christmas table

[crankody]

well i've been a good girl this week.. made all the cookies and cakes i had planned.. 200 meatballs, got a turkey and im ready for christmas.. just need the tree. my mil will be a sour puss this year when she sees my turkey and tatters on the table but who cares.. im sick of ham, korv and meatballs as a christmas meal.. we eat meatballs and korv every other week..

what ya all having at your table? turkey also?

[Natooke]

Turkey on the 24th ;D left overs on the 25th and no visiters either ... so if I'm still in my PJ's until 12 noon ... we are not rushing out the door going somewhere ;D I've got most everything done too ... need to do my Pyrogies thou ... big job but worth it ;D

[crankody]

oh thats right..make sure you save a few for me when you come over

[Natooke]

Ahhhhhhhhhh duhhh I don't share but I'll show you how to do them ;D

[crankody]

ok that will have to do.. man im gonna be busy learning those and now i have another friend from africa who is giving me cooking lessons also.. oh what good food i will be able to make.

[Carolyn]

We're probably going to have a spiral cut ham (close as we can get to julskinka) and cheese scalloped potatoes instead of Janssen's frestelse (can't find the RIGHT anchovies here), plus I'm getting some pickled herring for Anders. It will just be the two of us this year and we'll do the food on Julafton, since we did it Christmas Day last year, the American way. I may just get a turkey breast as well, since I LOVE turkey.

Christmas Eve at dark, we're going to take the luminaria tour this year. We missed it last year. For anyone who is unfamiliar with this, in the Southwest, at least New Mexico, Christmas Eve is a time for luminarias. They are brown paper lunch bags with about an inch of sand in the bottom and a candle. You space them about 8 inches apart or so along your driveways, sidewalk, the roof of your house, any garden walls, make patterns on your lawn, and at dark Christmas Eve, you light them and they cease to be brown lunch bags and become magical.

Whole areas of town will be covered with them, especially the Old Town here (dating from the 1500s), and thousands of people come out to see the different neighborhoods with their displays as well. We have booked a tour on a bus, let somebody else drive through that madness.

The idea came from Spanish tradition, where it is believed that if Joseph and Mary are out there wandering, looking for a place for her to give birth, the light will lead them to your door.

[Sabeine]

That sounds so beautiful Carolyn!

Well I don't know what I will be eating this year for Xmas. I grew up eating the traditional Swedish food. That is one tradition that my parents weren't giving up after they moved to the U.S. I however only ate meatballs, ham, and potatoes. No sill for me!
My mom would try and try to get me to eat it. It was always the same thing, year after year I would have a bite cause my mom claimed that was the year I would like it. It is slimey and gross, and I gave it up totally four years ago. I won my freedom from sill. ;D

Last year some of my Swedish friends and I had an anti-Xmas dinner. We ate oxfile and this fantastic potato and cheese puree dish that my friend made. Not a traditional Xmas food in sight. It was really cool. It was a group of those that either couldn't or didn't want to go to their families for Christmas. Too bad this year most of them are going somewhere. I guess families will excuse them for doing it one time, but not two years in a row.

Next year I hope to be in San Diego for the holidays. As crazy as it sounds, Christmas just isn't the same without some sunshine, palm trees and the ocean.

[crankody]

the cheese scalloped potatoes sounds much better than that janssen's anyday... i ususally have potatoes on my christmas board becaue 2 out of 3 of my kids, myself and my dh are just not fans of it but MIL gets so sour about it and we fight for 3 days about the potato issue. well this year her knickers are going to be so wadded when she sees my turkey and stuffing and the works.. it has always has been a huge fight about having a canadian christmas.. well if i cannot have it on the 25th atleast i will have the food this year.. its gonna be fun..
and carolyn this luminarias sounds wonderful.. hope you guys have a good time.

[Sabeine]

It seems sad that your MIL can't understand that you like Christmas to be familiar for you. You want your turkey Xmas, and she wants her ham Xmas. That's fair enough, but she can't expect you to give up yours, any more than she would give up hers.

I grew up with a Swedish Xmas. I think it might have been nice to have a turkey Xmas where at least I would have eaten more than 2-3 items. When we had the ham and sill Xmas, I ate only meatballs, ham and some potatoes. Everything else had anchoivies, sill or red beets in it. A tukey Xmas sounds fabulous to me.

You should have your Christmas the way you like it, after all it will be at your house, right? I may not like a sill Christmas, but I would never tell my SO's mom what to serve.

