We were fortunate enough to get to share this Norwegian meal with my mother-in-law over the weekend. Typically when I sit down for one of these “events,” I drop a little bit of information about the destination, something that makes it unique and/or historic, then talk a little about some things you can do there.

Makes sense, since this whole project is designed to teach me about one of my top travel destinations.

I felt bad this time around, though, because this was a very short leg and I didn’t have a ton of time to do much research. And when I did read up a little, what I learned is that Flåm isn’t much to write home about. Beautiful, much like the rest of Norway, but it seems to exist almost exclusively as a tourist trap where cruise ships can land.

I’d read that due to the cruise ship traffic, Flåm has an air pollution level that is greater than the rest of Norway combined (or maybe just the greatest in all of Norway). Hardly something to boast about.

It does seem, however, that Norway is attempting to regulate the industry in a way that makes her fjords zero-emission zones. Leave it to the Norwegians to do it right.

So, maybe not a lot to see or talk about and definitely a destination we’ll likely skip should we ever do our own DIY tour of Norway one day. Regardless, let’s chow down.

Menu:

Mocktail: East Tennessee “Cloudberry” Spritz

I must admit that while the last few dinners have skipped the cocktail due to my wife’s pregnancy, it’s also been due largely to me just being too lazy to think of something to make. It is what it is. Regardless, with my MIL in town, I decided to put in a little extra effort and altered a cocktail recipe to fit our theme. 

It goes without saying that we can neither grow, nor purchase fresh cloudberries in East Tennessee, so I wanted to go with something a little more regional for the base of our mocktail. This spritz starts with peach nectar that is mixed with fresh lemon juice, is iced, then topped with sparkling water, and finished with ground coriander.

The balance of the peach, citrus, and bubbles made for a delightfully refreshing mocktail, and that added touch of coriander provided the earthiness it needed to keep us true to our theme. They were delicious!

Hoverdrett (Main Course): Conifer Needle and Brown-Butter Salmon, served with Fløtegratinerte Poteter med Brunost (Creamy Brown Cheese Scalloped Potatoes)

I was stoked to get to fire up my grill for the first (real) time this year! This salmon was impossibly simple to make. While I browned some salted butter in my cast-iron skillet over the fire, I clipped some needles off the pine tree in my back yard, “bruised” them just a little, then tossed them into the butter. Once the butter was nutty and the pine was infused, in went the salmon.

I basted the salmon every 90 seconds or so with the flavorful butter, and eight minutes later, we had perfectly cooked and incredibly rich salmon filets. I was a little afraid I’d over cooked them (and still think I maybe did a little), but that brown-butter bath made it irrelevant. So much flavor!

Now, these potatoes.

Damn.

I grew up not caring much for scalloped potatoes, but things have changed a lot since I was a kid. I was super hyped to get to try these, since they prominently feature the Ski Queen brunost we’ve used so many times over the course of this project. I also used some fresh-grated Gruyere to add the melty aspect and they came out INSANE. So, so, so good. Not only were the potatoes soft and creamy, but the added brunost element gave them a sexy color and added a hint of sweetness that I’ve never tasted in a scalloped potato before.

I think these are one of my favorite dishes of the entire project.

Dessert: Plommekake (Plum and Sour Cream Cake)

I’m going to start off by giving myself a pat on the back for saving this one.

The first step is to cut your plums in half and core them before laying them on the bottom of your spring-form pan. Of course, I believe the recipe author has a plum tree in her backyard and grows plums that are the perfect size for this, whereas I was stuck using American GMO plums that were a lot bigger. I halved and cored them, but was halfway through pouring my batter in when I realized I was not going to be able to cover the plums with the batter I had.

I was able to fish them all out and cut them down one more time each, all the while using a spatula to “sweep” the batter to an unused edge long enough to replace them in the pan and cover again. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked pretty well in the end. It also provided much more coverage at the bottom.

The sour-cream-based cake batter then smothers the plums and is topped with a sprinkle of granulated sugar and some slivered almonds before hitting the oven. I’d thought about making a bit of ice cream to go with the cake but thought that was going to be unnecessarily complicated, so I opted instead to whip up some fresh Chantilly cream while the cake cooled.

Good call.

We ate while the cake was still warm, and that was such a good call. The cake was so soft and that warm, mushy plum at the bottom was a total flavor explosion with every bite. Additionally, that added bit of almond at the top gave us a subtle crunch to every bite, and the Chantilly cream provided a cool element, so every bite was “the perfect bite.”

We’ve noticed that every single dessert we’ve had on this project has been a hit, but neither of them have been overly sweet. We’re huge fans of this. Way to go, Norway!

Okay, I Need to Talk Fitness Again

In my last update, I included my new strength training program, and I was positively LOVING IT.

And then, I messed up my shoulder.

