It was Daddy's idea...

The deep summer night had frosted the grass with jewels this morning, and I was slogging through the bed of diamonds back to the house instead of venturing from it.  Last night, Daddy proposed an impromptu campout in the back-field.  Short adventures of that kind get infectious responses on most occasions in our family.  Who can resist a good fire, fresh air, and a front row view of the sunset?  The boys and Daddy pitched and batted arcs over the field, (and sometimes over our heads and sometimes into the pig's paddock), with a baseball while we ladies cheered and commented from the fireside.  We made firebrands out of our marshmallow sticks and then roasted prodigious numbers of the fluffy sugar bombs into various stages of charcoal.  It was proposed we try the same method with a few leftover brats; so we added grease sparks to the night-light of our camp and burnt our fingers and tongues on the most delicious portions of meat I have ever tasted.  Crackling and charred on the outside, juicy-sweet on the inside.  Every topic of conversation around our campfire is broached with the happy assurance that we have all the time in the world to pursue it, unhurried by the demands of a schedule. Family jokes are laughed at without reserve, nobody worries about the state of their hair, we all wear the same scent (wood smoke and bug-spray), and no-one has to say anything to be a necessary presence in the assembly.  I didn't bother taking large numbers of pictures.  Once in a while these times are too sacred and precious for the excessive recording of things best painted on the memory alone.   Tucked into those loud swishy sleeping bags where every move is a waterfall or an express train, we admonish each-other about the coming hours and say good-night a thousand times in funny sleepy voices until someone forgets to reply in the twilight of wakefulness and we drop off to the roar of bullfrogs and the flickering of our dying fire.  God quiets my heart most often when I rest for these short moments of time in His countless blessings of the present common-place.  Contentment, I think, is not having things you want, but truly wanting those things which you have with a passion that makes the smallest gifts cause you to worship the Giver.  He calls it gratitude.

Mother's Day

A Celebration Brunch in honor of the wonderful women who are our mothers!

And the concert that followed...

An Adventure

Well, it was really a picnic (in 34 degree weather) and a two mile trek over hill-country.  What better way is there for good friends and Minnesotans to spend a glorious spring day?

An irresistable challenge...

Down to the river...

Skipping rocks...

Sisters in Christ...

The home-stretch...

Weary and happy!

December 26th, 2009

Grandma's House in Southwest Minnesota!

The drive was beautiful, if a little perilous!

December 26th is also Grandma's birthday!

Grandma and the cousins...being a little silly for the camera.

A little Swedish heritage

Potatis Korv (Potato Bologna), Lussekatter (Saffron Rolls or St. Lucia Buns), and Bruna Bonor (Brown Beans) grace our dinner table, along with corn-pudding, sweet potatoes, cream peas, mashed potatoes, and ham!

Christmas Day in the Morning

The sights.

The smells - Cardamom, Saffron

The memories - Ribbon Candy

The tastes - Sweet Cookies, Sour Grapefruit, Warm and Creamy Rice Pudding, Tender Saffron Rolls

And the strains of Handel's Messiah reminding us of the Savior.

The Night Before Christmas

Music is one of the things our family enjoys together...especially this time of year with all the unique and beautiful music.

This year, our trio was expanded to a quintet since Charlie joined us with his oboe and Ben with his violin.

Christmas is no longer a time to get things in our family.  But we can't bear not to give good things to each other, so we still open presents Christmas Eve.  None of us can wait for everyone else to open their gifts.  There have been secrets circulating through the house for weeks and the best part for me is the surprise on the receiver's face when they see the way you have worked to bless them. 

"I feel like we are a Bakery!"...

...One of the Lenz ladies sometime in the week before Christmas

The Lenz Family Bakery and Restaurant has been busy the last few weeks.  Although they are not all pictured, this is a list of the goods we made on the bakery end.

Candy Cane Cookies

Spritz Cookies

Russian Tea Cakes

Old-Fashioned Date Cookies (Great-Grandma's Recipe and Mama's favorite)

Star Cookies (Daddy's favorite)

Gingerbread Cookies

"Face" Cookies

Butterscotch Bars

Traditional Swedish Saffron Rolls (Great-Grandma's Recipe and Everyone's favorite!)

Click here to read more about making these!

Swedish Cardamom Braid

Truffles




Fudge

Saffron Rolls

This authentic Swedish recipe was passed down to us from our great-grandmother, Bertha Anderson whose mother emigrated from Sweden to America as a twenty-nine year old young lady in 1882.  Saffron Rolls are also often referred to as St. Lucia Buns.  They most remarkable for their brilliant color and distinctive flavor, being flavored with both saffron and cardamom.  We make them every year a few weeks before Christmas for our family and relatives. Last year we started making them for others as well when they ordered them ahead of time.  I don't think I exaggerate at all when I say that it would border on sacrilegious in some circles to eat them any other time of year than the few weeks around Christmas and St. Lucia's Day.

