Wenche Andersen from Good Morning Norway – TV chef
The TV chef from Good Morning Norway
Wenche Andersen (67) has many good memories from her childhood Christmas. She still has to make donuts every year, and the Christmas tree is never decorated until Christmas Eve.
Oslo: The year is 2017. Wenche Andersen sits among the audience in the Grieg Hall in Bergen, along with what can creep in and out of film and TV personalities. The “Golden Route” is nearing its end, and the Honorary Prize will be awarded.
“In all the world,” Wenche thinks as the name is read out, “Is there anyone with the same name as me?”
She looks around the hall and wonders what her namesake looks like. Then they start poking her around the shoulder.
“It’s you, Wenche.”
She laughs a little resignedly.
– I really thought it was someone else the same as me. But it was very, very nice to receive the honorary award, the 67-year-old admits when we meet her right after the broadcast in the Good Morning Norway studio at Aker Brygge.
She’s been here since five o’clock this morning. Before that, she did as she often did. When the alarm clock rang at home in Lommedalen at four o’clock, she thought she was lucky to be able to get up to go to a job she enjoyed.
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Chattering a lot and born gentle
She has a bright mind, she realizes.
– I was born gentle according to my parents, so it’s not difficult. We sisters learned early on to be polite, greeting, and no. I was a pretty chatty little girl, I still am. I chat a lot. Being gentle costs so little. It’s easier to be gentle than to be angry. I hate being mad. Then I see myself from the outside and think: “My God, what do you have to be angry about?” But I can “burn”, and then I can probably be a little unreasonable and have to apologize.
Since she appeared on screen in 1994, she has been part of the Norwegian people.
– Most people react most to the voices, more than the appearance, she explains.
Without make-up and well-groomed hair, she is not as recognizable, she believes. Now, for the third year in a row, she is current with Wenche’s Christmas calendar on TV 2. In the course of 24 episodes, she inspires us to gather in the kitchen and prepare for Christmas together, and shows her tricks about everything from Christmas baking, edible Christmas presents to crispy ribs.
It was at home in Lommedalen that interest in food was aroused in earnest.
– I got to join, she says simply, about why.
She lived in a yard, with grandparents, aunts and uncles around, and no one ran in and out of each other. Wenche got to be with his grandmother in the brewery house early and fried lefser and flatbread, was curious about food and cooking.
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As a nine- to ten-year-old, she cried to be with when the pigs were to be slaughtered.
– I had nightmares long afterwards, but beyond that there are only good memories from a safe and good childhood.
Security was in the kitchen
That she thrived so well in the kitchen is handled most of all about security and care.
– Grandma taught us to show care by sharing food and baking with those who did not have much, those who experienced the loss of their loved ones, and not least to celebrate holidays and family gatherings.
Wenche felt safe in the kitchen and allowed to try his hand.
– It was never a bad thing to get if you did something wrong. There was always someone who said “Okay, you read wrong on deciliters and liters. Then we make waffles instead of mold cake ». If you have done the best you can, it is good, and then you dare to do a little more. Just as important as cooking and baking was that it always had to be cleaned and washed up.
The mother was at home, so Wenche spent a lot of time with her and the sisters.
– But also alone. When we asked to make something, the answer was always “Yes, as long as you clean up, you can make whatever you want”.
It is important to let go of the kids, she believes.
– That we tolerate spills, and we tolerate that things go wrong. Most things can be saved, and then there will be a nice story about the day you made a mistake with salt and sugar.
Celebration with the extended family
She has many fond memories of Christmas in her childhood home, with grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins and cousins living right next to each other.
– We started quite early in December. Grandmother and grandfather had a small farm, and they had pigs to be slaughtered in connection with Christmas. We made jam from the head, made sausages and sliced the meat.
There were always seven kinds of Christmas cakes.
– The cake boxes were to be filled. Dad was the boss to fry the donuts, Mom made the dough. Today, not many battles are made, but we keep the tradition alive by frying donuts.
For Christmas, the whole house was to be washed, drawers and cupboards and everything was to be clean for Christmas. New curtains and always rent bedding on Christmas Eve, freshly bathed on Christmas Eve.
The Christmas tree was decorated on Christmas Eve, never before. Wenche has maintained that tradition.
– I probably decorate a little earlier than what mom and dad did.
Baker with son and daughter-in-law
There will not be seven strokes.
– But donuts are included. And croissants and Berlin wreaths, which I make with my son and daughter-in-law. Then we have a nice time together in the kitchen.
The traditions carry on.
– It is nice to see that the tradition is maintained, but also that they continue to grow, expand, and that new traditions are created. From grandparents, through my parents, to me and to son and daughter-in-law.
– What do you need for Christmas?
Donuts. It’s a lot about my dad. It has followed me for so long, and there are such fond memories of him taking over the kitchen with an apron and standing there frying. When he got old, and we took over, we had to go out to Dad with the first donut we fried, so he got to taste it with a glass of milk next to it.
Christmas ribs in Sørlandet
The Christmas mood creeps in already on the first of Advent.
– Then I bring out Christmas decorations that my son has made. But also here in Good Morning Norway, we automatically get in the Christmas mood.
This year it will be Christmas with son and daughter-in-law in Sørlandet. But before she travels south, she visits her mother at the nursing home. She decorates a bit and has a nice time. She’s looking forward. In Sørlandet, the son, true to tradition, is responsible for the Christmas ribs.
– It is always successful, crispy crust and juicy ribs. There is a lot of care in it. Ribba last year was absolutely fantastic. Crunchy crispy crust and juicy and marbled meat.
She knows that many people struggle during the Christmas holidays. Therefore, she is keen to show that it does not have to be perfect for Christmas.
– We try that here in Good Morning Norway as well. I have to make things that people feel they master, something everyone can manage to make. We have to put the list down a bit. It does not have to be gourmet food all the time.
It is important to set aside some time for Christmas preparations and fun and create traditions, she believes.
– I know that many have long working days, but it is possible to plan on Thursday or Sunday we will bake something or make Christmas decorations. Just be together. You must not make rolls and jam, everything must not be homemade. You can create a tradition around what you buy. It’s better to be happy buying cakes and putting them in a cake box, than to stress if you do not have time to bake. We must not have a bad conscience for what we do not have time to do.
Good memories create best without stress
She herself gives the bluff in Christmas trends and has the Christmas decorations in a cardboard box. She picks them up and reminisces a little each time. The dorullnisse that the son made in the kindergarten, and other good memories in the Christmas decorations, are brought out every year.
– Then we can create atmosphere with light, glitter, cook, bake and relax without stress. It’s better to do a little less, and do it with joy, than to do a lot that you just get stressed out about.
A long life on television has made many feel that they know her. It’s mostly fine.
– There are so many nice people, so nice people. But I do not necessarily apply for company when I have time off. I thrive very well in my own company, and that’s a bonus.
When she’s not on the TV screen, she enjoys herself in the woods and at the cabin in the mountains. Maybe she reads a book, listens to some music, visits her mother, washes the house or the car.
– I mostly enjoy what I do, she smiles.
She does not like to have anything unresolved with people.
– I do not like to be unfriendly with anyone. One should not go around being enemies. We must dare to apologize if we hurt someone, do not let it be like a “gnawing wound” that lies there and creates a bad mood. Dare to put things into words is important. The “Cardamom Law”, slightly rewritten, is good. You can argue and disagree, but then you have to finish it. Are we doing something stupid and hurting someone, say sorry.
She laughs again.
– I sound like an innmari old lady. But it’s just that it’s so stupid to wait to apologize or say “I love you”. It costs so little.