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Recipes from a Scandinavian-American Family

Larry Gjenvick creates a Danish Kringle.

The Gjenvick-Gjønvik Family has a great love for food and has many Chefs in the extended family. Among them are Master Chef Svein Magnus GJØNVIK of Trondheim, Norway and Chef Johann GJENVICK of Milwaukee. We bring you these delightful, tasty culinary dishes from Scandinavia, developed from recipes handed down from generation to generation. Cousin of Master Chef Svein Magnus GJØNVIK, Larry GJENVICK of Milwaukee prepared the Danish Kringle in the photograph above.

Jenny's Cardamom Bread Recipe

Cardamom Bread

Cardamom bread is a delicious sweet taasting cardamom-spiced bread made in a braided style in an oblong pan. Scandinavians often serve cardamom bread with coffee.

Danish Kringle Fresh from the Gjenvick Family Kitchen, Ready to Eat!

Danish Kringle (Dansk Smørekringle)

This old Danish pastry is legendary. It symbolizes the "rygge" which means "comfortable and good" life. There is a secret to Kringle baking: the dough is made with the butter rolled in -- not mixed or blended with a fork or pastry blender.

Danish Kringle - Ready to Eat

Danish Kringle Recipe for Pastry Connoisseurs

My efforts are not always perfect, but its Scandinavian “soul food” that is always so special and satisfying. Here is my version of Danish Kringle. Try it and enjoy!

Danish Open-Faced Anchovy Sandwiches

Danish Open-Faced Anchovy Sandwiches

The Danish Open-Faced Anchovy Sandwiches have been served every Christmas for as long as I can remember (1950s). The sandwich was the favorite of my Grandfather who emigrated from Trondheim, Norway in 1913 to the United States. The sandwiches are easy to make and taste great for those who love the taste of Anchovies.

Norwegian Fattigmann Cookie Recipe

Fattigmann Norwegian Cookie

Fattigmann or Fattigmand Cookies are a tasty treat, often made during the holiday season. Like the Rosettes, these delicious Norwegian cookies are deep fried so if your making Rosettes, keep the oil and make some Fattigmann using the same oil.

Kringla (Spritz Cookie) Recipe

Kringla (Spritz Cookie)

The Kringla or Spritz Cookie is a family favorite at Christmas. These delicious cookies are easy to make. They are similar in taste to the popular Danish Butter Cookie, so these cookies often disappear quickly.

Finished Krumkaka

Krumkaka / Krumkakka / Krumkake Recipe Norwegian Cookie

Krumkaka is a Norwegian delicate but very delicious cookie that is made using batter and a Krumkake Iron. They are made similar to waffles by pouring a tablespoon of batter for each Krumkaka in a krumkake Iron, heating for approximately 30 seconds and quickly removing the flat krumkaka and rolling them using the special funnel shaped molding tools.

Lefse Prepared with Butter and Brown Sugar

Lefse - Norwegian Recipe

Growing up in Minneapolis, lefse was quite common, especially around the holiday season. Many Scandinavians and Scandinavian-Americans purchased lefse at the local grocery store, but our tradition was to make lefse at home.

Potato Dumplings

Potato Dumplings (Klubb)

Recipe for a good, old fashioned Norwegian dish

Riskrem with Raspberry Sauce

Rice Pudding - Riskrem with Raspberry Sauce

Prepare a traditional Norwegian desert with this recipe for Riskrem with Raspberry Sauce from the Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives

Rømmegrøt (Sweet Cream Porridge)

Rømmegrøt Sweet Cream Porridge

Learn to make this delicious tradittional Norwegian holdiay recipe for RØMMEGRØT (Sweet Cream Porridge) from the Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives.

Frying Scandinavian Rosettes

Rosettes Scandinavian Cookies

Rosettes are very delicate but incredibly delicious Norwegian (or Swedish) cookies that have been a treat for many generations. Typically made only during the holidays as they are quite time consuming to make. The original recipe called for deep frying in lard, but we recommend Extra Virgin Olive Oil as an acceptable and more healthy substitution.

