It Must Be Getting Close To Christmas ~

The Christmas Village is up, and when evening sets in the lights of the village make it appear to be a living miniature town. Magical ! Must be getting close to Christmas.

Baking seems to occupy every bit of spare time, but the cold and rainy days outside cause the kitchen to call out to us.."come bake, be warm, and eat"! Must be getting close to Christmas .

My husband makes his traditional Berry Butternuts, something his father did, and still does, but with the many, many grandchildren and great-grandchildren my dear Father-in-Law has, he cannot possibly bake these yummy cookies for everyone anymore, so it is a good thing his grown children continue this tradition. A yummy good thing~ Must be getting close to Christmas. I have already made several batches of lefse for two different occasions. For all my married life, 37 years and then some, I have made lefse for Christmas. Lefse is our traditional Christmas morning breakfast. I make it the night before , so all my Christmas Eves are spent making it, then cleaning the kitchen and setting the table , making sure there is butter to spread on the lefse, and also making sure there is a mixture of cinnamon and sugar to sprinkle on it. Then the lefse is rolled up like a jelly roll and eaten. Hot coffee, rosettes, ( another Scandinavian treat ) and some cheese and fruit are all that is needed to complete this breakfast usually eaten after we open gifts and before we prepare for whatever else we will be doing Christmas Day. The lefse griddle is still out,ready for more use ~ as are the rolling pin and lefse turner...must be getting close to Christmas. "While lutefisk requires some getting used to, most people take an immediate liking to lefse, Norway's unleavened soft bread. Somewhat thinner than a commercially prepared tortilla, lefse rounds are also much larger and softer than the Mexican bread....While a great variety of lefse types exist in Norway, potato lefse dominates almost exclusively in the United States. Like lutefisk, lefse now serves as a badge of Norwegian ethnicity..." 'Keeping Christmas, Yuletide Traditions in Norway And The New Land' by Kathleen Stokker ~~~~ My Grandmother taught me how to make lefse many years ago, when I was a young girl and I am very thankful. I had no idea then of how precious this gift of teaching me how to make lefse was, but I know I need to teach this to my Grandchildren, just as I need to know and teach the real reason I celebrate Christmas. "For unto you is born this day in the city of David......" It must be getting close to Christmas!