Consolation Prize

Although our dreams of a Mexican Christmas were dashed, I have to say that a small part of me was thankful to be home for some Scandinavian traditions.

We managed to make it over to my parents house for Christmas Eve dinner - a feast with all the Swedish and Norwegian specialties. We got to take home some leftovers and some tasty cookies, but my favorite was some of the cooking broth leftover from cooking the Christmas ham.

One of the traditional Swedish dishes is Julskinka (Christmas ham). Nowadays you can purchase the ham finished, but traditionally it took several days cure it in salt. On the day before Christmas Eve, the ham is boiled for several hours. The ham is then left in the broth overnight in the fridge. On Christmas Eve, the ham is dried, painted with a coating of egg and mustard, sprinkled with bread crumbs and baked.

The salty, flavorful broth does not go to waste however. After skimming off the fat, you warm the broth and everyone gathers around with bread to dopp i grytan (dip in the kettle). Traditionally, this was done on Christmas Eve. My mom has always saved the broth until Christmas morning (or any other morning, since the broth can be stored in the freezer for several months). You warm the broth and simmer the Swedish crispbread for a minute or two until it is soft. Then, pull it out with a slotted spoon and serve it slathered in butter.

As the snow started falling again this afternoon, I poured myself the last from our beer reserves and made myself up a plate of tasty, salty, hammy comfort food.