When I think of Christmas, I remember the Scandinavian foods from my childhood: Krumkakke (a round crispy tube cooky), lefse ( soft flat bread made from potatoes and served with brown sugar and butter), pickled herring, lutefisk with melted butter, fattigmand (poor man’s cookies), and klub (potato dumplings with bits of salt pork in the middle). I can almost taste the spritz cookies, gingerbread with whipped cream and applesauce, and Mom’s rosettes ( crispy, fried cookies that melted in my mouth). There were trays of pickled beets, green and black olives, baby dills, and Grandma’s bread and butter pickles. Mom always made a big turkey and huge dishes of Norwegian meatballs.
Is it any wonder that I included some of these traditional Scandinavian dishes in my historical novels about Norwegian immigrants? My Scandinavian heritage and foods twine into one thing in my heart and mind.
This year I tried a new recipe for Rommegroet Bars that is much quicker to make than the traditional rommegroet pudding. We liked it and I think you will, too. (Rommegroet is a cream/flour pudding that tastes like cheesecake.)
Rommegroet Bars: 2 pkg crescent rolls; 2 8-oz pkg cream cheese; 1 1/3 cups sugar (divided);1 egg separated; 1 tsp vanilla; 1/2 tsp cinnamon
preheat oven to 350 degrees. grease 9X13 pan. press one pkg crescents to cover bottom of pan. mix cream cheese, 1 cup sugar, 1 egg yolk, and vanilla. spread over crescent layer then cover with remaining pkg of crescents. beat egg white until foamy and baste over top layer. mix remaining sugar and cinnamon and then sprinkle over top. bake for 25 minutes until golden brown. cool, cut and enjoy.
Merry Christmas to you and your family. I hope you take the time to bring back childhood memories by making some of those traditional dishes. Goed Jul!
One Response
I’m going to try making these! They sound yummy. Goed Jul to you and yours as well.