On the weekends many of the men in our summer community would all go and play ball and she would have dinner for them and the family when they got back. The women set the tables and such and everyone pitched in by bringing side dishes and such, the men normally did the grilling. She made a salad that was so fresh and light. She only used about a tablespoon of her special salad dressing for a large bowl of salad mixings and I thought it was so different from other salads I had. She would toss and toss and it was so good and light and delicious. It was the Scandinavian way. She made great pickled herring in cream which my Dad loved, but it smelled too fishy for me to even try it. Ha ha ha! Oh and don't forget the Swedish Meatballs. We had a virtual Smorgasbord ... a Swedish word for a buffet meal of varied dishes. Everyone had such a good time being with family.
My Grandfather was a frail man as he was hit by lightening and it damaged his whole body. I just recently found out he had met Nana while she was nursing him back to health. Because of his poor health, my father, who was quite an athlete in running had to leave school as the eldest son and provide for the family. I have wonderful memories of my Grandfather. During the school year, he would walk over to our house for lunch about twice a week while my sister Gwen was in school. Mom would make lunch for us and we would watch Kate Smith on TV and our favorite was when she sang “God Bless America” with such a strong and powerful voice.
After our show we would take our nap and when we woke up, Mom would have cookies and milk waiting and then he would walk back home again. I always remember him as being very frail, but very kind.
When I was little my Grandfather and I would go to pick fresh blackberries in the morning before it got too hot. Oh, could those prickles hurt! Anyway, we would bring them back to Nana and she made the most scrumptious Swedish pancakes you ever wanted to taste. She would stand there cooking them for hours it seemed to me, and she would say “do you want another one”? I always wanted more and she would cook them until I was ready to pop!! She brushed melted butter on them and then I would spread blackberry compote on them from the blackberries Pop and I had picked, and then they were roll them and put powdered sugar on top... YUMMY!!
Swedish Pancakes Recipe
1 cup sifted flour 2 tbsp sugar ¼ tsp salt 3 eggs beaten 3 cups milk 1/3 cup butter softened a good dash of good quality vanilla
Confectioners’ sugar to sprinkle on pancakes when they are finished cooking
Loganberry, blackberry, raspberry or strawberry preserves or fresh fruit mixed with sugar and a touch of lemon and cooked at low temp until softened and ready to use as compote topping be careful not to burn
Sift flour, sugar and salt together. Then add eggs and milk slowly, stir until well blended. Let stand 1-2 hours. Heat griddle, skillet or tempered Swedish pancake pan. Brush well with butter. Spread hot cake batter thin on to pan. Brown on each side, do not burn.
Brush with melted butter , spread thin layer of compote on pancake, then roll, and add sifted confectioners’ sugar lightly on top and a dollop of compote or jam and perhaps a bit of whipped cream.
Nana on her birthday at
Bloomers Lakehouse with partial family
Mom and Dad to the left of Nana
Peach Lake Memories is a 15 Chapter book with vignettes about my childhood memories. It is copyrighted. Please ask for permission before using any information in my book. Thank you .. donnatrex@yahoo.com
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