Children's Present Making

14th December

The weekends leading up to Christmas are always hectic for everyone, but hopefully fun too.  My children have been encouraged and in the early years, heavily helped, to make their own Christmas presents for all the adults in the family.  As they have grown older, the onus is now firmly on their shoulders.  With that in mind instead of each of them making a present for every adult, ie each adult in the family has traditionally received a homemade gift from each child, they have cleverly joined forces and now make the presents together, thus halving the number they need to make.  Cunning.  Some of you may remember that earlier this month I was quite twitchy as neither child had mentioned the present making nor to my knowledge had even begun to think what to do.  I should have more faith in them and so publically declare that I am proud of them as  they had thought and now have begun and are in full swing.  Today will be a mammoth finishing off session I believe.

Both children working as a team to make presents

Years ago, I would come up with the present making idea and would hold the children's hand to create some sort of present, see earlier posting of some of the items they have made.  Gradually as the years have passed, my involvement has reduced.  But the basic gist is the same:  to source an idea, either magping it from somewhere else or coming up with a novel idea.  The children this year did approach me for ideas and we scoured the internet, Pinterest, is a wonderful source of inspiration, but my word you could waste hours and even days on there.  We also scoured through my numerous Christmas books and craft books alike.  Once the two of them had finally agreed on what to make, this took some compromising and both have decided to start earlier next year (umm, that theme sounds familiar!), they were ready to gather the necessary equipment. 




A quick walk down to the river to forage underneath the pine trees, produced the first of the needed
items plus a big raid on my hoarded stores and they were ready to begin.  Having started at 5pm on a school night, there was not much time for them to actually complete anything and so now my house resembles a messy, badly organsied piece work factory.  I do not know how they managed it, but there are signs of their productive efforts in every room downstairs!  Argghhhhhh.  Do you wonder why you start something sometimes, the familiar adage springs to mind, "It seemed like a good idea at the time..."

Hopefully the adults in the family will appreciate as they always do, the time, effort and the fact that the siblings have had to work alongside each other and in partnership to produce the gifts they will be given this year.

As for me, I too need to finish off the multitude of presents I have begun each one is about 95% finished, but in my eagerness to begin the next one, I did not quite put the icing on the cake so to speak.  Oh dear, much to do! 

 ♥  Loving it really ♥

Santa Lucia Day and Cookie making number 5

Christmas - Santa Lucia Sweden
13th December

The first time I can remember anything to do with Saint Lucia was many years ago in a large wooden garden shed made into a haven for yarn lovers. My Swedish weaving teacher and also a nun, was allowed within the convent grounds to have the most amazing hide away from the world, which she shared with anyone who showed an interest. It was here that many people owe their weaving and spinning love of life. She taught children from as small as 4 to adults long retired and I was lucky enough to be one of them. Ingrid loved life and had an interest in everything, it was not always easy to understand her as her Swedish accent was thick and she used a mixture of English and Swedish as she spoke, but there was no mistaking her singing the beautiful Saint Lucia song, which she did often in the days of December. Awww, memories, I have not thought of that haven of a shed or Ingrid for a while...

What is Saint Lucia Day?

It was believed many years ago that the 13th December was the shortest day of the year, a discrepancy of 8 days in our modern calender and it is thought that this feast was made ever more popular with the theme of light and dark. Many candles are used on this saints feast day. It is believed that Saint Lucia was Sicilian and is perhaps why both the Italians and the Scandinavians celebrate this feast day more than any other country, Italy for having the saint and Scandinavia for being in the middle of the dark season. Remember in the north of Scandinavia right now, they do not see sunlight at all. 

