butter

(You’re supposed to soak the raisins for one day, but I didn’t and it tasted fine, so you can leave that part. I also left out ginger and pepper. Didn’t have any and it was too snowy outside…)

Directions
Add sugar, egg, butter, salt, cardamom and 2 cups flour; mix well. Stir in raisins and enough remaining flour to form a soft dough.

Turn onto a floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Use as little flour as you can, the dough should be a little sticky. Place in a big bowl covered with clingfilm. Let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour.

Punch dough down and divide in half. Shape each portion into breads. (I made one bread and the rest buns. Of course you can make only buns too, if you prefer) Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 1 hour. Brush the breads with one whisked egg.

Bake at 200 degrees C or 395 degrees F for 40-50 minutes or until dark golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Serve while still warm with butter, cheese or jam. Have yourself a merry little Christmas moment.

We are now ready to take the first steps in building the new church center. Tuesday this coming week we will be digging test pits on site to check & verify soil conditions. This will give us an idea of how much soil we will need to take out and replace.

Come January we will start  start the work of preparing the trees that we are going to store off site and put back in, once construction is complete. This is a delicate process that take minimum three months before the tree should be moved. There is a total of 17 trees we are planning to prepare, store off site and re-plant once the new center is finished.

-

MERRY CHRISTMAS & HAPPY NEW YEAR!

mvh, Thomas

As per 18DEC09 GDS timetable display, Norwegian is NOT offering Summer service to Dubai in 2010. Previously Sabre timetable display was displaying the airline offering Daily service together from Copenhagen, Oslo and Stockholm.

Norwegian in 2010 is adding 7 new routes from Copenhagen and 3 from Billund. Some service are seasonal only.

The routes and effective dates are the following:

Copenhagen – Karup eff 18JAN10 16 weekly
DY3052 CPH0805 – 0845KRP 733 x67
DY3056 CPH1800 – 1840KRP 733 x67
DY3056 CPH1830 – 1910KRP 737 7
DY3058 CPH2215 – 2255KRP 733 x567
DY3058 CPH2240 – 2320KRP 733 7

DY3051 KRP0700 – 0740CPH 733 x67
DY3053 KRP0905 – 0945CPH 733 x67
DY3057 KRP1900 – 1940CPH 733 x67
DY3057 KRP1930 – 2010CPH 737 7

Copenhagen – Tenerife del Sur 24JAN10 – 21MAR10 1 weekly
DY3610 CPH0630 – 1040TFS 73H 7
DY3611 TFS1130 – 1740CPH 73H 7

Billund – Las Palmas 13FEB10 – 03APR10 1 weekly
DY3416 BLL1150 – 1605LPA 73H 6
DY3417 LPA1650 – 2305BLL 73H 6

Billund – Malaga 14FEB10 – 21MAR10 1 weekly
DY3410 BLL0700 – 1045AGP 73H 7
DY3411 AGP1130 – 1515BLL 73H 7

Copenhagen – Billund eff 14FEB10 17 weekly
DY3072 CPH0805 – 0845BLL 73H x67
DY3076 CPH1725 – 1805BLL 73H 7
DY3076 CPH1755 – 1835BLL 73H x67
DY3078 CPH2000 – 2040BLL 733 x6

DY3071 BLL0700 – 0740CPH 73H x67
DY3073 BLL0905 – 0945CPH 73H x67
DY3075 BLL1620 – 1700CPH 73H 7
DY3079 BLL2100 – 2140CPH 733 x6

Billund – Oslo eff 22FEB10 6 weekly
DY3248 BLL1840 – 1945OSL 73H 7
DY3248 BLL1905 – 2010OSL 737 x67

DY3249 OSL2015 – 2120BLL 73H 7
DY3249 OSL2040 – 2145BLL 737 x67

Copenhagen – Bornholm eff 26MAR10 6 weekly
DY3096 CPH1935 – 2010RNN 733 7
DY3098 CPH2010 – 2045RNN 733 x67

