So...what did you do New Year's Eve? Hope you had a good one, wherever in the world you live!

Santa Visits Once a Year!

Santa lives at the North Pole.

JESUS is everywhere.

Santa rides in a sleigh

JESUS rides on the wind and walks on the water.

Santa comes but once a year

JESUS is an ever present help.

Santa fills your stockings with goodies

JESUS supplies all your needs.

Santa comes down your chimney uninvited

JESUS stands at your door and knocks.. And then enters your heart.

You have to stand in line to see Santa

JESUS is as close as the mention of His name.

Santa lets you sit on his lap

JESUS lets you rest in His arms.

Santa doesn't know your name, all he can say is "Hi little boy or girl, What's your name?"

JESUS knew our name before we did. Not only does He know our name, He knows our address too. He knows our history and future and He even knows how many hairs are on our heads.

Santa has a belly like a bowl full of jelly

JESUS has a heart full of love.

All Santa can offer is HO HO HO

JESUS offers health, help and hope.

Santa says "You better not cry"

JESUS says "Cast all your cares on me for I care for you.

Santa's little helpers make toys

JESUS makes new life, mends wounded hearts, repairs broken homes and builds mansions.

Santa may make you chuckle but

JESUS gives you joy that is your strength.

While Santa puts gifts under your tree

JESUS became our gift and died on the tree.

It's obvious there is really no comparison.

We need to remember WHO Christmas is all about.

We need to put Christ back in Christmas.

Jesus is still the reason for the season.

May the Lord Bless and Watch over you and your loved ones this Christmas

And may He prosper and bless the work of your hands in the New Year.

Gotta run. A few last minute things to do before Christmas Eve. Family is coming in by plane - Praise God!!! - this time the flight actually took off! More later...

Well, family arrived safe & sound. Hope you are surrounded by your loved ones as well this evening!


Here we go!

Professor's Glögg
(serves 20 to 25)

• 2 quarts dry red wine
• 2 quarts muscatel
• 1 pint sweet vermouth
• 2 tablespoons Angostura bitters
• 2 cups raisins
• Peelings of 1 orange
• 12 whole cardamoms (bruised in a mortar with a pestle)
• 10 whole cloves
• 1 piece (2 inches) fresh ginger
• 1 stick cinnamon
• 1 1/2 (12 ounces) aquavit
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 2 cups whole almonds (blanched & peeled)

1. In a 6 to 8 quart enameled or stainless steel pot, mix together the first 10 ingredients.
2. Cover and let stand at least 12 hours so flavors will develop and mingle.
3. Shortly before serving, add the aquavit and sugar.
4. Stir well and bring to a full boil over high heat.
5. Remove at once from heat, stir in almonds and serve hot - in mugs.


Delicious!!! I have converted many a non-Finn to glögg over the years with this 'failure-proof' (and should I add 80% proof - just kidding!!!) recipe.

Just remember - do not let your guests get in their cars inebriated (and a couple of mugs of this could do it). Set up some pillows and blankets on couches etc., and encourage them to stay the night if they have no 'designated driver' (non-drinker) to drive them home safely!

Enjoy!!!

This recipe comes by way of Beatrice A. Ojakangas, who introduced it in The Finnish Cookbook (1964), as "directions for preparing a fresh ham...taken from an old Finnish cookbook."

Start 2 weeks before Christmas Eve (you still have just about enough time to make it!!!).

1. You need one fresh ham with skin on.
2. Make gashes over entire surface of ham.
3. Rub with mixture of equal portions of salt, sugar and saltpeter.
4. Force the salt from the bony end of the ham as far as possible into the meaty portion.
5. Allow to stand in a cool place overnight.
6. On following day, place ham in 20% salt solution.
7. Let stand in salt solution for 2 weeks.
8. Check water and turn ham over several times during this period.
9. After 2 weeks, remove ham from water, and drain - discarding water.
10. Make a very thick dough using rye flour and water.
11. Roll dough out to 3.4 inch thickness.
    
12. Completely encase the ham with the rolled out rye crust.
13. Make sure ham is well sealed with crust.
14. Bake in slow oven for 1 hour for 1st two pounds, and 45 minutes for each additional pound.
15. When ham is done, remove rye crust and remove skin with a sharp knife.
16. Spread the surface of ham with a 1/8th inch coating of Finnish-style mustard (see below).
17. Sprinkle with bread crumbs and brown sugar, patting them down firmly.
18. (At this point, I would add cloves, as in recipe #2).
19. Brown ham in moderate oven for about 30 minutes.
20. After removing ham from oven, you could garnish with cooked prunes.
    
21. Each pound of ham serves about 3 people.

I actually made my ham this way several Christmases - when I could get hold of a nice "fresh" ham from a reputable butcher. Must say it was absolutely delicious! So juicy and flavorful!

Finnish-Style Mustard

In our house, it was my dad who always made the Finnish mustard, which we used not only to baste the ham, but also as an accompaniment to it, together with lingonberry sauce.

4 tablespoons powdered dry mustard
2-4 tablespoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons boiling water
1 tablespoon vinegar

1. In small bowl, combine mustard, sugar and salt.
2. Mix water and vinegar together and stir into dry ingredients.
3. Place over hot water (double boiler).
4. Stir slowly to make a smooth paste, but do NOT beat.
5. Cook until smooth and thickened.
6. The mustard will be slightly 'runny'.
   

Makes about 1/3 cup.

Finnish Christmas Ham the way my mother used to do it!!!
Excerpted from Kutri's Kitchen!