The story behind Saint Lucia is a bit vague but one of the stories associated with her and her sad death states that she was in Sicily at the shrine of Saint Agnes looking for help for her mother's illness when an angel appeared before her. Lucia from then on in became a devout Christian and refused to give up her virginity to the man she would have wed also denouncing the Roman state of the time. The villagers threatened to take her to a brothel if she did not renounce her Christian belief but were not able to shift her mind or body.  The story retells how even a thousand men and fifty oxen could not budge her! So, they built a fire around her instead and set light to it.  This did not stop Lucia from speaking  out and she was heard to say that her beliefs in Christianity meant she had no fear of death.  A nearby solider speared her through the throat to stop her speaking!  Another story tells that on 13th December a gentleman in  Sweden was woken up in the middle of the night by a beautiful voice, he saw a young woman wearing white  and having wings and carrying a candle.  She had brought him light, food and wine for comfort on what was thought to be the longest night of the year.  Whichever story is true and there are several more, Saint Lucia Day in Scandinavia is celebrated in style and has become another beautiful tradition to light up the darkness.

Although Norwegians  celebrated Lucia some few hundred years ago, it became  a long forgotten celebration until after WWII when they adopted the very popular Swedish custom of Saint Lucia.  It is now celebrated all over the country with schools playing a major roll. To incorporate the boys more, they may also sometimes sing the anthem of Saint Stephen and wear tall hats and carry star staffs. Lussekatter buns, dough made with saffron and very tasty they are too, (see below recipe) are also handed out and many processions are taken to local hospitals as a sign of Christmas is coming and a reminder that giving is important at this time of year.

In Scandinavia each village has its own Saint Lucia procession on December 13th, where a girl is chosen to be Lucia, she is attended by many other young girls. Each wearing a long white robe and a red sash. Lucia wears a crown of branches and four Advent candles, having to walk very carefully, some processions now used electric candles instead and all the other white robed girls carry a single candle with both hands.  The procession leads to the church and Christmas carols are often sung afterwards.   The lyrics typically include words associated with light and dark.  See the above You tube clip, the lyrics are in Swedish but each Scandinavian country has its own, all are however sung to the same tune.  Below are the Norwegian lyrics and English translation.  Again the theme of light and dark.

Sankta Lucia (Norwegian Lyrics)
Svart senker natten seg i stall og stuer.
Solen har gått sin vei, skyggene truer.
Inn i vårt mørke hus stiger med tente lys,
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia!
Natten er mørk og stum. Med ett det suser
i alle tyste rom som vinger bruser.
Se på vår terskel står, hvitkledd med lys i hår,
Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia!

Saint Lucia (English translation)
Black night is falling in stables and homes.
The Sun has gone away, the shadows are threatening.
Into our dark house enters with lit candles,
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia!
The night is dark and silent; suddenly a rush
in all quiet rooms, like the waving of wings.
See, at our threshold stands, dressed in white with lights in her hair,
Saint Lucia, Saint Lucia!

Today is the 5th recipe of our 7 made for Christmas, although not cookies, they come under the heading of small cakes and are dough (yeast) based.  These saffron buns are great drunk with hot chocolate or gløgg (mulled wine, see yesterdays post). They are tasty as they are or eaten with a bit of naughty butter! Traditionally raisins are used but you could substitute them for any dried fruit.  Signe Johansen, from Scandilicious Baking recommends trying them with sour cherries, oooh, I fancy that!  These saffron scented buns are always made in an 's' shape.


Lussekatter (Lucia bread)  - makes about 22

Oven temp180C/200F/GM 6

40g fresh yeast or 15g dried
500ml lukewarm whole milk
1/2 tsp saffron
2 tsp ground cardamon, optional
200g salted butter
1kg plain flour, plus some for dusting
100g caster sugar
75g raisins, plus some for decorating
1 egg
salt


♥  Pre heat the oven.

♥  Melt butter and put to one side.

♥  Dissolve the yeast with the warm milk, then add the saffron and stir till the mixture is an even yellow colour.

♥  Add melted butter to mixture.

♥  In a different bowl sift flour and salt, cardamon if using,  sugar and raisins.

♥  Pour yeast mix into the dry ingredients and mix until the dough comes away from the sides cleanly.

♥  Knead the dough on a floured surface for 10 mins, do not let it get too sticky.

♥  Place dough back in bowl, cover with a little greased cling film and allow to prove for one and a half hours at room temp.

♥  Knead dough gently and make into 22 equal pieces.

