Finally Christmas is here and we are in full swing with the preparations. We have made White Christmas cookies and Lucia buns, bought our first Christmas tree and stand so now we are ready for Christmas.
The White Christmas cookies means Christmas to me. My mother has always made those since I can remember. I would always help her out in the kitchen especially during the holidays. I would be the tasting tester and eat a huge portion of the unbaked dough, just to make sure that it was good enough to be made into cookies! I think I got a little sick once, but none the less I continued to eat it raw and still do, but not in the same large amounts as when I was a kid.
Bob and I do not have children yet, but I highly encourage anyone that does, to include their children in the baking and cooking process, it is so much fun and you will most likely get a couple good pictures out of it too. Why not use those as Christmas cards for the family?
This morning December 13th we had warm Lucia buns for breakfast. It is a Swedish tradition celebrating the Italian Saint Lucia. I have learned this from my swedish friends and I love it, so I had to teach it to Bob. We wake up really early in the morning and watch an hour of Saint Lucia singing and parading from a church in Sweden while drinking tea and eating Lucia buns or lussekatte as it is called in swedish. So cosy and in my world epitomized of the concept of “hygge”.
“Hygge” is a Danish word and lifestyle, the closest word in English is cosy, but it is so much more than a word. It is the spirit of spending quality time together with the people you love and enjoying each others company and usually a whole bunch of food to accompany you.
So please spend this holiday in the spirit of “hygge” with your family and friends.
-Ayoe
Enjoy!