Saffron is one of the most rare and costly spices in the world.  It is in fact the stammen of the Saffron Crocus dried.  To extract the mellow-sweet perfume and flavor, and vivid golden color for two batches of the delectable buns, we soak about $75 dollars worth of the precious strands in water and sqeeze every drop of the flavor out.  This year we found a rarity in one of the plastic dish the saffron is packed in...a crocus petal!

Because there is no forgivness for mistakes with such precious spices, we are very careful about the preparing of the dough.

Grandma Bertha could find the correct temperature of the water with her finger, and Aubrey has learned to do the same.  I am still learning that skill, but it gets easier every time I try it.  There is no way to describe it.  The correct temperature is neither hot nor cold, but it is warmer than luke-warm and cooler than warm...105 degrees!

There is always that great moment when you add the saffron with excitement...and fear and trembling.

Then of course there is the cardamom...that exotic, spicy, effervescent fragrance that tingles in your nostrils.  It is so strong, some people use the whole seeds as breath mints!  I was shopping in Bath and Body recently and enjoying the whiffs I was getting from their aroma-therapy candles when I suddenly found one that shouted "Christmas" to me in every breath.  I thought for a minute it must be evergreen or something, but it wasn't in the Christmas area of the store.  "Where have I smelled that before?" Then I looked at the label...Cardamom and Lemongrass.  Well that explained it.  Cardamom and Saffron are two scents that spell Christmas to me...hard to describe, but unmistakable once you know them.  In explaining to other people, I often say that Cardamom is the primary flavor in most Chai teas, which it is, but that doesn't do much for them either since it is overwhelmed with a smattering of other spices.  Needless to say I didn't leave Bath and Body without that candle!

Back to the rolls.

Safely on the other side of mixing, we start the long and delicate process of adding the necessary flour and kneeding by hand.

These buns rise for two hours both before and after you form them, but they only bake for around 15-20 minutes.  We stand over the oven whatching and waiting during that time.

The final coat of butter to give them that shiny finish!

Everyone has their traditions...passed down through the generations.  The tradition in and of itself may not be remarkable, but it reminds the next generation of the things their fathers held dear.  Saffron Rolls are that way for us.  We talk often about maintaining the principle that tradition serves the generations, rather than the generations serving the tradition.

Our great-great-grandmother emigrated from Sweden as an indentured servant to a wealthy family in Omaha Nebraska.  Our grandma said that Anna Katarina, or Kate,  as she liked to be called, never wanted to talk about the voyage from Sweden because the conditions on the ship were humiliating.  She met her husband, a farmer and widower with eight children, at a Baptist tent meeting in Omaha.  Kate had three children of her own before her husband died in a wagon accident, leaving her with eleven children and a farm.  We have the Swedish Bible Kate brought with her on the ship from Sweden, filled with marked passages.  Although her life was filled alternatly with hardship and joys, her faith was built on God's faithfulness.  The youngest of those eleven children was our Great-grandmother, Bertha, born in 1894.

Great-Grandma Bertha had special memories of Christmas.  As a child on Christmas day, she would run from window to window keeping peepholes in the frost open with her breath.  Having all those big brothers and sisters was like having so many parents. They prepared the Christmas tree every Christmas Eve in the parlor of the farm house.  Bertha had to recite the Christmas story from memory in Swedish before they would throw open the doors to reveal the tree!  And of course there were the Saffron Rolls.  Bertha lived to be 101 years old and passed the tradition of the Saffron Rolls, and the story of our family, to her daughter and her grandaughter, Karen, our mother! 

The amazing story of God's provision amidst blessing and hardship is the story behind the Saffron Rolls.  Saffron Rolls alone can give us nothing.  But they serve as a reminder of the faithfulness of God to work in our lives for our good and His glory through the generations of those that serve Him.

The NCFIC Sufficiency of Scripture Conference

The Lenz ladies admiring our lovely hotel while Daddy attends a luncheon...first day of the conference!

The fun elevators.  :)

There were around 2600 people at the conference!

Our family was encouraged, exhorted, and motivated in so many ways.  Some of our favorite speakers were Paul Washer, Doug Phillips, Kevin Swanson, Geoff Botkin, Voddie Baucham, Scott Brown, and Joe Morcraft among many excellent men.

We tried taking a survey to find out which speaker our family appreciated most, but there were too many perspectives.  We found we have more favorites than family members.  :)  The speakers spoke about everything in the context of the sufficiency of scripture for our lives, from the gospel of Jesus Christ to the laws of nations, culture and aesthetics, the meeting of the local church, family life, ministry, and so much more.  As usual we came home feeling that we just finished drinking from fire-hose...and so blessed!

We were also excited to be at the Cinncinati Premier of the new creation film, The Mysterious Islands and to meet and listen to many of the cast and filmakers!

Four of the six arrows at the premier. :)

A tired and thankful crew ready to leave for home!

On they way home, Daddy took us out to eat at the Cracker Barrel in Wisconson...amazingly, the same one we visited on the last trip we made to Ohio in July!

To read more about the conference, visit
NCFIC
NCFIC blog
and Doug Phillip's Blog

Glad to be home to the cold and snow and warm fires and fresh cookies, hospitality, secrets filtering through the house... and above all, remembering the birth of our great Savior!