Besides a red tricycle, which was captured on an old home movie reel (anyone else remember those bright lights during filming?), I don't recall many of the Christmas gifts I received as a girl . What comes to mind are the unique flavors that we enjoyed each Christmas season. My mother was a teacher and embraced the time she had off during the holidays to do baking galore. We would make Swedish flatbread, crinkle cookies, and two of my favorites--Swedish tea ring and holiday fruitcake. Yes, I like my mom's fruitcake--so much so that I was glad to receive a loaf in care packages when I lived away from my parents in college and beyond.
On Christmas eve (or perhaps Christmas day), Mom would make turkey (in the microwave), wild rice stuffing, and whole wheat dinner rolls. Friends who shared her Swedish heritage would sometimes give us some Swedish potato sausage from their travels to Lindsborg, Kansas, or elsewhere. And in with the holiday spread, there was always a jar or pickled herring. Year after year my mom and dad would urge me to try some with a twinkle in their eyes. They knew full well that the offer would elicit a wrinkled nose refusal from me.
I'm glad you could take a stroll with me, back to the old brick house on 42nd Street where I spent my youth. It's good to reminisce, both for myself and to gather material for future yarns to spin for my children. Furthermore, I've convinced myself that I should bake some fresh memories for my family next week. Thanks, Rachel, for the wonderful prompt today!
4 comments:
I just took my family to Lindsborg!! We had so much fun! I wish we could have spent more time there and would have known that the Lucia Fest was going on. We would have planned to go. It's a neat town. Tomorrow I'll post pictures from our excursion. Thanks for sharing your memories. Merry Christmas to you and yours Julia!!
Pickled herring...yuck, of course, I am not much of a fruitcake person either. Just give me chocolate and a piece of ham, thanks! Fun memories, though, thanks for sharing!
That's quite different from what we usually have, but what a feast! It's always fun to think about all the fun times from our childhood.
I had to look really close in order to find the "post comment" link on your blog, but I found it!
Thanks for sharing your memories with us. I've been slowly getting around for coffee this week since I didn't get around on Friday.
Have a Merry and Meaningful Christmas!
-Melissa
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