New Year's Day

The first day of the New Year, a clear calendar ahead to fill in any way you wish.  This day can be full of hope for the future and full of gratitude for the opportunity to start fresh and try again. Life isn't about regrets or failures.  It's about how many times you learn from the past, resolve to do better in the future, and start again with a hopeful heart.  Live this new year with Generosity and Joy!

We are not big New Year's Eve celebrators in our family, though we have tried on occasion.  With our daily work schedules, midnight is just way too late to be awake!  So, pick a time zone, and celebrate when it's convenient for you.  The New Year is dawning somewhere in the world for a full 24 hours!

A great way to ring in the New Year is to share a special meal on New Year's Day with family and friends.  Here's a menu you can make at home adapted from a local upscale restaurant's New Year's Eve Special.

Since Pork Roast is on the menu,
this card looked appropriate

Chopped Salad:  lettuce, blue cheese, tomato, cucumber, chopped hard-boiled eggs, bacon, dressing of choice.
Minnesota Wild Rice Soup: recipe follows.
Pork Roast: pork roast, 1 cup cranberry juice, 1 can whole cranberries. Bake in slow cooker 4-8 hours - time depends on size of roast, if it's frozen or thawed, and whether you use low or high setting.
Mashed Potatoes:  Add a little milk and sour cream or cream cheese while mashing your boiled potatoes.
Asparagus:  Snap off the stem ends. Lay spears in frying pan with 1 inch of boiling water and cook/steam for about 5 minutes.
Apple Spice Cake or Dark Chocolate Cake:  Make it simple and buy a cake mix.  Bake according to package directions. 


Minnesota Wild Rice Soup:
2 to 2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/4 cup white cooking wine (optional)
1 chicken bouillon cube
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup diced COOKED chicken or turkey
1/2 cup diced COOKED ham or 1/4 cup diced cooked bacon
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped peeled carrots
1 (4 oz) can mushroom pieces, drained
1/4 cup raw white rice
1/8 cup raw wild rice, rinsed
1 cup milk
1 or 2 Tablespoons corn starch
salt & pepper
1/4 cup chopped or sliced almonds

Saute' onion, celery, carrots and mushrooms in butter until tender crisp.  Set aside.  Bring stock & wine to a boil.  Add bouillon cube, bay leaf, meats, rices and saute'd vegetables.  Simmer covered for 1 1/4 hours.  Mix corn starch and milk.  Add to soup and stir until thickened, but do not bring to a hard boil.  Add almonds.  Salt & pepper to taste.  Remove bay leaf before serving.

Fifth Week in December

Monday
Chow mein
Rice
Grapefruit and orange salad
Peas

Tuesday
Tuna casserole
Sliced tomato
Carrots and peas
Lemon bars

Wednesday
Tacos
Ice cream and caramel sauce

Thursday
Pork chops
Scalloped potatoes
Green beans
Cranberry sauce

Friday
Baked fish
Tomatoes, onions and potatoes
Orange jello salad
Peas
Apple pie

Saturday
Ham
Sweet potatoes
Green beans
Apple & Celery salad

Sunday
Chicken stew with vegetables
Mashed potatoes
Fruit cup
Roll and butter
Ice cream

Fourth Week in December

Monday
Leftover roast
Mashed potatoes
Broccoli
Jello salad with fruit
Cranberry bread

Tuesday
Hamburger patties
Mashed potatoes
Lemon or Lime jello salad with crushed pineapple, chopped celery and grated carrots (Sunshine salad)

Wednesday
Swedish meatballs
Rice or noodles
Lettuce salad
Beets

Thursday
BBQ ribs in the slow cooker
Potatoes
Green vegetable
Apple raisin Cole slaw

Friday
Clam chowder
Green salad
Roll and butter
Apple pie

Saturday
Spaghetti
Garlic bread and butter
Lettuce salad
Apricot bars

Sunday
Roast chicken
Apple stuffing
Mashed potatoes
Cauliflower
Ice cream and holiday cookies

Santa Lucia

The feast day of St. Lucy, also called Santa Lucia, is celebrated on December 13th.  Under the Julian calendar, before the current Gregorian calendar system shifted the calendar by several days, the day was considered the shortest day of the year in the northern hemisphere.  Lucia, whose name comes from the Latin word for 'light,' is celebrated in the Nordic countries with a feast of lights.

In Sweden, the day is celebrated with Lucia, wearing a crown of candles, serves coffee and Saffron Raisin Buns called 'Lussekatter' to family members.  Here's a recipe from an outstanding local Scandinavian shop.  The link also has some history of the celebration of St. Lucy in Scandinavia.

