Emily's Saint Lucia's Day

If you look into the hidden recesses of piled up boxes in the Barn entryway, you will be rewarded with very old pictures of Paul, Melissa, and of course all the kids (along with some old ski or camping equipment Abigail thought was lost forever). With the date of Quinn and I's wedding drawing ever nearer, he and I had gone on an archeological expedition to find pictures of himself as a kid for a slide show we were putting together. 

This happened over a year ago, yet my mind can still see the huge boxes as they came out of hiding (from behind the sleeping bags and boxes of Alaska String Band CDs). They were full to bursting with books, cards, and envelopes full of pictures. 

 I loved looking through everything, and along the way I found some real treasures. My favorite was a photo of Laura all dolled up and looking positively unimpressed with whatever Melissa was having her do:

One Christmas, Melissa had decided Laura and the family needed to celebrate Santa Lucia Day, or Saint Lucy's Day, a very old Swedish tradition that takes place in the darkest of winter. The oldest daughter of the family got up early in the morning on the 13th of December and made saffron buns (or in Laura's case, cinnamon buns) and served them to her family wearing a white dress with a red sash and a glowing wreath of candles on her head.

In Laura's own words: "This is it. This is how I'm going to die..."

Even though she says it was the worst thing ever (and her expression in that first photo really speaks truth to that), I think her smile - and Quinn's too - show that she was having a good time. Maybe.

After seeing the adorable photo of Laura I became really interested in Saint Lucy's Day - and the little girl in me longed to dress up all pretty and serve my family cinnamon buns (I AM the eldest after all). 
I told Quinn all about how I wanted to celebrate Saint Lucy's Day, and being the wonderful husband that he is, he encouraged me to do it. I don't think he planned for me to go quite as far as I did though...

Saturday the 12th finally came and Quinn and I stayed up late into the night making saffron buns from a recipe I found. 

I had never cooked with saffron before, and I was so excited to see how the buns turned out!

While we rolled out the dough and curled it into little 'S' shapes, I told Quinn the story behind the Swedish holiday:


According to legend, Lucia brought food and supplies to Christians hiding away in catacombs. She wanted to carry as much as she could, so she wore a wreath of candles to light her way.

However, the story comes to a sad end with Lucia being martyred for her faith. With such a beautiful story of devotion to the Lord and her fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, I hope to celebrate this holiday every Christmas as a reminder that we should always put others before ourselves, and that even in the darkest of circumstances, light can always be found. 

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As we finished up the last of the buns, Quinn and I got everything ready for the following morning. We didn't want a repeat of the previous Sunday, where Abigail had found out our secret Saint Nicholas plans by accident, so we planned to get up extra extra early.

Quinn might have also been re-thinking how encouraging he had been when I asked him to do something extra special for me...


You see, in Sweden not only girls dress up for Saint Lucy's Day, the boys dress up to! They're 'star boys', also lighting up the darkness.

I found this pretty painting here.

Quinn didn't seem very excited at first, but when I told him he got to wear a tall, pointy cone hat, he agreed.

Now all that was left to do was to wait till morning...

The sun hadn't come up yet when we woke up, it was still hiding behind the mountains far away. I hurriedly went down the stairs in the barn and started to get ready, while Quinn followed sleepily behind me. 

We stuck the saffron buns in the oven to warm them up, and soon we were all ready. We carefully snuck next door and Quinn tried to open the door and...

LOCKED! The door was LOCKED!

Here we were all dressed up, myself holding a tray full of hot saffron buns, and the family had locked the door! Quinn was kind and ran around the house to the back door - which thankfully- was open. 

Nothing else could go wrong...right?

Hahahahaha! You must not know me.

Quinn came around and unlocked the front door and let me in as he whispered, "Mom's sleeping on the COUCH! I'll go sneak and turn the music on, you light your head on fire!"

As it turned out, Melissa woke up super early and couldn't sleep, so she had come downstairs and cleaned the whole kitchen before laying on the couch to sleep some more. But even though it was unexpected, she still woke up with a big smile on her face when I walked through the door to the song "Santa Lucia" playing.

She was so surprised, the first thing she said was "Emily, you look like an angel!" 

Then it was off up the stairs where Paul and Abby were still snug in their beds.

