World Reading Project 1: Norway

World Reading Project, Book #1

Norway

The Wreath, by Sigrid Undset , 1920

The first book I read for my World Reading Project was The Wreath, the first book in the Kristin Lavransdatter series by Sigrid Undset. Clay gave it to me as a gift, for my birthday I think.

Published in 1920, this is a historical fiction novel about a young woman, Kristin Lavransdatter, growing up in 14th century Norway (I didn't know much about Norway- this is after the Viking Age, when Norway has been Christianized). It's the first book in a trilogy that follows Kristin through her life.

Amazon's description of the book begins with "Kristin Lavransdatter interweaves political, social, and religious history with the daily aspects of family life to create a colorful, richly detailed tapestry of Norway during the fourteenth-century." The book was way more dramatic that this description would lead you to believe. Some kind of crazy things happen. I don't really want to give things away, but I really liked this book and am very intrigued to read the other two books and see how Kristin's decisions pan out and how the rest of her life goes. 

Back to blogging?

Well, I felt the urge to post on here again. This past weekend I went through old boxes of mail and found many letters from people I met through blogging. Made me want to start up again. Another inspiration is Mary Ann Moss and her blog Dispatch From LA. I just love her blog and seeing all the wonderful things she gets up to, sketchbookery and beautiful gardens, etc. So inspiring.

The old boxes of mail also inspired me to do a bit more collage type stuff. Recently I've been making envelopes out of one piece of paper, and seeing old mail made me want to get more into scraps and gluing again. Here are a few postcards and envelopes I made this weekend.

What else have I been getting up to? Last weekend I made the first ice cream of the summer. Mint chocolate chip ice cream with mint from our backyard!! I've made ice cream in past summers and it never really turned out well. The flavor was good, but the consistency was not that amazing creamy ice cream texture. I'd been using recipes from online, but not too long ago Clayton bought me an ice cream cookbook: Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream Desserts. OMG. This time it was perfect and now I'm obsessed.

Here's the mint soaking in the ice cream base to impart its flavor:

The same day I made chocolate covered cherries with the leftover melted chocolate from the ice cream. So decadent.

And this past weekend I made strawberry ice cream. You roast the strawberries a very short time to reduce the amount of liquid. I think I needed to get a little more out, the icecream had some ice crystals in spots. But, it was so delicious.

About to be roasted:

I think the next two flavors for the coming weeks will be lemon and chocolate peanut butter!