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Show H DECEMBER 22, 1982 -- Z j Te y 3 Christmas Preparations Of A Danish Housewife By DONF.TA GATIHRIM 34 Tablespoon sugar V goose, red cabbage fixed a special way, carmal-ic- d potatoes and rice porridge are the main dishes served on Christmas eve in Denmark. PREPARATION FOR the Christmas season begins car ly in the month of December w hen the Danish housew ives start baking cookies. Some are very fancy. Almond flavor ing is a popular ingredient in the Christmas cookies. Mrs. Olga Swcnxcn was born in Jutland, Vejlc, Denmark. This city of about 40,000 people is in the middle part of the country. The population is supported by three cotton mills that made raw cotton into yam. The raw cotton is imported to Denmark from Texas. Romm AFTER OLGA finished school she worked in the office at one of the cotton mills. She became acquainted with LDS missionaries, joined the church and desired to immigrate to Utah. It took two years to save the money and to reach the top of the list of Danish names allowed to immigrate to the U.S. Olga got a job working in the LDS Church office building in Salt Lake City. She became acquainted with Lynn Swenscn, a native of the U.S. who had served an LDS mission to Denmark and the couple got married. MRS. SWENSEYS mother still lives in Denmark. She has two sisters and a brother who immigrated from Denmark to the northern part of Canada. IN DENMARK, Christmas presents are exchanged around the Christmas tree on Christmas eve. Carols are sung. Silent Night" is as popular in Denmark as it is in most other countries. d ReinRudolph the deer" has become a favorite of Danish children in recent years. Typical Danish carols tell about the Christmas tree, the gifts that are given and received and the Christmas bells. Religious carols retell the story, A child is bom in Bethlehem. Red-Nose- CHRISTMAS lasts up to six days in Denmark. Most of the time is spent eating good foods and visiting with families. Olga's mother used to say a person couldnt leave a Danish home at Christmas time without eating. The following recipes are outstanding examples of the foods prepared by a Danish housewife for Christmas. RD KAAL (Red Cabbage) T head red cabbage (3 lbs. 1 V i cup butter cup red currant juice or currant jelly 1 apple, cubed Vi cup sugar 2 Tablespoons vinegar 1 tsp. salt Vi white rice cup cup blanched and chopped almond 2 tsp. vanilla 14 pint whipping cream BRING THE milk to a boil in a saucepan and add the sugar and rice. Stir once or tw ice, then lower the heat and simmer uncovered about 25 minutes, or until the rice is quite soft but not mushy. Pour the finished rice immediately into a shallow bowl to cool it quickly and then add the chopped almond and vanilla. Whip the cream and fold it into the tepid rice mixture, turn intoa serving dish and chill before serving. A cold cherry or raspberry sauce is often served on lop of this modem version of an ancient Christmas porridge. long-grai- n V AF.BLESKIVF.R (Danish Pancake Balls) 2 cups flour I tsp. baking powder ft tsp. soda I ft cup buttermilk Tablespoon sugar ft tsp. salt 2 eggs 1 BEAT EGGS and sugar well. Sift dry ingredients and add to mixture. Add buttermilk and beat until batter is smooth. Fry in acbleskive pan. Heat pan over medium heat, melt one teaspoon margarine in each hole. Fill holes completely, let bake few minutes and turn acbleskive with a fork or an Fry until golden brown. Applesauce or small slice of apple may be dropped in each hole before turning. Serve hot with jam and sugar. When the family of Major Hans Stolks was transferred from Holland to Hill Air Force Base, they brought their Dutch customs along to celebrate Christmas. ice-pic- Stationed At Hill Field VANIUEKRANSE (Vanilla Rings) 1 cup butter ft cup sugar 2 cups flour 1 egg tsp. vanilla ft tsp. carbonated ammonia ft cup chopped blanched almonds 1 CREAM BUTTER and sugar. Add the rest of mix until dough is smooth. Fill into cookie press,) form rings. Place on well greased cookie sheet and bake 10 minutes or until golden brown at 350 degrees. This is one of the most popular cookies in Denmark. ingre-dient- (Brown Cookies BRUNE KAGER A special Danish Christmas Cookie) cup butter cup sugar 4 cups flour ft cup molasses 1 tsp. baking soda V tsp. cloves ft tsp. ginger 1 tsp. cinnamon 1 Tablespoon grated orange rind Almonds for decoration s, A Dutch Christmas Celebrated In The New Country w ' .. i t; 1 1 WASH CABBAGE head, cut in 4 parts, remove inner stalk. Chop the cabbage fine and sprinkle with vinegar, so the cabbage does not turn black. Melt butter in large kettle, add sugar and salt. Add cabbage and let cook 15 minutes. Add the rest of ingredients and let simmer about two hours. BRUNEDE KARTOFLER (Carmelized Potatoes) 24 small new potatoes 54 cup sugar 8 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted COOK AND peel potatoes 2 inch skillet over a low Melt the sugar in a heavy heat. Cook slowly for 5 minutes until the sugar turns to a brown color. Stir constantly with a wooden the sugar closely, it must not become too watch and spoon dark or it will be bitter. Stir in the melted butter and add as many potatoes as possible without crowding the pan. Shake the pan almost constantly to roll the potatoes and coat them on all sides with the caramel. Remove to a heated