Swedish Dairy Bake Recipe

Swedish Hash Brown Casserole

Swedish Dairy Bake Recipe from the Gjenvick-Gjønvik Archives that features hash-brown potatoes, chicken and broccoli to make a tasty Entrée.

Swedish Meatballs Fresh Out of the Oven

Swedish Meatballs (Köttbullar)

This delightful entree from Sweden has become one of America's favorite dishes. Experience the taste of the Old World in this authentic Swedish Meatball recipe. Traditionally served on Christmas Eve, these meatballs are so good, you'll want to fix it year round.

Swedish Sponge Cake

Swedish Sponge Cake

This recipe, using potato flour, makes a very tender sponge cake. Baked in a charlotte russe pan, the center may be removed to leave a hollow shell.

Norwegian-American Easy Chili Recipe

Vintage Chili Recipes

It seems inconsistent at first thought that those who reside in the cooler sections of the country do not indulge to any great extent in the warming influences induced by partaking of that Mexican delicacy Chili Con Carne.

Mom's Sloppy Jo's Recipe

Vintage Sloppy Joes Recipe

My mom's recipe for Sloppy Joes has been pleasing kids for decades. Simple and easy to make, I looked forward to every time she made this!

Let's Look at the Menu

A traveler visiting Scandinavia for the first time, on a summer holiday, is almost overwhelmed by the abundance and richness of the food he discovers in the gay, superbly run restaurants and hotels of the capital cities.

If he stays long enough and is welcomed into Scandinavian homes, if he visits country houses, stops at fishing villages, spends some time with farmers, woodsmen, and other workers, he will go on being impressed by the good food he sees in the clean kitchens and on family tables.

Suppose he is gourmet enough to appreciate the quality, sense the inspiration and imagination that distinguish the Northland's cookery. In that case, he will know that this is a superb cuisine.

Remarkable in its traditional allegiance to the ancient French and German court cookery from which much of it has derived, extraordinary in its uniqueness and variety which developed from the produce of Scandinavia's farmsteads and gardens, grain fields, orchards and dairies, the wild fruits, game, and seafood and the precious cargoes brought across the oceans in Viking ships.

The traveler, at home again in England or Southern Europe, in America or South America, remembers with particular pleasure the dishes which were characteristic of Scandinavia, those which were native and different, the least like his Yorkshire pudding, or his spaghetti, his Southern fried chicken and California salad bowl, or his chili con carne.

He remembers the astonishing array of appetizers that precede the luncheon or dinner. They resemble each other but wear a different name in each of the four countries: smørrebrød in Denmark, voileipäpöytā in Finland, koldtbord in Norway, smörgåsbord in Sweden.

The gourmet traveler remembers the soups, the superlative sauces that smoothly caress the good fish dishes, spice the meats and game, dress the vegetables, and add goodness to the already decadent desserts. He remembers the flavor of almonds, the leitmotif which runs through the pastries and puddings, and every kind of sweet — almond extract, almond paste, chopped almonds, sliced, and whole almonds.

He remembers the fragrant coffee and the many special coffee cakes and breads that appear with this beverage in the morning and again halfway to noon, at luncheon and afternoon coffee, and then in a smaller and sweeter form with the dinner coffee.

His memories are delighted when he recalls the pleasant atmosphere of the luncheon and dinner tables.

The Scandinavians enjoy their food; they want the excuse for food, get together to talk and eat, take a little Aquavit and beer, coffee, and wines, listen to some music, dance a little, or dance the night through.

The similarities in the cuisine of the four countries appear as the menus are studied closely, similarities which have developed because of the geographical relationship of the Scandinavian countries and their racial and social interdependence.

The same dishes are found repeatedly in these countries' cuisine, often under names only slightly different in their Danish, Finnish, Norwegian and Swedish spellings. The true origin and nationality of these dishes have been lost in antiquity.

Recipe terminology and spelling in Scandinavia are highly controversial, even within national boundaries. Different provinces — in the south, or the north, near the seacoast, or in some other direction — speak different dialects because of geographical, racial, or class origins; they spell old-style, or modern, or colloquial.

A recipe fiercely declared original and native to one province, its name spelled a certain way, nevertheless appears in many other parts of the country (and often across the border in neighboring countries) identical to ingredients but with its title written differently.

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