Quinn and I snuck into each of their rooms and offered them saffron buns. Meanwhile, Melissa was already making hot cocoa and tea downstairs for a very scrumptious breakfast together.

But before we sat down to eat more saffron buns, Abigail was kind enough to take some pictures of us out in the morning sunshine...

Quinn's robes I had made from two sheets, and the dress I wore was a vintage wedding dress found at a local thrift store for $20. I had made my candle wreath back in September - I had been so excited for Saint Lucy's Day even then! 

Back inside around the table we read the Christmas story from the Bible and drank our hot cocoa. Quinn put a sheet over his head to show just how tired he really was.

"Next year," Abigail said to me, "I want to help you and dress up too!"

We had such a fun morning, even if it didn't go quite as we had planned. And I think we have a new tradition in our family, and maybe next year Laura will be Saint Lucia instead of me.

~The End~

Potato Chip Cookies

Yes, you read that title correctly. Today, we're going to be making potato chip cookies. 

This is an old recipe from my mother who (looking at her recipe card) got it from her friend Debbie.

Notice how Debbie didn't write down how many people this recipe serves? It's because there's a pound of butter in this recipe and (I'm speaking from experience here) you probably don't want to tell people that when you're sharing these cookies with them...especially if they're trying to be health conscious. 

But then again, you may not want to tell them the name of the cookie as well! 

Okay! For those of you who are still with me and want to try this recipe (hello? You're still there right? I hope I didn't scare you off with the pound of butter?), we'll start with four sticks of butter (softened)! 

To the butter you'll add 1 1/2 cups of sugar, then you'll need to cream those together with your mixer. 

After that, add 3 1/4 cups flour and 1 teaspoon of vanilla to your creamed butter and sugar. 

Once you've poured those in, use your mixer to combine all the ingredients and set them aside.

Now its the fun part: 

Licking the beaters!

Now it's time to grab a bag of potato chips!

Pour some of the chips in a ziplock bag and start crushing! You need 1 1/2 cups of crushed potato chips, so start with less then you think you need (because eating crushed chips is a sad thing). 

Use a wooden spoon if needed to really get the pieces small.

Once you have them all measured out, pour them into your cookie dough and stir them in!

Next, roll balls of dough with your hands or use a cookie scooper and set the cookie on an un-greased baking sheet (because these have enough butter in them already). 

Place them in the oven at 300 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until the edges get golden brown.

Don't those just look yummy? Now, if you've never heard of potato chip cookies, I can see how someone would be a bit nervous to try one, but believe me: you don't taste the potato chip. It simply adds a crunch and a bit of saltiness to a sweet sugar cookie.

Yes, we could stop there.

But we're not going to.

Adding a little bit of powdered sugar is the icing on the cake!

Now for some unsuspecting parents to taste test!

Paul gave them a thumbs up and had no idea there were potato chips in the cookie till we told him.

Melissa loved every bite of hers until she heard how much butter was in them...then she promptly handed the rest of her cookie to Paul.

Sorry mom!

Next time I'll make...kale cookies.

Or something.

Even Xochie loved the cookies (but she loves junk food, so this wasn't a surprise). 

Well I hope I haven't scared you all off by making these! I promise they're super yummy. I do have something to admit though: Quinn and I did not make them all. In fact we only made one pan full. To make sure we can still fit into our clothes tomorrow (and for the sake of the rest of the family as well) we'll be taking the remainder of the cookie dough over to my parents house so that my siblings will eat all the cookies. 

We recommend sharing them with your friends and family too, otherwise you may find yourself sick having eaten a pound of butter (in the form of cookies).

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Potato Chip Cookies

     Taken from my mother's old recipe card (from her friend Debbie)

1 lb (or four sticks) of softened butter

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 1/4 cups flour

1 teaspoon vanilla 

1 1/2 cups crushed potato chips

powdered sugar (optional) 

In a large mixing bowl, cream sugar and butter together. Add in flour and vanilla, stir together. Pour in crushed potato chips and stir to combine. Roll into balls, set onto un-greased cookie sheet and put in oven at 300 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes, or until edges are light golden brown. Optional: sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Quinn's Un-Birthday Lemon Meringue Pie

This post is expertly written by Quinn!

