I'm of Norwegian extraction, but the closest I've come to "The North" is Norway, Kansas, where my mom grew up. I dream of seeing the moss, fjords, and aurora borealis for myself, and I got a tiny bit closer two years ago, when I was given the gift of A Norwegian Christmas..
I'm telling you, there is nothing better than curling up on the floor by the fire, surrounded by a snowy landscape (Illinois is not Norway, but it still rocks some sparkly snow), reading a pile of books about Scandinavia. Collected at antique stores, thrift stores, and online, my gift included Time Life's The Cooking of Scandinavia (which has a Christmas section), Christmas in Scandinavia, two books of Norwegian folk and fairy tales, the charming hand-stapled Aunt Hildur's Best Recipes, the James Beard Award-winning The Great Scandinavian Baking Book, and a jersey from the Norwegian women's soccer team. Earlier, I should have said, "there's nothing better than curling up on the floor by the fire wearing a Norwegian soccer jersey"!
If I can't spend Christmas in Norway, the next best thing is having Christmas in Norway brought to me — with bonus sunlight! Has anyone ever given you a winter wonderland sort of gift? Maybe rented a snow machine like on Modern Family last year, or built you an ice rink like on Gilmore Girls? Have you ever made wintry magic happen for someone on your gift list?
(Photo: Tess Wilson)
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Nice article! You don't say where you live but if you happen to be anywhere near the Pacific Northwest, you might check out Seattle's Ballard neighborhood Norwegian Festival celebrating Constitution Day, May 17th. Unfortunately, Ballard became gentrified over the past decade, and lost a lot of its heritage shops and restaurants in the past several years. But the Nordic Heritage Museum is still here and very nice (5 country displays). The King used to stop here whenever he came to the U.S. A couple hours east, you can take a boat ride up a lake that is basically a fjord (Lake Chelan). Great in winter! Goats dot the hillsides when the snow covers the Cascades.
And across the Puget Sound from Ballard is Poulsbo, WA, aka "Little Norway".
My 6th Christmas was spent in Trondheim, Norway, as my father was on a one-year sabbatical. To me, and to my four siblings, nothing says Christmas quite like a marzipan pig, a painted wood horse, or the Yule Nisse.
How to make glögg:
Get cardamom seeds, finely chopped ginger, fresh orange peel and a cinnamon stick or two. Put all the spices in a large pot and make sure that they are just barely covered with water. Make it boil. Pour in a couple of spoons of brown sugar. When the sugar has dissolved you add a decent wine. Immediately turn down the heat to a mild simmer - at no point should it be even close to boiling! After about an hour and half you strain the glögg to get rid of the spices. Serve warm or cold with almonds and raisins added for those who like that. Tinker with the recipe until you get your own favourite, hardcore people may add stronger spirits.
Have to say though that the Norwegian christmas table is a lot less tasty than our Swedish one. ;-)
What a magical post!
The most Christmas-sy magic we've created was spending Christmas in a 3 century old cabin in the Swiss Alps, with roast goose, chocolate on the the tree, and a roaring fire in the fire place....
But back to your yearning for a Norwegian Christmas... have you thought of making a trip to Alberta?
We used to live in a little town founded by Norwegian immigrants (along with some Danes!) -- Camrose, Alberta. You could check it out some time -- they have a lefse bakery, and all the garbage containers and benches on Main Street have rosemaling. Come December, the community is awash in lutefisk suppers! There used to be a wonderful local bookstore which stocked Norwegian books of all description -- cookbooks, story books... Oh, and if you are into knitting, the local yarn store stocks Dale of Norway yarns and patterns. Surrounding towns and villages have names like "New Norway"... and it is lovely in winter. During the holidays, Camrose hosts an international hockey tournament.
One Christmas season evening in Camrose, we walked downtown in the middle of a snow storm. Inside our beloved bookstore was only us, the owner, and the downtown Santa, who ducked in to get out of the wind. It was magical. We ran into the art moderne movie theatre (yes, the seats were from the '30s and there was a balcony and tin ceiling -- the original building was much older than the 1930s) to watch a movie (was it White Palace?). Well, the bookstore burned down a couple of years ago; the movie theatre was renovated, then restored, and is now a theatre; big box stores have turned shoppers away from downtown, and the grain elevators anchoring the core have long since disappeared, but I would like to think you can still find Christmas magic there...
So, even though we are not Norwegian, we have absorbed some Norwegian traditions (and some of our best friends are currently in Norway for Christmas with family).
http://www.camrosebooster.com/story/lefse-house-supplier-norwegian-embassy
My cousins moved to Norway for 3 years (my uncle was stationed there for the Marines) and we were lucky enough to get to visit them there! Norway is a magical country. During Christmas time, they sent us presents from Nissa (Norwegian Santa) which consisted of some of the best chocolate I've ever had!
I forgot the cloves! Add cloves as well!