"Joulukinkku is the star of the Finnish Christmas meal. Its preparation is time consuming, but the results are well worth the trouble. No other ham in the world tastes quite as good as the Finnish joulukinkku, prepared as directed here. For busy people, baking a ham in foil will do just fine, but it will not taste the same.

• 1 raw shank-in ham, 4-6 kg (9-13 lbs)
• 3 Tbs salt
• 2 Tbs sugar
• 5 l (1.1 gal) water
• 1/2 l (2 c) course salt
• 250 g (2 c) sugar
• water
• rye flour
• 1 Tbs mustard
• 3 Tbs bread crumbs
• 1 Tbs sugar

1) Rub the shank with the salt and sugar.

2) Bring to boil the water, salt and sugar. Skim off foam and let cool.

3) Place the shank in the brine and leave to marinate for 2 weeks.

When the ham is to be cooked

1) Cover it with paste made of water and rye flour.

2) Place in a shallow baking dish with water on the bottom so that the bottom of the ham will not burn.

3) Bake in a hot oven, 250°C (450°F), for 3 hours.

4) Remove the rye crust.

5) Baste the ham with mustard/breadcrumb/sugar mixture and quickly brown.

Store the ham under the rye crust. The ham can also be baked covered with foil, but the rye paste adds a very special flavor and "maturity" to the taste."

Joulu Kinkku (Christmas Ham) Recipe #1

My search for a Pikkujoulu "video gem" turned up nothing I would like to share - apart from an interesting but badly made little piece featuring old songs and national costumes. Not sure anyone would spend time watching it - so...alas.

Most of the other videos I found had to do with drinking parties, and personal alcoholic binges. Not very enlightening.

Odd! My memories of "pikkujoulu" had to do with church basements lined with banquet tables laden with all kinds of Finnish Christmas food fare - rice pudding with berry sauce was my favorite! I recall barely being able to see the table top - must have been 4 or 5 years old. I think we were in Fitchburg, PA. Aiti was a soloist with the choir.

What a different picture from the one I found in videos spreading across cyberspace! I am sure that there are still little girls reaching for the rice pudding in church basements around the world where Finns celebrate "pikkujoulu". Those images are just not making it onto Youtube!

So...I will begin the Christmas Food Fare posts with an interesting Finnish-type ham recipe from a Youtube guest chef (right). It will be the first of several ham recipes for your consideration.

If you have one of your own, I would love to share it. Send it to me by email. Or if you have a talented cameraperson in the family - why not film it and share it with Youtube! They could use some more ideas!!!

Finland's Independence Day (Finnish itsenäisyyspäivä, Swedish självständighetsdag) is a national public holiday held on 6 December to celebrate Finland's declaration of independence from the Russian empire. The movement for Finland's Independence started after the revolutions in Russia, caused by the disturbances from the defeats of the First World War. This gave an opportunity for Finland to withdraw from Russia. After several disagreements between the non-socialists and the social-democrats about the matter of who should have the power in Finland, the parliament, led by Pehr Evind Svinhufvud, finally declared Finland as an independent state, on 6 December 1917.

Independence Day was first celebrated in 1919. However, during the first years of independence, 6 December was in some parts of Finland only a minor holiday compared to 16 May, which was the day of celebration for the Whites who prevailed in the Finnish Civil War.^[1]

During the early decades of independence, Independence Day was a very solemn occasion marked by patriotic speeches and special Church services. From the 1970s onwards, however, Independence day celebrations have taken on livelier forms, with shops decorating their windows in the blue and white of the Finnish flag, and bakeries producing cakes with blue and white icing. Today, rock stars and entertainers have been accepted as worthy interpreters of Finnish patriotism.

It is traditional for many Finnish families to light two candles in each window of their home in the evening. This custom dates to the 1920s, but even earlier, candles had been placed in windows on the birthday of poet Johan Ludvig Runeberg as a silent protest against perceived Russian oppression. A popular legend has it that two candles were used as a sign to inform young men on their way to Sweden and Germany to become jägers that the house was ready to offer shelter and keep them hidden from the Russians.

(excerpted from Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia)

Tarja Turunen video link: (copy & paste URL into your browser search bar)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W9WnvXsvVSQ

Who was Sibelius? I'm almost certain that many Finns don't know the answer to this question. And why should they - especially if they were born in America or somewhere else as first-generation Finns in a new country?

If you're one of these folks, and you are not familiar with the name Sibelius, I want to say that - in my opinion at least - you are really missing out on something!

Sibelius - if you didn't already know - you will have guessed from today's "video clip gem" (right sidebar), was a composer. Not just "a composer"...but one of the most famous in the world - even today!

Sibelius had a very interesting life, and you can read about it at one on of my favorite websites covering Finnish topics of interest.

So what do you think of the man an his music? Share your opinion via "comment"!

Sibelius Finlandia video link: (copy & paste URL in your browser search bar)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XojVmivqDrA

Well, Christmas is just around the corner. Can't believe I don't even have my tree up yet. Christmas shopping is all done though. I did a lot of it via internet this year. How about you?

We are really looking forward to having the whole family together again for Christmas - first time in three years!!! We will be sharing the cooking this year. I will, as always. do the Finnish ham, the roast turkey, and "pulla." The girls will take care of the American and Canadian side dishes and the rest of the baking. I will do the Finnish Christmas sides.

Speaking of Finnish Christmas sides - any of you out there have some recipes to share? If you do, please post a comment! You only get 300 "characters" (not room for a lot of "words") so just give the name of the recipe, and email me the details: mrobi43448@aol.com. I will post your recipe. If you attach a photo - yourself, the dish, your family, whatever! - I will post that as well.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Hope you enjoy our video gem for today (right sidebar).