X-MAS THE NOR-WAY

Here in Norway the snow won't come this x-mas, but we do the best of the celebrating anyway, and I like to share some photos;

Welcoming lights.

The beautiful table.

Lutefisk.

Lutefisk the Nor-way.

Collection of Aquavit, esential for x-mas the Nor-way.

7 classes of x-mas cookies.

Home made marzipan, we did yesterday.

Scenery without snow this year.

Another x-mas table.

Julenisser.

Embroderied x-mas runner.

Thank you for reading my blog, and hope your x-mas has lots of love and peace.

HAPPY CHRISTMAS FROM NORWAY

With some x-mas recycling , tins with candles for the outdoor x-mas tree. Cute and curious.

Have a nice christmas eve, with lots of love and peace.

NATIVITY SCENE

A nativity scene, "Nacimiento ", " Misterio" or "Belen" in Spanish, in Norway we say that a loved child has many names, is the summum christmas decoration and the most traditional, is the exhibition of art objects representing the scene of the birth of Jesus.

The first created one is credited to Saint Francis of Asiss, the founder of the Franciscan Order, he was in the countryside of the Hermitage of Greccio, Italy in 1223, when he got the inspiration to reproduce the mistery of Jesus birth and built a barn of straw. Invited a small group of local people, brought  a manger, a donkey and an ox, this was what we call "a living nativity scene", many villages in Spain continue with the tradition, and live people participate together with the animals, you can have a look at the web site of the " Ayuntamiento"  in the place  you visit or live, there is always a Nacimiento, or a Belen.

The art form can be traced back to eighteenth-century Naples, Italy.The nativity scenes exhibit figures representing the infant Jesus, his mother Mary and the father Joseph  normally displayd in a barn, with the donkey and the ox (to give warmth) just beside, outside the shepherds and the sheep, and angels , the camels ridden by the 3 Magi, offering their gifts.

There can also be non religious figures as farm animals, the village, representing Bethlehem; with their people living, farmers, blacksmiths, soldiers, and people doing their handicraft work, baking bread, selling their goods, Mary washing clothes in the Jordan river, the river has a mill, a bridge, there are trees, plants, mountains,whole landscapes, families compete with each other to produce the most elaborated sceens.

 That's why every year the main squares in every town and village has stands selling onely figures and items for the Nativity Scene, the real good ones are made by local artists, they work the whole year producing, and then sell in December. Now there are figures at popular prices, and we let the girls arrange the Belen, what most young families do today, but when my husband was a boy, this was done by the grown ups, and almost wore a "Do not touch" sign, I prefere to think it was because the figures might where very expensive at that time.

The metropolitan Museum of Art in New York naually displays a Neapolitan Baroque Nativity Scene.On this link you can see it. you can also see the figures one by one:

metmuseum.org

                                        Nativity Scene from the University of Granada.

The Nativity Scene from Granada University , is exposed in front of El Corte Ingles, Carrera de la Virgen in Granada.

It's got so late, coming back tomorrow with the Mantecados recipe..
Night, Night.!!!!!!

SPANISH X-MAS TRADITION

the third advent sunday is nearly over, and the christmas feeling won`t really come, sunny days, not a single cloud to see anywhere, we need some precipitacion, Sierra Nevada need some snow, but anyway there will be christmas.

If you are in Spain at X-mas time, may be you have wondered why all local buissnesses, hairdressers, insurancecompanies, shops, offices, has a big plate of spanish christmas sweets and bottle of Anis on a try normally just inside the door, it`s to offer you and other customers a shoot of Anis, it can be at ten a.m., and some typical spanish christmas sweets.

 The X-mas charols are quite different from the ones we are used to listen to, they can even be quite flamenco inspired. And the bottle of Anis, when empty, used as an music instrument dragging a pen up and down through  the frilles in the bottle. A tambourine and the zambomba is also used for cristmas party music.

