Henna Inspired Gingerbread Cookies- pausing to reflect, regroup, and rejoice.

Christmas 2014 has come and gone. As I sit in a quiet and empty house (for only a few hours), I think of all the flurry of activity that has transpired the past week. I am also thinking of the past 10 years and the Christmas memories we have accumulated. It was  almost 10 years ago that I had my ninth baby. That year was also the year we sent our first child off to college. In the last nine years  we lost both Farmor and Farfar in Sweden and my three grandparents who lived into their late 90s. Each of these past years we always had December to look forward to as kids returned from college and we had church programs and concerts and Nutcracker ballets to attend. December was always a no school month for sure. We always made Swedish crafts; yarn  tomtens, woven hearts, egg carton tomten girls who are singing and knitting.

And of course, we always baked Lucia bread for St Lucia Day, made a list of cookies from Farmor's recipes, perfected dream cake  and small candies. The highlight of December festivities has been the making of gingerbread houses. This tradition began over 20 years ago when I found a small kit with three cookie cutters-the roof, sides and gabled ends- plus a decent recipe. That first year we invited over two young kids from church who's father was dying. It was such a fun event that we have reenacted it every single year since. We cannot have December without the gingerbread house day. It is always a  challenge to find an open day for everyone and to invite friends. The  real challenge comes when each of the kids wants to invite a friend or two. With nine kids and each of them  inviting a few friends...well the house production becomes exponential!!Everyone is encouraged to bring a unique candy or interesting food item to share. The most  pre-fab houses I have made  is about 30. It is  quite a production. Then there is the icing-or the cement as we call it. Bowls of that are mixed up and served up to the construction site or table. As the years have gone on and the kids get older the houses became more unique-some dream cottages, others log cabins, and some modern structures. We get more and more creative with edible things becoming decorations; pretzels become logs, almonds become singles. When we look at the guest list we try to invite kids who are going through lonely times, perhaps have never made a ginger bread house, or just new people we have met. The list is intentional and deliberate. The mix is always interesting and important. In the past few years  the crowd has gotten older and louder and more lively. I no longer have to go around holding up walls and saving collapsing homes- even more wonderful. The past few years have seen the kids all take over and roll out the dough, assemble the homes for others, and especially clean up the sticky table and crunchy floor.

As we look back and share the creations and the joy of small children and of  kids in their teens and 20s I think if the traditions that have been established here. It didn't start out with an intention to create a tradition for the kids. I was always more about creativity and fun and making everything a learning experience. perhaps even an excuse to call everything school! In hind sight I realize most of what I was doing was trying to create Swedish Christmas for my husband and for the sake the kids to enjoy what was going on in their father's homeland. I hoped that they would be able to relate to his past and to enjoy the beauty of Christmas in Northern Sweden. As I watched them all make Christmas happen this year, I realized that the traditions are theirs now. They will do this whether I do it or not! An they have added in a bunch of new friends who enjoy the traditions and add in some of their own. One thing is for sure, there will be Swedish food and baking, candles, and especially dancing. Always dancing. Oh how they love to dance with each other! We bring out the old Mora Trask CDs and the Swedish folk dancing music and it's childhood fun with today's friends for hours. As I write this I remember the first  young girl we invited to make houses and realize that my kids have run into her  this year at swing dancing and now she is a mother!

Swedish cinnamon rolls-same thing is always good

I'm thankful for the opportunity to have been at home all of these years raising up a small flock. I have been able to design the home life to be warm, fun,creative, sometimes serious, always with God as the One we trust above all, and to seek after Him in all that we do. And, of course, I have fallen short. What I've longed for with all the kids is playing out according to God's timing and will for their lives- not mine. Yet, as I watched the girls help me out this year with all the shopping and using their own hard earned money, inviting, decorating, baking and serving, I had a sense that the traditions were a steadfast reminder of God's steadfast love for us. The world is changing quickly and getting more confusing. Morals wane, Truth is being challenged and diminished  and pushed aside, selfishness abounds in us all and the Lord Jesus is taking far second, at best, in our daily lives. Yet, in His word I learn we can come back to Him always. As long as there is night and day and seasons we can be reminded of his faithfulness.

"The steadfast love of the Lord
never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:22-23


This year, I went back to college after leaving it 32 years ago with only semester left for a bachelors degree. I had quit in 1982 to do the next step in my life. I am reminded of the mind of  a 20 year old as I remembered mine from back then. Today I live  among five of my children in their 20s and I'm praying for more wisdom and grace -daily. This Christmas I taught a young mother who isn't Swedish how to make a dream cake. She learned  it in one day and presented hers far more beautifully than I ever have done! Our two eldest children are now married and had their first Christmas away from the family as they live in  Washington DC and London. We have had a sadness about that for sure. But, we still made Lucia bread, Kanel bullar, dream cake and Farmor's specialty-mocha medallions!
The house is getting noisy again. I don't mind but I'm putting in the headphones. Gearing up for the next year as I finish my bachelors degree in Art and all the while comparing classes and professors and culture with three of the kids who are also in college. Our eldest is coaching me along with Statistics as we plan what in the world I might be doing next year with only two kids left at home to school.

The Lord makes the plans. I love the Psalms. They speak to my heart throughout this journey.

                                    "He put a new song in my mouth,
                                       song of praise to our God.
                                       Many will see and fear,
                                     and put their trust in the Lord.

                                   Blessed is the man who makes
                                       the Lord his trust,
                                     who does not turn to the proud,
                                      to those who go astray after a
                                           lie!
                                     You have multiplied, O Lord my
                                          God,
                                      your wondrous deeds and your
                                          thoughts toward us;
                                      none can compare with you!
                                  I will proclaim and tell of them,
                                       yet they are more than can be
                                                     told"

                                              Psalm 40: 4-5

Here's my gingerbread recipe. Although there are so many out there , I liked this one because I found it scribbled in the back of one of Farmor's old cookbooks. None of the recipes out there are very different from each other. I got good reviews on this one! I love henna designs and have a fondness for India-hence the fancy icing designs. Please enjoy!


GINGERBREAD COOKIES

Set oven to 375

2 1/2 sticks of butter-or 1 1/4 cup
2 cups of sugar
1/3 cup of molasses
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 tablespoons cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon finely ground cardamon
1 tablespoon baking soda
3/4 cup of water
about 6 cups of flour

In a small pan heat up the sugar and syrup on low until all mixed together-not cooked -just mixed. Add the butter and transfer to a mixer bowl.

In another bowl combine the spices and baking soda in about 4 cups of  the flour. Stir these together  with a fork so they are well mixed.

Add to the sugar and butter and syrup. Add the water and mix on medium while adding the rest of the flour a cup at a time.














Add enough flour to make a dough that is workable but not too stiff.

Slightly sticky is OK.. Let it chill in the refrigerator overnight.

Take out dough and let it soften. Roll out onto  a floured surface. Roll from the center out until dough is about 1/4" thick and  then cut into shapes with cookie cutters. Lift up gently with a spatula,

Hearts are always nice.

                                                          

before baking use a straw to put a hole in the hearts so you can hang them in the window or on the tree

Place directly onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake about 8 minutes. Cool before removing from the pan.

Icing
2 cups of powdered sugar
2 egg whites
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Beat egg whites until light. Add the lemon juice and then the powdered sugar  a cup at a time. Pipe through a pastry tube-or place a few spoonfuls in a plastic zip lock bag and then snip a tiny bit from the bottom corner. Squeeze out gently. Takes a little practice but very fun. It becomes a little like drawing.