Krumkake this Christmas

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
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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!

Cooking up Memories

This week turned out not to be a week for genealogy, it turned out to be a week for cooking. For several hours yesterday and all day today, I was in the kitchen cooking. It was a long day and a half, but I now have 35 meals for four in the freezer and more time for genealogy in the next couple of months.

My other cooking project for the week was making, at my father's request, two of his favorite dishes. First was "cheesey potatoes" a potatoes au gratin dish from his mother's oldest sister, Ann Eldridge Leake.  Nothing wrong with cheese and potatoes, so I was excited to make those. 

The second requested dish was his mother's ham loaf. I remember eating it once or twice when I was young - I was not impressed. The only part I liked was the top as it was where the sauce of brown sugar and vinegar made the loaf all nice and crusty. I think I there were many unhappy faces since I refused to eat the middle of the loaf. I was not looking forward to this making the ham loaf.

Apparently, the ham loaf recipe also came from Aunt Ann. It was super easy to make. It was also surprisingly yummy. I voluntarily took left overs for dinner the next day. My mom and dad said my Mamaw used to serve it when she entertained. I can understand why: it's inexpensive, easy to make, and easy to serve.

Cheesey Potatoes

Aunt Ann's Cheesey Potatoes

There is not proper recipe for this dish. Basically its cubed potatoes covered in a white sauce with lots of cheddar cheese mixed in.  Mamaw would first parboil the potatoes before baking.  She’d place the potatoes in a large glass casserole dish, pour the white sauce over the potatoes and add the cheese.  Bake until dish was hot and chees was melted. 

Ham Loaf

 Mamaw's Ham Loaf

      1 1/2 lbs. cured raw ham, ground

      1 lb. fresh pork, ground

      1 cup dry bread crumbs

      1 cup milk

      2 eggs

Sauce

      1 cup brown sugar

      3/4 cup water

      3/4 cup vinegar

      1 teaspoon dry mustard

      Mix ingredients together and form into loaves.  Cover with more bread crumbs.  Bake in slow oven, (300 - 325 degrees for about 2 hours).  When crumbs begin to brown, baste with sauce.

 

I think this makes more sauce than can be poured over the ham; I threw about half of it out and half ended up at the bottom of the oven.  Afterwards, my dad suggested that I reduce the sauce so it could be dribbled over the load a la fancy restaurant style.

Advent Calendar: Krumkake and Cardamom Memories



Krumkake Iron & Cardamom Pods

While I do many things in the kitchen the way my mamaw (Bennie Eldridge Epperson) did, I always associate holiday baking with my grandmother (Karin Nordstrom Hood). I spent many an hour helping grandma make cookies before Christmas and then on the day I helped her make gravy and candied sweet potatoes. Baking with grandma is probably the only time I felt any connection to my Scandinavian heritage.

At Christmas we usually made krumkake, rosettes, spritz, and fattigmanbakels. The one that stands out most in my mind is krumkake. She never said, but I imagine grandma started making it as a child. As an adult, she often came home from work and spent the evening  standing over the stove making krumkake for an event the next day. She told me that once she made them for a friend or relative in the army (quite possibly her brother during WWII).  He wrote back, "Dear Karin, thanks for the crumbs."

The recipe is terribly simple: weigh four eggs, beat them, then add the same weight of flour and of sugar, then add some vanilla and cardamom seeds. We always put the seeds in a zip-top bag and then bashed them with a hammer. There. Is. Nothing. like the aroma of cardamom.

Mixing the batter is the easy part. To make the cookie you need a krumkake iron, which is heated over the stove. Ours is cast iron and belonged to either my grandmother's mother or aunt. When the iron is hot enough, you put a spoonful of batter in the middle of the iron and press the two sides together. This results in  a huge mess as dough oozes out between the plates, then it drips down into the stove. If you are clever, you have already covered the area under the burner with tin foil. When when the cookie is golden brown, you take it off the iron and then very quickly roll the cookie disk up all the while, trying hard not to burn your fingers.

Making krumkake is a time consuming, messy and occasionally painful process. I haven't made them much since my grandmother died, as it is just too much work. Perhaps I ought to buy one of the new-fangled electric krumkake irons that makes two cookies at a time. Then again, maybe the real reason I don't make them very often is it just is not the same without my grandma.