serving bowl. 10-1- light-carm- PORRIDGE IS a term often used in story books but not common in our modem vocabulary. This rice and almond dessert is a Christmas porridge. RIS A LAMANDE (Rice and Almond Dessert) 1 quart milk her Christmas customs. In 1979 V tsp. nutmeg tsp. cloves Vi tsp. baking powder Vi tsp. salt 3 Tablespoons milk Almonds Vi Major Hans Stolks of the Royal Netherlands Air Force, his wife, Nellie and their five children, Henk, Bram, Peter, Corrie and Leo transferred from their home CREAM BUTTER and sugar. Add rest of ingredients. Knead together. Form into two rolls and cool in refrigerator. Cut cookies very thin and decorate with half a split mblanched almond. Bake in 325 degree oven for in Holland to Hill Air Force Base. The Stolks family purchased a home in Layton. Hans will be stationed at Hill until 1985. Mrs. Stolks says the family loves living in Layton. PREHEAT THE oven to 375 degrees. Mix dry ingredients. Mix separately the butter and sugar, add milk, add flour and spice mixture gradually. Refrigerate shapes. Press the dough firmly into the molds. Pick out with your fingers, carefully. Bake for 15 minutes. Ordinary cookie cutters can be used to make these cookies. They like skiing, hiking and camping. 8-- inutes. KLEJNER 4 eggs ft cup sugar ft cup butter 4 cups flour 3 Tablespoons cream 1 tsp. baking powder Vi tsp. salt 1 tsp. cardemon 1 lemon rind, grated Pure lard for cooking BEAT EGGS and sugar until lemon colored. Add the rest of ingredients. Mix well. Roll out thin on a lightly floured board. Cut in diamond shape, slit in center and twist end through. Fry in deep fat at 375 until golden brown turn with fork or ice pick. Drain on absorbent paper. After moving to the United States, Olga Swensen preserved her danish heritage in ft tsp. ginger By DONETA GATHERUM AT CHRISTMAS time, however, they stick closely to their Dutch customs. We tried celebrating Christmas the American way one year but it just wasnt the same, Nellie Stolks says. The winter celebration of Christmas in Holland really centers around two days. December 6 is the birthday of St. Nicolass. December 25 is Christmas the birthday of the Christ child. ST. NICOLAAS is pictured as a religious bishop wearing long white robes and a large bishops hat. He comes to Holland by boat. Accompanying St. Nicolaas is a servant named Black Peter. THE EVE of December 5th is a fun time for Dutch families. Gifts are exchanged. Family members hide the presents throughout the house. Sometimes it takes all night to find the presents and open them, Mrs. Stolks says. One time I gave my husband a book. I placed it on a shelf with other books. He looked all night for his present. If a family member wants something that is very expensive, he might receive a homemade replica of the expensive gift. One year our son made a carton and foil mirror for his sister who wanted an expensive mirror. Bones and other funny presents are given on the eve of December 5th along with good presents. BLACK PETER is a gift giver. He climbs on the roof tops and puts presents' down through the chimneys. The shoes of children are filled with gifts by Black Peter. Dutch children leave carrots or old bread for St. Nicho-laa- s horse. There are two special cookies the Dutch people make at Christmas time. Mrs. Stolks kindly translated the recipes for these delicacies from Dutch into English. The wooden hand molds used to make Speculaas can be purchased at The Watched Pot in the Layton Hills Mall. SPECULAAS (St. Nicolaas cookies) Gingerbread cookies cut into picture shapes. The designs of these cookies have not changed for centuries Tablespoons butter cups flour 1 Tablespoon cinnamon ft tsp. mace Vi tsp. anise 12 BOTERLETTER (Cookies shaped in the form of a persons initials) This is a French pastry dough. It can be purchased frozen at many grocery stores or it can be homemade. If you make your own dough, it is time consuming. . t 150 grams flour 40 grams butter 5 to 5 y litters water 3 grams salt, if the butter you use is unsalted. If you use salted butter, dont add salt. PUT FLOUR and salt in a bowl, add butter. Mix into about 30 small pieces the size of a pea. Work until no flour is left in the bowl. Cover the counter top with flour and the rolling pin with flour. Roll out the dough until it is about Vi centimeter thick. Try not to touch the dough. Remove the dough from the rolling pin with a knife. Fold the dough three times lengthwise and then across. Roll until it is 13 centimeter thick. Fold, roll out, fold and let rest in a cool place for 30 minutes. REPEAT the rolling and folding process three more times and then shape the dough into the form of a letter. Cover the shaped dough with almond paste that has been prepared ahead of time. If the paste doesnt stick to the dough, brush the dough with egg white, beaten or a little milk. Place the letter on a greased and floured cookie sheet and let rest for 30 minutes. Baste with egg white. Bake at 425 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. ALMOND PASTE Prepare this several days or a week before it is to be used - 150 grams almonds use unpeeled almonds. Cook them and then peel them and grate fine 150 grams sugar 1 egg 1 Tablespoon water Grated peel of one-halemon lf MIX THE sugar, water, lemon peel and egg to form a paste. Cover the grated almonds. ' |