Swedish Recipe Treats

Thelma Nilsen Gorrell (1926-2018), my mother-in-law, was one hundred percent Swedish, although she was third-generation here. She had fond memories of the Swedish food served at holidays, but she never learned how to make it, as her mother died when Thelma was young. One day, she found a little Swedish cookbook compiled by Julia Peterson Tufford from Minnesota. In it, she rediscovered some of the treats she remembered. Today, the poor book is falling apart, but she scanned the pages and shared them with us.

Here are some of the favorites that were made often.

Swedish Potato Sausage (Potatiskorv). My husband, Norman, loves this dish. It is labor-intensive. When we first learned to make it, Thelma used an old-fashioned hand-cranked meat grinder. Later, she purchased a Kitchen Aid mixer that had a meat grinder attachment. That cut down the grinding time by half.  My husband found a sausage stuffer that made stuffing the sheep casings easier than with the grinder attachment. We all had our chores. His dad, George, had potato peeling duty. I chopped the onions. Norman worked the grinding, and Thelma cleaned the casings. The whole thing took all afternoon, but the reward was hot potato sausage at the end.

Potato Soup (Potet Suppe). This is a Christmas Eve favorite. We rarely make the dumplings, as we like the bit of fat in our soup. Thelma tended to brown the onions too much, and her soup was browner than ours. I never cared for the celery salt.

Swedish Pancakes (Plätar). She had the special pan to make the small cakes, but at our home, they were made like crepes. The granddaughters had different toppings they liked: powdered sugar, jam, or syrup.

#52Ancestors: Week 48: Family Recipe

This is my eighth year working on this year-long prompt, hosted by Amy Johnson Crow (https://www.amyjohnsoncrow.com/) at Generations Cafe. I write each week in one of my two blogs, either Mam-ma’s Southern Family or My Trails into the Past. I have enjoyed writing about my children’s ancestors in new and exciting ways.

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