yulefest december 18, 2011

Trinity Lutheran Church 14088 Clayton Road 63017
Cost: $20.00 or $25.00* (see below) adult or child 12 and older
$7.00 child under 12

This year we will have a very special Yulefest at the Trinity Lutheran Church located at 14088 Clayton Road in Chesterfield, MO. Once again our very own Larry Larson will be the chef! I am sure anyone who attended last year will be thrilled to hear that news. Appetizers will include lutefisk, Norwegian cheeses and crackers, and a variety of traditional savory bites. The dinner will feature fish (fiske) soup, pork roast, new potatoes, red cabbage with apples, carrots, lingonberries (tyttebaer), and lefse (There may be a local contact for homemade lefse - keep your fingers crossed!) all served buffet style. We would like to ask everyone to bring a favorite dessert to share. The club will provide beer, wine, coffee, tea and soda.

SCHEDULE: 4:30 TREE DECORATION
5:00 REGISTRATION AND HORS D’OEUVRES
5:45 DINNER
6:45 PROGRAM: Dr. Larry Caldwell, a linguistics professer at the University of Evansville will give a talk featuring Old Norse; Caroling around the tree; gifts for the children from the Yulenisse

DUES: Dues are due with the Yulefest payment. They are $20 per unit – individual or family. The club needs funds to reserve locations for our activities and to provide activities at low cost. For example, the price of the Yulefest dinner is subsidized and extra donations are welcome for the beer and wine. We count on your interest and support for the club’s continuance. We would like to send communications by e-mail if possible, but will honor requests for regular mail from those who have paid dues.

RESERVATION FOR YULEFEST:

Member name(s): ___________________________________________________________

________________________________________________________________________

Address: _________________________________________________________________

Phone: ______________________ E-Mail: _______________________________________

OK to use e-mail for communications? __Yes __No

My/Our heritage: ___________________________________________________________

Interests and/or any other comments:

*Adult(s) $20 if dues-paying member (single or family); $25 if non-member guest

Name(s) ________________________________________________________$______

Child(ren) under 12 @ $7: Name(s) ___________________________________ $______

Dues @$20 $______

TOTAL enclosed: $_______

SEND RESERVATION FORM to: Reed Blackman BY DECEMBER 14 1230 Meyer St.
St. Louis, MO 63130

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SAVE THE DATES! These are the tentative event dates and locations for next year. Please put them on your calendars.

POT LUCK – March 4 at Christ Lutheran in Webster Groves ($5 each)

SYTTENDE MAI – May 19 at Blue Heron pavilion in Simpson Park ($10-15 each)

NEW BOARD MEMBERS NEEDED: Vice President and newsletter editor

CELEBRATIONS AND CONCERNS:

(Many thanks to Gretchen Smith and Kari Creighton!)

The Norlands and the Savages were pleased to celebrate Syttende Mai together in Norway. They enjoyed it immensely. Larry and Pam Larson along with Bob and Sonja Willman were fortunate travelers this September in Norway. They had just gotten off the Hurtigruten two days prior to a fire that erupted and killed two crew members. Doris Skaar is well and still volunteers at her church weekly. Alf and Barbara Stole’s home was severely damaged during the Good Friday tornado but they report that it is finally repaired after months! Marilyn Barge is bravely battling cancer. Her granddaughter recently spent 6 months at the University of Oslo. Jim and Lois Urness lost their 46 year old son, Jim Urness, Jr. in July in an accidental drowning. He leaves behind a wife and twin daughters.

YULEFEST AT HOME!

Seven Sorts: Traditional Norwegian Christmas Cookies

Norwegians love their cakes and cookies and the seven sorts is a way of referencing the seven most traditional treats served. There is a little argument over which “Seven” and many argue that there are over twenty to choose from. Some of the common recipes are doughnuts, cones, Goro, Sirupsnipper (Syrup Snaps), Tykklefser, Krumkaker, Fattigmann (Poor Man), Hjortetakk (Deer Antlers), Pepperkaker (Gingerbread) and Kokosmakroner (Coconut Macaroons). However, every list I came across had the following two recipes. Enjoy!

Sand Cakes (Sandkake)

Sand cakes are a simple short cake that is baked in little flat molds. They are sometimes filled with jam or jelly and cream.

1 egg
100g almonds
200g butter
250g wheat flour
100g sugar

Blanch and grind almonds. Crumble the butter and flour together. Add the almonds, egg, and sugar. Mix the dough and let it rest for an hour in the refrigerator. Press into “sandkake” tins. Bake at 175C for 10-15 minutes and leave to cool a bit before turning out of tins.

Gingernuts
This is similar to gingerbread. They are shaped into little balls and baked until hard - just like a nut.

250g butter
125g light syrup
250g icing sugar
1 dl cream
400g wheat flour
2t ground cloves
1t cinnamon
100g finely chopped almonds

Bring the butter, syrup, cream and icing sugar to a boil. Cool and stir in the remaining ingredients. Knead the dough thoroughly and roll into cylinders about 3cm in diameter. Put in a cool place until the next day. Cut into thin slices of dough and bake at 175C for 10 minutes.

Happy Greetings to All!

We had a wonderful turn out at the Scandinavian Picnic and can all be proud of our job hosting this annual event. We even made a little money from the event! It seems everyone had a grand time and the feedback on Simpson Park was so good that the board has decided to hold Syttende Mai there next year.

Along with this letter, you will find all the information about Christmas Dinner. I truly hope you all will make it and bring your families. We will have great food, entertainment for all ages and a truly special night of fellowship for our club. The last couple board meetings have had lots of conversations about the Society’s future. As your President, it is my mission and hope to bring more members to our club and our stronger sense of membership. Your board has been doing lots of brainstorming about ways to achieve both of these missions.

We have come up with a number of ways to reach out to new members. Our plans include creating a Facebook account, contacting churches and universities, and developing a business card with the Danes and Swedes. This business card would have all three clubs’ information on it and all members would be encouraged to pass it on to people who may be interested in our organizations. Our hope is to have these ready in the coming year. I also would like to reach out to all of you for any other ideas or if any of you would like to be involved in working on our endeavors.

In the announcement that accompanies this letter you will find a section that has some information about fellow members. Consider it something akin to a Celebrations and Concerns section. In the future, please let me know if you or your families have anything you would like to share with the club. I hope to send out appropriate letters to our members who could use a little cheer from us! If you would like to help be a part of this simple correspondence, I would be thrilled and very thankful. Our organization needs a Vice President and I hope one of you would take on this important job. It does not take a lot of time but has great rewards for our future. My husband and your treasurer, Reed Blackman, once told the members of his church that, “the Church is always one generation away from extinction.” It is as true for our group as it is for any church. Many members spent long years building our great group and it is time to take this chance to continue their efforts.

Our constitution requires our dues to be collected at the time of Yulefest. Many of our expenses have gone up and we will need a little money to work on our recruitment efforts. The dues are very little per family and truly will help us continue to offer great events. Please take the time to send in your dues with your Christmas reservation. As your President, I promise to be responsible with our funds and make good use of them in our effort to ensure the future of the organization.

I truly look forward to seeing all of you and thank you so much for the opportunity to serve this organization.

Sincerely,
Annekin Blackman, President
727-8407 home
599-3493 cell