Two years ago I published this post about making krumkake (Norwegian waffle cookies) with my grandmother, Karin Nordstrom Hood. Last week, for the first time in probably five years, I actually made some. Here is everything all set up and ready to go: batter, spoons and the iron warming on the stove. I even remembered to place tinfoil under the burner .
The batter must be placed on the iron one spoonful at a time. By the end I had figured out how big the spoonful should be and that it needed to be spread around a bit.
This spoonful was a bit to big. The knife in the previous photo was used to scrape off the excess batter. This photo shows why the tinfoil is useful.
Almost two hours later a plateful of krumkake and family history. Next year, I will buy an electric krumkake iron with automatic heat settings, cool to the touch handles, and a non-stick surface. Some models even make more than one at a time. My mother questions this plan. She asked, in the disapproving way that only a mother could, "Would using an electric iron be the same as using your great-great-aunt's?" Um... no, of course not, but that's not the point. The point is, more krumkake with less effort. Yum!
I am feeling a bit cantankerous this holiday season, so I was going to post Happy Xmas (War is Over) by John Lennon. I have always like it and thought it was appropriate this year since the last US troops have recently left Iraq. However, the imagery for the official John Lennon video, while beautiful and moving,was also a bit disturbing. I mean worth seeing and being reminded that as long as there are humans our families will be torn asunder by war; but perhaps not appropriate for Christmas Day. If, on the other hand, you are "up" for this sort of thing, the video is here.
Ultimately, I went for Andy Williams and a clip from his Christmas show. I don't really remember watching his specials, but I know one of the highlights was seeing his kids grow up as they appeared every year. I picked O Holy Night because it was one of my grandmother's favorites and she sang it beautifully. I tried to learn to play it on the piano and she tried very hard not to sing it with me or sing the correct notes when I hit the wrong ones. After several years, I finally told her to sing along because I could hear her in my head anyway.
