Mor MaBi's Glogg for Adventsfika and for Christmas

This recipe came to me from Swedish cousin Helena Rudberg. Her mother, called MaBi, was Grandpa William Forstrom's sister. I am making Glogg for the family Christmas dinner in Thunder Bay 2022.

The photos are taken in September 2022 when John and I visited Helena and her husband Bengt Nordin in Ferragudo,  Portugal. This is their winter home. A beautiful place! Helena taught me to cook some traditional Swedish food such as Potatiskorv. I remember Grandma Forstrom making this which is Mashed Potatoes around Sausage and then boiled in water. In this photo of me  below, however, I am cooking Spanish peppers called Padrons.

Christmas Cut-Out Sugar Cookies

Making these sugar cookies was a tradition with my children, Allison and Bev, and me. It is great now to be making these cookies in Ottawa with my grandchildren Grayson, Zoe, Foster and Eli.  The key to success is to have lots of icing and sprinkles of many colours. Chocolate chips and google eyes (for the snowman) are popular too. Fortunately for me, a trip to Bulk Barn provides all of the icing and sprinkle options required. The cookies themselves are easy to make ahead of the decorating party (see below).

Ingredients 

2 1/4 cups all purpose flour, plus more as needed for rolling and work surface

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

3/4 cup unsalted butter, softened to room temperature

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg, room temperature

2 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon almond extract (optional but  delicious)

Royal icing  is available at Bulk Barn as a powder that you can add water to, mixed in the mixer. You can then colour the white icing with gel food colouring or you can buy coloured icing in a squeeze bottle (my choice). I left the royal icing white to be used as a base colour for the figures. 

Instructions:

1. Whisk the flour, baking powder, and  salt together in a medium bowl. Set aside.

2. In a large bowl,  beat (with mixer using paddle attachment) the butter and sugar together on high speed until completely smooth and creamy, about 2 minutes. Add the egg, vanilla, almond extract and beat on high speed until combined, about 1 minute. Scrape down the sides and up the bottom of the bowl and beat again as needed to combine.

3. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix on  low until combined. Dough will be relatively soft. If the dough seems too soft and sticky for rolling, add 1 more tbsp of flour.

4. Divide the dough in two equal parts. Place each portion onto a piece of lightly floured parchment paper or lightly floured silicon baking mat. With a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out to about 1/4 in thickness. Use more flour if the dough seems too sticky. The rolled out  dough can be any shape as long as it is evenly 1/4 inch thick. 

5. Lightly dust one of the rolled out doughs with flour. Place a piece of parchment on top (this prevents sticking). Place the 2nd rolled out dough on top. Cover with a plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then refrigerate for at least 1-2 hours and up to 2 days. (I chilled for a day and needed to give the dough time to warm out before rolling)

6. Once chilled, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2-3 baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats. Carefully remove the dough piece from the refrigerator. Using a cookie cutter, cut the dough into shapes. Re-roll the remaining dough and continue cutting until all is used. Repeat with 2nd piece of dough.

7. Arrange cookies on baking sheets 3 inches apart. Bake for 11-12 minutes or until lightly browned around the edges. Rotate the baking pans half way through if the cookies are not browning evenly. Allow cookies to cool on the baking sheet for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely before decorating.

8. Decorate the cooled cookies with royal icing. Purchase tinted (Bulk barn) or tint white with gel food colouring. Add the sprinkles liberally. Wait for the icing to set (which takes a while). Setting is speeded up in the refrigerator. 

Zoe Zapior, age 8

Foster Cosgrove, age 11

Grayson Zapior, age 10 (11 in 2 weeks)

                                  Eli Cosgrove, age 9

Irene Nickerson's Light Fruit Cake (Christmas Cake)

3 cups golden raisins
2 cups slivered blanched almonds
1 cup candied cherries (red or green)
8 oz (4 rings) candied pineapple slices, cut up
1/4 cup all purpose flour
Combine fruit above and toss with the flour so fruit pieces do not stick together

1 cup butter  (not margarine)
1 cup granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp almond flavouring
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup milk

orange liqueur (Cointreau or Triple Sec) or orange juice for later after baked.

Prepare cake pan 8x8x3 or 9 in tube pan or 2 9x5 loaf pans (my choice is the loaf)
Grease and line with 2 layers brown paper (greasing with Crisco was the traditional choice) Irene's old recipe says to use "2 brown Safeway grocery bags".

Method
Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
Beat in eggs one at a time.
Beat in flavourings (almond and vanilla)
Combine remaining flour (21/4 cups) and baking powder and salt.
Blend in alternately with milk.
Add floured fruit and mix thoroughly (recipe says use wooden spoon and also do by hand)

Bake at 275 degrees for 2-21/2 hours.  Bake in a pan of water. 

Brush with liqueur. Poke holes with tooth picks.  Do this four or five times.  Wrap in wax paper  and foil.

Put away.

The bottom photo is the wedding picture of my parents John and Irene Nickerson in 1949. The top photo of them about 35 years later.

Baked Carrots and Parsnips from the Nickerson Christmas menu

Make the sauce:
3/4 c chicken stock or dry white wine
2 tsp corn starch in 1 tbsp cold water
2 tbsp butter
1/4 tsp sage
pepper

Prepare the vegetables:
Cut carrots and parsnips into fingers
Par boil

Prepare the bread crumb mixture:
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tbsp Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp parsley

Bake:
Arrange vegetables in a shallow baking dish
spoon sauce over veg
bake covered 350 for 45 minutes
sprinkle bread crumbs mix on top and bake uncovered 10 minutes longer

Make-Ahead Gravy

from Jamie Oliver. This is awesome.