DY3097 RNN2035 – 2110CPH 733 7
DY3097 RNN2105 – 2140CPH 733 x67

Copenhagen – Kos 26JUN10 – 14AUG10 2 weekly
DY3378 CPH2200 – 0245+1KGS 733 2
DY3378 CPH2325 – 0410+1KGS 733 6

DY3379 KGS0325 – 0610CPH 733 3
DY3379 KGS0450 – 07535CPH 733 6

Copenhagen – Ibiza 27JUN10 – 07AUG10 1 weekly
DY3618 CPH2355 – 0245+1IBZ 733 7
DY3619 IBZ0330 – 0620CPH 733 1

Copenhagen – Athens 28JUN10 – 14AUG10 2 weekly
DY3374 CPH2200 – 0225+1ATH 733 15
DY3375 ATH0305 – 0530CPH 733 26

So I told Ms. Chris about my blag and she had one pressing etymological question: Where does “butterfly” come from? I had never thought about it, but she had been wondering for years, apparently.

• based on the old notion that the insects (or witches disguised as butterflies) consume butter or milk that is left uncovered

although some people also think it is based on the color and consistency of butterfly excrement. This explanation is highly unlikely. Now, I don’t know about you, but I had never really looked at butterfly excrement before.

What about in other languages?

Off the top of my head:

Spanish – Mariposa - from “la Santa Maria posa” = “the Virgin Mary alights/rests” ?

French – Papillon - this actually comes from the Latin papilio meaning butterfly. Our English word pavilion comes from the same root… a canopy spread out like wings.

German – Schmetterling - from “Schmetten”, an Upper Saxon dialect loan-word first used 16 & 17th C, from Czech “smetana”, both meaning “cream”, referring to butterflies’ proclivity to hover around milkpails, butterchurns, etc. Folk belief had it that the butterflies were really witches out to steal the cream.

Tagfalter is another name for butterfly, perhaps meaning “day-hinge” or “day-folder”, and Nachtfalter is a moth.

Italian – Farfalla - This also comes from the Latin. (Eventually I’m going to do a post about how p’s became f’s and f’s became h’s. …later.) This is also the English word for those bow-tie pasta things that look like butterflies.

Notably, a few others:

Norwegian and Yiddish both call it a “summerbird,” sommerfugl and zomerfeygele respectively.

Babochka in Russian. This means “butterfly” or “bow tie.” Go with me here. Baba or Babka means woman or grandmother. Babushka can mean grandmother or grandmother-like-thing, like a grandmother-like-handkercheif, like one that can be tied to the shape of a butterfly, babochka.

December 15 is the most important day in the calendar for people who speak Esperanto. It is Zamenhof Day, named after the man who dreamed up the idea of a language that the entire planet would one day speak. L.L. Zamenhof (that’s him in center of the photo, the one staring at the camera) was born 150 years ago.  Though his dream was never realized, Esperanto is still spoken — in fact it’s undergoing something of a revival in the internet age. We consider the failure and success of Esperanto, first in a piece I reported for the Big Show on December 15, and then in an interview with Princeton English professor Esther Schor, who’s writing a book on Esperanto. In the piece, you’ll hear from Arika Okrent, author of the fabulous In the Land of Invented Languages. To listen to an extended interview with Okrent on Esperanto, Klingon, Blissymbolics and other made-up languages from July 2009, go here. Also in the piece, listen out for a clip from the 1965 Esperanto language movie Incubus, starring the incomparable William Shatner. Shatner delivers his Esperanto lines in that same jig-jaggy way as he does English on the bridge of the Starship Enterprise. Other BBC stories on Esperanto are here and here.

After our Esperanto extravaganza, we consider why the Irish parliament bans words such as guttersnipe and brat, but permits certain swearwords. We know this because Irish MP Paul Gogarty recently dropped the F-bomb — and not in a particularly jocular manner — in the Dáil. We get the back story of why certain words — another is yahoo – cannot be uttered in the Irish parliament from Harry McGee of the Irish Times. A document called Salient Rulings of the House lists all manner of old-fashioned expressions as no-nos in debate. The f-word is not among them.

