food. Some families saved the last sheaf of grain from the harvest and set it up on a pole so that even the birds would be remembered. The Hustompten tradition is one of my favorites. Every property has its own tompten. He is a small gray bearded gnome who cares for the sick animals and generally guards against fires and other dangers. The one thing that is required to keep a tompten happy is a bowl of rice pudding on Christmas Eve. No one ever sees him eat it, but it is a very good sign when it is gone by Christmas morning. Many families had different customs concerning the Christmas tree. Some children awoke on Christmas day to find the tree and presents, some families hung the tree upside down from the ceiling. In my mom’s it was customary to decorate the tree in the center of the living room all together. When it was lighted, they danced around it, singing a song to welcome the holiday. Then the tree was moved into a corner and presents were piled beneath it. On Christmas Eve our family still gathers for Smorgasbord. Our table is alight with candles and happy faces. The menu varies from year to
year depending on how many we are serving, but some dishes remain constant. Rye bread, butter, bondost cheese, pickled herring, smoked salmon, lingonberry sauce are the cold dishes. Potato Korv, bruna bonor, sweet and sour red cabbage, mashed rutabaga, boiled potatoes and white sauce are the hot dishes we always serve. Then, of course, there’s the lutfisk. Lutfisk is the penitential food of the Scandinavians. Undoubtedly developed during a period of cruel famine, lutfisk is codfish dried on racks in the icy Nordic air, then soaked in lye, a major constituent of Drano and old-fashioned, home-made soap. Our ancestors came to America to escape religious persecution, to escape the draft, and a few to escape the law. What they should have been trying to escape was lutfisk. Rice pudding is always our dessert along with at least two dozen kinds of cookies and coffee. Each person serves their own portion of pudding from a large bowl. In the bowl, a single almond has been hidden. The person who finds the almond is destined to have good luck in the coming year. After supper it is time to exchange gifts. In many homes the Jultompten (who looks like Santa Claus) comes to each family’s home sometime after the children are asleep on Christmas Eve. Our family has now grown to encompass many other ethnic groups and faiths. We are, however, all Swedes on Christmas Eve.
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Judy’s grandfather, (left) Bror Gustav Petrus Carlson left Sweden at age 21 and settled in Nebraska. Her grandmother, Anna Marie Carlson, worked on a relative’s farm in Nebraska after sailing from Sweden. They met and married in a Swedish Lutheran Church.
Judy Kuusisto
Judy Kuusisto is an artist, illustrator and writer.
WINTER 2012 | her voice
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