Thinking of Christmas

It's that time of year, and if you are wondering about excellent books for children getting ready for Christmas, here's my pick for a book by my friend, Ewa Rydaker!

If you can't find it at a local bookstore, you can find it here at Amazon:

https://smile.amazon.com/Lucia-Morning-Sweden-Ewa-Rydaker/dp/1935666657/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ewa+rydaker&qid=1570291336&sr=8-1

This is one of my granddaughters as Lucia and she was Lucia for us for 12 years, and now the great-granddaughters are continuing on with the Swedish tradition of Lucia.

Potato Sausage Casserole

My son tried this recipe today and his family loved it. Many of us love home-made potato sausage that we make each year in November, eat it on Christmas Eve as part of our traditional Swedish Christmas Eve meal, and enjoy a few rings in January and February -- but for those of you who LOVE Swedish potato sausage, this might be an easier way enjoy it..
"I made this recipe last night."

                                   Potato Sausage Casserole

1 full bag of shredded hash browns

2 medium onions,

1 pound of lean hamburger,

4 medium eggs,

1-1/2 tsp salt 

1-tablespoon of allspice 

about 1 tsp restaurant pepper

two cans of undiluted cream of celery soup

Bake in a 9” x 12” pan, greased with Crisco, at 365 degrees F for one hour.

“And it came out great and to my surprise – tastes just like potato sausage.”

Oscar and the Steam Shovel

This is the steam shovel Oscar Lundwall, my grandfather ran in the iron mine, he is sitting directly in front of the shovel window, and could only be identified by his ears, the darkness of his eyes, and his posture and comparing it to his wedding photo from 1908. lol -- it is a photo I found in my parent's photos from the 1900's.

Here is the closeup of the man he matches. 

I was only able to identify him by his facial structure, his ears, and the posture compared to his wedding photo below. I also remember that he always wore a cap with a bill on it to the mine when I was a child.