♥  Roll each piece into a sausage shape and then form into 's' shapes, or any shape you desire.  (See photograph.)  Add a few extra raisins on each one.

♥  Place saffron buns on a lined and greased baking tray, cover with a tea towel and let rise again for about thirty mins.

♥  Brush each bun with a beaten egg and bake in oven for approx 20-25 mins or until golden brown.

♥  Allow to cool and devour!

Happy Saint Lucia Day to you all!

Winter Warmers

12th December



Winter warmer

Brrrrrr, yesterday was cold and foggy and the dampness seeped under my skin.  Being too mean to crank on the heating and too lazy to light the fire (unlike me, as I love to watch the flames on an open fire) I shivered all day and all evening.  Silly and totally unnecessary, but it did make my mind
wander to ways in keeping warm, and what better way than Norwegian gløgg; mulled wine to the Brits.  Now, this is no ordinary mulled wine, the Scandinavians like their hot drink to be sweet and full of Christmas spices, with whole blanched almonds and raisins to be found within the drink.  Gløgg is often served in coffee cups accompanied by a teaspoon to allow you to eat the alcohol soaked fruit and nuts, delicious.

Many Norwegians buy their gløgg mixture premade, as it is a time saver in these busy and hectic days, but others like to keep to tradition and use age old family recipes.  I must admit to being the former, but also to being a premade gløgg mixture snob, for me, there is only one brand that cuts the mustard and that is Tomte gløgg.  Of course it is impossible to buy it here in the UK and I often have to ask mamma to bring it with her, or if I am in Norway close to Christmas when it is for sale, always bring the largest bottle back with me.  But one of the many reasons I began this blog was to force my hand in trying new things as well and share my journey.  So I have delved in my Scandi books and looked up gløgg recipes to have a try.  Unlike the Brits, the Norwegians like to add either vodka, brandy, aquavit or a combination of the three.  Aquavit is a potato based Scandinavian spirit, often chased with a beer for good measure,  to their mulled wine.  This of course is not essential and makes for a potent drink, but also certainly adds to the warming effect.  When better to do that than on a dark and cold foggy December night?  In Norway there is zero tolerance for drinking and driving, so it is not a question of,  I will just have one and be OK, but you either drink and therefore do not drive or you drive and do not even have a sip.  Norwegians entertain mainly in the home, alcohol is prohibitively expensive to buy and can only be done so from government run off licences know as 'vinmonopol', which have very strict and not very long opening hours.  It is no wonder that brenvin (direct translation is burning wine otherwise known as moonshine) used to be rife in Norway!

Gløgg is very sweet and not a drink that one would want too many cups of, but enough to throw off the chill and warm the insides, so maybe 2 or 3 cups should do it?!!?

The Norwegians also produce Jule øl  (Christmas beer) and Jule brus (Christmas fizzy drink,) which prove to be very popular and fly off the shelves.  Christmas beer tends to be dark and stronger than the normal 'pils' that the Norwegians drink and can be bought in a supermarket, unlike wine and spirit.  It has now become big business and this year alone, there are over 60 different Jule øl to be found!  The Christmas 'brus', (my sister loves it,) comes as an orange or red variety,
a special drink for a special time of year.

Gløgg

1 cup of Aquavit, brandy or vodka
2 cups Red wine
2 cups Port wine
1/2 cup Raisins
1/2 cup White sugar, plus extra according to  taste
2 Cinnamon sticks
4 Cloves
6 Cardamom seeds (whole)
One orange
One piece of ginger
Blanched almonds

Soak 1/2 cup of raisins in one cup of aquavit, brandy or vodka. Soak for 30 minutes.

Put a large pot on the stove, over high heat. Add one cup of water and 1/2 cup sugar to the pot, and stir with a wooden spoon until the sugar is completely dissolved.

Lower the heat to medium and add your spices - two sticks of cinnamon (each broken in half); four whole cloves; six whole cardamom seeds, crushed by hand; a thinly shaved orange peel; and one small piece of ginger, peeled and cut in half. Stir again with wooden spoon. Do not allow the mix to come to a boil from this point on.

