The quest for Ricotta cheese.

I try to have Zack over for dinner once a week. I feel bad that he always eats out, or eats what is left over at Trolltech. Zack is a vegetarian, so I normally feed him pasta. I decided to make lasagna because it would be a little different, and yet still safe for Zack to eat. I found a proper pan, and all the ingredients except one, Ricotta cheese. I looked in every store near us with out success. I even went to my favorite little “mom and pop” shop but no one knew what it was, or sold it.

I went to Trolltech one day and asked some of the HR people if they knew where I could find it. Only one person knew what I was talking about. She had lived in the USA and had also gone on a hunt for the cheese when she had first arrived in Norway. She told me about a little Italian grocery store that sold it. She had not been there in a long time, but they should still carry it. It would take about a half hour to get there on the bus, so I started out. I found the street I was sent to, and walked to the address I was given. When I arrived there I did not find a grocery store, I found a gas station. I walked up and down the street hoping that the number was wrong, but again I could find nothing.

I returned to the bus and went home very disappointed. On my way I stopped at my favorite “mom and pop” store to pick up some vegetables for dinner. As I walked to the casher, I saw a boy unpacking a new shipment of Ricotta cheese in to the fridge. I was ecstatic as I realized my search was over.

Happily the lasagna came out well, and everyone enjoyed it. It feels good to make familiar foods that we enjoyed in the USA. It can be difficult at times to find all the ingredients needed, but in the end it is worth it.