Ebleskiver

My mother’s side of the family is Danish, and I mean 100% Dansk. When my great-grandmother came over from Denmark, she brought with her the Christmas tradition of ebleskiver (or Æbleskiver if you want to be really picky) for breakfast Christmas Morning.

Ebleskiver are buttermilk pancake balls that are cooked in a cast iron pan with divots that make the cakes round. To eat them, we top the pancakes with butter, powdered sugar and strawberry jam (though lingonberry jam is traditional). It’s your basic morning sugar bomb and if you’ve been in Williams Sonoma lately, you’ve probably seen the pans and mixes. Ebleskiver have kinda become The Thing. In my opinion, using a mix is cheating. But then again my family has always had strong opinions about our ebleskiver.

My sister and I stayed with my grandmother from time to time while we were growing up. I always wanted Gam to make ebleskiver for breakfast. Without fail, a fight would break out between my sister and I about whether it was okay to have them on a “regular day” instead of only for Christmas morning. My sister was adamant that they were only to be consumed on Christmas Morning, and it would be a disaster of monumental proportions should we eat them any other day. I figured she needed to get a grip. The Ebleskiver Police couldn’t possibly be wandering around handing out tickets to people who ate ebleskiver on “regular weekends” so what’s the big deal? Being the youngest, I usually lost the argument. But the few times I was there by myself, Gam made them for me and imagine my surprise when I wasn’t hauled off to jail.

Now that we’re technically adults, we’ve passed our love of ebleskiver on to our own kids and the Christmas tradition continues at my sister’s house Christmas Morning. Though I do make ebleskiver from time to time during the year I have to admit, they do seem to taste better Christmas Morning…but I would never admit that to my sister…
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Mexican Christmas Eve

Mexican Christmas Eve After we bought our house four years ago, we finally had room enough to host a large number of people. I officially took over Christmas Eve Feast & Merriment duties. The first year was traditional (for our family at least) with the usual ham, my grandmother’s scary jello thing, and lots of booze. The following year we were at the end of a major remodel, but the house wasn’t quite ready yet. We were in a panic as to what to do. Do we cancel and risk disappointing the kids with no lead-up to the man in the red suit? Can we really live without the scary jello thing? (The answer is a resounding YES! by the way.)

Rather than cancel our Christmas Eve Revels, the party was moved to my sister’s house. We ordered big pans of Enchiladas and Tamales from one of my favorite Mexican restaurants and made margaritas. It was great. I love Mexican food. I could eat it every day, and the rest of my family is no different. The night was a big hit. So much so that last year, when I had my kitchen back, we decided that we should start a new tradition of Mexican Christmas Eve. I must say it was indeed a very good idea.

As I put the finishing touches on this year’s Carta, I have listed last year’s menu for those who want to add a little fiesta to your usual Holiday Fare. Be sure to try the corn pudding, even if it’s not for the holidays. It’s an excellent side dish for any time of the year.

Feliz Navidad A Todos! Read more…

Christmas Cookies

I love cookies. They make me happy (and fat). I really like Christmas and Holiday cookies. Last year, I hosted a holiday cookie exchange at my house. My husband didn’t get it. He would have been happy to just have everyone over to eat and drink, “We’re making cookies and trading them like baseball cards?” Well, not quite. I guess it’s a chick thing. That said, everyone had a great time and the kids were thrilled.

The fun part, for me anyway, was finding cookies that were different than the usual chocolate chip or shortbread. There were and are literally thousands to choose from. I’ve looked in my cookbooks, online, my grandmother’s recipe box and in my favorite magazines. It is now December which means the calendar gives me permission to bake with abandon. So I am!

Here are a few of my favorite holiday cookie recipes. The cherry tarts are one of the finds from our cookie exchange. They are time consuming but so worth it. The layer bars are the very definition of indulgence, of course you would expect that from a Paula Deen recipe. The Swedish Ginger Cookies, or “Gingies” as we call them, are a family favorite. They are easy to make and go great with tea & coffee and you can keep a log in the freezer to cut and bake as needed.

When in doubt make more than you need as it’s always fun to share and of course your inner Martha Stewart will tell you that giving cookies as gifts would be a Good Thing…
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Tagine Bil Kok (Moroccan Lamb Tangine)

So, have you heard the holidays are here? I gotta be honest, I’m just not in holiday mode yet. Thanksgiving came on us way to quick, as did the decorations, and Black Friday started on Thursday this year. I’m not yet ready to roast Jack Frost on an open fire…or whatever. So I’m staging a culinary protest this week. No peppermint, roasted birds or people sitting around wearing velvet and sipping eggnog. I’m going exotic and spicy.

Santa’s gonna need Tums!

First on the list, Moroccan food…and my favorite tagine. While it’s not actually spicy, it is darn good over couscous.
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