Skip to main content

My Inaugural Jolabokaflod + Icelandic-Inspired Edibles

By

When I read about jolabokaflod, I was immediately enamored. My inner bookworm wiggled with glee and I sent off an email to my girlfriends suggesting that we have one as our annual girls' holiday party. I offered to host! In case you haven't heard of it, it's the Icelandic tradition of giving, receiving, and then reading books on Christmas Eve.

Just before Christmas, the gals came over and we exchanged books and chocolate, ate, drank, and caught up on happenings that we miss when we are all ensconced in our separate daily lives. I've been friends with these girls for over three decades. I love that we all still manage to be part of each other's lives after all this time!


We kicked off the feast with pickled herring, olives, cream cheese, smoked salmon, cucumber salad, and delicious bread from Chef Ron at Ad Astra Bread Company.


For the main dish, I served Kjötsúpa (Icelandic Meat Soup). That recipe will be coming soon, but it was a hearty warming stew made with ground lamb and chunks of beef. Yum.


Then, for dessert, I offered a cookie platter, including Birch Smoked-Salted Chocolate Chunk Cookies, Gingerbread Trees (recipe coming soon), and Iceland Flag Painted Hearts (recipe here).


And we tasted some Icelandic chocolates, too.


Just a few shots of our gifts. I found two books for Soraya that were centered around Vietnam; Stephanie gifted me a beautiful volume called The Story of Food! You'll be hearing more about that from me soon.


And here's the girl crew...


We didn't have Denise and Erin there as they weren't feeling well. And while we appreciate them not sharing their germs, they were sorely missed. Hopefully they can make it next year as I definitely see the jolabokaflod as being a repeat event!
Labels:

Comments

  1. Jinjer-The Intrepid AngelenoJanuary 1, 2020 at 5:25 PM

    If Denise and Erin can't make it next year, I will fill one of their spots. Ha ha.

    That looks so fun and festive and delicious!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé #Winophiles

By
This month the French Winophiles group is looking at affordable wines from Burgundy.  Host Cindy of Grape Experiences wrote: "Burgundy, or Bourgogne, is known for its wines of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir... as well as Aligote, Gamay, Sauvignon, César, Pinot Beurot, Sacy, Melon in lesser quantities. Many of the well-known wines are quite expensive, but there are plenty of values to be found." Read her invitation here. And there won't be a Twitter chat for this event, so you will have to dive into the articles themselves to read about our pairings and findings. Here's the line-up... Wendy Klik from A Day in the Life on the Farm enjoys Domaine Chevillon Chezeaux Bourgogne Hautes Cotes de Nuits, 2018 Paired with a Maple Pecan Chicken . Camilla Mann from Culinary Adventures with Camilla shares her love of Connecticut Lobster Rolls, Canned Lobster Bisque, and a 2019 Henry Fessy 'Maître Bonhome' Viré-Clessé. Jeff Burrows of FoodWineClick! explains why we should Look t
5 comments
Read more

Meyer Lemon Custard-Filled Matcha Turtles #BreadBakers

By
#BreadBakers is a group of bread loving bakers who get together once a month to bake bread with a common ingredient or theme. You can see all our of lovely bread by following our  Pinterest board  right here. Links are also updated after each event on the  Bread Bakers home page .  We take turns hosting each month and choosing the theme/ingredient. This month Stacy of Food Lust People Love  is hosting and she wrote: "Your bread can be large, as in one big animal, or small - animal-shaped rolls. Use your imagination! Points for flavor and shape!" If you are a food blogger and would like to join us, just send an email with your blog URL to Stacy at foodlustpeoplelove@gmail.com. Here's the animal-shaped bread basket from the #BreadBakers... Beef and Sweet Onion Dim Sum Pandas from Karen's Kitchen Stories Bird Bread Rolls from Ambrosia Easter Bunny Buns from Cook with Renu Ham and Cheese Elephant Rolls from Food Lust People Love Hedgehog Bread from Making Mir
15 comments
Read more

Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies #SundayFunday

By
Today the Sunday Funday group is celebrating childhood favorites. Thanks to Stacy of  Food Lust People Love , Sue of  Palatable Pastime , Rebekah of  Making Miracles , and Wendy of  A Day in the Life on the Farm  for coordinating this low-stress group. Today Stacy is hosting and she's given us the following prompt: "Childhood favorites. Did you have a favorite dish growing up? It could be something your family cooked or a restaurant dish, even a Chef Boyardee canned good or packaged ingredients like Rice-a Roni or mac and cheese. Recreate THAT dish from SCRATCH for this event."  Here's the #SundayFunday childhood favorites line-up... Chili Mac from A Day in the Life on the Farm Ham and Mushroom Breakfast Burritos from Making Miracles Homemade Lorna Doone Cookies from Culinary Adventures with Camilla Homemade Wonder Bread from Karen's Kitchen Stories K-Mart Sub Sandwiches from Palatable Pastime Kempakki Dosa from Sizzling Tastebuds Meat Chilly Fry by Sn
6 comments
Read more