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Cabin Fever

Cabin Fever

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My wife baked me a couple of nice Julekaga yesterday!

The newfallen snow set the perfect mood, and oh, the aroma of cardamon, the sweet candied fruits, and the golden raisins. What could be better?

Julekage is Norwegian (or Danish) Christmas Bread. Add a steaming cup of old-fashioned spiced Swedish Glögg with raisins and almonds and you have the recipe for a lovely Scandahoovian Christmas evening.

Traditional Scandinavian baking is quite a stretch for my Texan/southern cook, but she did her best and I approve!
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Sorry, not even remotely close.
Agree.. Lefsa is a whole different thing... If done right..

The only holiday bread I've had in 8-9(?) years has been a few kolache... They were good, but not the same...
 
Both my grandmothers were full blooded Norwegians. I grew up with Lefse, haaringcaga, krumcaga, Kumla, and especially kringla. My family still has kringla for special occasions, and occasionally we'll have kumla too. Julecaga isn't something that's made in my family but I've had some good homemade stuff before and it's fantastic.
 
Yeah, about the only thing lefse and tortillas have in common is their appearance...sorta. Mom used to make lefse every Christmas. Grandma used to make kolaches, strudel, and potica. Grandma was Czech but Grandpa was Norwegian. So, she made traditional recipes from both countries.

And while we're at it, let's not forget lutefisk!
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Cabin Fever said:
.......And while we're at it, let's not forget lutefisk!
View attachment 120980
Click to expand...

Once you've smelled it, you will never forget it.

The only thing that can give it a run for the money, is a truck load of durian. You don't want to be down wind of a Norwegian community lutefisk cook out.
 
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lutefisk, Durian and Balut. three items NOT on my bucket list.
I got tricked into mountain oysters.

Such things make me wonder what ancestors thought such things MIGHT taste good.
Probably the same one who figured out that eating those blue mushrooms lets you see the gods.
 
Cabin Fever said:
Yeah, about the only thing lefse and tortillas have in common is their appearance...sorta. Mom used to make lefse every Christmas. Grandma used to make kolaches, strudel, and potica. Grandma was Czech but Grandpa was Norwegian. So, she made traditional recipes from both countries.

And while we're at it, let's not forget lutefisk!
View attachment 120980

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We can forget lutefisk. It smells like a nursing home bathroom...
 
ClemKadiddlehopper said:
You don't want to be down wind of a Norwegian community lutefisk cook out.
Click to expand...
Lutefisk dinners are often paired with Swedish meatballs for community dinners for fundraisers.

https://www.willistonherald.com/new...cle_d5c50402-94d6-11ec-8478-e7d9722d8fe0.html
First Lutheran Church’s annual Lutefisk and Meatball Supper is returning for the 88th year, bringing back a time-honored tradition that has only been missed twice since 1933.
Only twice, in 1945 and 2021 has First Lutheran skipped the meal, not canceling it, but rather “omitting” it, as it was described in a 1946 article. This year, the feast is back and bigger than ever, with volunteers working throughout the week to prepare over 1,500 pounds of lutefisk, 750 pounds of meatballs and 1,000 pounds of potatoes. The doors are open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26 at First Lutheran, with deliveries available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. On average, the church feeds over 2,000 people each year, many of whom look forward to the dinner as a way to catch up with their neighbors after a cold winter.

The dinner is making a change from family style to buffet style due to COVID-19 precautions, setting up in the Church’s remodeled Fellowship Hall. Proceeds from the dinner go towards various charities throughout the area, helping support local youth camps and other organizations. The dinner is the longest standing dinner in Williston, taking the lead after Faith United Methodist discontinued their annual corned beef and cabbage feed.

“We just felt it was important to bring it back for the community,” said church member and longtime volunteer Bob Eynon. “We know it’s an event people look forward to and come from many miles to attend. It’s just a time of fellowship and we know people like it, and as long as we can still go through that much lutefisk, we’ll keep it going.”
Tickets are available at the door and are $20 for adults and high school students, $10 for Jr. High and grade school, and free for pre-school. Call 701-572-6363 for delivery and take out. First Lutheran Church is located at 916 Main street.
 

Julekake | Julekaga ~ Norwegian Cardamom Scented Christmas Bread​


https://www.ruchikrandhap.com/wprm_print/15644

Ingredients​

For the dough:​

  • 2 teaspoons active dry yeast * see notes
  • 1/4 cup lukewarm water
  • 1/2 cup lukewarm milk
  • 1 egg
  • 50 gm unsalted butter softened at room temperature
  • 1/4 cup sugar * see notes
  • 1/4 tsp salt * see notes
  • 4 to 5 pods of cardamom powdered
  • 2-1/2 cups all purpose flour maida
  • 1/2 cup mixed candied fruit or peel tutti frutti
  • 1/4 cup golden or dark raisins

For the glaze:​

  • 1 egg lightly beaten
  • 1 tbsp milk
  • sugar candy/pearl sugar or crushed sugar cubes and/ or slivered almonds

For the icing:​

  • 1/2 cup icing sugar
  • 1 tablespoon cream or milk
  • ¼ teaspoon almond extract optional
  • 1 tablespoon slivered almonds optional

