Blogger: Mary Keeley
Location: Books & Such Illinois Office
I’m going to start my Christmas baking soon. In years past, I would have had most of it done by now. To avoid anxiety, I’m encouraging myself that they will taste especially fresh this year.
Baking is one of my favorite activities when I have time, but I’ve never graduated to the gourmet level. I’m of the simple Midwest tradition. My favorite Christmas cookbook is really a box—my recipe box. This is where all my favorite Christmas recipes collected from traditional cookbooks, friends, and family are stored. Recipes for toffee squares, pecan balls, spritz, Fannie May fudge, jam thumbprints, molasses cookies—and egg strata and potato casserole recipes for Christmas morning brunch.
There is one cookie, however, that is such an integral part of our family’s Christmas that no one can conceive our holiday gatherings without them: Kringlas. Just saying the word floods my mind with joy and thoughts of family. Buttermilk makes them soft and moist; the subtle flavor of cardamom makes them delectable.
I can’t show you a picture of them since I haven’t made them yet (not to panic!). The best way to describe a Kringla is that it is a Norwegian sugar cookie, rolled and shaped like a figure 8. My great aunt Zella was the first person I remember baking them. I have vivid memories of one Christmas at her farm—an authentic Currier and Ives scene—complete with these wonderful cookies. I couldn’t have been more than seven or eight years old. I’m sure there were other scrumptious cookies and pies, but all I remember are the Kringlas.
I made certain to get the recipe from Aunt Zella before she died. They quickly became a favorite of my husband, Brian, and our four children grew up celebrating Christmas morning with Kringlas and eggnog. Now that they are grown, married, and have given us twelve wonderful grandchildren, this tradition continues in their families.
Kringlas are a personal tie that binds our cherished Christmas memories together through three generations and will likely continue to the fourth and beyond as long as the Lord tarries.
Have you written any stories, published for the world to enjoy or unpublished especially for your family, that include such a tie through so many years? Is there a significant ‘Kringla’ thread running through your traditions or family history that stitches a book idea in your mind?
Now, here’s the recipe, if you want to try them:
KRINGLAS
½ c. butter, softened
1 ¼ c. sugar
2 egg yolks
1 c. buttermilk
3 c. all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
½ – 1 tsp. ground cardamom
Cream butter and sugar until light. Beat in egg yolks. Blend in buttermilk. Stir together remaining ingredients. Blend into creamed mixture; beat well. Divide dough in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap and put in freezer for 2 hours.
Work with one half at a time, keeping other half in freezer. Divide each half into 18 pieces. With floured hands, roll each piece on floured pastry cloth into a rope about 9 inches long. (Dough will be soft to work with so flour hands and surface often. It also works best if you roll out all 18 pieces before shaping each one and placing them on the cookie sheets.) Handling lightly, shape the ropes into figure 8s, place them on a lightly greased cookie sheet overlapping and sealing ends slightly. Don’t try to fit more than 9 cookies onto a sheet. Bake in 350 degree oven for 12-14 minutes, or until lightly browned on the bottom (pale on top). Repeat with remaining dough.
Nicole
I love people who bake, especially at Christmas. What a delicious joy to receive their decorative fare. I don’t bake because I eat all the dough and frostings before they ever reach the oven or cookie. ;/
My mom baked Christmas cookies, and my grandmother would come over and prepare her special date-filled cookies and Divinity–the best I’ve ever seen or eaten. It was wonderful with the kitchen full of sweet scents and me sneaking pieces of various cookie doughs. . . I miss it all so many, many years later.
Your Kringlas story brought it all back. Sweet memories.
Caroline
I come from a family of great bakers. And while I wouldn’t claim to be “great,” I also enjoy baking. Nothing I make looks pretty, but it usually tastes pretty decent. My family also has several cookies and desserts that are an integral part of Christmas meals. I imagine many family members would be in complete shock if some of these dessert staples didn’t make an appearance one year!
As for your writing question, I haven’t yet written anything that ties together so many years of my own family (only biblical families!). I do have a picture book idea that ties together memories/traditions/love through four generations though. Hopefully it will transform from an idea to manuscript in the future.
sally apokedak
I haven’t written anything with family traditions…maybe because by the time I came along, last in line, my parents were doing less in the way of traditions and doing more in the way of damage control for the first kids they messed up. 🙂
But you’ve got me thinking. In my last book I added religion and festivals into my fantasy world, but it would be good to have family traditions as well as society-wide traditions. These things add authenticity. And even a lack of tradition, if it’s put in purposefully would add to the characterization and story world.
My family traditions are not about food. They revolve around games. We put together jigsaw puzzles and play games. I love it when we all get together now because no one plays games like my brothers and sisters. We have such a good time.
Heather Sunseri
I’m with you. My favorite cookbook isn’t a box, but a book filled with my own handwritten cards or handwritten cards from family and friends. I fill this book with recipes I’ve tried and loved, ones my family enjoys time and time again.
Barbara
Because my kitchen is the largest, my sister and our grown daughters meet here each year and have a bake-fest. The dads take care of the children and bring us lunch later in the day, and we make all the traditional cookies, each at her own station, all the ingredients organized on the island in the middle. Christmas music plays and we all wear special aprons. More than a dozen “must-have” varieties are made and shared.
One year my husband helped me with the Christmas candy. After he stirred the fudge the required amount of time to achieve the necessary sheen, he went out and bought me a Kitchenaid!