Lutefisk

This is a recipe that isn't written down.  I don't have my grandmother's handwritten notes on how to make lutefisk.  Instead, I have year's of memories telling me how she perfected this family tradition.  I can picture my grandma sitting in front of the stove with this look on her face.  A look of joy but it was almost like she was keeping a secret and couldn't wait to share it with everyone.  The only thing is I don't think she was aware of the fact that we all knew exactly what she was doing and not everyone appreciated the smell that was coming from that pot she was stirring.  Not everyone likes this tradition but it's a tradition none the less.  I am the minority in my family.  I love lutefisk.  I truly believe that everyone would if they would only give it a chance.  If you heard people describe the taste of lutefisk it would probably have more to do with the texture of the fish than anything else.  It is a slimy fish with a jelly like consistency but not the way my grandma makes it.  

This is our Christmas tradition...

Normally she'd cook the fish in the plastic bag it came in but this year my mom and I bought it "fresh" from the seafood counter at the Cashwise in Willmar, MN.  So, we used a roasting bag.

  

Fill a medium sized sauce pan 3/4 full of water and bring to a rolling boil.  Place your roasting bag (with the fish inside) in the boiling water.  Make sure the fish is submerged in the water.  Cooking time will be between 15-20 min.  You will notice the consistency of the fish change it will become flakey(as flakey as lutefisk gets) and starts to break apart.  It will also become less clear and more white.

The next step is making the white sauce.  

Melt 2T of butter with 2T of flour over medium heat.  

Let it cook for a minute or 2.

Add a 1 and 1/2 cups of milk and let it thicken (you may need to add some more flour if it doesn't thicken enough).   

Once it thickens up add the cooked fish.  

Season with salt and pepper.

Somehow I forgot to take a picture of the final product.  I guess I was just so excited to eat it I forgot.  So, you'll just have to imagine it.  It is served over mashed potatoes and tastes amazing!

Since there's always leftovers (go figure) you have to eat it the next day and the only way to eat leftover lutefisk is in a burrito.  Not just any burrito.  A lefse mashed potato burrito.  For those of you who don't know Lefse is a thin swedish tortilla made out of potatoes.  It looks like this...

It is a favorite of my mom and I.  :)

Pumpkin Pie Squares

I aimed high and got out the recipe for my grandma's Apple pie slices.  Well, just looking at the amount of apples that I would have to peel and cut up was very overwhelming (I know, I need a peeler, corer, slicer and Christmas is just around the corner).  


So, I readjusted my plans and opened up the recipe box that I had found hiding on my grandma's refrigerator when we moved her in August to the Mount Olivet Careview Home.


I was surprised when I found a recipe that had very few ingredients and had hardly any prep work.  Not to mention it fit in perfectly for the purpose.  I needed to make a dessert for Lucas' Mother's Day Out Thanksgiving lunch and what's better than something pumpkin?

So, here goes nothing...

Crust: 1 stick of butter, 1 cup of flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup quick cooking oats

Press firmly into a 9x13 pan

Bake the crust for 15 min. at 350 degrees.

Warning!!!

Do NOT use this....

I didn't catch the small detail until I was ready to open up my can of pumpkin and thought...  "This is not going to taste good.  When do I add the sugar and the cinnamon, and the nutmeg?"  So, I checked the recipe and saw my mistake.  And so after a quick run to the grocery store Lucas and I returned with this...

Spread the can over the crust...

Just beware that you will be tempted to lick the can before throwing it away.  

Bake in oven for another 20 min.

While that's in the oven get out the ingredients for the topping.

1/2 cup brown sugar, 1/2 cup chopped pecans, 2 T butter

Mix them together well.

After the 20 min. in the over sprinkle the toppings on the bars.   

Bake for another 20-30 min.

Let them cool completely before cutting them into bars.

I brought one pan of the bars to Lucas' school Thanksgiving lunch and they were a huge hit!!  You can't eat just one.  They are a tad addicting.

Someday I will tackle the Apple Pie Slices but I'm so glad I had the opportunity to discover a recipe that my grandma obviously thought worthy enough to save all these years.

Thanks grandma!!

Fruit Soup

Fruit soup was something my grandma made a lot of.  It was a staple around the holidays but could be found in her fridge just about any time of the year.

A few years ago I asked her for the recipe for Ham Loaves.  This is the note that accompanied that recipe.

The cookbook has many classic Carlson recipes in it.
One of which of course is Grandma's Fruit Soup.  So, here goes nothing...

I gathered the ingredients.  Dried fruit, that's easy.  Grape juice, no problem.  Cinnamon stick, already gathered that from Grandma her self.  Tapioca pearls, now there was a problem.  Walmart? No.  Kroger? No.  Publix?  No.  K&S?  Yes!  To give you an idea the kind of grocery store K&S is I will tell you that  it is the place I get my goat meat (I'll explain later if you ask).  The point is I found the tapioca.

Here are my gathered ingredients...

The next step is putting it all in a big pot to soak.  I got out my big pot and added 10 cups of water, the ingredients you see above and then went to get the 1 1/2 cups of sugar.  The one ingredient I wasn't worried about.  Well, to my surprise I had less than 1 cup of sugar in my cupboard.  Doh.  With Lucas sleeping upstairs I was only given one choice.  Call the neighbor.   Luckily Leslie was home and was willing to give up 1 cup of her sugar.  To tell you the truth it made me feel a little old fashioned to have to borrow a cup of sugar from my neighbor.  I kinda liked the unexpected disruption.


I started the soaking process around 3pm and since the recipe is vague and says "couple hours" I let it go until after dinner.

At 7 pm I started the boiling and let it boil for 30 min.

The smell of Christmas started to fill the house.  It was amazing! 

Here is the finished product!  

I don't know why but I've only seen fruit soup in jars.  

It doesn't belong in any other kind of container.  :)

Now for the review:

I have to say I am not very found of the fruit soup flavor (this is not new news).  It did have that familiar taste and because of that I will eat it proudly!  :)

I would make sure you use LARGE tapioca pearls.  The recipe didn't specify and the little ones I used melted very quickly into the liquid.

The grape juice says "optional" and I just added it to the 10 cups of water but I think next time I would change the water to 8 cups with the 2 cups of grape juice.

The Beginning

I am starting this blog in memory of my Grandma.  Even as I write that it doesn't sound right.  It's hard to believe that she has left us to go be with Jesus.  We will miss her more than words can express.

My Grandma Pauline loved to bake and has many wonderful recipes.  I have many of them and I don't want them to collect dust.  I am going to use this blog as an outlet for her recipes.  Before I get to baking I wanted to give you a little bit of a background on who my Grandma was.  She was born to Swedish immigrants.  Her parents owned a bakery in Red Oak, IA.  They were open during the depression when sugar was rationed which you can imagine would make it hard to bake.  People would give them their rations of sugar in exchange for baked goods.  Clever, I'd say.  As I go through the recipes she's given me I think of all the people that were fed by my Grandma.  So many stories...  I can't wait to start.