The Wingham Advance-Times, 1984-12-05, Page 204
Page 4 crossruads - Dec a. 1'4g
MICROWAVE MAGIC
A charming
Swedish tri.:dition
By Desiree Vivea
Dec. 13 may not mean very
much to most Canadians, but
to Swedes, it means St.
Lucia's Day.
On this morning, the eldest
daughter of every household
(actually, and young maiden
will do) dresses in a white
robe with a red sash, her
head crowned with
everygreens and seven light-
ed candles. She carries
piping -hot coffee, Lucia buns
and Swedish ginger cookies
to all the bedrooms of the
house, and before entering
sings an old Italian air
known as the Lucia song.
Who is this Lucia? Accord-
ing to legend, she was a
Sicilian maiden martyred
for her Christian beliefs.
Centuries after her death, so
the story goes, she appeared
in western Sweden during a
famine to distribute food
among the starving people.
She wore a long white gown
and was encircled by golden
light.
The tradition of St. Lucia's
Day — a young maid de-
livering coffee and sweets to
all in the house — developed
sometime during the 19th
century. And a charming
tradition it is. A group of
young girls, white -robed and
tinsel -crowned, often follow
this "St. Lucia -for -a -day ' on
her rounds, not only in pri-
vate homes but also in office
buildings, hospitals, even
schools.
At Gustavus Adolphus
:University in St. Peter,
Minn., the'tradition is
carried, on throughout the
dormitories on this cold De-
cember morn. What a lovely
•way to wake up: instead of
an alarm clock you hear
snowy -gowned girls singing
St. Lucia's song, followed by
the ceremonial offering of
breakfast in bed. This is one
tradition we'd do. well to
adopt. (I wonder. if they
practice it in Lake Wobe-
gone, Minn.?)
The name "Lucia" comes
from the Latin word for
light. According to the old.
calender, Dec. 13 boasted.the
longest night of the year and
St. Lucia's Day (also called
the Festival of Light) cele-
brated the return of more
daylight hours. This day.
marks the beginning of the
Swedish Christmas holidays, .
which last until Jan. 13.
Why not start your own
holiday festivities with a St.
Lucia's Day breakfast? The
traditional Lucia buns are
yeast -risen and flavored
with costly saffron, but you'll
probably find it easier (and
less expensive) to purchase
breakfast rolls to reheat in
the microwave. Or try the
Breakfast Raisin Ring.
Make Pepparkakor cookies
the night before and serve
° with coffee or hot Swedish
Glogg.
While you may have some
trouble finding a haloed,
white -robed maid to deliver
the goodies to your bed, you
can easily prepare a special
holiday breakfast with the
help of your microwave
oven. And it there are any
young girls in your house-
hold, they might enjoy
playing St. Lucia on this
morning in their nightgowns.
Have them sing a Christmas
carol or two, and deliver
breakfast in bed to the rest of
the family.
BREAKFAST
RAISIN RING
1,4 cup butter or margarine
2 tbsps. corn syrup
13 cup brown sugar, packed
13 cup chopped walnuts
'/4 cup raisins, plumped in 1
cup hot water
1 (10 oz.) can refrigerated
buttermilk biscuits
Combine butter, corn
syrup and brown sugar in 8 -
inch round glass baking dish.
Microwave about 1 minute or
until melted. Stir to blend,
then add walnuts and
drained plumped raisins.
Push with rubber spatula to
outer edges ' of dish, and
place drinking glass in
center. Spread syrup mix-
ture evenly around glass.
Arrange separated biscuits
over mixture in petal shape
around glass. (Squeeze to fit,
if necessary.) Microwave at
Medium (50 per cent power)
3 minutes; give dish 142 turn
and microwave 31/2 minutes
longer. Invert onto serving
plate and let stand with dish
over plate 5 minutes before
serving. Serve warm.
Makes one 8 -inch ring.
PEPPARKAKOR
Swedish gingersnaps
' 2 cup sugar
1'2 cup light molasses
1'2 cup butter or margarine
11'2 tsps. vinegar
1 egg, well beaten
12 tsp. baking soda
12 tsp. each ground ginger
and cinnamon
' 4 tsp. ground cloves
1'4 tsp. salt
In 1 -quart casserole com-
bine sugar, molasses, butter
and vinegar, blend well.
Microwave 2 minutes or until
mixture starts to boil, stir-
ring after 1 minute. Let
stand "2 hour, then mix in
well -beaten egg.
In separate bowl, combine
remaining ingredients. Stir
into cooled mixture blending
thoroughly. Refrigerate at .
least2 hours.
Form dough in o 1 -inch
• balls and place six to eight on
an inverted 12 x 8 -inch glass
baking dish. Microwave 2.
minutes, or until set: Re-
move from • oven and let
stand for. 1 minute before
removing with spatula to
wire cooling rack. Repeat
with remaining dough: Allow
cookies. to cool thoroughly
before storing in .airtight
container.
Makes 3 to 4 dozen.
GLOGG
1 cup water
!,4 cup firmly packed brown
sugar
2 (2 -inch) sticks cinnamon
5 whole cloves
4 cardamom seeds, peeled
(optional) •
"2 tsp. nutmeg
1 qt. apple juice
Thin unpeeled orange or
lemon slices
• Combine water, sugar,
cinnamon, • cloves, car-
damom and nutmeg in 2 -cup
glass .measure; stir. Micro-
wave
icrowave 10 to 12 minutes until
mixture is reduced by half.
Strain and pour into 1!'2
quart glass bowl. Add apple
juice, stir, and microwave 4
to 5 minutes, until hot.
Pour into mugs and gar-
nish with orange or lemon
slices.
Serves 6 to 8.
Recipes in this column are
tested in 625- to 750 -watt
microwave ovens. Foods are
cooked on High (100 per cent
power) and uncovered
unless otherwise specified. .
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