December 23, 2009

A Merry Christmas, To Each And Every One



Life has been very, very busy lately - so I have had no time for the PC....and worse, I have not been riding either!
Back to normal once Christmas is over, I hope :-)

Once all presents are bought, the food is prepared and the house is clean(er), it's time to relax and enjoy.
To have some time to read, and to watch movies.
What's your favourite Christmas movies?
Mine are:

A Christmas Carol (of course) with George C Scott. No Christmas without Scrooge.
Christmas? Puh-humbug!

And another one, ageing with beauty:
The bishop's wife from 1947 with Cary Grant, Loretta Young and David Niven.
So sweet.
I love old movies.

As you might know, the big day is tomorrow here in Scandinavia.
On Christmas Eve, people get together with family to share Christmas dinner, and after that it is presents for children of all ages.

Christmas food in Norway and Sweden differ some.
In Norway you have one main dish, in Sweden you have a kind of smörgåsbord with many different dishes.
Herring, salmon (smoked and gravad), different kinds of sausages, pork ribs, christmas ham,and my favourite - Janssons frestelse.

Here's how you do it:

You need
6-8 potatoes, depending on size
1 large onion
2-3 dl cream
1 box of anchovies, 125 g


Peel the potatoes and the onion.
Chop the onion.
The potatoes are to be sliced in juliennes, but not too thin.
I cheat and use a hand held slicer, my mother's really but she has given it to me. Thanks Mum!


Then you put the first layer in the form.
Potatoes in first, then spread the chopped onions and spread half of the anchovies over.


Another layer of potatoes, onions and anchovies.


Top with potatoes.
Pour the liquid from the anchovies box over it all, and add the cream too.
Begin with 2 dl on a form like this, and add more while it's in the oven if necessary. It should be creamy, not dry.

Then in to the oven for about an hour, 200 centigrades.
Check with a fork in the middle, taste one of the potatoe pieces. It should be soft and cooked. If the gratin get's too dark before it's ready, cover with some tin foil.


Doesn't look much, but tastes very good!

And even better with a beer and some aquavite!

Enjoy your Christmas all!

17 comments:

Anne i Hannover said...

God jul til deg og familien!

Grey Horse Matters said...

Merry Christmas to you and yours. Have a lovely time and here's hoping you can catch a ride.

RuckusButt said...

Merry Christmas to you too! Hopefully you will get a chance to relax (and ride!) over the holidays. All that travel can be exhausting, especially when you are learning about new things.

Thank you so much for the recipe! I was just thinking last week that I would wait until you weren't so busy, then ask you to post it :) I'll let you know how it goes when I try it out.

Pass along a holiday treat to Fame and Charlie from the blogosphere, will you please?

Shanster said...

Merry Christmas! I love The Bishop's Wife and It's a Wonderful Life... tho a more recent movie is Elf and that one makes me laugh!

Anonymous said...

A very merry Christmas to you and yours! We love the George C. Scott Christmas Carol as well, but I've never seen the other movie and will have to look it up.

Once Upon an Equine said...

Have a Merry Christmas Horse Of Course...and to your family, and horses, and the sofa princess too. Hope you have time to relax, enjoy your movies and good food.

Pony Girl said...

That sounds yummy! Might have to give it a go sometime! I usually bake around the holidays, but I'm not much of a cook!
The snowy tree is beautiful!! I love holiday movies. I'm going to watch one tonight. My faves are The Family Man, The Holiday, Love Actually....so many more. Really love the old ones too, like Christmas in Connecticut.
Have a very merry one!!

Siri said...

Merry Christmas Maria!
Here everything is set, with presents, food and everything else that is christmas, even lots and lots of SNOW! :D
Unfortunately I have to work all christmas, that means christmas eve and early christmas morning. So I'll get my presents on the eve of the 25th. Oh well, thats what you get when you choose an occupation like mine.
Anyway, hope you have a nice and quiet christmas after a busy couple of weeks :)

Oh and the best movies are Home Alone, Home Alone II, Joyeux Noël, Tre nøtter til Askepott, Reisen til Julestjernen and it won't be christmas without Kalla Anka och hans vänner on swedish tv!

Irene said...

God Jul! Jansson är underbart gott.

stilllearning said...

Merry Christmas and best wishes for a Happy New Year!

Di said...

Merry Christmas HofC to you and all your family, I hope you have a good one!!x
p.s I hope you get to ride too.

Nuzzling Muzzles said...

Merry Christmas to you!

Christine Taylor Ednovean Farm said...

Merry Christmas from Cornwall

DQwannaB said...

I'm so glad you had time to post. It is nice to hear about the traditions, including food, of both your family and region.
At our home, we have lots of traditions that we like to revisit year after year....some of them since I was litte in the 60's! One of those is the 'Talent Show'. Each family member AND guests must perform, even if it's only reciting Pi to the fiftieth place. We've had singers, musicians, magicians, comedians, science demos, cooking demos..you name it.
We also go caroling. But, since we only have 3 close neighbors, that part doesn't take long. We watch certain movies every year. They are:
It's a Wonderful Life with Jimmy Stewart 1948
A Christmas Story (about a little boy in the 50's who wants a Red Ryder Air Rifle for Christmas...great family story)
Polar Express with Tom Hanks
Home Alone
Santa Clause with Tim Allen

Here in the US, some people open gifts Christmas Eve, but I think most probably wait until Santa leaves them in the night and open them in the morning. We hang stockings on the mantle and Santa leaves Mandarin oranges, nuts, candy and small gifts in them. My kids get things like nail polish, lip gloss, little wood puzzles, fancy soaps or lotions, etc.

Christmas eve our family (and lots of others)eats Clam Chowder. Other families eat Chinese take-out, I think because of all the cooking that goes on the next day.
Christmas day is a huge meal. We serve really early, 2 or 3 in the afternoon, so we'll have time to recover before bed. The meal is very heavy (like Americans? lol!) like lamb, roast beef, duck, turkey and served with mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes or yams, green bean casserole (not in my family), bread, salads (both fruit and veggie) and then desserts. Pecan pie with vanilla ice cream and Cheese cake are what we usually have.
When I was young, my mom and I always went on a trail ride if the weather cooperated on both Christmas and Thanksgiving. We live in California, so the weather is pretty nice compared to alot of places! It was a gorgeous 50 degrees F for the last few days. Your snow looks beautiful, though. I'm jealous of your 'White Christmas'. I will try your recipe...if you are interested in any of ours, just ask.
Have a wonderful holiday!

trudi said...

Hope it was a good one, the food sounds fantastic. I'm going to have to try the Janssons frestelse, it's like our dauphinoise but with anchovies, yummy!
Don't have a fave christmas movie, bah humbug!

Unknown said...

Very Merry Xmas and best(est) of New years :)

HorseOfCourse said...

Thanks for your greetings and comments all!

I got a wonderful ride in the morning the 24th, we enjoyed ourselves in the snow, Fame and I.

I will check out the movies too. Some were new to me, and it is always nice to make new discoveries!

DQwB - thanks for sharing, I very much liked to hear your description of how you celebrate Christmas. I can imagine celebrating it in California and Norway are two different things when it comes to weather, lol!