So this morning the lady I let ahead of me in the grocery store line because she only had a couple of loaves of bread looked at all the stuff I had and said "Oh are you having a big thanksgiving dinner?"
"Oh no" I replied. "My kids are coming home from college this week and this is just to feed them BEFORE Thanksgiving".
She seemed rather horrified.
Okay so I went a little overboard and tried to get ALL their favorite food in one visit.
But the one thing they always look forward to is Sandbakkels, a Norwegian cookie.
These are made with special tins. I use my late mother-in-law's molds. She died of cancer before I knew my husband. Using them always makes me feel connected to her in some way.
It is best not to wash these tins, just rinse them out and dry them....that keeps them from sticking. Of course some always break when you tap them out.
Since I usually made them for special occasions and gave the broken ones to the kids, they were always grateful that so many broke! But now the unbroken ones are for them. I'll probably eat the broken ones before they get here.
Recipe:
- 1 Cup Butter, softened - this you will want to use all butter, real butter - no substitutions.
- 1 Cup Sugar
- 1 Egg yolk
- 1 tsp (or capful) Amaretto or almond extract
- 2 Cups Flour
Oven 350
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, beat. Add Amaretto. Add flour.
Take about a teaspoon of dough and roll into a ball, then press into the tin. Thinner is better.
Put the tins on a cookie sheet and bake 9-11 minutes until just golden. Cool. Tap the bottom with a spoon to pop out.
Some recipes say to fill these but I never knew any Norwegian who filled them.
How nice to have that connection to your late mother-in-law, though you never met her. My father's mother was from Norway, but my dad didn't impart any cultural tidbits and my grandmother was senile by the time I was old enough to learn anything. I've missed out completely on my Norwegian and Swedish heritage, except for my maiden name, which I don't use anymore, except of Facebook.
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