Scandinavian Christmas: Day 6

Welcome to Day 6! Today I'm so excited to have my niece, Anna, and one of my sisters, Krista, share this delicious Spritz Cookie recipe - a family favorite! I get to see this two in just a couple days and couldn't be more excited!

Spritz Cookies
By Anna and Krista Palmquist

Spritz cookies are a type of Christmas Swedish cookie that is a part of Swedish tradition. Me and my mom made them because they are yummy and they save well (unless my dad eats them first!). The process we went through to make these cookies is really quite simple. Here are the steps:

1. One cup butter ( no margarine ) 

2. Half cup white sugar

3. Half tsp. almond extract

4. 1 egg yolk 

5. 2 cups flour. (**scant) 

6. A fourth tsp. salt 

Cream the butter , add the sugar and cream thoroughly.

 Add extract and egg (yolk) and then flour . Force dough through cookie press onto ungreased 

baking sheet.

  We make them into little wreaths and use candied red and green cherries to decorate.

  Bake 7-10 minutes in 400 degree oven ( I sometimes use 375 oven ) . Watch them so theydon’t burn --the edges should only be a little bit brown.

**Note : We test try the first ones to see if there is enough flour . We also take a table knife and put it into the dough . If the dough does not stick to the knife you have enough flour. If not , add the rest of the 2 cups of flour.

We hope you enjoy these delicious treats! 

Krista and Anna Palmquist

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 5

Welcome back to Day 5, everyone! Today we get to hear from Karin who blogs over at the fabulous Nordic Craft! She shares everything from fun craft projects, beautiful photos, and fun recipes on her blog. Karin has participated previously with her wonderful post on Smallkarameller, and I'm so excited to have her back again!

Hi everyone! I'm Karin, I'm a Swede living in Stockholm. When Kathryn approached me to contribute another post to her brilliant Scandinavian Christmas series, I was delighted. Now, I'm not very traditional when it comes to Christmas celebrations - I don't even eat pickled herring! *gasp* As a vegetarian, I've had to get creative with some of the traditional Swedish Christmas foods over the years, and I quite like updating and developing new Christmas traditions as well. But I do have some family traditions which I come back to every year. Two years ago I shared a tutorial for making my favorite Smällkarameller out of tissue paper here on the Pickled Herring, and every year you will find at least one Yule goat in my living room. Another Christmas tradition we love in my family is making orange pomander balls.

Orange pomanders, oranges studded with dried cloves,  are a common sight in Swedish homes around Christmas time - either hung in windows using ribbon, or else lying in a fruit bowl spreading a lovely Christmas fragrance around the house. Pomanders are incredibly simple to make, and they will make your home smell amazing!

Making orange pomanders

You will need:

Fresh, firm oranges
Dried cloves
Optional: Toothpicks, rubber bands, decorative ribbon

Making pomander balls is incredibly simple, and they can be varied in many different ways. Start by washing and drying your oranges and gather your supplies. Then simply poke the dried cloves into the orange in any pattern you like. A tip: Especially if you are making this craft with children, consider using a toothpick to score holes in the orange first - this makes it easier to insert the brittle cloves without breaking them. 

You can put the cloves all over the orange in a random pattern, or you can choose to make lines or swirls. A good tip for making even rows of cloves is to put a thin rubber band around the orange as a guide for where to put your cloves in. 

A common way to display orange pomanders here in Sweden is to hang them in your window using a red ribbon. To hang your pomander ball, cross tie a length of ribbon (you will need about two yards) around the orange and use the ends to make a hanging loop. Simple and pretty!

Fresh pomander oranges will usually last a couple of weeks if displayed correctly (don't keep them anywhere too warm or humid) and that's usually enough for me, but I have read that drying the pomander balls before displaying them (takes around a week in the refrigerator) will help them last longer. If you're planning to hang your pomanders from a ribbon, keep in mind that the pomander will shrink a bit as it dries, so you may need to tighten the ribbon after a couple of days.

Good luck with making your pomanders! Happy holidays!

Scandinavian Christmas: Day 4

 Hello! Welcome back to the Scandinavian Christmas series! Today I'm so excited to welcome Kareena over from Let's Go Fly A Kite! Last year, Kareena shared how to make these adorable Lucia figurines and the year before this delicious Kransekake recipe. I'm so thrilled she's joining us again this year with another fun project!

Hello! My name is Kareena  and as a hobby I post about the crafty side of family life over at let’s go fly a kite.  My paternal side is Norwegian and I always try to include Scandinavian goodness in our family’s Advent celebrations. I have participated in the Pickled Herring’s Scandinavian Christmas for the past three years. Some  posts which Pickled Herring readers may find interesting are my visits to Bergen and Iceland, baking krumkake and kransekake, and making Santa Lucia dolls (here and here) and crowns.

This year, my daughters and I have been working on some crafts inspired by The Adventures of Pippi Longstocking, by the late Swedish author Astrid Lindgren.  We have been reading the Puffin edition at bedtime.  (If you are looking for an illustrated version, the Lauren Child version on the left is a lovely choice).  

My 9 year old daughter recently finished reading the new Pippi Moves In, a graphic novel.  My dad gave this as a gift  after he saw it reviewed in the New York Times book section. I highly recommend this version if you have a young reader who enjoys graphic novels.

Inside, there is a funny scene of Pippi rolling out pepparkakor gingerbread on the floor.  This is the scene which inspired a recent crafternoon.

For our crafternoon, the girls invited a young friend who also has visited Sweden and we created some Pippi-inspired gingerbread ornaments for our tree using cinnamon and applesauce dough.  I found the basic recipe on the McCormicks site.  We found that four cups of cinnamon and 200 ml (1 cup or so) of applesauce rolled out fourteen 3 inch hearts.  

The ornaments baked for about 3 hours.  The house smelled delicious.   After the ornaments cooled, I applied a thin coat of sealer (this is not necessary).

They are really quite sturdy.

And finally, a photo of Pippi climbing the tree. (My husband was in Stockholm earlier this year and brought home Pippi and Horatio!)

This is a fun and simple ornament craft and appropriate for most ages.  If the cinnamon is purchased in bulk the supplies costs approximately five dollars. 

Thanks for hosting this Scandinavian Christmas Kathryn and God Jul!