[Carrie]

We are traveling down to Skåne for Christmas, so I won't have much to do with the Julbord. I will cook a turkey, cornbread dressing, giblet gravy, greenbean casserole, and maybe mashed potatos. Hmmmm. Now that I've said that, it sounds like a lot! I know last year they had prinskorv, lots of varieties of sill, meatballs, julskinka, and a huge salmon. I cooked a turkey also, and it was picked clean by the end of the evening (I don't think the kids really like fish). Also, this year I've been baking up a storm and freezing stuff so that we can have some good cookies and candies. Last year the only sweets at the Julbord were bullar, and that was sooooo weird to me. I'm a chocolate fanatic, so this year I'm going to make sure I have something yummy. So far I've made peanut butter balls, chocolate crinkle cookies, Bavarian Christmas bars, fudge and snickerdoodles. This week I'm going to top it off with divinity, white chocolate coated pretzels and Mexican wedding cakes. I'm going to divvy it up into three, giving 2 batches to friends and then taking one batch down to Skåne.

That's so crazy that your MIL has a problem with you having turkey and potatoes. Why should she care what extra things you have as long as she has what she wants? Sounds crazy to me.

Carrie

[Carolyn]

Yeah, I don't understand why, since it's essentially a smorgåsbord, that you can't have EVERYTHING on it, turkey AND ham, Janssen's AND regular potatoes or stuffing. After all, it's one of the few days in the year where too much is OK.

Myself, our last Christmas in Sweden, Anders did most of the cooking and had the traditional stuff, but I had some kalvsylta on the table, because I like it. The kids and Anders think it's gross, but it's something I like to have, so we had that, and we did the Janssen's AND regular potatoes, because I'm allergic to fish, so I can't eat Janssen's without an allergic reaction.

But then this all goes back to my old song and dance about 15 percent of any population being truly flexible in their attitudes anyway. With the other 85 percent, it's "This is the way it is, has always been, always will be." Kind of a bore and very sad, if you think about it.

And, Carrie, I betcha all those goodies will be gone by the end of the day as well.

[Sabeine]

Wow Carrie,... can I come?

I think it's amazing that you have such energy and dedication to make and bake all those foods. I haven't baked cookies from scratch in years. Each year I say I will, but I don't. It mainly comes down to time and patience for me, I don't have much of either. ha ha

The divinity sounds so good. When I was 16 I worked part time at a mom and dad owned candy store. It was the kind of store where they made all their own stuff. Chocolate dipped strawberries, cherries, apricots etc.. Plus every kind of fudge, and turtle one could think of. We also made various assortments of handmade truffles. Those of us that worked there got to sample everything, it was a part of the business.

Sadly, they are no longer in business. It was hard for them to compete with companies like Ethel M, See's, and for the fancy palette, Godiva.

I haven't had Divinity fudge since then, I think it's long overdue. I REALLY should make some this year.

[Pam]

Yes Anna, you SHOULD make divinity this year, you SHOULD! And you do have my address?? hahaha
Last couple of years we've been at my siser-in-laws for Christmas. They have the traditional food which we all divvy up making but I always take something of 'mine' and tell them if they don't like it it's perfectly okay to not eat it because that won't hurt my feelings. They've managed to choke down what I've made so far. They went so nuts over sausage balls last year that I already have sausage made and in the freezer to make them again. I'm not sure which sweets I'll make but I'm sure I'll make some. They like my fudge and strangely (and easily) enough, no-bake cookies.
Hey guys, a Polenta alert if you're making dressing...today I opened a box of Risenta brand polenta from Konsum. I noticed something stringy like a hair. When I tried to pick it up there were several stringy thingies. Upon further examination I decided the absolute only thing it could be was spider webs. Pretty but not appetizing. Luckily I'm the type that's paranoid about running out of stuff when I'm cooking for a bunch so I had another box (another brand also) and managed to make my dressing. Just check it before you use it.
Happy cooking and happy eating. I had my birthday dinner tonight a little early and made a completely American meal. Everyone left full and happy.

[Sabeine]

Birthday? Is it your birthday Pam?!

Congratulations!

[crankody]

well i really dont' give a rats ass this year what my Mil thinks (and she really is crazy but dont get me going on her tonight ).. and im even putting up the tree tomorrow.. so much for swedish traditions but holy cow ive had enough of them now. if i wasn't working the 25th this year santa would be making a pit stop that morning instead of the night before.. so merry christmas to all and to all a good night..

i also did some xmas baking and am going to make a batch of scotch cookies..what is christmas without them i ask...