Take a listen to this "Villancico"

                                 No traducction for Zambomba anywhere, but here you can see it.

I had give this a Norwegian touch.

Spanish christmas sweets.

Back from the left : Alfajor,Polvoron,Mantecado.
Middle from the left :Turron  Jijona, Turron Alicante and Chocolate turron
   In front: bisquit almond filled with Jijona turron  .

Since the 15th century most people in Jijona (north to Alicante) has their way of living making the turron, the most popular x-mas treat in Spain, in the origen there was not so many tasts and flowers as today, but also here the times change, the turron is a kind of nougat , confected of honey, sugar, egg white and tosted almonds or other nuts, and formed to a rectangular tablet or a round cake. Jijona (Xixona) has a Museum about theTurron .

The Mantecados origen is from Antequera (north of Malaga) and Estepa (east of Seville), while there was an exedent of pork grease and cereals in the 18th century , they made a kind of  soft homemade cake of this, but the change came in the 19th century when Mrs. Filomena from Estepa made them dryer and more easy to conserve, she one day made a lot and sent them with her  husband, working as a transporter, to sell them in the different markets he went by. The popularity became grand, and in year 1889 there  where 15 households, converted in small fabrics, opening distant markets.
Today Estepa smells of cinnamon, 23 fabrics produce around 18 tonns of Mantecados, or their
similar,Alfajores,Polvorones, Hojaldrinas and Roscos de Vino.
Since we go to Norway for Christmas, I must confess that I haven`t done any this year, but I will try to get some together tomorrow so you can have the recipe and see how they are done.

Not much Spanish people make their own christmas cakes, and you buy them  like this, individually packed.

The candles burn at home every day.

Our  christmas tree.

Have a nice start on the last week before---------------------------------
Did you buy all X-mas gifts?
Well I did, may be I start to see what I will put in my suit case, all must be for below 0 temperature.

Night Night!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

GRANADA`S CHRISTMAS LIGHTING AND SERRANO HAM

Christmas Streets

Happy 2nd sunday of Advent, we lit the 2nd candle and had a cosy afternoon at home a cup of x-mas tea and we tried some ginger biqsuits i baked . Yesterday afternoon we went to Granada to see the Christmas Lightning, it was cold, lot of people, news paper said round 30 000 visitors, due to the holidays this week end, not easy to get some good photos, not even easy to walk around, but cou can have an idea.

Town Hall and Plaza del Carmen.

The center of Granada town has always been marvellously lit up at X-mas and at the Music and Dance Festival in June/July, this year it's nice, but a little more modest this year, may be in solidarity for all the people going throug difficult times here in Granada and all over Spain, may be to save, or both.

Plaza Biba Rambla.

La Gran Via, still has leafs on the trees, not very comun in Dicember, but it looks nice.

Ganivet Street.

At Plaza Bib Rambla you have the traditional Christmas Market, like all Spanish cities, and these days what people are looking for are some new items for their Nacimiento or Belen, their Nativity  Scene, to decorate the homes, the x-mas tree has become a tradition here to, I will come back to the way of  decorating and celebrating here in Spain. Later on the food will be bought, and latest the gifts,  since The Holy 3 Kings comes on 6th of January in the morning.

You can get anything to make your Nativity Scene.

At our way back home we stopped at our favorite butcher and bought a Serrano Ham from Trevelez, we like the Sierra Nevada cured ham wich comes from normal white feeted pork, cured for at least 18 months in the Alpujarra Area. Then we have the Iberian Ham, we also like a lot, from the famous black feeted pork, "pata negra" who lives free, in huge areas and eat only oak nuts, the difference is also huge both in taste, texture and price, the origens are Jabugo in the Huelva mountain aerea, and Guijuelo, in the Salamanca area.