   Hello again, I (Quinn) have temporarily taken over the blog for a short amount of time to tell you about one of my favorite things: Lemon Meringue Pie.

 Growing up, whenever my birthday would come around I always requested the same desert at my parties: Confetti Cake. After all, what's not to like about confetti cake? It was by far my favorite thing to temporarily light on fire and then quickly imbibe. 

But then one fateful day I discovered something shocking . . . There was a dessert better than even the coveted confetti cake! 

Imagine my shock and excitement at this realization. Of course I was ruined from then on and nothing would satisfy me on my birthday except the newly discovered concentrated heaven in a pan. (More commonly known as Lemon Meringue Pie.)

   Being young and unaware of the ways a kitchen worked, I did not at that time realize what a task it was for mother to concoct the long anticipated delicacy I so desired. But this in no way hampered my enjoyment of the lemony glory topped with voluminous amounts of fluffier than clouds, whipped meringue.

   However, one year my life was changed forever! I was given the sacred and time honored task of grating the lemons. I thought this was all well and good at the time for I did not understand what this meant. I was soon to learn, for a plan was brewing, one that none of us were aware of. Not even those putting it into motion. For as the years went by, I slowly took over the making of the pies, until one year it was my responsibility.

Fast forward to this last year on my birthday.  My loving wife and brother in law Henry helped me make that which I desired. But that was back in January. As I ate my last piece of birthday pie I knew a new tradition needed to be born. That of the Un-Birthday pie! 

   I couldn't just live with only one pie a year, no! I needed it at least twice! My opportunity arose only two months after my amazing thought. Emily's extended family is very large here in Juneau. Because of this, they have what they call 'family birthday parties'. A party where the last two or three months of birthdays in the family are celebrated all at once. Now that I was an official member of the Cummins family I was going to have my indoctrination as one of those with a birthday. 

   And this of course meant one thing and one thing only. My waiting had ended, the three hundred and sixty four days of waiting were finished early. I was going to the promised land and I was the first in line! Emily and I took it upon ourselves to do the crafting of the blessed pies. It took us a good three hours but it was worth the wait and when it came time for the party all were amazed by that which we had created. 

  So for those of you who are reading this entry I have put into the blogging universe and are curious of just why I find this pie to be as glorious as I have stated, below you will find the recipe allowing you to experience it for yourself. But be forewarned, as soon as the first forkful passes between your lips, there will be no turning back. 

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Quinn's Un-Birthday Lemon Meringue Pie

     Taken from the Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook; Makes 2 Pies

For pie filling:

2 prepared and baked pie crust shells

6 eggs

3 cups of sugar

6 tablespoons flour

6 tablespoons cornstarch

4 tablespoons butter

3 to 4 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peal

2/3 cup lemon juice

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For meringue:

6 egg whites

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 teaspoon cream of tartar

12 tablespoons sugar

To start, separate the egg yolks from the whites and set the whites aside for use in the meringue. For pie filling, in a medium sized saucepan combine sugar, flour, cornstarch and a pinch of salt. Slowly stir in 1 1/2 cups water. Cook and stir mixture over medium heat until thickened and bubbly, then reduce heat. Cook and stir for two minutes more and remove from heat. Slightly beat egg yolks with a fork, once beaten, carefully stir in about two cups of the hot filing mixture to the yolks. Add yolk mixture to the hot filing in the saucepan and bring to a gentle boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and cook and stir for two minutes more. Remove pan from heat and stir in butter, lemon peal and lemon juice. Keep mixture warm until meringue is ready. 

For meringue, allow the extra egg whites from above stand at room temperature for thirty minutes. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg whites, cream of tartar and vanilla. Beat with an electric mixer on medium speed about one minute or until soft peaks form. Slowly add in sugar, a tablespoon at a time, beating at a high speed about four minutes more or until meringue forms stiff, glassy peaks. Immediately pour pie filling into prepared pie shells (making sure both pies have the same amount of filling). Spread meringue over the top of the filing, making sure to carefully spread it to the edges of the pie crust to seal in the filing. Bake at 350F for fifteen minutes. Cool on a wire rack for one hour, chilling for three to six hours before serving. 

