Swedish Smorgasbord Menu

 This is the list in the Johnson Family Cookbook:

Dop-i Groten (grandma noted that this is spelled wrong in her copy of the book)

Breads: Limpa, rye, white, etc. (to dip in the dopi)

Rye crisp*

Ham*

Roast beef

Swedish meatballs*

Pickled cucumbers*

Anchovies, pickled herring

Liver sausage

Jellied veal (head cheese)

Svea Ost Nat'l cheese

Sost caraway cheese

Relish tray: pickles, olives, tomatoes, etc.

Vegetable tray with dip

Jello salads*

Rice

Potato salad

Baked beans

Punch*

Swedish Christmas rice*

*The Barker family has toned it down over the years by just doing the marked items. We just do a cheese tray that includes Havarti and other cheeses. Sometimes we'll have a vegetable tray, sometimes a salad. Mom will make dopi if requested, but we usually don't have it anymore because it's so much work and is expensive! On occasion, mom will pull out a tin of sardines, too. For punch, the Johnsons usually mix grenadine with 7 Up (or is it Sprite?), but the Barkers will usually mix a soda with apple or cranberry juice. Mom also likes when we make green bean casserole for Christmas, too.)

Inglagd Gurka - Pickled Cucumber

 This was Grandma Johnson's recipe for the pickled cucumbers we eat at Christmas.

1 cucumber (about 7")

1/2 C white vinegar

2 T water

1/4 t salt

2 T minced parsley

Thinly sliced onions

A few grains of white pepper

3-5 T sugar

A few peppercorns

Wash and dry cucumber. Slice very thinly without peeling. Place in serving dish. Mix sugar, vinegar, water, salt, pepper, and peppercorns. Pour over the cucumber. Add the sliced onions and sprinkle the fresh parsley over all. Chill for 3 hours before serving.

Christmas Breakfast Casserole

This is a fun one I got when we lived in the Bountiful Heights 41st ward. Rather than a Christmas party/dinner each year, we had a Christmas breakfast on a Saturday morning. They would serve this (recipe from Gayla Allen) as the main dish (you'd sign up to bake it and someone would deliver to you all the ingredients) along with juice, milk, chocolate milk, some sort of Danish from a bakery, and fruit (I think it was just canned fruit cocktail in a cup). I don't remember if we did a Nativity program, but I sure remember LaVon Johnson leading us in signing a very boisterous 12 Days of Christmas!

1/4 C margarine or butter*

1 32 oz. package hash browns - thawed*

1 doz. eggs

1 t onion salt

1/2 t pepper

1/2 t seasoning salt

1/8 t dry mustard

1 2/3 C milk

4 C grated cheese

2 C cubed ham, bacon, or sausage

Melt margarine or butter in large bowl, add hash browns and stir. In another bowl, beat eggs and seasoning together. Add milk, cheese, and meat, and then add to hash browns and stir. Pour into greased 9x13 and bake at 350 for 45 min to an hour.

Note: This can be made the night before and cooked the next morning. If made the night before, bake at 350 for 1.5 hours to 1.75 hours.

*I think it's yummy with the butter on the potatoes, but if you want to cut calories and fat, you can omit the butter, and I don't think you'll really notice that much. You can also use baked/boiled potatoes and shred them if you don't have frozen hash browns on hand (around 4 cups).

Home-Style Potato Soup

This is from the Betty Crocker Sunday Dinner Cookbook, but with a few modifications (like adding the corn).

1 can (14.5 oz) chicken broth (can use a couple bouillon cubes in water or if you leave it out, it's probably ok)

3 med potatoes, cut into large pieces (about a pound)

1 1/2 C milk

1/4 t salt

1/8 t pepper

2 med green onions (optional)

1 can of corn (or half a bag or so of frozen corn)

1 - 1 1/2 C shredded cheddar

Boil the potatoes in the broth for about 15 minutes until tender. Remove the saucepan from the heat, but DO NOT drain. Break the potatoes into smaller pieces with a potato masher or fork. The mixture should be lumpy. Add the milk, salt, pepper, green onions, and corn. Heat through on medium, stirring occasionally. Don't let it boil or it will look curdly. Add the cheese.

New England Baked Bean Stew

This is a modification of the recipe in the Betty Crocker Sunday Dinner Cookbook. We like this in the winter or camping or it was great for Scout trips.

● One to two links cooked Polish sausage cut up

● 2 Cans Great Northern Beans, rinsed and drained 

● 2 Cans dark red kidney beans, rinsed and drained 

● 2 Cans diced tomatoes with olive oil, garlic, and spices, undrained 

● 2 T packed brown sugar 

Combine all ingredients. Cook uncovered over medium-low heat for 8-10 minutes stirring occasionally. Serves 8.

