Black Women Bloggers in Europe Series – Norway 3 – Thanks for the food

Thanks for the Food

About My Blog
This blog is about my attempts at making great food at home (i.e. mostly from scratch without the use of a microwave, convenience foods, ridiculously overpriced imported food from the “expat” part of the grocery store). I cook using what I can find in Norway or online from Norwegian retailers-and the little I bring back from my various trips outside of Norway a few times a year. I am not a trained chef and I have never worked int he food industry. My food and cooking expertise comes from a lifetime of eating and almost a lifetime of cooking. I am doing this because I love it, and that my friends, is reason enough to do anything.

Living in Norway has made me a better cook, if only because I have to make a lot of stuff from scratch if I want to eat it. There are no taco trucks in Norway or chicken mole (or tamales). Not even close.

About Me
My name is Whitney and I am an American currently living and working in Norway . I have been living outside of the U.S. since March 2005 and after ca. 2 years in Germany, I moved to Norway in July 2007.

I like, no I love, to cook. I love cooking, food and food culture. Finding new ingredients or “new to me” ingredients or simply finding something new in the local grocery stores makes me happier than I really care to admit publicly (but I guess I just did, right?). Attending the local food festival every year or eating in the new cafe on Main street is what I do in my spare time. I am ridiculously over-concerned with food quality and integrity.

I am a real person with a real job that I work every day from 9-5 (totally not related to food, cooking or food culture) and a live on a less than real (i.e. minimal) food budget every month. I try to eat as healthily as I can everyday, which mostly means lots of vegetables, as much organic food as I can afford and the occasional slice of cake (this is of course good for mental health). I try to make sure my plate is as varied and mixed as possible. Doing this without going broke in Norway is a challenge I enjoy taking on at every meal.

I have had two travel guidebooks published (one now in it’s second printing) and contributed on a major travel guidebook.

Why I Named This Blog Thanks For the Food and How I Ended Up Here
I named this blog “Thanks For The Food” because it is the English translation for the polite way to end a meal in Norway. At the end of the meal, to thank your host, you say “takk for maten”.

So here, I’m saying “thanks for the food”. For all of the tasty dreamy food I’ve eaten in Norway. That’s what I think when I eat something tasty here-thanks for [making] this food.

I am originally from Arizona, but now live in Norway. How did that happen you ask? Well, my arrival and original plan for Norway included a now ex-boyfriend, his family, many flights back and forth between Norway and Germany and many, many hours on a telephone. Fast forward a bit and change the original plan (basically minus all of the aforementioned items and replace with my friends + my love for all things Norwegian + my educational pursuits) and you have my life as it is now. I am very lucky for what I have in my life now and I never, ever forget that. So Norway is where I reside.

YES-“way up in the Artic tundra” as some of my friends and family in the U.S. call it. Have a look on a map where Arizona is and where Norway is. yes, i am quite far from where I began my life journey (try to close your mouth).

I very much enjoy my life here and it’s working for me at the moment. Please don’t ask to when I am coming home to the U.S. permanently (you know who you are-Mom!). I’m not sure when that will be and I hope it is a while away still.

How to Contact Me
Hvis du har noen spørsmål eller ideer, vennligst ta kontakt. Email: thanksforthefood at gmail dot com. If you have questions or ideas, please feel free to contact me through email at thanksforthefood at gmail dot com.

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