Egyptian Christmas Cookies Along With Danish!

Are you getting ready for my favorite time of Year?  I've had a great couple of days spending time in my kitchen and baking my favorite Christmas cookies.

First on the list were my Egyptian petit fours.  I tweeked the recipe a bit and made them in single cookies without any filling.  And, I just had to add some green Christmas trees.  Every year my Danish grandma would make "spritz" cookies in the shape of green Christmas trees.  I have kept the same tradition for my family. If you want the recipe, you can find it here on my blog from a few years ago.  Remember, the key to this recipe is using clarified butter and powdered sugar which gives this cookie it's unique texture :)

Another popular Egyptian holiday cookie is Uraybee* or Ghorayebah* or as it's known in turkey, Kurabiyesi.  I bought this mix in Turkey and brought it home with me.  Luckily, it had only two ingredients I had to "translate" and again I used clarified butter and oil. (My oil looks green because it's grapeseed oil!)  The cookies came out perfect!  I'm sold on this cookie mix and plan to buy it again.  Kurabiyesi is a rich, buttery, shortbread type cookie with a very fine texture.  My favorite - yum!

Now, we're going to head back to Denmark and here's my pebernodder (peppernuts) that I made this year.  Again, this is one of my Grandma's recipes and I just had to make them since my brother will be joining us for the holidays and he loves these as much as I do!  You can find the recipe here from a previous blog post.  Remember, you need to prepare the dough the night before so that it can ripen  the wonderful, spicy flavor. I love to pop them in my mouth, savor the flavor a minute or two before I bite into this delicious crunchiness.

 

Today I made my Danish Kleiner.  It seems that every culture has their own favorite fried cookie and this is our family's tradition from Denmark.  Again, it's my Grandma's recipe that I treasure.  Hopefully, I can pass this onto my little granddaughter so that she can make them one day.  They will be put away in an air tight tin and wait the arrival of my son since this is his favorite cookie.

Four down and one more cookie to make.  Tomorrow I hope to make some plain, old, much loved, chocolate chip cookies but with a twist using Nestle's Holiday Baking Chips.  Don't you just love how colorful these are?  I'm using my dear friend Elizabeth's recipe which you can find here.

What are you baking?  If you would like to share, please feel free in the comments below.  That's  about all that is happening here at Lilly My Cat.  I hope to share another post soon.

