God Jul

 

Yesterday, the day before Christmas Eve, which is now Christmas Adam, (Adam came before Eve :-)) was Scandinavian Heritage Day here at the Reeder homestead. 

First up, Fattigman. This is a Norwegian fried cookie flavored with cardamom.

Seila, whose parents immigrated from Bosnia a few years before she was born, is having fun with our traditions. She was the cutter (I was the roller-outer of this very springy dough), Irene did the knot tying, and Isaac was the fryer. 

Tom was the hot oil supervisor.

When the cookies are cooled they are coated with powdered sugar. Yum.

Next up was the Swedish potato lefse.

The family wants it but I was about ready to give up making it. It's a lot of work, an imprecise recipe, just going by feel. The mashed potatoes, made rich with butter and whole milk, are made the day before to be thoroughly chilled. Just enough flour is added to make a dough that is manageable. The rolling out requires a light touch and lots of flour to prevent sticking.  

I started us out, and then turned the rolling out over to my staff. Isaac tried one and then Seila took over. She soon mastered the touch.

Irene did the griddle cooking, using the special turning stick. Tom did the cleaning up. 

I see that I didn't take many photos of the process. By then I was tired and tried to just sit and watch. That's not always easy for me.

My crew did a great job, no disasters, no sticking, and when they were through, we tasted the product, rolled up with butter and cinamon sugar. Yum again.

All of these goodies, the cookies, the cardamom bread, and the lefse, will be part of our Christmas Eve celebration, and Christmas Day too. 

And now the table is set. There is a little quiet time before the family arrives. It's going to be surf and turf for our dinner tonight: steak, crab, and salmon. No turkey. New traditions. 

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas, or as they say in the northlands, 

God Jul!