Instructions​

  • First, activate the yeast by placing it in a small bowl. To it, add the lukewarm water, lukewarm milk and 1 teaspoon sugar (from the 1/4 cup sugar) and mix everything together and keep aside for 10-15 mins or until the mixture turns frothy. * see notes
  • In a large mixing bowl add the egg, butter, sugar, salt and the yeast mixture and mix well. Add the flour and the cardamom powder to it and knead until you get a soft, pliable and elastic dough. If the dough is too sticky add a little extra flour or if it feels too hard dab your fingers in water and continue kneading till you get a soft dough.
  • Take the dough out and flatten it into a largish round. Sprinkle the candied fruit and raisins evenly and then roll it up, swiss roll style, knead the dough lightly and roll it up into a ball.
  • Place the dough in a well-oiled bowl and cover the bowl loosely with a tea towel. Keep in a warm place to rise until double in volume, about an hour or so.
  • When done, lightly knead the dough and shape it again into a ball. Place it on a baking tray lined with parchment (or you can also use a cake or loaf tin). Keep it to rise for another 45 minutes.
  • Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C and lightly brush the surface of the dough with the egg wash (beaten egg) or with milk if you want to skip the egg. If you are not going to use the icing sprinkle crushed sugar cubes or slivered almonds on top and bake for about 30 minutes till the bread is golden brown on top. Cover the bread with foil after 15 minutes into the baking time if you feel that it is browning too fast on the surface.
  • Remove and cool completely on a wire rack.
  • For the icing, mix the ingredients together until you get a thick pouring consistency and pour in the centre of the bread - the mixture will dribble along the sides forming a pretty design. Place a tray under the rack to collect the excess icing mixture. Sprinkle chopped almonds or candied peel over it. Let the icing set before serving

Notes​

1. If the yeast does not turn frothy discard the mixture and try again with a new package of yeast. If the yeast is old or beyond expiry it is pointless using it as the bread won't rise very well or rise at all. 2. If you plan to use the icing, use just about 1/4 cup sugar (as per recipe above). If you won't be using icing then you can increase the sugar to upto 1/2 cup (in total) 3. I used Amul salted butter so skipped the salt. Use the salt if you are using unsalted butter
 
Daughter is half Norwegian and made lefse and krumkake with her grandmother. She has a lefse iron and two krumkake irons that I found one at church rummage sale and one at a thrift store.

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/68293/norwegian-krumkake/

Norwegian Krumkake​

Krumkake is a Norwegian crispy wafer-like cookie that's rolled into a cone. Pipe them with whipped cream or dip them in melted chocolate for a delicious treat. You can even use this recipe to make your own ice cream cones!

Ingredients​

  • 1 cup white sugar
  • ½ cup unsalted butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon butter flavoring, optional

Directions​

  1. Beat sugar and butter in a large bowl until combined; add eggs, one at a time, mixing well. Add flour, milk, vanilla, and butter flavoring; blend into the batter until smooth.

  2. Heat krumkake iron over a medium burner; lightly grease both sides of the iron with butter or cooking spray.

  3. Spoon about one tablespoon of batter onto the center of the preheated iron; close gently until just pressing together. Cook until golden brown on one side, about 30 seconds, then flip and cook on the other side. Remove krumkake from the iron and quickly roll up around the handle of a wooden spoon to form a cone. Repeat with the remaining batter.

  4. Cool krumkake completely on a wire rack before storing in an airtight container.

Recipe Tips​

Other flavorings can be added in addition to or instead of vanilla.
You may need to experiment with the amount of batter and baking time depending on the iron. You can also use an electric krumkake or pizzelle iron.

krumkake.JPG


krumkake iron image.jpg
 
Weedygarden said:
Lutefisk dinners are often paired with Swedish meatballs for community dinners for fundraisers.

https://www.willistonherald.com/new...cle_d5c50402-94d6-11ec-8478-e7d9722d8fe0.html
First Lutheran Church’s annual Lutefisk and Meatball Supper is returning for the 88th year, bringing back a time-honored tradition that has only been missed twice since 1933.
Only twice, in 1945 and 2021 has First Lutheran skipped the meal, not canceling it, but rather “omitting” it, as it was described in a 1946 article. This year, the feast is back and bigger than ever, with volunteers working throughout the week to prepare over 1,500 pounds of lutefisk, 750 pounds of meatballs and 1,000 pounds of potatoes. The doors are open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 26 at First Lutheran, with deliveries available from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. On average, the church feeds over 2,000 people each year, many of whom look forward to the dinner as a way to catch up with their neighbors after a cold winter.

The dinner is making a change from family style to buffet style due to COVID-19 precautions, setting up in the Church’s remodeled Fellowship Hall. Proceeds from the dinner go towards various charities throughout the area, helping support local youth camps and other organizations. The dinner is the longest standing dinner in Williston, taking the lead after Faith United Methodist discontinued their annual corned beef and cabbage feed.