Add the aquavit-raisin mixture, two cups of red wine and two cups of port wine.

Sweeten and spice to taste.

Strain, garnish with raisins and chopped blanched almond — and serve hot off the stove.

 

The drink can be made a day ahead and kept covered, on the stove, at room temperature. Just reheat before serving.

 

I enjoyed this gløgg, although to me it was not Tomte gløgg, but would happily drink a few of these cups.  And I still prefer it to English mulled wine which I find to be a bit too bitter.

 

 

 



It is not just drink that can keep us warm on days such as these but clothing too.  A tenuous link to my last item in today's posting:  mittens but not as we know them Jim!  These mittens caught my eye and I could not resist but sit down straight away and give them a go.  After making the first one, I posted a photo on line with my craft group to ask for their opinion and the consensus was that these were fun.  I have an idea to have them for our informal dinner on Boxing day, but as with everything, I should not have begun them as I have so much else that needs to be finished first and other essential things that need to be accomplished, not making unnecessary cutlery mittens.  Where are my priorities...oops, seem to have now made a second one...

Mary Jane Protus' pattern for the cutlery mittens can be found here:

http://www.coatsandclark.com/NR/rdonlyres/E75A0C9B-DAA1-44B6-8816-AB79A26875C2/95454/WR1746.pdf    These mittens are quick, but it is best that you have some crocheting experience, although not difficult, just a bit fiddly.  Each mitten, including snowflake took about an hour.

Enjoy the gløgg season!

 

Snowflakes at Christmas

11th December

Some of the 24 different varieties
of crocheted snowflakes

When I think of Advent, the run up to Christmas and the Big Day itself, it is always with hope of fresh crisp white snow, blanketing the world around me, creating this almost bubble like cossetted effect of, all is well with the world.  Of course the number of times here in the UK that this has actually occurred in my life time can probably be counted on one hand, so I am chasing a dream.  Unlike mamma and many of my family and friends who already have snow in Norway for Christmas this year.  Each year it is the same and this year is no different.  So how to get around it?  I create my own snow fest and create an impression of white.  How do I do this?  With homemade snowflakes of course!  In our home we have snow flakes made out of crochet and they are in all different shapes and sizes.  In each home that I have lived in since leaving the house where I grew up, the crocheted snowflakes have followed me and have grown in number over the years.  Some are now beginning to look a little yellowed with age and so it is time to make some more and 'freshen' them up... Yes, on my 'to do' list for the new year.  Could someone nudge me in February to get cracking with this ever growing wish list of things to do please!?

The snow flakes are added to the window with white tack and there they smile at us each day.  During day light hours, not so many any more as we are fast approaching the shortest day of the year, they cheer us up no end and in the evening the lamplight glow catches on the white and brings extra warmth into our home at night.

I do not have any specific patterns that are used, but have below collated a few snowflake patterns for you to have a dabble and play with.  Join me in adding snow to your home at Christmas.  Remember though that it is important to block your crochet to achieve the desired finished effect, just look at the difference it can make.

For those of you who do not crochet (yet!) there are a couple of other options to enjoy too. Below the crochet patterns are some linked to great sites for paper cutting your own snowflakes, such intricate details and fine cutting is amazing.  Something for the boys too, even Darth Vader snowflakes!  imagine!  However, should you wish, you do not need to cut snowflakes out of paper or card, but could use material instead, felt would be particularly good for this and a more permanent solution, which can be brought out year on year and be another added tradition to your home as it is to ours.

 

Enjoy snow flaking!

Snowflake crochet patterns:


Lucy at Attic 24 has very clear instructions with photographs step by step, it is a fantastic website.
http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/crochet-snowflake.html

A great book to use if you become addicited to this ideas and would like to have different snowflakes, then this is for you!