I haven’t gone to the doctor, and don’t think I will, so I’m not sure what it is exactly. I thought it was a rotator cuff issue, but I’m beginning to think it’s merely a shoulder impingement. Either way, doing any kind of upper-body press, be it vertical or horizontal, was painful and it was only getting worse.

Still, I toughed it out for a few weeks. Weirdly enough, it wasn’t even an upper-body exercise that convinced me to go into rehab mode – it was barbell back squats! Putting my right arm into position to steady the bar across my shoulders caused excruciating pain. It was time to do something a little different.

So different it is. The following program is cardio heavy, adds shoulder rehab exercises, daily foam rolling, daily stretching, lower-body isolation exercises, abs/core every day and something for the arms every day – just because my shoulder is in trouble doesn’t mean I don’t deserve an arm pump!

I won’t list out the entirety of my shoulder rehab exercises because they’re different every day, but my current programming looks like this:

Monday Morning:
Warmup + Foam Roll
Shoulder Rehab Circuits
20:00 Treadmill Walk, Progressed in Accordance with This Program from T-Nation
Leg Extensions: 3×12-15 + Drop Set
Triceps Rope Pushdown: 3×15 + Drop Set
Hyperextensions: 3×12
Back Extension Machine: 3×15
15:00 Elliptical, Resistance Bumped Up by 1 Every Week
Stretching/Yoga

Monday Evening:
5K Training Run
Stretching/Yoga

Tuesday Morning:
Warmup + Foam Roll
Shoulder Rehab Circuits
15:00 HIIT on Stationary Bike
Seated Leg Curl: 3×12-15 + Drop Set
Rope Cable Curl: 3×15 + Drop Set
Cable Crunch: 4×10
Plank: 3 x 1:00, 0:45, 0:30 – adding 5 seconds every week.
15:00 on Stair Machine
Stretching/Yoga

Tuesday Evening:
Stretching/Yoga

Wednesday Morning:
Warmup + Foam Roll
Shoulder Rehab Circuits
20:00 Treadmill Walk, Progressed in Accordance with T-Nation Program
Leg Press Machine: 3×12-15 + Drop Set
Cable Triceps Crossover Kickbacks: 3 x 15 + Drop Set
Dumbbell Side Bend: 3×12
Farmers Walk: 3×50 Yards
15:00 Elliptical, Resistance Bumped Up by 1 Every Week
Stretching/Yoga

Wednesday Evening:
5K Training Run
Stretching/Yoga

Thursday Morning:
Warmup + Foam Roll
Shoulder Rehab Circuits
15:00 HIIT on Stationary Bike
Glute Kickbacks: 3×12
Hip Adductions: 3×12
Dumbbell Drag Curls: 3×12-15 + Drop Set
Palloff Twist: 3×12
Palloff Press: 3×12
15:00 Stair Machine
Stretching/Yoga

Thursday Evening:
Stretching/Yoga

Friday Morning:
5K Training Run
Park Yoga

I’ve been at this for 2-½ weeks now and I swear I think my shoulder is getting better. I can’t wait to get back to my regular programming, but I’m trying very hard to not be overly ambitious. My plan is to stick with this for at least another month.

I’ve lost 10 pounds, so that’s something that’s happened.

Here’s the up-to-date tracker:

Road Trip Tracker
Road Trip Mileage	Total Mileage	Percentage Complete
1,284.37	875.260516	68.15%
Miles to Flåm	Leg Mileage	Percentage Complete
67.7295	67.807108	100.11%
Date	Type	Distance (Miles)
	Carryover	1.732108
4/7	0.68	Rower
4/8	2	Run
4/13	4.18	Cycle
4/14	0.76	Rower
4/15	2.1	Run
4/16	0.155	Stair Machine
4/17	1.26	Elliptical
4/20	4.4	Cycle
4/22	1	Treadmill Walk
4/22	1.45	Elliptical
4/23	4.35	Cycle
4/23	0.155	Stair Machine
4/24	2.35	Run
4/27	1	Treadmill Walk
4/27	1.3	Elliptical
4/28	2.03	Run
4/28	4.44	Cycle
4/29	0.195	Stair Machine
4/29	1	Treadmill Walk
4/29	1.33	Elliptical
4/30	2	Run
4/30	4.37	Cycle
5/1	0.195	Stair Machine
5/4	2	Run
5/5	2.13	Run
5/5	1	Treadmill Walk
5/6	1.43	Elliptical
5/6	4.27	Cycle
5/6	2.1	Run
5/7	1	Treadmill Walk
5/7	1.43	Elliptical
5/8	5.4	Cycle
5/8	0.22	Stair Machine
5/9	2.2	Run

Long leg ahead – 153.479 miles to Bergen!

Alltid Videre!

-JTF