Finally, a follow-up to a previous podcast in which Carol Hills and I talked about baby names that don’t translate well into certain foreign languages.  After that , a Norwegian pod-listener wrote in with some alarming news: if your name is Mark, expect to be teased in Norway. And under no crcumstances name your child Musa. It’s apparently a popular name in Turkey. In Norwegian it refers, coarsely, to female genitalia.

Listen in iTunes or here.

Here’s another one from my Leake Street tunnel archives by Pobel, a Norwegian artist. Of course this has all changed with time and the Total Rewall that’s been going on this month.

The Norwegian team failed to be accepted for this year edition of the world Cup, but that doesn’t suggest Norway has not got a great football team.

Norway can point to a respectable record in recent times. The Scandinavians qualified for the 1994 FIFA World Cup USA but fell in the 1st round by the slimmest of margins. All 4 groups in their group finished on the same number of points and goal difference ; but Norway had scored less goals and packed their bags for home.

four years after they’d a great part in France 1998 defeating the strong Brazil in what’s considered the best game they’ve ever play in the final stage of this competitions. That victory enabled them to go to the round of sixteen, but lost against a very good Italy squad.

Norway missed the Korea/Japan World Cup and this year won’t be present either in Germany. But they have plenty of young players that given the continuity needed the can put together an excellent team for the future.

South Korea is by a large margin the most successful Asian team. They’ve been to more FIFA World Cup finals than any other Asia team. This can be their seventh appearance and sixth uninterrupted.

Pacific Rim’s most frequent visitors to FIFA World Cup finals and first appeared at the world showpiece in 1954. Prior to 2002 they hadn’t managed a single win in fourteen finals matches. That changed under Dutch coach Guus Hiddink who led them to the last four victories over four western european teams, were they manage to get to the semifinals leaving in the way Italy and Spain a first for any Asian team in a World Cup.

Park Ji-Sung, now at Manchester United, offers a real attacking threat from midfield while left-back Lee Young-Pyo is a key figure in a defense. That operates in front of experienced goalkeeper Lee Woon-Jae. There are tons of options up front while, Ahn Jung-Hwan whose golden goal defeated Italy, Cha Du-Ri and Lee Dong-Gook the top scorer at the two thousand AFC Asian Cup.

With a magnificent and experienced squad Korea will have the chance to repeat their performance from last year edition. In order to do that they need to prepare superb and one step of that preparation will be the friendly matches. Like the one they’re going to have in Oslo against Norway which will help them to correct those last minute details before the enormous tournament.

Sports gambling for these games, is available in most books, so do not miss your opportunity to bet on an enjoyable game like this one and start preparing your picks for the world cup.

How would you like to see the top 100 wonders in the world? Visit famouswonders.com and browse through the top destinations in the world and be sure to check out famous sites in South Korea.

This kringle must be eaten while it is fresh, which is no problem.

1 cup flour

½ cup margarine or butter

4 tablespoons water

½ cup margarine or butter

1 cup water

1 teaspoon almond extract

1 cup flour

3 eggs

Cut margarine into flour. Add water and mix with a fork into a ball of dough. Divide dough into two pieces. Pat each into a 12×3 inch wide strip on a single ungreased baking sheet. Place butter and water in medium size pan and bring to a boil over direct heat. Cool slightly and add almond extract. Add flour all at once. Mix well until smooth. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each. Dough will become very thick. Spread this dough on each strip of pastry. Bake 45-60 minutes at 350°. Cool and frost with powdered sugar and water icing flavored with almond flavoring. Sprinkle with finely chopped nuts.

1983. Jean Alfsen of Peninsula Lutheran Church taught me how to make this after she made two for Susan’s wedding reception.  It is now traditional that I make a kransekake for each of our family weddings.  It is a lovely almond macaroon type dough rolled into rings and piled to make a tower.  Then it is decorated with flowers and ferns and objects familiar to the honored couple. For a special presentation make a double batch of dough. Use two of each size ring to make a larger tower. A bottle of champagne or wine will now fit inside the tower.

