What a wonderful peek into your family's food traditions! My Norwegian family makes vaffler, a kind of rich waffle dough, for sandwiches. They were a staple of our hikes in the fjord country where my family is from. Spread with butter while warm, and top with gjetost sliced thin, fold over, put them in your pack with apples picked fresh from the tree on the fjord-side farm outside Alvik on Hardangerfjord, and you're set for an all-day ramble!
I do still believe the meatball sauce you taught us is the best - the mixture of grape jelly, currant jelly, chili sauce and cocktail sauce slowly warmed over meatballs is a favorite appetizer at my house . . . and I thank you for this recipe.
Finding a favorite line in your work is always easy -- "To think about what gets passed down and what passes away." Even when we feel lacking in power, we possess it! We can quash any traditional family recipe (or tradition) by refusing to serve it. Nobody among our Nelsons or Krohns eats raw beef at Christmas anymore even if I regale my kids with tales of it!
Beef tartare? Ew. Glad you found a take-away from my personal aversion to oysters. I remain curious to see if food traditions are easier to relinquish or reinforce than so many other family experiences and stories and secrets.
Yes questioning the disconnections for me too. Loved the “boiled snot!.” . And learning about oysters off the coast. I wonder if the appeal had anything to do with craving something oysters supplied that was needed? I’m not much for oysters or lutefisk although once I had it cooked in a way, I believe it’s supposed to be and it was a step above runny. It was flaky and not bad. My mom talks about growing up and eating oyster stew Christmas eve . Her mom was Scandinavian. The boundaries seems flimsy. So many of these foods you mentioned are familiar to me, but that has to be added to the mixed in family bohemian traditions of kolache’s, liver pate and always more sausage. Thanks for this!
Oyster shells are ground up and mixed in chicken feed because it adds something essential to their diet while laying eggs. Calcium? Bohemian smorgasbords across the Midwest mixed in green bean casserole, pimento cheese dip on ritz crackers, and always more Swedish sausage. My Grandma Swenson used to make her own sausage and the secret was grinding her own meat -- pork and beef with the right mix of spices with the potatoes. Nom. Grandma also taught me to eat with chop sticks and her two favorite restaurants were Lee Chin's in downtown Minneapolis and Fuji Ya's in St. Anthony Falls. She passed on the love of Asian cuisines to me.
I was quite surprised how little family history was passed down from one generation to the next. Forgetting the past seems to have been something many immigrant families passed on.
Boiled snot! Yuck. I grew up with parents who always prepared oyster stew on New Year's Eve. I didn't really care for it, but I do like raw fresh oysters with horseradish! I've determined that my love of almost any kind of cheese is due to the "fact" that Heidi had to be my cousin.
My sister still makes it as Mom trained her right. There are lots of basic recipes online, and the easy ones use potato flakes instead of homemade mashed potatoes. Take about two pounds of russet potatoes and peel them, then chunk and boil until tender. Best to put them through a potato ricer, but you can mash them well enough by hand with a quarter stick of butter, 1/4 heavy cream, tsp of salt and about a cup of flour. About a cup means you need to get a sense of how wet the potatoes are and you want to create a smooth dough. Make sure the dough has cooled; can let set overnight in fridge. Divide into pieces and roll into balls that are about two inches round. On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to create flat rounds about 1/4" thick. On a dry skillet on medium heat, fry the lefse on one side until it begins to turn golden and flip. Serve warm or at room temperature with butter. Good luck!
What a wonderful peek into your family's food traditions! My Norwegian family makes vaffler, a kind of rich waffle dough, for sandwiches. They were a staple of our hikes in the fjord country where my family is from. Spread with butter while warm, and top with gjetost sliced thin, fold over, put them in your pack with apples picked fresh from the tree on the fjord-side farm outside Alvik on Hardangerfjord, and you're set for an all-day ramble!
that sounds wonderful!
I do still believe the meatball sauce you taught us is the best - the mixture of grape jelly, currant jelly, chili sauce and cocktail sauce slowly warmed over meatballs is a favorite appetizer at my house . . . and I thank you for this recipe.
