JULEBAKST, BARNDOMSMINNER OG LITT HISTORIE/ CHRISTMAS BAKING, CHILDHOOD MEMORIES AND AND SOME HISTORY

Da har jeg all julebaksten  i boks. De siste ble bakt igår. Det ble seks slag, nesten sju slag, slik det skulle være etter den gamle tradisjonen. Jeg tror ikke det er så mange som baker sju slag lengre, kanskje ikke seks slag heller :) Men jeg er glad i å bake, og  familien er glad i småkaker. Og det går bra å halvere en del av oppskriftene også. Jeg har lest at tradisjonen med sju slag kom på 1800 tallet da det ble vanlig med vedkomfyrer og mulighet for steking i ovn. Tallet sju ble regnet som et hellig tall og lykkebringende. Men det var nok mest blant de velstående det ble bakt sju slag, siden de er rike både på smør, sukker og egg.  Hvilke  småkaker som regnes som de sju, er det ikke helt enighet om. Then I have all the Christmas cookies in the box. The last was baked yesterday. I have made six different kind. After the old Norwegian tradition there should be seven kind of cookies for Christmas, so I am there almost :)  I don't think there are  many people who bake seven kind anymore, maybe not six  either :) But I love to bake, and my family love cookies. Some of the recipes I have baked only the half of.   I have read that the tradition of seven kind came in the 19th century when it became common with wood stoves and the possibility of baking in the oven. The number seven was considered a sacred number and a blessing. But it was probably most among the wealthy there were baked seven kind, as they are rich on sugar, butter and eggs. Which cookies are considered the seven, it is not completely agreement about.

Her er min samling av gode gamle kakebokser arvet etter svigermor.
Here is my collection of good old cookie tins inherited by mother-in-law.

Her er mine seks slag:
Mislykket KRANSEKAKE 😏. Deigen ble litt for løs, og melisglasuren var også for løs! Men smaken er det ingenting å utsette på, bare utseendet. Jeg laget bare en minikransekake, og stenger av resten av deigen. Here are my six kind:
Failed KRANSEKAKE 😏. The dough was a bit too loose, and the icing was also too loose! But the taste is nothing to fault, just the look. I made only one mini-cake and made sticks of the  rest of the dough. Kransekake - is an almond cake made of rings layered on top of each other to form a cone shape, and should really look very elegant, not like mine....

KRUMKAKER
They are baked in a krumkake iron, and rolled around this cone to get the shape. Very crispy!













KAKEMENN
Eller Gøttekæller , som de heter her i Sarpsborg. De er bakt etter svigermors oppskrift. Moren min bakte ikke sånne, men de hadde dem hos bakeren i Tvedestrand. Når mamma hadde vært på handletur i byen før jul fikk vi kakemann 😋
COOKIE MEN, or Gøttekæller, as is the local name on them  here in Sarpsborg. They are baked from mother-in-law's recipe. My mother didn't bake kakemenn, but they had them at the bakery in Tvedestrand. When my mom had been shopping in the town before Christmas, she bought cookie men for us😋

PEPPERKAKER/GINGERBREAD COOKIES
Denne pepperkakeoppskriften har en veldig god krydring, og melisglasuren gir det lille ekstra. This gingerbread recipe has a very good spice, and the icing gives it a little extra. 







SANDKAKER
Gode kaker som både min mor og svigermor også hadde i sin julebakst. Good cookies that both my mother and mother-in-law also had in their Christmas baking.

MANNFOLK-KAKER
Eller Crisp cookies som de egentlig heter. Moren min ga dem dette navnet. De har en god blanding av havre og kokos. Men cookies or Crisp cookies as they are really called. My mother gave them this name. They have a good blend of oats and coconut.

BARNDOMSMINNER / MEMORIES FROM CHILDHOOD

Jeg har gode minner fra tida før jul når mamma holdt på med julebaksten. Jeg husker at jeg var ute og lekte i snøen, ja i barndomsminnene var det da alltid snø før jul? Og så kom jeg inn i et godt varmt kjøkken og fikk smake på baksten. Og jeg var også med å bakte, vi lagde noe vi kalte bokstavkaker.

Tror de egentlig het smørkranser, men vi formet dem til forskjellige bokstaver. Før jul ble kakene  oppbevart i kakebokser på et kaldt rom på loftet. Jeg husker jeg og brødrene mine snek oss inn og smakte på kakene. Jeg tror nok egentlig mamma visste veldig godt om våre ekspedisjoner :)
Jeg husker ikke helt hvilke slag mamma bakte, men det var ihvertfall sirupsnipper, fattigmann, smultringer, sandkaker, krumkaker, mannfolkkaker, serinakaker, bokstavkaker. Da var hun oppe i åtte slag!
I våre dager er det jo stadig skiftende vær, og i min barndom og eldre tider var det  vanlig at det kom en mildværsperiode før jul, selv om det hadde vært snø tidligere i desember. Det ble kalt kakelinna, og det ble sagt at det var all varmen fra kakebakinga som fikk det til å bli mildvær! Sesong klimaendring?
I have very good memories from the time before Christmas when my mom was doing the Christmas baking. I remember I was playing in the snow,  in my childhood memories  there was always snow before Christmas (?) And then I got into the  good warm kitchen and got to taste the baking. And I was helping to bake too, we made something we called letter cakes. I think the real name was "butter garlands", but we shaped them into different letters.  Before Christmas the cookies  were stored in cookie tins in a cold room in the attic. I remember me and my brothers sneaking in and tasting the cookies. I think my mother  knew very well about our expeditions :)
I don't quite remember all kind of Christmas cookies my mother baked, but I remember  it was #sirupsnipper, fattigmann, smultringer, sandkaker, krumkaker, mannfolkkaker, serinakaker, bokstavkaker.# Then she was up in eight kind! And maybe there was even more. 
In our days, there is ever-changing weather,  in my childhood and older times it was also common for a mild weather period before Christmas, even though there had been snow earlier in December. It was called kakelinna which means "Cake mild weather" and it was said that it was all the heat from the cake baking that made it become mild weather!
 Seasonal climate change?

3. SØNDAG I ADVENT / 3RD SUNDAY OF ADVENT

Tenn lys!
Tre lys skal flamme for alle som må sloss.
For rettferd og for frihet. De trenger hjelp av oss.
Må ingen miste motet før alle folk er ett.
Tenn lys for dem som kjemper for frihet og for rett.

Light candles!
Three candles should burn for anyone who has to fight.
For justice and for freedom. They need help from us.
Let no one despair until all people are one.
Light candles for those who are fighting for freedom and justice.