ojtheviking

Hello, everyone! How are y'all enjoying your weekend so far? I usually do these "kickoffs" on Fridays, but I was frankly a bit preoccupied yesterday, so a rare and exclusive Saturday edition it is! I want to hear all about what you've got planned for today and tomorrow; in fact, I challenge you to overwhelm me in the comments!

For me, it's been a fairly busy week. Last Saturday, I met up with a friend, and we went down to the local park to have ourselves a sweet little BBQ session! The park has these grill stations that one can utilize, but it's also very common - and probably more hygienic - for people to bring tiny, disposable barbecues that one simply puts on top of the stations. Although I'm an omnivore, my friend is vegetarian, so for the sake of avoiding cross-contamination, I found some veggie burgers at a store that I brought along. She brought veggie hotdogs. And frankly, both products were awesome.

Several of my Norwegian friends have said that this specific brand of veggie burgers is their favorite, and I can see why. They were juicy and flavorful, as if the seasoning and spices were mixed in with the actual patties, and they had a very authentic taste and texture compared to regular beef burgers. In fact, I liked them so much that I've added them as an option for my meat-free (or meat-reduced) days. Today, I made them again at home!

Also, check out them nice cans! (...no, not talking about a boobie pic in this case) That oh-so-succulent, mango-flavored Pepsi Max is quite the convenient segue into the next thing because, on Monday, that same friend of mine and I took a day trip to Sweden. The town we live in is very close to the border, so it was only a 2-hour drive one way.

For many Norwegians who live close to the border, it's quite common to take a quickie to Sweden to buy some cheaper products. There is border control, but they mostly just supervise the amount of alcohol and cigarettes you buy, which isn't a problem for me anyway. But, it was convenient for my friend that I came with her, because she was buying cigarettes for her father, and since there were two of us, she was able to buy a double quota. (...insert meme of the guy tapping his temple with a knowing smirk here). So off we went to a huge mall in Charlottenburg, where we first sat down to get some grub at this all-you-can-eat buffet.

Side note: I don't know what was in that salsa when I made myself a tortilla wrap, but gaddamn(!!); for my white, ginger, Scandinavian ass, it was pretty damn spicy! In addition to my friend getting cigarettes for her dad, we also stopped by a large grocery store to individually stock up on some food products for ourselves. I got some ground meat, a buttload of pasta, an even bigger buttload of strawberries, and three trays of that aforementioned Pepsi Max Mango (making it a total of 60 cans).

(When I took the photo of my shopping cart (bottom right photo in the collage above), I had initially included a pack of chicken breasts, but after some careful mental calculations, I decided not to buy them after all this time. Catch ya birds next time, perhaps!)

I've also spent some time in the park on my own. Walking around, listening to an audiobook or some music, and snapping photos. Eventually, I want to upload some of my photos properly here on SG, but for now, here's another collage showcasing some of the photos I took:

Then yesterday, I met up with my new friends in A-Larm again. I'm liking that this is starting to be a weekly tradition for me, and on Fridays, we tend to have some sort of bite to eat, chit chat, shoot some pool, and so on. Yesterday, we had homemade, Norwegian waffles!

We usually have a variety of options to go with our waffles: butter, a type of sweet, caramel-esque cheese, various types of jam, sour cream, and so forth. Not necessarily all at once, although there is the occasional brave soul who gets adventurous and does some sort of combo. I went a little plain yesterday and had raspberry jam on one side and strawberry on the other.

...this catch-up blog kinda turned into a food blog, but hey, sometimes we sit on our asses at home until there's some sort of socialization happening, and it's often accompanied by the opportunity to scarf something down. Next week, I'll have more to write about, especially as I'm going to this cabin area with some of the other folks at A-Larm. I'll try not to acknowledge how that sounds like the beginning of a horror movie.

But, as I said, I'd love to know what y'all have planned for this weekend, and what you've been up to lately overall! While you eloquently type out your response, we might as well give a nod to the summer season by listening to some Electric Callboy, shall we not?

🤘🏻 OJTheViking - 2024 🤘🏻