Abigail's Cracker Candy

Are you ready for Abby's favorite, easiest, tastiest, dessert ever!? Good! No need to get an apron, by the time you put it on you could have been done with this recipe. That's right, this recipe is so easy and quick you'll be done right after you start! 

The only downside to this recipe?

You'll eat the whole pan (believe us, we've done it before).

Now, before a year or so ago (when Abby first made this candy for me) I had never heard of cracker candy (I mean, what kind of candy could be made of crackers?). Abigail hadn't ever tried it either, until she met up with the Links (the family behind Link Union, another family band that we love!). The Links made this crazy sounding yumminess and Abby was hooked. So hooked she asked for the recipe, and now we're sharing it with you!

But enough talk! 

Lets get this done!

Pop two sticks of butter in a pot on the stove. 

Now be careful...

Abigail was quick to ask that I made sure you heard that right: that was two sticks of butter. Not long ago Abby was making this recipe and she accidentally misread it. Instead of two sticks, she read two cups! Needless to say the recipe turned out wonderfully, so wonderfully in fact we all just about died from buttery goodness! Paula Dean would have been proud, Abigail. 

So unless you too would like to have extra buttery cracker candy, we suggest you only use two sticks (and not two cups).

To the butter, add 1 cup of brown sugar. Now put that on medium-high heat and stir it till it starts boiling. Once it starts, boil it for three minutes. Make sure not to let that sugar burn! Keep stirring! 

Once it's done boiling, it should look like this:

Now set that aside (but make sure it stays warm!), and grab a cookie sheet or baking pan. We like our cracker candy thick, so we use less crackers and more caramel goodness. 

Carefully line your baking pan with foil.

Don't worry, the Alaska String Band shirt is only optional for making this recipe. 

But doesn't Abigail look good in it?

Once your pan is lined with the foil, arrange crackers to cover the bottom.

We used 21 crackers to cover our pan.

You may need to break a few crackers in half to make sure you get the whole bottom of the pan covered.

Now that your pan is ready, grab your caramel mixture and pour it over the top of your crackers. Make sure to get them all covered!

Once your crackers are all covered, stick your pan in the oven at 400F degrees for 5 minutes. Don't worry, we're almost done! This is the time to sneakily eat some of those chocolate chips we're going to use in the next step...

After those five minutes are up, pull the pan out and sprinkle chocolate chips all over! 

There's no measurement for this step, 

pour those chocolate chips on till you think there's enough!

Let the chocolate chips melt a bit, then use a spatula to spread the chocolaty goodness all over.

Licking the spatula afterwards is necessary!

Yum yum!

Now the hardest part comes: sticking it in the fridge. The original recipe Abby got from the Links stated that you needed to let the pan chill in the fridge for several hours (over-night being the best). Well Abigail decided that was just too long for her, so she has always stuck the pan straight into the freezer (for just an hour) and it always turns out fine. We recommend that you do the same if you're like us and can't wait.

(Yes, Melissa's fridge is lime green)

After your hour has passed by, simply take your cracker candy out of the freezer and very carefully pull off the foil lining. This may be difficult, so here is Abby's advice:

Don't try to rip the foil off, tearing it carefully and slowly off in one piece is best.

Once foil free, simply cut it into pieces and serve right away! If it doesn't all get eaten (which we doubt), store it in the freezer so the chocolate doesn't melt. 

And if you end up eating a whole pan by yourself, don't worry...

...we won't judge you!

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Cracker Candy

     A recipe given to us by the Links (of Link Union) 

2 sticks of butter

1 cup brown sugar

1 package of saltine crackers

2-3 cups of chocolate chips 

To start, carefully line a baking pan with foil. Cover bottom of pan with one layer of saltine crackers, braking some in half if needed to completely cover the bottom. Combine butter and brown sugar in a pot on the stove. Heat on medium-high heat till boiling. Let boil for three minutes then remove from heat and pour over crackers. Pop pan in an oven at 400F for five minutes. Remove and pour chocolate chips over top of pan, once melted spread with spatula. Stick pan in freezer for an hour to let harden. Pull out and carefully peal off foil lining from candy. Cut into pieces and enjoy, serve right away and (if you have any extra) store in freezer.