Singingwoods

A Blog about life... jewellrey...and beads...

Christmas from Norway!


Christmas in Norway

My Grandparents Gudrun and Hans were born in Fredrickstad Norway. Han's was the only one of many brothers who Immigrated to the United States. I only remember being told one brothers name as Osbourn. Gudruns brothers were Burger, Svette and Lilly was the sister who also immigrated lived in New York. So many times I wondered what life was like for them and their families in Norway. My Mother has a picture of Gudruns family the Trundsens. Her Mother wore a long dress to the floor and their clothes were very old fashioned as her parents were born in the middle of the 1800's. I remember some of the food my Grandmother made in her flat in Flatbush Brooklyn. Now as we always do I wish I could turn back the pages of time and ask many Questions you don't think to ask as a young girl!


The beloved artist Tasha Tudor once said quoted in one of her books "Mother what was it like when you were little"? And this makes me think of the very well known Nordic artist Carl Larsson. Carl was born in the middle 1800s in Sweden and I think his paintings were so loved because you were drawn into them as he so many times painted someone looking out at you! He gave a wonderful glimpse into his life in Norway.


Kirsti's Sleighride


Now its Christmastime again


Christmas Confetti


Christmas Evening


Brita as Induna




This is Norwegian Jewellery called Solje
My Mother has very beautiful Solje from Gudun
very long earrings similar to these..


Gudrun would make Krumkake a Norwegian waffle..


I remember walking to Halvorsen's bakery to buy some very delicious Limpa bread as pictured here..


This is Fiskeballer or fishballs.

My Grandparents never asked us children to eat this. My father most likely did! It may not look wonderful but by the Recipe I'm sure it's quite tasty!

Here is the Recipe for Fishballs:

* 5 pounds cod or sturgeoun fillets
* 1/2 lb potato flour
* 2 quarts of milk
* 1/4 t ginger
* 1/4 t allspice
* 1 t nutmeg
* 1/4 t mace
* 3 medium onions ground

  1. Grind fish five times.
  2. Add potato flour and spices [and stir].
  3. Add milk gradually, beating [by[ hand.
  4. Fry or boil by the tablespoonful
  5. Fish Sauce Recipe: Melt 2 Tbsp. butter in sauce pan and then stir in 2 Tbsp. flour and cook for 1 minute. Add 1–1.5 cup warmed milk or cream and stir until sauce thickens. At this point, you can either add some curry powder to make the color yellow as in photo, or instead add some shredded cheese (up to 1/2 cup as desired--experiment with type of cheese you like best or combo of cheeses). Stir sauce until cheese is melted and incorporated. Then add juice from a half of a fresh lemon (more/less as desired. (Optionally, in place of lemon juice, use a tablespoon or two of Dry Sherry or dry white wine.)

Feskepudding....as a child I thought much of their fishy food was something I couldn't eat but the Recipes I have are very good..

fish pudding


A small glimpse of Norway from My Home to yours!

I hope your day is wonderful today!

12 comments:

thanks for sharing,it would be interesting to have asked all those questions of our grandparents lives..i was fortunate that my grandmom lived to be almost 100 so i got to hear many stories.

 

My son is in Norway right now, Tromso, for rocket launches with NASA and I hope he is able to return for Christmas but if not, it looks like he will have lots of Christmas culture to enjoy while there! Thanks for sharing

 

Thanks for sharing this it is cool to hear of other traditions and foods!

 

Nan thats a gift right there to have heard all the stories that many didnt get to hear.

Laura how does your Son like Norway? Wonderful to be there!

Kristen thank you!

Happy Holidays!!

 

Quite lovely! I loved the pictures and always wished I could have met Gudren.

 

Janet, thank you for taking me back in time to Christmas past in Norway! What a wonderful post - from the vintage pictures, to the recipes to the family stories. I love how you have reflected on your heritage in this post and shared it with us. Those waffles look so yummy, by the way!

 

I love hearing this about your family. I've never been to Norway or Sweden, but I've always wanted to go. I love Carl Larsson, by the way. There is something so sweet and magical about his work.

xo
Claudia

 

What a lovely post - such beautiful illustrations - and so wonderful to learn about your family and the heritage. We visited norway by way of a cruise ship and I was mesmerized by its beauty!

Merry Christmas to you and your family -

vicki

 

Darling, what a wonderful post! That's is Swedish and Scandinavian culture history right there in all those paintings by Carl Larsson. And so nice to share your recipies of typical food. Thank you so much for sharing.

Tromso is in the very far north of Norway. Exotic and cool place to be at this time. Cool and probavly very cold this particular year. NASA, how cool is that?

All my best and the Merriest Christmas dear Janet!
Malin

 

Thank you Erin and Malin! I havent forgotten yall...Merry Christmas too! Huggs to all! Husband reformatted PC and have been unable to get on!

 

Hi Janet, thanks for becoming a follower! Love your blog, and your resolutions. Good for you. See you in blogland. Take care, Riki