100 Snowflakes to Crochet: Make Your Own Snow…by Caitlin Sainio

http://crochet.about.com/od/snowflakes/a/easy-crochet-snowflake-pattern-for-advanced-beginners.htm

Snowflake paper/card/felt patterns:

Basic how to fold to obtain the correct shape:  http://www.highhopes.com/snowflakes.html 

EXCELLENT for boys and men and fans of Star Wars, such clever ideas for snowflakes:  http://manmadediy.com/users/chris/posts/2769-how-to-make-diy-star-wars-snowflakes-free-templates 

Takes snowflake papercutting to a whole new level:  http://mattersofgrey.com/diy-star-wars-snowflakes/ 

Christmas Cookie Making number 4 and a little crafting too!

10th December

The fourth cookie I have made for Christmas this year is the Krumkaker.  There is no order to the cookie making, nor is there a definite seven.  The Norwegians have many of these 'småkaker' (small cakes) as they call them and it is down to each families own choice and taste as to which they make.  In the modern, busy world that we live in many do not now actually make seven biscuits during the Advent season, but most do make the pepperkake, the first of the biscuits I made this year (see earlier posting.)




Krumkaker hot iron plate and wooden conical mould





I believe Krumkaker to be uniquely Norwegian and they grace many a Christmas table.  They are made on a special hot iron plate with indented intricate patterns and then whilst hot and soft, moulded round a conical wooden handle to form a cornet shape. Sometimes they can be moulded on an upturned glass, so as to form a bowl shape.  Once cooled, these delicate small cakes are traditionally filled with whipped cream and mølte, the closet thing we have here in the UK are cloud berries from Scotland. 

 

 

 

Mølte, otherwise thought of as 'gold'

These delicate orange berries, which look a little like raspberries are known as 'gold' in the food world of Norway, along with of course the 'forest gold' known otherwise as Chanterelle!  The annual mølte season is always a focal point in the late summer calender . Even close relatives will guard their knowledge from one hytte (summer cottage) plot to the next.   Mølte usually grow in small patches, and as such, are treated with far greater respect than other type of wild berry.




Krumkaker makes 32
250g butter melted and slightly cooled
4 eggs
250g sugar
1 tsp ground cardamon
200g plain flour

©

• Melt the butter in a pan, then take off the heat and cool whilst beginning on the next step.
• Whisk the eggs and sugar until thick and frothy.
• Add sifted flour, cardamon and cooled butter and mix well.
   
   

For krumkaker, you only need a table spoon of the mixture on the hot iron, anymore and it will spill over the edges. 
Cook until a light golden brown colour. 
Remove from heat and place on a tea towel. 
Add new mixture to iron. 
Meanwhile carefully roll cooked krumkaker around the wooden mould and hold until cooled and hardened, a few seconds only. 
Now you should be ready to remove the next one from the iron. 
Continue until all mixture has been used. 
Alternatively instead of moulding the krumkaker on the wooden mould, you can use an upside down glass and drape the cooked krumkaker over it to form a bowl. 
See the photo with the cream and blueberries.

 

Most of you will not have a krumkaker iron plate, so the only thing you can do is to make them into a scotch pancake on a hot griddle.  The taste of these are so lovely; a lot to do with the fact the mixture is whisked till the egg and sugar is so stiff and of course the all important cardamon, do NOT leave this out.  Serve with whipped cream and fresh berries.

 

 

Kremmerhus (cornet)  are also to be found all over Norway during Advent.  These can be made from anyting such as paper, card, felt, material and even the krumkaker are a variation of a kremmerhus in an edible form.  Kremmerhus were orgiganlly given out by shops to carry home goods, small items especially from the habedashery, such as needles and thread, but also from hardware store for nuts, bolts and nails.  The kremmerhus was always made of paper rollled into a cornet shape.  Orignally these did not have handles, that came much later.

 

 

 

Kremmerhus are very easy to make and are traditional like the woven hearts shown on a previous posting.  They are hung on the Christmas tree, filled with nuts, raisons or sweets.  Colours can vary to anything that takes your fancy, but traditionally the colours are red and white.

 

 

Instructions for making kremmerhus

 

To make the template, draw round a large plate on paper. I tend to use an eighth section as in the photograph, but you can use a quarter of the circle, making the overlap join a little bigger for gluing or sewing if you prefer.

