A Christmas dessert or two...
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Last Saturday evening, we took part in our church's progressive dinner. As you probably could have guessed, the last stop...the dessert course...was here! The evening began with appetizers in our church fellowship hall. We enjoyed sliced cucumbers with sour cream and lox, crackers with goat cheese and honey, crackers with a slim strip of salami, basil, creamy cheese, and balsamic vinegar, little salami horns, and a fruit and cheese platter...can you picture it? I hope so, because I forgot to take pictures!
Our next stop was the dinner entree course, and everyone split up to various homes. We all enjoyed swedish meatballs and gravy, prepared by our Pastor's son Josh, of Essentially Josh. You may remember when I talked about the smorgasbord he catered for Syttende Mai (Norway's Constitution Day) back in May. Well, the meatballs and gravy were the bomb...truly. Along with mashed potatoes and a delicious salad, the dinner was delicious. Again, I was so lame...no photos! I was just a little flustered that day because I had worked at my shop in Plain until noon, driven the 93 miles home across the Pass, and stopped at the market for a couple things. Wouldn't you know I ran into two people I hadn't seen for a while and just had to chat for a few moments? Got home just in time to assemble the desserts, spiff things up a bit, change clothes, and head out for the appetizer course with the hubbs!
After the dinner entree course, we made it home just in time to get the desserts put out, light the candles, and heat water for the hot chocolate bar. The coffee was ready to go in my giant coffee maker. I have to have coffee if I'm going to truly enjoy dessert!
The desserts I served were predominantly Norwegian...surprise, surprise! I made two Krunsekakes, Norway's famous ring cake, and made four Verden's Beste Kake, Norway's national cake...what they call World's Best! Imagine a layer of sponge cake, a layer of meringue with sliced almonds, a layer of vanilla cream, and fresh berries on the top...melt in your mouth goodness. Uffda! Figuring there might be some chocolate lovers in the crowd, I also served Chocolate Peppermint Bark (from Costco!) and Chocolate Babka from Brooklyn. I had stopped at Trader Joe's earlier in the week and had a sample...yummy! Do you remember the Seinfeld episode where they talked about Babka?
Well, I did get the babka! It was a fun addition to the Norwegian goodies pictured below.
The evening ended with Christmas carols sung around the Christmas tree, led by my music director cousin, Lyle Forde on his guitar. The evening was such a fun way to kick off the Christmas season...with delicious food, lots of conversation with friends new and old, and the warmth of the Christmas spirit.
I'll share some photos of this old house decorated for Christmas soon. Hope you are having fun decking the halls...fa la la la, Gracia