It's difficult to explain the difference, the Trevelez Ham has clean meat, and the fat is "outside", it tastes a little salty, we use to eat it with bread, tomato and olive oil, and it's the ham we use in so many cooked dishers for extra taste, and the Iberico ham has stripes of fat inside the meat, it's softer and has a sweeter, more nutty taste, it has to be cut very thin and in small slices, and eaten with piquitos or regaña, kind of  bisquit, typical from the  Sevilla aerea.

Too cut the ham properly, you need a "jamonero", as seen on this photo.

We like it with some land  bread, and normally I grate the  tomatoes , but didn't have any, so I cut some sherry tomatoes , a dash of olive oil, and some baby avocados we got from Almuñecar, delicious, muuummmm!!!!!!

This week I will try to post the history of the Nativity Scene, and the Ginger Cookies we made the other day, the time is running, I must prepare all for my x-mas trip. For the first time My Girls and me are not going to celebrate christmas eve together, it`s a strange feeling.
And then New Years Eve we`re back, and the turkey must wait until then.
Where do You celebrate x-mas??????

Night, Night, and sleep well .

HAZELNUT AND CRANBERRY CUPCAKES AND WOOD CARVING

Here comes the cupcake recipe, I made them for the sunday brunch, and keeping them in the fridge, they are still perfect, but obviously best the next day after baking. Now is the time for nuts, and again I'm lucky to have friends, who invites us to come to their "finca" and we can harvest as much as we want, so we have a big basket, well we had, of walnuts , the most common here in the south of Spain, and they are so good, thats why they don't last . We also got a few hazelnuts, and here they go in the cupcakes.

Shoppinglist

150 gr harina.                               ( flour)

220 gr. azucar.                              ( sugar)

3 huevos.                                     (eggs)

100 gr avellanas.                          ( hazelnuts)

130 gr mantequilla sin sal.            (unsalted butter)

125 gr leche de almendras.          ( almond milk)

1 sobre de levadura.                     ( envelpoe of bakingpovder)

Extracto de vainilla.                       ( vanilla extract)

50 gr arandanos secos.                ( dried cranberries)

Frosting

250 gr queso fresco.                    (cream cheese))

80 gr mantequilla sin sal.              (unsalted butter)

50 gr azucar glass.                       ( powder sugar)

Colorante alimenticio rosa.           ( pink food colouring)

Corazones blancos y rosas de Vahine.   ( sugar hearts, pink and white)

Start letting the cream cheese and the butter at room temperature, saving 12-14 hazelnuts for decoration, then shop the rest, or let go in the food processor if you don't want  pices, then mix it together with the bakingpowder and the flour.

In another bowl, use an electric mixer and beat the butter and the sugar fluffy, then add the hazelnut/flour mix, a little by little. without stopping the mixer, add the eggs, the vanilla extract and the milk, continue mixing for some min., then add the finly shopped cranberries with a spatula, and put the dough into cup cake moulds. It depends on the size, but normally it gives 12-14 .

Put in the middle of preheated oven at 180 degrees for 30 min.

While the cupcakes are in the oven prepare the frosting, it's very important that the butter and cream cheese are at room temperature, again I use the electric mixer, be careful with the colouring, only a drop or two.

Take the cupcakes out of the oven, and let chill compleatly.

Put the frosting into a pastry bag, and decorate as you like it best, toss some sugar hearts over, and top with a hazelnut. Put in the fridge for at least 1 hour, I like to keep them in the fridge if there are ????? some left, then they keep moist.

I will be very happy if you want to be a member, and if you leave a comment.

The nut bowl  as well as the cutting board is carved for my mother by a local artist from Tjøme, Norway, many traditions and memories, always on our christmas table. If you are interested in the Norwegian handicraft work, take a look at this link

,www.osebergvikingskip.no

Made in year 2000.

In Spain we have the Constitution Day on the 6th of December, and the 8th is the day of the Spanish Protectoress, Inmaculada Concepcion, both are National holidays, and many places, since the 8th is a sunday, the holiday is transfered to monday. The roads will be buisy, as well as holiday destinations.

Night, Night ..............sweet dreams.