 

 

Place template on the fabric (I tend to use felt as it is pliable, strong and stiff enough and does not need hemming!) and cut out.

 

                                                                                                                                                                                          

On the template draw your desired design, as always I think simple is more elegant and stylistic then

begin sewing design on the kremmerhus. Here I have used 6 strands of embroidery thread, to give the line a stronger look.

 

Once the design is sewn on, you can now begin to sew the edge of the kremmerhus.  I use blanket stitch as I think it adds to the design, but there is nothing stopping you using running stitch, back stitch or even gluing it!

 

 

Finally, cut a thin strip of your material and sew each end onto the side of your kremmerhus.

You should now have a beautiful Scandinavian decorative Christmas kremmerhus. Just fill with sweets and hang on the tree.

 

You can use any type of material, in this photgraph the kremmerhus are made from just everyday A4 paper used for daily prinitng.  Obviously it is not strong, but is such a cheap, fun and Scandi way to make decorations with or without children!

 ♥So there you have both edible and decorative makes today, hope you have enjoyed visiting and thank you for coming along.  You are most welcome to pop back soon ♥

Christmas crafting (Part 2)

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

9th December

Every year around November time I curse myself for not thinking about making Christmas decorations earlier and I say to myself, next year I will let the dust settle from all the celebrations and I will begin around February, and what happens, November is suddenly upon us, I swear this happens every year, does any one else have this problem?

This does not mean I am not crafting or dabbling on this or that, I am constantly starting a project and not always finishing it! One of my aims of this blog is to force my hand into finishing that which I begin, fingers crossed x

What have I been doing this year and when do I get time to craft in an ever busy world?  It is a good question and I try whenever I can to craft, but in reality, something has to give.  So for a while, it could be housework, or reading in bed at night, it can happen when I do not have much paid work on, but mostly it occurs during holidays and none more so than the summer holidays.

Each summer the children and I will de camp to mamma's in Norway and each year I look forward to the craft that I will become immersed in.  Many years the children will join in and we have had a dabble at, felt making, decoupage, paper cutting, stone painting, hama beading and lots more; they did not join in the year I was into knitting, but then they were rather small and neither did they join in this year, when my obsession with crocheting took over.

For a few months leading up to the summer I became a member of an online local craft group and was inspired no end by the beautiful creations these women made, many of which were knitted or crocheted.  After some months I braved it and posted on my new found love (back then) of free hand machine embroidery.  Just google Poppy Treffrey and you will see how amazing it is:   http://www.poppytreffry.co.uk/   The response from the group of my sewn projects was so encouraging that I decided in the summer at mamma's where she could guide me if needed (she is brilliant at both knitting and crocheting) that I would begin my foray into the world of yarn again.

This yarn obsession is carrying on for a long time and I LOVE IT!  Through the online craft group I heard of a crochet queen here in England called Lucy, have you met her yet?  NO?  Well then you are in for a treat full of colour, I urge you to go and visit her blog:

http://attic24.typepad.com/

My first attempt at crocheting ended up being this massive bag project, it was so easy to do and literally, pardon the pun made me 'hooked.'  I will post about this in the New Year.  Having begun to follow Lucy, it was in early November that she posted about a Christmas crocheted wreath, that I knew I had found this years Christmas decoration and so the 'hooking' began in earnest.  To see Lucy's multicoloured version and tutorial see the below link:

http://attic24.typepad.com/weblog/2012/12/christmas-wreath-ta-dah.html

I decided however despite loving her colours enormously, that I needed to be more traditional in colour to fit in with the rest of the house at Christmas time, but I am hankering now to make another and in much bolder colours, yes, another wish list project in the pipeline!

