Sons of Norway Blog

In the mid-1800s an outbreak of Amerikafeber (America fever) struck in Norway and rapidly spread over the country. The sloop vessel Restauration had set sail in 1825 for America, carrying 52 passengers.

Spring is a time for chirping birds, rain showers, and emerging flowers. In northern parts, the snow melts, the weather gets warmer, and people begin spending more time outside. Spring in Norway is quite similar.

In February FolkOrg kicked off its centennial jubilee, at Riksscenen concert hall in Oslo.

Obviously, the star of the show in this recipe is the cabbage, but having a seasoned, moist meat or vegetarian filling isn’t anything to forget about either.

February is the month that we encourage you to get out and experience 14 days of friluftsliv. If you are lucky enough to live in a snowy climate, an example set by the Norwegians is to dig in and enjoy the winter season, however you can.

When one thinks about Valentine’s Day, chocolate, roses, and candy hearts come to mind. But are those universal themes? Let’s explore how Valentine’s Day is celebrated in the Nordic countries to peek into other traditions.

Break out the sequins, the back-up dancers and the dazzling lights- ‘tis the season leading up to the Eurovision Song Contest! The competition created to bring post-WW II Europe together will take place in Liverpool, England this May.

These delicious chocolate-covered marshmallow treats would make a great, easy dessert for a Valentine’s meal.

We can all agree that one of the main focal points of the holidays is food. We stuff ourselves during the main course with mashed potatoes, gravy, ham, eggnog, salad, stuffing, turkey, and so much more until we are filled to the brim. Yet somehow, we always manage to find room for dessert. How can that be?

The results are in... the winner is Krumkake!

There are two official written versions of the Norwegian language—bokmål and nynorsk—but spoken Norwegian is another situation entirely. As far as regional dialects, there are four main groupings of spoken Norwegian: Northern (nordnorsk), Central (trøndersk), Western (vestlandsk) and Eastern (østnorsk).

Around the holidays and New Year, family-friendly quiz shows abound in Norway, with shows presenting daily challenges from various locations. Test your knowledge with this multiple-choice quiz!

Fiskegrateng – Fish au gratin. Winter is a great time to make this homey casserole.

Earlier this month, we launched a colorful virtual julekalender (Advent calendar) to highlight various aspects of the Norwegian holiday season. One of the important facets of norsk jul is food—both sweet and savory. The rule of thumb for julebakst (Christmas baked goods) is that you should have a good variety of cookies, in fact, seven kinds or sju slag /syv sorter kaker.

As you spend time with family over the holidays, take the time to learn more about your relatives and record some family stories. Sit down and chat with multiple generations and make this a group activity.