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).

Swedish Christmas Rice

This was Grandma Johnson's recipe in the Johnson Family Favorites family cookbook from 1997.  It's probably what we eat at the Christmas parties, but I never put this much work into mine!  (See below).

6 C rice
2 quarts water
Salt to taste
1 quart milk
2 C sugar
2 cans evaporated milk
Cinnamon sticks, as needed
Almonds, as needed

Boil rice in salt water until tender.  Add sugar, milk, and cinnamon sticks (4 or 5).  Set in double boiler and cook for several hours until creamy.  Add canned milk and almonds during this time.  If rice gets too thick, add more milk and some water to keep rice at right consistency.  Serve with half and half and cinnamon-sugar.

This is the recipe mom gave me when I was at college.  I don't know where it came from, but it's easy:

3 C cooked rice
1 C milk
1/2 C evaporated milk + 1/4 C sugar + 1 T corn starch
1/2 t vanilla

Heat ingredients together in a pan.
Shake on cinnamon.

Grandma Johnson's Swedish Meatballs

1# ground beef 

1/3# sausage 

2 slices dried bread, crumbled 

1 egg 

1/2 onion chopped fine 

1/4 c canned milk 

2 t salt (Emily thinks this is too salty; maybe go 1 to 1.5)

1/2 t sage 

1 t pepper 

parsley 

 Mix all ingredients together, shape into meatballs (1/8 c size) and fry in butter on low heat. Since I am not a fan of a lot of fat (Dolly), I bake the meatballs in the oven in a 9x13 pan at 425 degrees for 15 minutes. If I remember correctly, I turn the meatballs over half way through the baking. Watch them carefully so they don't burn. Prior to serving, heat them in a pan with some beef broth on the bottom.