Blessings to everyone,

Pat 

PS *the Arabic language can be hard sometimes to translate into the Latin alphabet since there is no standardized translation.  But, you can google this cookie and see what you come up with since it's a popular cookie for all the countries in the Middle East. 

~~~ A Norwegian Christmas Luncheon ~~~

Hello my dear friends.  Here I am writing about Christmas and we're having temps in the high 80's today!  I'm still not used to being in  California for Christmas.  Last week my beloved Daughters of Norway lodge held their Christmas luncheon.

Our dear member, Gerd, opened up her home to host the luncheon for us.  The tables were beautifully decorated with the holiday theme.

The tree was aptly decorated and we placed our exchange gifts under the tree.

Our hostess had many beautiful Christmas scenes throughout her home but I loved seeing these Nissemen in their holiday finery.

Some of our members wore their Bunads, the national dress of Norway.  Pictured above is Berit on the left along with Carla.  Berit brought Carla her bunad from Norway this past year and it fits her perfect.  I love the embroidered designs and the bag.  The style of the bunad is based on what part of Norway you come from. 

There were more tables set up in the kitchen where all the food and activity was taking place.  We had pickled herring on brown bread for appetizers and it was yummy.

It was soon time to take our place at our assigned table.  Pictured in the glass dish is lingonberry sauce from Scandinavia.  It went so well with the entree.

We sang table grace in Norwegian before beginning our meal.

Speaking of food, here is what we feasted on; Norwegian meatballs with brown gravy, pork sausage, boiled red potatoes, browned cabbage, red cabbage, and a lovely Christmas colored salad with fresh vegetables.  It was delicious.

After our main course, we had dessert and coffee and then departed to the living room to have our gift exchange. 

It was such a lovely afternoon, spent together with dear friends and to continue the experience of Scandinavian customs.  Being Danish, I'm going to have this same menu for my family on Christmas Eve.  It's a tradition that we have had for many years, dating from the time when I was young and my Danish grandma would be in charge of our Christmas Eve meal.  I warms my heart to be able to carry on this tradition for my family and my grandchildren.

If you are of Scandinavian descent and are interested in joining a lodge, please take a look at Daughters of Norway or the  Danish Sisterhood of America.  They have lodges throughout the United States and are most welcoming to new members.

Do you realize that Christmas Eve is two weeks from today?  My home is decorated, the presents wrapped and now I will start my Christmas baking - my favorite part! Have a blessed week everyone and I will be back again to share some more happenings.  And, Lilly, my cat is doing very well.

With my best wishes,

Pat

PS Thank you dear Heidi for my new blog design.  The header photo is from my beloved Gig Harbor, Washington. 

Meet Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Bear

Hello friends!  I've been wanting to share this project with you for a couple of weeks now, but I didn't dare show it until I had given these to my little grandchildren.

Presenting Mr. & Mrs. Valentine Bear...here they are enjoying the warm sun outside today in the garden.  

And, here they are warming their backs again the teapot.  Although, Mr. Valentine Bear prefers coffee!

They wanted to post as a couple for Valentine's Day and I think this photo suits them well.

My Valentine (my dear husband), gave me these lovely violets shown in the background as an early Valentine's gift.  Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Bear loved the bright colors.

Mrs. Valentine Bear has a picot edged skirt.  She preferred this design over the knit stitch pattern that kept curling up during the knitting process.

Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Bear are so soft and fuzzy since they are made out of Drops Lima which is 100% wool.  It was a joy to knit with on size 3 DPNs.

Here's all that left of the four skeins of yarn.  You can find my Ravelry notes here. 

I found this cute pattern and many more at Mary Jane's Tearoom.  Susan, who is the designer, was so, so kind and helpful to me while making this project.  She has some fun designs you can check out on her website.  And, if you have any questions, don't hesitate to contact her, as she promptly replied to my question and even sent me a free pattern.  Super nice!

I will sign off for now as my paperwork is calling to me to finish; a never ending job.  But, hopefully later tonight I will visit my knitting needles which holds a new project.

Thank you for visiting Lilly My Cat.

With my best wishes,

Pat

 PS - The colors I used reminded of a Scandinavian design.  The red is so difficult to photograph but the first photo is the truer of the color.  It was the perfect red.  

Linking with:

Yarn Along 

Holiday Brune Kager Cookies

Hello dear friends.  The countdown is on . . . are you ready for the festivities?  I hope that wherever you are that winter is being kind to you.  We have had very windy weather down here in southern California.  And, when the sun sets, the chill sets in.  It's a perfect time to sit by the fire, sip a hot cup of tea and enjoy some Christmas cookies.

Being Danish, I look forward to making my Christmas cookies each year.  It's been over 40 years since I bought the little ornament above in Copenhagen.  I love bringing it out each year and putting it in a special place on my tree.

This cookie recipe is so easy to make as you mix up the dough and let it sit for two days in the refrigerator.  It's a new recipe that I tried this year.  I found the recipe here online via The Oregonian.

 

I followed the recipe as written using dark Karo syrup for the brown baking syrup.  You  may wish to add a 1/2 teaspoon of salt to the dry ingredients. After you mix the dough, roll it into logs and refrigerate for two days before baking.

This recipe made about 150+ cookies for me.  Do you like the new Emma Bridgewater Christmas plate I bought for myself?  It matches the teacup and saucer that my daughter bought for me last year.  These cookies are flavorful and very crisp.  I had to laugh to myself as they reminded me of poker chips the way they sounded when I put them in the serving plate!  And, no, I don't play poker :) 

There are many different recipes out there for brune kager.  You can search online or maybe you have a much loved cookbook with a recipe you could use.  Here's a small collection of my Scandinavian recipe books.

