Holiday.

My family is a jumbled up mixture of traditions that my parents grew up with and that they've made as traditions just for our family. We have a few Scandinavian foods and customs that we never go with out, and lefse is one of them.

Lefse (lef-suh) may be one of my favorite foods. It's basically just a potato tortilla, with butter and, for me, brown sugar spread all over the inside. Other people like cinnamon sugar or regular white sugar, but I'm a sucker for the brown sugar - and I cake it on. The crunch inside the smooth tortilla is so delicious, making it a  perfect thing to eat at any time of the day.

This delicious treat comes from the Norwegian side of me, but we also love our Danish and Swedish treats too. Tomorrow, I'm waking up to make aebleskivers with my mom - Danish little pancakes filled with deliciousness. My dad always enjoys his pickled herring and Lutefisk, which are also somehow Scandinavian, but I don't delight myself in those tasty treats - ever.

I'm excited for Christmas Eve tomorrow. This is our day of family-filled traditions, waking up to bake or get dinner ready, going to church, followed by driving through the Christmas lights on Douglas Drive. Then it's off to the house to get cozy and gorge ourselves with food and open presents.


My goal for this Christmas is to keep focused on the reason that we celebrate. Our neighbors came over the other day to bring us "Happy Birthday, Jesus cupcakes" and it was wonderful - and delicious. Traditions, food, and gifts are all fantastic, but may we remember that Christ is the one from whom all blessings flow, and he really is the source of our Joy during the holidays.

Merry Christmas,

Chels.