Norwegian Jul

December 25, 2014 – Norwegian Jul

Elliott and I are enjoying a calm December 25 after a festive Norwegian Jul on Christmas Eve (or as I sometimes call the day, erev Christmas).  Yesterday, Marshall, Matt, and our friend Judy joined us for a holiday celebration in the spirit of Elliott’s Norwegian family.  The event was relatively low-key and definitely food-oriented.  Starting in the afternoon, the aroma of cardamom-scented julekake baking perfumed the whole house.  My experiment with cooking a roast beef was semi-successful:  it took longer in the oven than we expected, but it turned out to be edible.  While the roast was in the oven, we nibbled on two Norwegian cheeses, gjetost and nøkkelost, and sipped warm spiced cider. After a brief consultation with our guests, we decided to skip the herring course since none of them was a fan of “fishy” fish.  However, the potato latkes, string beans with shallots and mushrooms, braised red cabbage, and cucumber salad were big hits with everyone.  The red cabbage, in particular, was a revelation – melt-in-your-mouth tender and delicious.  Let me know if you’d like me to send you the recipe. 

  

We’re not big gift-givers at holiday time so I was a bit surprised when Elliott cajoled me into taking him to Home Depot earlier in the week, before Hanukkah ended.  I asked him if it could wait, but he insisted that it was urgent.  It turned out that he was looking for a special type of broom called a “push broom,” which would be ideal for cleaning the new tile floors on the lower level.  While I appreciate his thoughtfulness, I don’t believe that this item was on my Hanukkah wish list.  However, I can’t complain.  A week ago, my wonderful husband made a 2-mile round trip trek with his walker just so he could surprise me with a card on our anniversary. 

Holiday gift shopping at Home Depot

And now we have a day without company to cook for, which seems quite strange.  We were originally planning to go to the movies and then out to a Chinese restaurant.  But with the appearance of sunshine after several gloomy wet days, I’d prefer to stay home with the sun streaming through the windows, eat yummy leftovers, and take a nice long walk in the neighborhood (especially after all the butter I used in yesterday's meal).  And I guess I’d better write that overdue annual letter before the day is over!