The brune kager are all tucked away my new cookie tin waiting to make their appearance on Christmas eve.  I just love these new Scandinavian cookie tins that my daughter gave me for my birthday.

Do you have a special holiday recipe that you make each season?  I wish each of you blessings during this special time of year.  And, thank you for visiting with me today.

With my best wishes,

Pat

A Norwegian Birthday Party

Greetings  my dear blog friends.  I hope your week has been going well.  My week started off attending a birthday party on Monday for my dear friend Laila.  Laila is the cultural director for my local lodge of Daughters of Norway.

Gerd from our lodge hosted the party for Laila.  She had her house all decked out with the Norwegian flag along with our American flag.

The table(s) were set beautifully in anticipation of the guests arriving.  I love the Norwegian napkins as they add a special touch to the setting.

Laila was seated at this special table setting since it was her day to celebrate.  All who attended brought a dish to share for the potluck luncheon.  It was so nice to be together with friends and enjoy our afternoon.

Before the birthday cake was cut, we (all) sang this Norwegian birthday song.  It's a good thing that we have quite a few members from Norway whose first language is Norwegian!  Our lodge is planning on having Norwegian lessons for us other members.  It should be a fun adventure.

Ta Dah!  The special marzipan birthday cake.  It was layer cake filled with whipped cream and marzipan; heavenly.

And, to add to the festivities, Astrid, one of our dear members made this kransekake cake.  Someone had already nibbled a piece from the top!

Laila enjoyed opening her gifts.  Her favorite color is turquoise hence the wrappings.

And, here's the birthday girl opening her gifts.  Isn't that plant beautiful?  It was one of her gifts, too.

This is one of the gifts Laila received.  It's a handmade art card featuring hardanger embroidery.  This type of embroidery is very traditional in the Scandinavian countries.  It employs counted thread and drawn thread, usually white thread on white even weave fabric.   This lovely piece was made by Bonnie, one of our members.  Bonnie is so talented in this type of needlework. 

Maybe some of you are wondering about Daughters of Norway?  I'd love to share a few things about this group...

1.  The mission of the group is to unite into a sisterhood those who wish to preserve their Norwegian* heritage.

2.  The organization was started in 1905 with the first three lodges being in Washington state.  There were a lot of Norwegians who immigrated to western Washington at the end of the 19th century/beginning of the 20th century as there was waterways and they were experts in this field.

3.  In those early days, the lodge meetings were held speaking Norwegian.  It's quite fascinating to see how things changed as the years went by.  Today, we have many Norwegian/Americans whose grandparents immigrated from Norway.

4.  The Daughters of Norway are a vibrant and growing organization with over 1,600 members nationwide.  New members are joining monthly and lodges are continuing to be formed.

5.  If you are interested in learning about a lodge in your area, please check out their list of lodges. 

*As you may already know, I'm not Norwegian but Danish.  Lucky for me, the Daughters of Norway embrace all with Scandinavian heritage.  

As I think back about this organization, I find it quite fascinating that well over 100 years later, this group that began back in 1905 is still flourishing.  I'm also a member of the Danish Sisterhood of America.   The lodge closest to where I live meets about 60 miles away so I have not been able to attend since moving to California.  The Danish Sisterhood has similar beginnings at the end of the 19th century.  And, they too are still growing and thriving; getting new members every month.

I hope you have enjoyed this little glimpse into my Scandinavian clubs.  I grew up in a Danish farming community and after getting married, I moved to a "new" area where there were no immigrant families.  I missed my Danish heritage.  When I moved to western Washington about 20 years ago, I found these two organizations and they have brought back so many wonderful memories for me as well as increasing my knowing of my Scandinavian heritage.

Thank you for visiting today and I wish you all the best!

With my best wishes,

Pat

Linking with:

Amy's Five on Friday . . . 

Scandinavian Almond Cake & Snow in California

Our new year started off to a very cold start.....Yes!  we had snow here in southern California in some parts of our county.  I grew up with cold weather and lots of snow but maybe I have become climatized these last six winters in California...Here's some photos of the snow on the mountains near our home:

 These photos were taken from the bedroom balcony.  The "white" on the mountains is snow!

 My little grandson came over and his parents took him to an area about 10 minutes from our home and he was ankle deep in snow!  He was ecstactic and had so much fun.  But this snowfall caused a lot of problems for the people who were on the freeways/highways when the storm hit our area.

During the nights, the temperature dropped almost to freezing.  My succulent garden exploded in color:

We had severe winds one night and it blew over my pencil plant.  Luckily it wasn't harmed.

I ended up taking down all the Christmas decorations on December 29th.  Here's what is left of my poor tree....

It's waiting to be picked up by the recycling people and on it's way to a new life....

Do you recall that I ordered some Christmas goodies from Fortnum and Mason?  Well, they arrived in like four days and I was so pleased with everything.  But, this past week I got a bill in the mail from the delivery company and it showed that I owed $22.00 in customs duty.  I guess it was because my order was over the amount allowed customs free.  I learned my lesson.

I am so enjoying my new Emma Bridgewater teapot my husband gave to me for Christmas.  The teacup and saucer was given to me by my dear Mother in 1992.  It was the last Christmas we ever spent with her.  She passed away in the spring of 1993.  But, we all have wonderful memories of her that will never pass away.

Tomorrow I am hosting a dinner party for some dear friends.  The main course will be "Baghala Polo", Persian style lamb shanks.

 I like to write out my menu so that I know what I need to make ahead of time....

 I always make the dessert first and today I made a Scandinavian almond cake to serve:

It's such an easy, one-bowl recipe and tastes yummy too!  Here's the recipe:

Beat well:
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoon almond extract
2/3 cup milk
Add in:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
mix well and then
Add:
1/2 cup melted butter

Continue to blend until batter is smooth.  Pour mixture into a greased and floured loaf pan (the pan above is called a  “Rehrücken” you can use a regular loaf pan if you wish).  Bake in a 350 degree oven for approximately 40 to 50 minutes until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean.

Remove from oven and place cake face down on a wire rack to cool.  You can dust with powdered sugar or frost with a chocolate ganache or icing.

I will sign off for now.  I'd love to hear from you if you have the time to comment.  Enjoy your weekend everyone.

with my best wishes,
Pat

Danish Pebernodder - Peppernuts

I'm back again with another Christmas cookie recipe.  This time we are going to Denmark to make one of my family's favorite traditional treats.....

My Grandma Jorgensen was an excellent cook and baker.  She came to America as a new bride when she was 19 years old.  She and my Grandfather settled in Ellensburg, Washington, a farming community that had lots of Danes back then.  Grandma made these pebernodder every year for Christmas.  When she passed away in 1992 I had gathered most of her recipes but this recipe was not included.  It took me a few years of experimenting with different doughs.  This recipe comes the closet to Grandma's recipe.

This dough needs to be mixed and let sit overnight in a cool place.  Don't worry about letting the dough sit at room temperature as there are no eggs in the dough.  The dough will be stiff but it will easily roll out to be cut into small pieces.  So without further delay, here it the recipe.....

3/4 cup dark karo syrup
1/4 molasses
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon cardamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves (I left this spice out since I don't like cloves...)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon mace
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
3 1/2 cups flour

In small saucepan, mix karo syrup, molasses, butter and sugar.  Bring to a boil, stirring, over medium heat.  Remove from heat and let cool.

Mix all spices and baking powder together in a small bowl.  In large bowl, place flour and mix in spice mixture until well blended.  Gradually pour in warm syrup mixture and mix with a wooden spoon until blended.  Be careful as the dough may be a bit warm.  Dough should mix up and form a ball but not be too sticky.  Gather dough in ball and place in tightly covered container and let sit on the counter overnight.

Take a piece of dough and roll into a rope shape....

Roll the ropes in flour....

Cut ropes into small pieces.....

Places pieces of peppernuts on a greased cookie sheet...don't let them touch each other.....

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for about 15 to 17 minutes until lightly browned...

Remove from cookie sheet and place on a brown paper bag to cool...

There you go - you will now have a large container of Danish pebernodder. But, I must caution you...this cookie is rather hard.  Place one in your mouth and savor the flavor for a minute before you bit into it.  

I wish you each a blessed holiday season.  If you like reading this post, you can sign up to receive updates from my blog.  Just fill in your e-mail address at the right or follow via Bloglovin!

Wish you the very best during this magical time of year,

Pat

S. S. Stavangerfjord ".....a little bit of Scandinavian history...."

Hello everyone.  I hope you are enjoying your weekend.  It's been a busy weekend around here.  Yesterday, I attended my monthly meeting of the Daughters of Norway.  Our lodge meets once a month and since I'm the secretary, I attend each meeting.  It's a lovely group of ladies that enjoy hearing about our Scandinavian culture besides eating and drinking coffee!  On a more serious note, we do raise funds for numerous scholarships and give back to the community where it is needed most.

Our guest speaker yesterday was our longtime member Astrid.  She shared with us her family's journey from Norway to America.  It was so interesting and when she said that her family had sailed across the Atlantic on the Norwegian American Line ship the  S. S. Stavangerfjord I jumped in my seat.  My family too had sailed on the Stavangerfjord back in 1955.  Although I was under two years old and can't remember anything, my family has always told me the stories associated with this voyage.

Astrid told us a story of celebrating her birthday on the ship and having a ribbon on her hat that read: S.S. Stavangerfjord.  Well, here's a photo of those same ribbons from the voyage my family took:

 Above is an old postcard photo of the Stavangerfjord.  We boarded this ship in New York City.  Back then they still had different classes of passage; first, cabin and tourist.   Below is some technical information about this grand old ship.

And, here's the front page of the Passenger list from the sailing that my family took:

I can't forget about the great food the Scandinavians enjoy, so here is a copy of one of the dinner menus on the sailing:

 

Above is a photo of the egg cups from the Norwegian America Line ships.  They were made in Norway by Porsgrund, a Norwegian porcelain company.

My beloved Danish grandparents immigrated to Washington state from Denmark in the 1900's.  Here's a photo of them taken around the same time as this trip:

When I decided to write this post I knew I had all the keepsakes put away some where.  I looked high and low for these items and finally found them tucked away with my cookbooks.  While looking for them, I came across this knife of my father's:

 

If you look real close, you will see the words Stavangerfjord on the bow of the ship.  During these past few years, I have met two people who have sailed on the Stavangerfjord; Astrid and another Norwegian lady who was a musician on the ship back in the 1950's. 

This ship and many like her sailed many miles across the sea, carrying its passengers back to the homeland or to their new home.  From what I have read, the S. S. Stavangerfjord was retired in 1963 and I believe sold for scrap metal.  I'm sure there are many many passengers who have fond memories of sailing on this grand old ship. 

If you are of Scandinavian descent, please click on the link above for Daughters of Norway and see if there's a lodge near you.  It's a wonderful way to meet new friends and learn about your Scandinavian heritage.

I wish each of you a wonderful fun filled week.

Pat

Lilly reminded me (between her cap naps) that you should pop over to Handmade Monday to see some great ideas!