“We just felt it was important to bring it back for the community,” said church member and longtime volunteer Bob Eynon. “We know it’s an event people look forward to and come from many miles to attend. It’s just a time of fellowship and we know people like it, and as long as we can still go through that much lutefisk, we’ll keep it going.”
Tickets are available at the door and are $20 for adults and high school students, $10 for Jr. High and grade school, and free for pre-school. Call 701-572-6363 for delivery and take out. First Lutheran Church is located at 916 Main street.
Click to expand...
Below is the ad for the Lutheran church where we enjoy lutefisk. As you can see from the ad, the church serves FOUR rounds of dinners in one night. 160 people per round. The people from this church operate the annual lutefisk dinner like clockwork. You better be done with your supper in one hour or you get kicked out! :)

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Cabin Fever said:
@Weedygarden you forgot the recipe for Norwegian rosettes!

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LOL! I didn't forget! I was also concerned that I'd gone too far off track of your original post, because I do that! I've been looking for a rosette iron to purchase. I looked again yesterday. I understand that the older used ones are better to have and use than the newer ones. I had one when I lived in ND, a newer one, but I could never get them to release from the iron. It was always a disaster, so I must have sold it at my big yard sale before I left ND.
 

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/18082/norwegian-lefse/​

Norwegian Lefse​

I was raised on lefse as a special treat for the holidays. We still make it every holiday season and this is the best recipe ever. We eat ours with butter and sugar. Note: you will need a potato ricer to prepare this recipe.

Ingredients​

  • 10 pounds potatoes, peeled
  • ½ cup butter
  • ⅓ cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Directions​

  1. Gather all ingredients.

  2. Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes; drain.

  3. Run hot potatoes through a potato ricer into a large bowl. Beat butter, cream, salt, and sugar into riced potatoes. Let cool to room temperature.

  4. Stir flour into potato mixture to form a soft dough. Pull off pieces of dough and form into walnut-sized balls.

  5. Lightly flour a clean cloth and roll out lefse balls to 1/8-inch thick.

  6. Heat a griddle over high heat.

  7. Cook lefse on the hot griddle until brown blisters form, about 1 minute per side. Place cooked lefse on a damp towel to cool slightly. Repeat with remaining dough, stacking them on top of each other as they're cooked; cover until ready to serve.
 
Weedygarden said:

https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/18082/norwegian-lefse/​

Norwegian Lefse​

I was raised on lefse as a special treat for the holidays. We still make it every holiday season and this is the best recipe ever. We eat ours with butter and sugar. Note: you will need a potato ricer to prepare this recipe.

Ingredients​

  • 10 pounds potatoes, peeled
  • ½ cup butter
  • ⅓ cup heavy cream
  • 1 tablespoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon white sugar
  • 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

Directions​

  1. Gather all ingredients.

  2. Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with water; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes; drain.

  3. Run hot potatoes through a potato ricer into a large bowl. Beat butter, cream, salt, and sugar into riced potatoes. Let cool to room temperature.

  4. Stir flour into potato mixture to form a soft dough. Pull off pieces of dough and form into walnut-sized balls.

  5. Lightly flour a clean cloth and roll out lefse balls to 1/8-inch thick.

  6. Heat a griddle over high heat.

  7. Cook lefse on the hot griddle until brown blisters form, about 1 minute per side. Place cooked lefse on a damp towel to cool slightly. Repeat with remaining dough, stacking them on top of each other as they're cooked; cover until ready to serve.
Click to expand...
When Mom made lefse and if the batter seemed too thin, she'd use potato flakes to thicken it up. Most people probably would have use more flour.
 
Weedygarden said:
I have never made it. I did buy my daughter a lefse iron a few years ago. Since she has celiac, she makes it gluten free.
Click to expand...

I have never heard of a lefse pan. I had to look it up. Apparently, it's a flat electric griddle. We always did ours directly on the wood cook stove. Now I use 2 big cast iron frying pans on gas.

You also need a lefse roller to get the lefse paper thin with 'proper' markings.

I got confused by someone mentioning thin batter. Lefse isn't a batter, it's a dough. I never heard of anyone putting sugar in the dough before. You get enough by spreading butter on it and sprinkling that with sugar.

I would think that putting sugar in the dough would make it even more difficult to roll out. Sticky is bad news to a lefse rolling pin and so is scorching the lefse.
 
When I lived nearer Lake Superior the only Lutherine church near had a lutefisk, lefsa fund raiser.. It was WONDERFUL... They boiled the lutefisk outside with a turkey fryer.. Like said you could smell it 2 miles away...

All the other churches near were Czech, Bohemian Catholic parishes with roast beef, turkey, chicken, spaghetti and other dinner fund raisers... All with bake sales... As a single guy I rarely had to cook..
 
Speaking of church dinners and festivals, early in our relationship my wife and I went to a polish Catholic church for their pork and sauerkraut dinner. One of the priests had a cart he was pushing between tables selling beer. After the dinner, we went downstairs to the basement. In one room, there was a big BINGO game going on. In the other room, was a band and polka dancing. Of course, they were also selling beer downstairs.

My wife said I have to call my son. (Her son is a Texas southern Baptist minister.) She got him on the line and said, "You're not going to believe this! In Minnesota, you can dance, gamble, and drink in the churches."
 
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