For dinner, let's make Swedish Meatballs from this favorite family recipe:

Swedish Meatballs

meatballs:
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 Tablespoon margarine or butter
1 egg
1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs
1/3 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon each: allspice, nutmeg, cardamom, dill weed
1 lb. ground beef
sauce:
1 Tablespoon margarine
1/8 cup flour
1 teaspoon beef bullion granules
1 cup water
1/2 cup milk (or 1/2 & 1/2 for a richer sauce)
1/2 teaspoon dill weed

Saute onion in margarine until soft.  Set aside.  Mix egg, breadcrumbs and milk.  Set aside while breadcrumbs absorb most of the liquid.  In a medium mixing bowl, mix ground beef, seasonings, breadcrumb mixture and onion.  Shape into meatballs about 1 inch in diameter using a spoon, or 1-inch cookie scoop.  Brown in a frying pan until thoroughly cooked.  Remove cooked meatballs from the frying pan and place into a casserole dish.  In the same frying pan, make a roux of flour, margarine and pan drippings.  Add broth, milk and seasonings.  Stir until thickened.  Pour over meatballs in the casserole dish.  Keep warm until serving.  Serve over egg noodles cooked according to the package directions.  (Since St. Lucy was an Italian girl we do need to have some pasta!)

For dessert we always have birthday cake - since our oldest child was born on this feast day and she is certainly the light in our lives!

Third Week in December

Monday
Ham slices
Sweet Potatoes
Lettuce Salad
Corn and Peas
Fruit cobbler

Tuesday
Spaghetti
Lettuce Salad
Garlic Bread
Pie

Wednesday
Chicken chow mein
Rice
Chow mein noodles
Peas
Peaches
Fortune cookies

Thursday
Hamburger hot dish (casserole)
Green beans
Cherry jello
Roll and butter

Friday
Fish
Baked potato
Tomato and celery salad
Lemon custard and cookies

Saturday
Polish sausage
Potatoes
Fried apple rings
Buttered boiled cabbage

Sunday
Pot roast
Potatoes, carrots and onions
Lettuce salad
Cherry pie or cobbler

St. Nicholas Day

December 6th is the feast day of St. Nicholas, Bishop of Myra in the 4th century. He was known for his great faith and generosity.  Many parts of the world celebrate his feast day with the giving of gifts which are meant to be shared.  In the United States, the modern tradition of Santa Claus (since the early 1800's) can be traced to Nicholas.  Say "St. Nicholas" with a heavy accent and you get "Sant ni-Claus."  Surprised?

My mother tried to bring celebrations of the Saints into our family life. From an early age I remember hanging our stockings up on the evening of December 5th.  Overnight St. Nick would fill them with oranges and apples, some wrapped candies, and a craft project or toy that would keep us entertained until Christmas.

Peppernut (Pfeffernuesse) Cookies or Spice (Speculatius) Cookies were popular St. Nicholas treats with German and Dutch children.  We tried to make them a few times, but this Ginger Cookie recipe is now my favorite spice cookie.

 Favorite Ginger Cookies

Preheat oven to 350 degrees
1/4 cup butter or margarine
1/2 cup Crisco shortening
1 cup sugar, plus 1/4 cup for rolling cookies before baking
1 egg
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger
4 Tablespoons molasses
2 1/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
Blend butter, shortening and 1 cup sugar.  Add egg, molasses and spices. Finally, mix together the dry ingredients (flour & baking soda) and add them to the mixture.  Chill for about an hour.  Roll into 1-inch balls, or use a small 1-inch cookie scoop.  Roll in sugar and flatten with a fork or other cookie press.  Place on ungreased cookie sheet about 2 inches apart.  Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 minutes.  Let cool a few minutes before moving cookies to a cooling rack.


You can find out more about St. Nicolas celebrations with this link.  This is a really interesting web site. If you find the section on the Real Face, there is a documentary at the very bottom of that page which chronicles the reconstruction of the face of St. Nicholas using modern forensic science and photographs of his skull.  Very fascinating! It is interesting to see how close the various paintings of St. Nicholas over the years are to the reconstruction.

Second Week of December

Monday
Shepherds pie
Green Beans
Lettuce Salad
Baked Apples

Tuesday
Chicken and rice
Carrots
Fruit Salad

Wednesday
Beef stew with vegetables
Cole slaw
Bread and butter
Apple pie

Thursday
Pork chops
Apple & celery salad
Scalloped potatoes
Broccoli
Peach cobbler

Friday
Macaroni and cheese
Green beans
Lettuce salad
Raisin spice cake

Saturday
Ham
Potatoes
Cabbage & apple salad
Corn

Sunday
Pork roast
Potatoes
Green beans
Hot fruit salad