The seasons for family traditions is fast-approaching (did someone say it's only 100 days until Christmas???) As I hope to have a new family formed and legally solidified before Thanksgiving, I've been brainstorming new family traditions to introduce to my two new children, as well as planning to continue traditions passed down in my family. Some of my fondest childhood memories are of the yearly traditions my family held dear: apple picking, going to the pumpkin patch, opening presents Christmas Eve, and the Christmas Pickle.
Hold up...the Christmas Pickle, you say?
The Christmas Pickle is a fine, German tradition (and we are definitely a fine, German family), where one hides a pickle ornament somewhere among the green branches of the Christmas tree. The person who finds the Christmas Pickle receives the honor of being gifted with a "Pickle Gift". It may sound simple, but that tricky pickle whose green skin so sneakily blends in with the forest green branches of the tree is deceptively hard to find. Here's the trick from the reigning pickle-finding champion of my family (me): look for the light. The pickle ornament will reflect the lights of the tree, and so the shimmering glint of green is the key to my many years of success. I have not shared that secret with my family. My mother then took the Christmas pickle tradition one step further. She declared that the winner (usually me) must then hide it once again somewhere in the house, and the fun continues until each family member has found and received a pickle gift.
While I intend to continue my beloved family traditions (I'm hoping to go apple picking in just a few weeks!), I also want to create cherished memories and traditions of our own. I want them to be able to look back at the blend of old and new family traditions and feel that this, too, is their family and it is where they belong. I want them to be able to take these traditions and pass them along to their own children, weaving new traditions in as they discover and embrace them.
This weekend, I decided to try introducing a new tradition into the mix: making ebleskivers. While there are a few ways to spell them, there are many ways to make them. Why ebleskivers? I'm definitely not Danish, so I can understand the confusion. I have always wanted to be an amazing maker of donuts. A person that I know makes donuts for her family at all major holidays and on snow days when school is cancelled. Her children look forward to those snowy days for a few reasons, but the biggest reason is their tradition of making hot, crispy donuts on a cold, winter's day. It symbolized warmth, snuggles, a break from school, and extra family time. I always thought that was such a neat idea, and I have tried to make donuts several times...and I have failed each time. While trying to find a donut recipe that I might be able to make with success, I discovered ebleskivers.
Ebleskivers are a Danish breakfast treat. Light and fluffy, there are as many varieties as there are Baskin Robbins ice cream flavors: chocolate caramel, apple pie, peaches and cream, strawberry, nutella-filled, cinnamon struesel...the list is endless. Unlike donuts, you don't have to plan for them hours ahead of time to let them rise. You can basically whip them up, heat up your pan, and start making little bites of deliciousness.
This morning, Little Man and I decided that we were going to give these a whirl, since I had bought a brand-new ebleskiver pan last week. He loves dumping ingredients into a bowl, cracking eggs, popping the yolks, and stirring as well as his three-year old coordination will allow him to. He usually wants to add extra eggs, so I have to watch him very carefully to make sure he's not sneaking a few more into the batter.
The ebleskiver batter was quite like pancake batter. We let it sit for about 30 minutes, as suggested by the recipe, before folding in beaten egg whites. The foamy, fluffy whites are what make the ebleskivers light and airy, as we soon discovered.
After heating the pan, I drizzled a little oil into each of the cups before adding the batter. You could just see the oil bubbling up on the sides of the batter, which reminded me of watching a funnel cake being made.
I learned quickly that you can't leave the stove while the ebleskivers are cooking (which can be a problem with a 1 and 3 year old running around). I had to vigilantly watch for the moment the batter started to bubble, give it a quarter turn and watch for bubbles again, give it another quarter turn, and so on, until a golden ball was created.
The original makers of ebleskivers used a knitting needle to turn their delicious pastry. I used a wooden skewer. Tomato, tom-ah-to.
As this was the first time making ebleskivers, I stuck to just the original, pain-Jane recipe--no fancy fillings or coatings. I finished them by sifting powdered sugar over the top. As you can see by the plate, they definitely didn't last very long!
Both Baby Girl and Little Man ate them up quickly! There was way too much batter for the three of us, so I know now to cut the amount down significantly. I can't wait to try different recipes for special times of the year! I think this might just be our snow-day tradition, with a cup of my grandmother's hot chocolate to wash them down.
What about you--what are your most favorite family traditions? Share them below, as I'm looking for fun ideas to incorporate into my brand new family!
(Photos 1 and 2 courtesy of pixabay.com; photo 3 courtesy of amazon.com (where you can get your very own Christmas Pickle! The rest of the photos are my own.)
Thursday nights were family nights at my house. No phone calls. Card table set up in the living room. We played board games. Chinese checkers and aggravation stand out in my mind, but we played tons of games. Saturday nights when i was in high school, we played spades. On Christmas eve we went to my grandma's for dinner (always a pot of chili, and a pot of corn chowder), then we had to wait for the dishes to be washed, and after, we got to open presents. In the summer, my mom put together a back to school party for the neighborhood kids. We listened to the Beach Boys, played volleyball or badminton, and ate cookies and watermelon. Now I'm missing those days and my family! :) when i was really little, if we got sick, my mom would make a fort under the kitchen table. We used a step stool for a desk to color on. She put a sheet over the table and a humidifier under the table with us. We thought sick days were awesome.
On our birthdays (i have two sisters) either my dad would take the birthday girl out on a date at the restaurant of her choice, or we'd get to plan the dinner menu. My big sister chose fondue one time. We dressed up fancy for it.
This past valentine's, i wanted to spend it with my husband and kids instead of just my husband. My 9 year old made decorations. We planned a fancy dinner, set the table, lit candles, and dressed up. Then we made little paper books for each family member, and we each took turns writing our favorite things about that person in their book. One of my new favorites.
Have fun with your littles. They grow up so fast! Even the things you think may not be a big deal- they may remember as super special.
Never heard of the Christmas pickle before. My wife's family did have a similar tradition growing up. They would hide the baby Jesus from the nativity set, and the first person to find it in the house opened their presents.
As far as far memories, my family did grocery bags. Every year my mom would ask for our favorite snack foods, and then pile those goodies in a grocery bag. Typically, we started Christmas presents with those bags and it kept us youngins occupied while other people were opening gifts, lol.
Love the idea of creating new traditions for Baby Girl and Little Man!
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