 

Makes: 1 litre

Ingredients
• 2 celery sticks, trimmed and roughly chopped
• 2 carrots, roughly sliced
• 2 onions, peeled and quartered
• 5 fresh bay leaves
• 5 fresh sage leaves
• 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 2 star anise
• 2 rashers of smoked streaky bacon, the best quality you can afford
• 8 chicken wings
• olive oil
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tablespoons plain flour
• optional: 60ml sherry or port
• 2 heaped dessertspoons cranberry sauce, for finishing

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Put the veg, herbs and star anise into a sturdy bottomed roasting tray. Scatter the bacon on top. Break the chicken wings open then put them onto a board and bash the bones up with the end of a rolling pin; this will release more of their flavour. Put them in the pan, drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle over a few pinches of salt and pepper then toss everything together and put the tray in the oven to cook for 1 hour, or until the meat is tender and falling off the bone.

Take the pan out of the oven, and put it on a hob over a low heat and use a potato masher to really grind and mash everything up. Keep mashing, moving and scraping all the goodness from the bottom of the pan as you go. Gradually mix in the flour to thicken the mixture. The longer you let everything fry, the darker your gravy will be. When the flour is combined pour in 2 litres of hot water, turn the heat up and bring to the boil for 10 minutes, till thickened, then turn down the heat and simmer for about 25 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you want to add 60ml sherry or port for flavour, do that now.

When it’s reached the consistency you’re looking for, check the seasoning then push it through a sieve into a large bowl. Really push and mash everything through so you get as much flavour as possible. Discard anything left behind. Once it has cooled down to room temperature put it into containers or freezer bags and pop it in your freezer. You’ll finish it off on Christmas Day.

Finishing the gravy:

To finish the gravy, take your it out of the freezer when you’re ready to cook your turkey. That way, it will defrost as your turkey cooks. When the turkey is perfectly cooked, put a carving fork inside the cavity and use that to pick the bird up and tilt it over the pan so all of the juices inside run out.

Spoon away as much of the fat as possible, then pour your pre-made gravy into the pan with the rest of the turkey juices. Bring it to the boil over the hob and scrape all those flavourful bits and pieces from the bottom of the pan. Have a taste then add the cranberry sauce. It won’t taste sweet but it will add a wicked background flavour.

Once your gravy is piping hot, strain it through a sieve and into a pan.

Leave that on the lowest heat to tick away until you’re ready to serve. Skim away any fat that rises to the top and add any extra resting juices from the turkey before serving.

Christmas Eve Salad

This is traditional for Christmas Eve with the Nickersons. You can make it in a jelly mold if you’re brave or you can just make it in a glass trifle bowl and serve it in the bowl. Either way, you want the green layer to end up on the bottom and the red layer on the top. Mary de Bakker suggests these amounts to make it set.
Red layer: A package of red jello. Add a cup of boiling water as per the instructions on the box. Then add only ½ cup of cold water instead of the full amount suggested on the box. Chill until set. (In the photo, there seem to be raspberries in it, but we don't use them.)
Yellow Layer: A package of yellow jello. Add a cup of boiling water as per the instructions on the box. No cold water. Mix in 4 ounces of cream cheese. Pour over the red layer and chill until set.

Green Layer: A package of green jello. Add a cup of boiling water as per the instructions on the box. No cold water. Mix in ¾ of a can of crushed pineapple, drained. Pour over the yellow layer and chill until set.

Baked Carrots and Parsnips

We always have this at Christmas and Thanksgiving.
4 carrots in julienne strips
4 parsnips in julienne strips
Place vegetables in single layer in 9 x 13 pan. Some people put carrots and parsnips at opposite ends, for people who don’t appreciate how delicious parsnips are.
Sauce:
Combine:
• 2 tsp cornstarch stirred into 1 tbsp cold water
• ¾ c chicken stock or dry white wine
• ¼ tsp sage
• Pepper to taste
Pour sauce over vegetables, cover and bake at 350° for 45 minutes.
Mix and sprinkle on top:
• ½ c fine dry bread crumbs
• 2 tbsp melted butter
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan
• 1 tbsp parsley
Bake uncovered 10 more minutes.

Turnip Puff

We have this every Christmas and Thanksgiving.

6 c cubed turnips (rutabaga)
2 tbsp butter
2 eggs, beaten
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Pinch nutmeg
½ c fine bread crumbs
2 tbsp butter, melted

Cook turnips until tender. Drain and mash. Add butter and eggs. Beat well. (This much can be done the day ahead.) Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Stir into turnips, butter a casserole and put in turnip mixture. Combine crumbs and butter. Sprinkle on top. Bake at 375° for 25 minutes, or until light brown on top. Serves 6.

The Best Tourtieres Ever

Irene N. makes these for Christmas Eve dinner

3 lb lean ground pork
3 tbsp onion powder
2 tsp garlic powder
3 tsp salt
1 ½ tsp dry mustard
1 tsp thyme
¾ tsp sage
3/8 tsp cloves
1 ½ cups water
2 cups bread crumbs
1 cup grated carrot

You may have to add either ½ cup more bread crumbs or a little less water.

Cook meat with 1 to 1 ½ cups of water over medium heat until no longer pink.
(about 20 minutes. Stir occasionaly)

Add rest of ingredients and cool the mixture.

N.B. Butter pie plate as it will help brown the crust.

Egg wash interior of pie shell – then add meat mix. Egg wash pastry topping of pie.

WASH – Shake or whip 1 egg in a cup plus an equal amount of milk – whip or shake well.
Bake @ 400 for 30 minutes
(Maybe the baking will take 35 minutes)