Impossible Vegetable Pie

(from Grandma Dolly) 

2 C chopped broccoli/cauliflower

1 C shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 C chopped onion

1/2 C chopped green bell pepper

1 1/2 C milk

3 eggs

3/4 C Bisquick Mix

1/2 t salt and some pepper (optional)

Boil the broccoli, cauliflower, onion, and green pepper in 1" water for 10 minutes. Drain the water. Stir in the cheese. Pour into a 10" pie plate (glass works well). Beat together the milk, eggs, Bisquick, salt, and pepper. Pour over the vegetables and cheese in the pie dish. Bake at 400 for 35 to 40 minutes.

Easy Meal Ideas

Ragu and Noodles

Get a jar of pasta sauce (my favorite is Ragu Chunky Garden Style) and serve with any type of noodles, but egg noodles are especially good. You can also brow ground beef or ground sausage to go in the sauce.

Potato Bar

Bake potatoes (350 for around an hour, scrub, poke, and bake, wrapping in foil is not necessary, or cook in the microwave). Serve with heated canned chili, cooked broccoli (chop and cook in a covered dish in the microwave for 5 min), and grated cheese, or other toppings (sour cream, bacon, etc.)

Crunchy Tacos

Taco shells, ground beef, canned refried beans, tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup/salsa

Homemade Burritos

Soft tortillas, refried beans, cheese

Breakfast Burritos

Soft tortillas, sausage, scrambled eggs*, hash browns*, cheese, salsa (or ketchup), tomatoes (optional)

*For scrambled eggs, crack eggs into a small dish, stir with a fork/whisk, pour into hot, oiled/sprayed skillet, and cook until done. You can buy the has browns frozen, or bake potatoes, then shred when cool enough and heat through in butter or oil.

Easy BBQ Chicken or Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot

Put 2-4 large THAWED chicken breasts in the Crock Pot with some BBQ sauce on low for around 8 hours. (If you use chicken breasts that came frozen in a bag, they will be smaller and you'll want to use 4 or more.) Shred with forks at the end of cooking time and add more BBQ sauce. Serve on buns.
-or-
Put a pork roast (really any kind of cut, like a pork shoulder or whatever, but not pork chops because that would be weird, but I guess it could work, but you should just bake those in the oven or cook them on the grill) in the Crock Pot with some BBQ sauce on it. Cook on low for around 8 hours. Drain off the liquid into a can to dispose when cooled. Shred with forks and add more BBQ sauce. Serve on buns with additional BBQ sauce if desired.

French Toast

To make French toast for one person, crack an egg or two in a wide-bottomed bowl or pie dish or something similar, whisk it and add a little milk and stir that in. Add some spices like cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger (or Allspice as it has those kinds of spices in it already, or pumpkin pie spice). You can also add some vanilla if desired. Dip the bread (both sides), even stale bread, into the mixture, and cook on an oiled/sprayed hot skillet/pan. Serve with syrup.

Biscuits and Gravy

Brown a tube of Jimmy Dean sausage (it's the best!). Once cooked, stir in 1/4 C flour.  Gradually add 2 1/2 C milk. Cook until it comes to a boil and thickens, stirring constantly. Reduce heat to med-low and simmer for 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Season with salt and pepper. Serve on biscuits, either homemade or those that you bake from the refrigerated section in the grocery store. (From All Recipes)

Cream Cheese Chicken in the Crock Pot

4 chicken breasts

1 can cream of chicken soup

1 stick of cream cheese

1 pouch/envelope of Italian dressing powder mix

Put everything in the Crock Pot and cook on low for 6-8 hours or so, or high from 4-5. Stir up when done, and serve on rice.

Baked Creamy Chicken Taquitos

 From Jennilyn Woolf

1/3 C (3 oz.) cream cheese

1/4 C green salsa

1 T fresh lime juice

1/2 t cumin

1 t chili powder

1/2 t onion powder

1/4 t garlic powder

3 T chopped cilantro

2 T chopped green onions (opt)

2 C cooked, shredded chicken (can use canned)

1 C shredded pepper jack cheese, or Mexican blend, or cheddar

6 inch corn or flour tortillas

2 T oil (can use the cooking spray instead)

Nonstick cooking spray

Kosher salt (regular salt will be fine)

Heat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.

Heat cream cheese in microwave for 20-30 seconds so it's soft and easy to stir. Add green salsa, lime juice, cumin, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic. Stir to combine, then add cilantro, green onions, chicken, and cheese.

Wrap 3-4 tortillas in a damp paper towel (or clean, damp towel) and microwave for 20-30 seconds so they are soft and pliable. If the tortillas crack when rolled, use damper towels and increase the microwave time.

Place 2-3 T of chicken mix in the tortilla and roll it up.

Place seam side down on baking sheet in a single layer. Spray the tops with cooking spray or brush with vegetable oil. Sprinkle with some Kosher salt. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until crisp and the ends get golden brown. Cool for 5-10 minutes and serve with (opt) sour cream, guacamole, salsa. Makes approximately 16 corn or 12 flour taquitos.

Taco Soup

 The first time we ever ate this was at Jeff and Janae Stevenson's house when we lived downtown Salt Lake.

