Marek's First Christmas

We went to see Santa at the HyVee on Sunday.  Marek wasn't bothered at all!  Maybe he'll think differently next year.

I took this picture a couple weeks ago in our do-it-yourself living room glamour shot studio.  I remember buying that outfit for him last Christmas before he was born.  I swear time just stood still while I was pregnant waiting for him to arrive and now I can't believe how time has flown!

My mother made him a hardanger Christmas stocking and of course we had to put him IN it!  He is such a happy baby.

I put the tree up the day before yesterday and I'm going to leave it up until at least the new year.  I just have not had time.  I wrapped all the gifts I had sitting in the sewing room and set them out.  We are having my family Christmas after the New Year so I have a little time yet.  We'll have our little family Christmas on Christmas Eve.

I didn't go anywhere this year to get any new and exotic ornaments.  These came from Target and I just loved them because they were a little gingerbread family.  I think the gingerbread lady dresses and carries  herself way better than I do!

They didn't have a gingerbread dog so Lopi was kind of sad about that.  She is still the top dog and is so patient and loving with Marek.  Here she is lounging on the couch like a dog.

Brenda and Melissa came to visit about a month ago and we worked on Christmas ornaments using Melissa's Cricut machine.  I was really impressed with all the things you can do with it and all the design options to choose from.  The machine cut this delicate "snowflake" out of adhesive vinyl that was then stuck onto this plastic ornament.

I coated the inside of it with glow in the dark paint so of course I had to go check it out in the bathroom!

Here is another ornament I made with a Nordic sweater themed snowflake.  This one was painted with metallic silver.

Brenda brought these plain wooden frames which we painted and cut embellishments with the machine.  This is pronounced "Go Yule" and is Norwegian for Merry Christmas.

And speaking of Christmas crafts, look what Marek made at daycare!  We got so lucky with our daycare lady and she so pleasantly surprised me when she gave this to us yesterday.  I've been meaning to make some salt dough ornaments of his hand and foot prints and this is even better because I can see and use it every day.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

In Praise of the Humble Rutabaga...

I was in Norway over a year ago and have yet to write up my official report.  In my defense, I did have a baby in the meantime so I've been a bit busy.  I've mentioned a few things here and there, so I guess my Norway report will have to be in topical installments.  Why rutabagas, you ask?  My major food discovery this trip was the rutabaga and it all happened because of raspeballer.  Raspeballer, kumla and klubb are all different terms for the same potato and flour dumpling.  Rick Steves recommended this Kaffistova restaurant in his travel guide and after checking their online menu, I learned they have raspeballer night every Thursday.

We really don't eat out much when traveling because we do it on the cheap, but for this we'd make an exception!  The place was very busy and it smelled like the Lutheran church basement during a kumla supper.  It was intoxicating and comforting on a brisk October evening.  They served the dumplings with currant jelly, lamb or a kielbasa style sausage, and kålrotstappe.  I had no idea what this rough golden mash was but it was delicious.  My google translate called kålrot a swede.  Apparently the rest of the free world calls a rutabaga a swede.  The more you know!  That lamb was buttery melt-in-your-mouth and if I'd been blindfolded, I'd have sworn it was ham.  We boil our kumla dumplings in ham broth and serve it with ham.  My sister put these pictures on her facebook that night and inspired all our friends and family back home to make kumla for the first time that season!

I couldn't wait to make this when I got home!  I did some reading and rutabagas are high fiber and much lower in carbs than a potato so it makes an excellent mashed potato substitute for diabetics and dieters.  They are healthy and filling and a little goes a long way.  I usually buy 2 good sized rutabaga and cook them together with 2 medium potatoes to aide the texture as well as a couple carrots to replicate the style of the restaurant. 

I used to boil them all together in a pot but rutabagas are dense.  They are hard as a rock when you chop them and take longer to cook than the carrots and spuds.  Here are my implements of destruction including my Instant Pot!  I'm still getting to know it but I love it!  It is a life (and time!) saver when you're busy with a baby and household.  That gray heart thing is a silicone trivet in the shape of a Norwegian heart shaped waffle.  More on that in a minute.

This thing is MAGIC.  Six minutes in here and you have beautifully soft cooked root vegetables with just 2 cups of water.  This makes a huge bowl and I always freeze half to eat later and save some prep time.

They're a little too fibrous to run through the ricer so I use my food mill instead with the largest blade.  I like them a little rough and rustic like they served in the restaurant.

I bought that waffle trivet because the heart shaped waffle is such a symbol of Norway.  Waffles aren't just for breakfast there.  They are dressed up and eaten with sour cream, jam, Nutella, nuts, etc. and taken with formal coffee or at sporting events or what have you.  This is a billboard we saw and this waffle is topped with gjetost which is sweet brown goat cheese made from boiling whey.  That waffle couldn't get any more Norwegian!

We went to an early Saturday morning flea market and had a blast.  They had an awesome turnout for such a cool day.  There were all kinds of things for sale: dishes, antiques, silver, clothing, coins, furniture, etc.

I was not all surprised to find a stall selling waffles (vaffler) and coffee.  This young lady was gracious and charming and visited a little with my dad in Norwegian.  You can see all the toppings for the waffles including a block of brown cheese with the slicer resting on top.

Here is Dad loading up his waffle.  It cost 25 kroner which is about 4 dollars but was worth it.  He shared a little with my sister and me and I have to say it was the best waffle I'd ever tasted.  I registered for and received a heart shaped waffle iron for my wedding but I don't use it nearly as much as I should.  Maybe my trivet will encourage me to bake more with it!