Ha! I've forgotten I made that and must give credit to my friend Amy who first made it for me about 40 years ago. Tangy!
Oh my God I loved this!! It was so witty and well written! So heartfelt and interesting! Thanks Jill!
Thanks Stephanie!
Finding a favorite line in your work is always easy -- "To think about what gets passed down and what passes away." Even when we feel lacking in power, we possess it! We can quash any traditional family recipe (or tradition) by refusing to serve it. Nobody among our Nelsons or Krohns eats raw beef at Christmas anymore even if I regale my kids with tales of it!
Beef tartare? Ew. Glad you found a take-away from my personal aversion to oysters. I remain curious to see if food traditions are easier to relinquish or reinforce than so many other family experiences and stories and secrets.
It's so interesting to think about how our ancestors influenced us in ways we aren't even aware of! (I don't like oysters either, lol.)
I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who finds oysters unappealing. Yes, also interesting the ways in which I deny the influences of their history.
I love that an old family tradition prompts you to look at your traditions now. I love to see connections.
Thanks for reading. The connections and in my case, the disconnections, are interesting to explore.
Yes questioning the disconnections for me too. Loved the “boiled snot!.” . And learning about oysters off the coast. I wonder if the appeal had anything to do with craving something oysters supplied that was needed? I’m not much for oysters or lutefisk although once I had it cooked in a way, I believe it’s supposed to be and it was a step above runny. It was flaky and not bad. My mom talks about growing up and eating oyster stew Christmas eve . Her mom was Scandinavian. The boundaries seems flimsy. So many of these foods you mentioned are familiar to me, but that has to be added to the mixed in family bohemian traditions of kolache’s, liver pate and always more sausage. Thanks for this!
Oyster shells are ground up and mixed in chicken feed because it adds something essential to their diet while laying eggs. Calcium? Bohemian smorgasbords across the Midwest mixed in green bean casserole, pimento cheese dip on ritz crackers, and always more Swedish sausage. My Grandma Swenson used to make her own sausage and the secret was grinding her own meat -- pork and beef with the right mix of spices with the potatoes. Nom. Grandma also taught me to eat with chop sticks and her two favorite restaurants were Lee Chin's in downtown Minneapolis and Fuji Ya's in St. Anthony Falls. She passed on the love of Asian cuisines to me.
It's perfect at the holidays, and there is almost always a holiday.
Boiled snot got me too. And slurping raw oysters is just unboiled snot!
We oft don’t think of the history - until the family historians have passed. Like a burnt photograph we don’t get that lore back.
Nice story.
I was quite surprised how little family history was passed down from one generation to the next. Forgetting the past seems to have been something many immigrant families passed on.
Boiled snot! Yuck. I grew up with parents who always prepared oyster stew on New Year's Eve. I didn't really care for it, but I do like raw fresh oysters with horseradish! I've determined that my love of almost any kind of cheese is due to the "fact" that Heidi had to be my cousin.
Oyster stew on New Year's Eve is a tradition I've heard of before. I hadn't heard about eating raw oysters with horseradish. I do love horseradish!
Great story! Do you have a recipe for lefse to share??
My sister still makes it as Mom trained her right. There are lots of basic recipes online, and the easy ones use potato flakes instead of homemade mashed potatoes. Take about two pounds of russet potatoes and peel them, then chunk and boil until tender. Best to put them through a potato ricer, but you can mash them well enough by hand with a quarter stick of butter, 1/4 heavy cream, tsp of salt and about a cup of flour. About a cup means you need to get a sense of how wet the potatoes are and you want to create a smooth dough. Make sure the dough has cooled; can let set overnight in fridge. Divide into pieces and roll into balls that are about two inches round. On a floured surface, use a rolling pin to create flat rounds about 1/4" thick. On a dry skillet on medium heat, fry the lefse on one side until it begins to turn golden and flip. Serve warm or at room temperature with butter. Good luck!