If you tried to sum up a lot of the things on my bucket list, one major category is cooking. Like I said earlier, when I graduated from college I really wanted to work on becoming a better cook (I even asked for cookbooks and cooking supplies for Christmas that year), but I just never gave myself the extra push I needed to do it. This bucket list was that push and, as you can see from previous entries, it really worked and I have gradually worked my way towards becoming a self-sufficient, healthy and frugal cook. It's actually been pretty incredible-- I didn't foresee it working out as well as it did.
The reason I put this particular thing on my list had a lot to do with self sufficiency. I'm sure that most people my age don't necessarily expect that they will have to cook things alone during the holiday season, and I really don't anticipate that happening in the near future. But I couldn't help but think: what if? What if I did decide to move far enough away that I wouldn't be able to join my family for dinner, or what if my family decided to spend Christmas out of town and I couldn't join them? I didn't want to be forced to make one of the limited every day items I know how to make: spaghetti? enchiladas? I realized I didn't know how to make the things I would miss the most if I ever couldn't eat Christmas dinner with my family.
If you don't know my family well, you probably don't realize how important what we eat on Christmas is to us. It's not just another excuse to make a turkey or ham dinner-- ever since I can remember (and probably well before that) my mom's family has made a modified version of a Swedish smorgasbord. My mom is 100% Swedish-- I think she's the third generation American-- and heritage is important to our family. My grandpa has learned some of the Swedish language, has visited the country and kept in contact with some distant relatives. I've learned a fair amount of Swedish songs-- I sang one at my aunt & uncle's wedding, and we sing them every year at Christmas. I wouldn't say that it is a large part of their day-to-day lives, but it is something that is definitely appreciated. I particularly appreciate the food.
I want to say that some of the things that we eat on Christmas are not exclusively Swedish, and some of the things I was most interested in learning to make were not. We do eat a lot of stereotypical Swedish foods like pickled herring, Swedish meatballs, rice pudding, pepperkaker cookies, etc. And, honestly, I love all of it. But what I really wanted to learn how to make was my favorite dish: ham balls. My mom also brings her version of au gratin potatoes (the best version in the world, in my unbiased opinion) and baked beans, so I asked if she could show me how to make these three things.
It worked out really well because, in the end, I wasn't able to eat the smorgasbord with my family this year-- it's the first year I've missed it (that I can remember.) Now that I'm in a serious relationship, Brian and I split our time between our families during the holidays. It usually is a fair compromise. My family celebrates mostly on Christmas Eve and his celebrates on Christmas Day. This year, however, my cousins and aunt realized that they are allergic to gluten, and so the things they can eat are very limited. Since we usually spend Christmas Eve with my grandparents and their family, my grandparents offered to make a gluten-free Christmas meal on Christmas Eve and then make a smorgasbord for my immediate family on Christmas Day. Obviously, I was very disappointed, but since my mom had offered to show me how to make my favorite things anyway, she offered to buy enough to make double recipes of all three things and send me home with half of it! (My mom is the greatest, most generous woman. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that.)
So on Christmas Eve, I woke up really early and went to their house to make all the food before we celebrated Christmas with the rest of my family. Here are some of the pictures:
I'll briefly explain how to make the ham balls, just so you have a better idea of what they are-- I'm sure most people don't eat them too often. My grandma used her food processor to shred the ham in to little pieces for us. We only needed to add bread crumbs and milk and roll them in to several little balls. Then you pour a sweet glaze over the top and bake them. They are SO incredibly delicious. I crave them every year.
Overall, it couldn't have worked out much better. I didn't have to miss out on Christmas food this year after all, and Brian and I got to eat a ton of Christmas leftovers for an entire week-- it was amazing. But most of all, I feel good knowing that I'm at least self sufficient enough to be able to make some version of our Christmas smorgasbord if I ever need to.
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