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Thursday, December 21, 2023
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Holiday Recipes Holiday traditions and family favorite recipes
Swedish Meatballs KARY MOLTZAN
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rowing up in a family with very Scandinavian roots, our traditional Christmas Eve meal always consisted of Swedish meatballs, lutefisk, lefse and assorted other sides and sweets. With the next generation of adults, I will admit, we’ve retired the lutefisk portion of the meal. It seems there are plenty of churches or organizations to provide that delicacy. Last Christmas, I dropped my slow cooker, smashing the metal, shattering the crock, and scattering meatballs across the floor (thank goodness the gravy wasn’t on them yet). After many a tear were shed (while my husband looked on quizzically, not understanding female emotions at all), I put frozen pizzas in the oven. It’s the only year I can recall not having our traditional Christmas Eve supper. Note to self — put the slow cooker in its final location before filling. Two of my five kids must eat gluten free, so I substitute the regular bread crumbs with gluten-free bread crumbs found at most grocery stores, or make my own by drying gluten-free bread and using the food processor. I use an all-purpose glu-
MCKENNA WALTER ten-free flour for the gravy - when cooking, gluten-free all-purpose flour can be substituted one-to-one, but not usually when making baked goods. Swedish Meatballs 1lb ground beef 1/2 lb ground pork 1/2 c. milk 1/2 c. bread crumbs 2 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. pepper 2 Tbsp. minced onion 2 eggs butter Gravy: 1 Tbsp flour 3/4 c. cream Mix meats together. Beat milk and eggs together, pour over bread crumbs. When soft, mix with meats. Fry onion in butter without browning. Add spices and fried onion. Work together until light and fluffy, using a potato masher or your hands. Form into small balls and brown. Serve with brown gravy made from drippings, 1 tbsp flour and 3/4 cream.
Homemade beef noodle soup ERICA KINGSTON
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rowing up, each Christmas we drove to Park Rapids, M.N. to spend Christmas at my grandparents and family on Portage Lake. If tradition and sentimentality began anywhere for me, it was here. Like clockwork, we would all arrive on Christmas Eve. Grandma had usually made the noodles that day and they would be laying all over her counters to dry. We would get ready and head to the candle-lit Christmas Eve church service and then back home for the much anticipated noodle soup. This is not your ordinary chicken noodle soup. Our soup is made with stew meat and thick, hearty homemade noodles. This recipe came from my great great grandmother and it has remained the same even as I prepare it with my children, five generations later. Food is such a connection and I value the tradition of passing it on.
Drop Doughnuts
Homemade noodle soup Fill a large pot with water Simmer meaty beef soup bones and stew meat (1 lb) until meat is tender and falling off the bones Season with salt, pepper and some garlic Meanwhile, make noodles: 3 egg yolks 1 whole egg Dash of salt 3 Tbls. cold water 2 c. sifted flour Mix egg, salt and water well. Add flour until dough isn’t sticky. (Make at least a double batch.) Roll out with a rolling pin Roll the flattened dough into a log Place on cutting board and cut ¼ inch thick slices Unroll the noodles Sprinkle with flour Leave to dry until the meat is done and you’re ready to eat Remove the soup bones once meat is tender, pick off the tender meat Put all beef back into the stock Bring to a boil, drop the noodles in. The excess flour will help thicken the soup. Cook a few minutes until tender Knoblich family special: serve with raw onions and a generous amount of nutmeg!
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hese are not a ‘traditional’ holiday treat for us, but my mom’s doughnuts are so good we beg her to make them any time we can. She said that she always remembers making them in the heat of August to take out to the field during harvest. However, Christmas seems like a great occasion for doughnuts to us, so we’ve convinced her to make them for the holiday this year. It might also help that they’re my grandpa’s favorite, and he just happens to be coming for Christmas this year, as well. Since these are drop doughnuts, some special equipment is required. These are not rolled out, they are dropped from a doughnut dropper. A candy thermometer is always a good idea to help keep the lard at the right temperature. This also is an extremely large amount of batter, so make sure you have an extra large bowl.
Drop Doughnuts Beat together: 2.5 c. sugar 6 eggs 2 tsp. nutmeg 1 c. sour cream 1 qt. buttermilk 2 tsp. soda 1 tsp. salt 9 c. flour 4 tsp. baking powder Use a doughnut dropper. Fry in a large dutch oven in lard. Frying temperature should be in the 350-375 degree fahrenheit range. This recipe makes about 100 doughnuts. *You may need to experiment a few doughnuts at a time to get the right consistency for dropping. This is Fredella Marquart’s recipe from the Lakota Centennial Cookbook in Lakota, N.D.
Rolled Sugar Cookies KYLAR MOLTZAN
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can’t say this is any family secret recipe, or even anything that you can’t find in any recipe book or google search. It’s just a basic sugar cookie recipe. And truthfully, I can’t eat them anymore, because I can’t eat gluten (wheat). So, why did I choose this one to share when my mom asked for my favorite holiday recipe? I chose this recipe because ever since my youngest sister and brother were big enough to start helping decorate (I’m 10 years older than my sister and 12 years older than my brother), I’ve been making these cookies with them. It’s a time I look forward to every single year, because for a couple of hours the three of us get to do something together that they are always excited for, and that I have their undivided attention to do. Getting to be the big sister that helps them do “big kid” things is something I treasure, even though they’re really not so little anymore. I hope it will continue to be something they want to do with me even through their teen years, and maybe after. I don’t look at this recipe as making cookies. For me, and hopefully for them, it’s making memories.
Rolled Sugar Cookies 1 c. white sugar 3/4 c. butter, softened 2 large eggs 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract 2.5 c. all-purpose flour 1 tsp. baking powder 1/2 tsp. salt Beat sugar and butter together using mixer until smooth. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Stir in flour, baking powder, and salt. Cover and chill dough for minimum 1 hour. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly dust a work surface with flour. Roll out dough to 1/4 to 1/2 inch thickness. Cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 in. apart on ungreased baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven until cookies are lightly browned, 6 to 8 minutes. Cool completely before decorating with icing and sprinkles (that, of course, is the kids’ favorite part!). Icing: There are so many recipes for amazing icing. We generally keep it simple just using milk and powdered sugar. We don’t use measurements, just keep adding until we get the consistency we want.
Our cookie recipe is adapted from “The Best Rolled Sugar Cookies” by J. Saunders, found at https://www. allrecipes.com/recipe/10402/the-best-rolled-sugar-cookies/