1 T oil

1 4 oz. can diced chiles

1 medium onion, chopped

4-6 C chicken broth

1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes (I like it with diced stewed tomatoes)

10 oz. frozen corn (or a can of corn, drained)

2 15 oz. cans of beans, drained and rinsed (black, white, or kidney)

1-2 T Mexican/taco seasoning

Dash of chili powder, optional

Sour cream, optional

Chips

Cheese, grated

Saute the onions in the oil over medium heat until tender. Add everything else except for the last three ingredients, and heat until boiling. Simmer 30 minutes. Serve with the sour cream, chips, and cheese on top.

Macaroni and Cheese

 I think this is what Grandma Johnson used to make for the family and is what Mom always made for us.

1 3/4 C uncooked noodles

2 C cheddar cheese, grated

1 t onion salt

1 1/2 C milk

Soda crackers

Butter (maybe 2 T cut into little pieces)

Cook the noodles, drain. Stir noodles together with the cheese, onion salt, and milk. Put in a casserole dish. Sprinkle crushed soda crackers on top. Dot with some butter. Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes.

Bacon Basil Avocado Pasta

 

8 oz (1/2 standard box) bow tie pasta

2 medium avocados, chopped

6 slices bacon cooked (425 in oven in tray with foil or parchment paper for 15? minutes, or fry in skillet)

2/3 C chopped fresh basil

2 T lemon juice

1 T olive oil (other oil will do)

3 cloves garlic (I like the kind that comes pre chopped in a jar from the store)

1/4 t pepper

1/8 t salt

1/2 C shredded parmesan

Cook pasta according to directions. In a large bowl combine the avocados, bacon, basil*, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, pepper, and salt. Add the hot pasta and toss to combine. (Put in a serving dish if you want), then sprinkle with cheese. Serves 4. *Don't let it sit around too long or the basil will wilt and look gross.

Kielbasa

 Cook some ground sausage in a large skillet until done. Drain off fat into foil or a heat-proof disposable container, throw in garbage (not in sink) when cooled. Add 1/2 to 1 head of largely cut up cabbage. Cook with sausage until done. Enjoy!

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies (off the old Western Family chocolate chip bag)

 2 1/4 C flour

1 t baking soda

1/2 t salt

1 C butter

1/2 C sugar

3/4 C brown sugar

2 t vanilla

1 egg

1 bag milk chocolate chips (we like the Guittard giant milk chocolate)

Preheat oven to 375. In a small bowl mix flour, baking soda and salt. In a larger bowl cream butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add vanilla and egg. Add dry ingredients into wet ingredients, mix well. Add chocolate chips, mix well. Bake on ungreased cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes. Makes approximately 3 doz.

Thai Haystacks

 This originally came from a Thai Spring Roll recipe from my friend, but the spring rolls just fell apart, so I decided to make them like haystacks. For the 2021 Eden Reunion, I made 6 cups of rice, 2 cups of quinoa and had tons. I cooked 6 lbs. of chicken, quadrupled the chicken recipe, and did 2.5x the sauce recipe as written (we could have used a little more sauce).

From the bottom:

Rice or quinoa*

Chicken -

    Cook 1.5 lbs chicken pieces in a mixture of 3 cloves minced garlic, 1/2 t ground ginger, 1/4 c soy sauce, 1/2 t Sriracha sauce, 1 T ketchup, 1/3 c coconut milk, and the juice of 1-2 limes.**

Toppings -

    Julienned cucumber, colorful bell peppers, carrots

    Mung bean sprouts (sometimes these are hard to find fresh)

    Chopped cilantro

Peanut Sauce (for the top), heat all ingredients together in a sauce pan***

    1/2 c brown sugar (I'm sure you could sub with honey)

    1/2 c soy sauce

    1/2 c peanut butter

    2 t minced garlic

    1 t ground ginger

    1/2 t curry paste (test for spiciness and adjust as necessary)

    1 C coconut milk

 *The recipe says use mango rice. I didn't have the original mango rice recipe, so I just poured any extra coconut milk on the rice, optional. Plain rice is great, too. I'm sure you could use mango rice if you know how to make it.

**The original recipe also includes 12-oz Coke and 2 T brown sugar with the other ingredients boiled together and cooled and then used as a 4-hour+ marinade on the chicken. I rarely think ahead to do a marinade, so I just cook the chicken in the ingredients listed above in a skillet and love the flavor. For the 2021 Eden reunion, I did think ahead and did the marinade, and the flavor was very strong. I baked the chicken for over an hour in the sauce in the oven, then kept half the sauce with the cooked chicken and the chicken soaked up all the sauce! Also, I think if you plan to pan cook this, you could omit the coconut milk in the chicken-marinade recipe and just cook the chicken in the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, Sriracha sauce, ketchup, and lime juice.

***This is the recipe doubled. Cut it in half if you don't think you'll eat too much peanut sauce, but we always want more.

Plop Plop Jello Salad

 Long-time family favorite (right? At least traditional.)

1- 3 oz. lime/green Jello

2 C/one container cottage cheese

1 can crushed pineapple

1- 8 oz. Cool Whip

Pecans

Mix all ingredients together (don't mix up the Jello, just pour in the powder)