SEELEY LAKE – An informal survey unsurprisingly discovered that while turkey may conjure up Thanksgiving to most folks, Christmas is evoked by a wide variety of foods.
A contingent of people boasting Norwegian descent – including Kelli Wold, Laurel Deniger, Deb Brewer, and the Capp Johnson family – continue to serve the traditional lutefisk dinner. Capp added lefse, rice pudding and boiled potatoes to the meal.
Daniel Woods said his favorite Christmas food is a nice roast beef with gravy.
Eric Samuli and son Nathan said ham is the traditional Christmas dinner at their house, as it is for John Anders.
Carrie Benton said her family always made vegetarian lasagna for Christmas Day. When she and her husband were dating, they decided to marry their respective lasagna recipes. So they came up with something different and have been making their lasagna for the past 14 years.
Jan Bixler has found a way to avoid spending the whole day in the kitchen. She said on Christmas morning they open half the presents and then have a brunch of egg casserole and hash brown casserole. After that, they open the rest of the presents.
Lisa Blackburn said Yorkshire pudding was a favorite dish at their Christmas meal.
Judy Doxtater, sister of bell ringer Glen Stocking, cited a German recipe their mother used to make called dobash torte – a butter and chocolate confection with “all kinds of real fine layers” and a glaze of burnt sugar on top.
Nancy Braun, who came up from Missoula for the Seeley Swan Mountain Bells Christmas concert, said her sister’s fruitcake was a necessary part of Christmas for her.
Krista Clawson said Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without her father’s homemade Christmas sugar cookies. She added that she has been making them with him ever since she was old enough to see over the counter.
Laurel Woods makes chocolate-covered peanut butter balls. Her husband’s family has a traditional Candy Day when they make a bunch of different kinds of candy and give it away to relatives. She said peanut butter balls are “my thing.”
Kris Gullikson’s “thing” is caramel corn that she makes herself.
Karen Pratt makes cheese pies – little tarts with cream cheese and butter crust and pecan pie filling. She laughed and said, “They’re little sugar bombs.”
Jennifer Flannery said her favorite Christmas food is her grandma’s cookies. Flannery said, “She’s 93 years old and still makes them, and I love them – sugar cookies, Russian tea cookies, coconut chocolate balls – whatever you can think of.” Her husband Tom said, “There are so many traditional foods, but it really does come down to that pecan pie!”
Cathy Harrits said she and her husband usually travel for Christmas, so they usually eat some mysterious local treat in whatever part of the world they happen to be in on Christmas day.
If you have a food that means Christmas to you, feel free to call or email the Seeley Swan Pathfinder, 677-2022 or pathfinder@seeleylake.com. We’ll be sharing favorite Christmas foods of the valleys for the next few weeks. Recipes are also encouraged and welcome!
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