Solstice!

 Happy Solstice!

Yesterday was a very dark day, but today the sun is peaking out of the clouds.

There are two sets of footprints on the driveway today. Usually it is my job, and my pleasure, to walk out to the street to get the newspaper each morning, but today our slushy snow has turned to ice and I was afraid to cross the street. 

Tom did the fetching today while I just enjoyed the walk, the chill, and the light. It was plenty light because we had a good sleep and a very late start to our day.

We are having an easy day today, resting up between busy days.

Yesterday we acknowledged our Nordic heritage by making lefse and fattigmand with our grands. 

Fattigmand is a cardamom flavored fried dough cookie. Isaac does the frying. I have the dough made ahead of time, and roll it out.  

I cut the strips and the slits, and Irene ties the bows. 

After they are cooled the cookies are coated with powdered sugar. Of course we sample to make sure they are fit for consumption. Fattigmand are easy and fun. The name translates to "poor man's" cake. 

Lefse makes a mess of the kitchen. Flour everywhere. I make the mashed potatoes the day before so they are well chilled. The day of making, I add enough flour to make a soft dough. The less flour you have to add the yummier the lefsa, but the harder it is to roll out. 

My dough was very soft. Flour was flying. 

I rolled the dough, and Irene manned the lefse iron (griddle). 

It takes a delicate touch to keep the dough from sticking. Eventually I was happy to let Tom try. He was very good at it. I think I might have a replacement!

Isaac enjoyed some down time, watching and being absorbed on his phone. Then he took a sheet of lefsa hot off the griddle, buttered it, sprinkled it with cinnamon sugar, cut and rolled it, and we all sampled our product. Yum!

Tom has gone shopping. I told him if he found something he wanted he should buy it and I would give it to him for Christmas. We are not really giving gifts to each other this year, because we want for nothing you could buy in a store. I know he will come up with some little thing for me though. 

I have a lazy afternoon ahead of me. Tomorrow I bake cardamom bread, and then every day will be busy for while.

Happy Solstice. Let there be light!