A set of kransekake rings, available at Scandinavian food shops. Baking sheets. 325˚ 15-20 minutes.

5 cups almonds, blanched or unblanched, finely ground (sometimes available in specialty food stores as almond meal).

1 pound powdered sugar (3 cups)

4 egg whites (1/2 cup)

Grind almonds, a small amount at a time,to a fine powder in food grinder.  Use small-holed disc and grind twice if not fine enough first time.  Mix almonds, sugar and egg whites in electric mixer with batter paddle.

Grease kransekake rings very thoroughly with vegetable shortening and coat with farina or Cream of Wheat.  Roll out dough on a clean pastry cloth into ropes about ½ inch in diameter and fit into each baking ring.  Press ends together and smooth out dough over ends.  Bake on cookie sheets at 325˚15-20 minutes.  Switch pans from top to bottom racks halfway through.  WATCH!  Small rings brown faster than larger rings.  The rings should be all the same light brown color.  Cool completely in the baking rings.  Place rings in a covered container with a slice of bread to soften.  May also be frozen at this point.

Assemble tower by placing largest ring on a plate.  With a pastry bag and small hole tip pipe powdered sugar icing in a swag design around ring.  Place next size ring on top using a dab or two of icing as glue.  Continue to the smallest ring.  Decorate with flowers, flags, or small objects.

To serve, carefully lift up tower and remove bottom ring.  Break into serving size pieces and present to guests on a pretty plate.  Continue as needed working up from the bottom ring.  Save the top few rings for the bridal couple’s first anniversary.  Excellent with champagne.

1966. I wish you good luck finding the baker’s ammonia that you need to make these sugar bites puff up. I used to be able to get it at the pharmacy.

½ cup butter, softened

1 cup fine sugar

1 teaspoon baker’s ammonia in

1 tablespoon water

1 cup flour

Cream butter and sugar. Stir in dissolved ammonia. Blend in flour. Form into small balls the size of a marble. Bake on a lightly greased baking sheet at 300° about 15 minutes. Store in an airtight container.

3 eggs well-beaten

½ cup sugar

½ cup melted butter or margarine

1 teaspoon almond flavoring

½ cup flour

Mix the batter in a four-cup measuring cup with a spout.

Add sugar to eggs and beat well. Mix in melted butter and flour. Add flavoring. Place one teaspoon of dough on hot krumkake iron and bake until a very light brown, about 25-30 seconds. Remove from iron with a knife and quickly roll into a cylinder. Cool and store in airtight container.

1966

½ cup powdered sugar

1 cup butter

2 cups flour

¾ cup finely chopped nuts

¼ teaspoon salt.

1 teaspoon vanilla

Cream sugar and butter. Add vanilla and salt. Blend in flour and nuts with fingers. Roll a ball of dough into a thick pencil about 3 inches long. Shape into a crescent shape on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 300° about 15 minutes until golden brown. Cool on racks and dip in powdered sugar.

1954 Mother must not have done much cooking when she was growing up because she didn’t cook many Norwegian dishes for us. She was very pleased to get this familiar special cookie recipe from the home economics teacher in Eureka, Mrs. Bjertness.

3 hard-cooked egg yolks

4 raw egg yolks

1 cup sugar

4 cups flour

2 cups butter

Mash cooked egg yolks through a fine sieve. Blend thoroughly with softened butter. Add sugar, then raw egg yolks, finally flour. Roll a ball of dough into a long “pencil”. Cut into 3-4 inch lengths and shape into “kranser” (crowns), a pretzel shape. Chill the shaped cookies. Just before baking brush tops with slightly beaten egg-whites and then carefully pick up the cookie and dip it into a bowl of sugar. Pearl sugar, sugar crystals, or crushed sugar cubes are traditionally used. Bake at 350° until golden brown. Makes six dozen.