I sent the link through first to a friend of mine as I thought she would fall in love with the colours.  I was right, she did, and began making hers straight away.  Several days later and seeing my friends background of the wreath complete I could not hold off any longer and needed to begin.  I began making the small pieces for the wreath first as I had to order the polystyrene wreath and enjoyed these tiny quick creations, just my thing, quick, simple and each one done in literally minutes, perfect for me!  The pieces included, holly, stars, balls and flowers.  Mamma was over visiting at the time and she too became interested and has begun and finished hers.  My friend and I began sending each other photos of how far we had hooked and this was really motivating to me.  Never underestimate the power of companionship and togetherness, it really spurs you on, I may have started my friend on this project, but she really helped me to move forward, thank you ♥

I still need to 'finish' the wreath, the poor little bird has no eyes and I think a little bit of 'bling' on it might be the order of the day, so perhaps during the coming days, a little more may be done to finish this Christmas wreath off completely.  Making your own door wreath is fun, however you make it and with whatever materials you can lay your hands on.  If you have a little time, why not make your own wreath, from collecting a few bits of holly and chopped off Christmas tree branches and using a wired coat hanger as the base, you can make the most amazing wreath, for very little money, a small amount of time and let your inner creativity out!  Just a thought...

Have a great Monday everyone!

Second Sunday in Advent

8th December

Nisse service, collected over many years

The beginning of December always means  a change in our household. A change of crockery and usually a change of furniture positions to make room for all the Christmas paraphernalia we have collected over the years. My first conscious Christmas possession began even before I left my parent's home. The Norwegians are very house proud and like to spend most of their socialising within the home rather than going out to restaurants. So any excuse to decorate for any festive season is done with gusto, none more so than Christmas.

Every year the Nisse service
feature in magazines

Many Norwegians have a Christmas dinner service that comes out each year on December 1st to mark the beginning of Advent and the festive season to follow. I too have such a service, obviously called 'Nisse' service. For those of you that do not know, Nisse is a small spirited elf that was renowned for looking after Norwegian farms, the upkeep and the prosperity, but they had to be looked after or they could turn nasty. These Nisse adorn many decorations around Christmas time. My service and those of many others come from the Norwegian Porsgrund Poselen, Norway's equivalent of the British company Wedgwood. This means of course being porcelain, buying the service comes at a price. So for most people is not affordable. The solution? To buy it bit by bit and start very young! My first piece was bought for me by my grandparents when I was 16 and from there on in a piece or two was added to each year by them, sometimes my parents and other friends and family and as I grew older, I added to it myself. I now have a substantial collection of which I love to bring out every year.

The design of this dinner service was drawn by the factory managers eleven year old daughter in 1909. The design was inspired by a mischievous child like elf and has now become a part of Norwegian history and culture. Each year Porsgrund porselen (PP) add new pieces to entice us all to buy more! This year I have my eye on the large salt and pepper mills! PP hope that their service will become family heirlooms and be passed down from generation to generation. It has already begun in many households. 

The wine glasses are very special to me as they were my 18th birthday present from my grandparents.  The glasses are made by another respected firm in Norway called Mangor Glassverk and the red lines are hand painted.  I never put these in the dishwasher and try very hard to look after them.  Unpacking them from their box and bubble wrap makes me excited every year.



 

 




 


The serviettes are an affordable way for everyone to have a little bit of the Nisse service in their home.  Of course over the years other companies have designed their own Christmas services and there is now a great variety to be had, but the majority of those that have Christmas services will have the Nisse service.



PP also produce a Christmas plate every year, which become collector pieces and fun to collect. I have an eclectic mix of years. Looking at them you can see the change in fashion and trends in design, just look at the difference between the plates from 1969 and 1999!

Today is the second Sunday in Advent and tonight we will light our second candle. It means we are half way through Advent and Christmas is just around the corner. There is still so much to do and to fit in with an already busy life and I might have to pull some late nights in the coming days. I leave you today with a little glimpse of snow.  Coming in late this year, but snow has arrived today at mamma's house.  It will be white for Christmas in Norway after all.

This beautiful photograph was taken last year by my friend Anne-Marie looking out from her cottage onto the morning sun and snow.  To me, this sums up the time of year no matter where in the world you are: beauty, warmth, awe and happiness.  Thank you for letting me share this with the world Anne-Marie.