Recipes add flavor to the holidays
By Julie Eberle Special to the Kansan
The holiday season is a time for sharing love, expressing thanks and, of course, indulging in special foods.
For Melissa Sieloff, St. Paul, Minn., senior, the holidays are a time for her family to acknowledge their heritage through ethnic foods.
"Our entire Christmas is Swedish," she said. "It's not Hallmark."
Sieloff's family traditionally prepares "Svenska kottbullar," or Swedish meatballs, as a main course every Christmas, Sieloff said. They have eaten it ever since her great-grandmother immigrated to Minnesota from southern Sweden in the early 1900s.
Sieloff said her great grandmother brought this recipe from Sweden and passed it on to her daughter.
Each year Sieloff's family tries to get the children to cook, she said, because it is the only way to pass on the traditions.
Sieloff's Svenska köttbullar:
1 pound hamburger
1 egg
2 slices of bread, crumbled
2/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon grated fresh onion
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon onion salt
1/8 ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon MSG
1/8 ground cloves
Mix all ingredients together with hands. Roll into balls. Bake at 350 degrees on tray for 30 minutes or until done.
Jay Glatz, director of food services at the Kansas and Burge unions, and his wife, Sue Glatz, said they traditionally prepared "Country Sweet Potato Casserole."
She got the recipe from a cookbook by the women of her all-girls Catholic high school, in Omaha, Neb., about five years ago, Sue Glatz said. She has taken the dish to every Thanksgiving and Christmas dinner since.
"Country Sweet Potato Casserole"
3 cups whipped sweet potatoes
1/3 cup melted margarine
1/3 cup white sugar
2 eggs lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmea
Mix all the ingredients together and put in a lightly greased 1/2 quart casserole dish. Mix the following ingredients and pour over sweet potatoes:
1/3 cup flour
pinch of baking powder pinch of salt
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup coconut
1/3 cup melted margarine
Bake at 325 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
Kate Butler, Lawrence resident, shared a Southern recipe from her hometown of Louisville, Ky.
She said she got the recipe for "Kentucky Sauce" from her mother, who used the sauce as a dessert for dinner parties.
"Kentucky Sauce — a lovely hostess gift when presented in a cut glass jar, or a last-minute gift for unexpected holiday guests," Butler said.
This sauce is good because it can be made a month or more ahead of the holiday and can be refrigerated until it is time for it to be served, she said.
1 cup brown sugar
"Butler's Kentucky Sauce"
1 cup white sugar
1 whole orange (preferably seedless)
1 cup water
1 whole lemon
1 cup Kentucky whiskey (100-proof bourbon for spice)
1 cup strawberry preserves
Cook the two sugars with the water until the syrup almost spins a thread. Add the cup of strawberry preserves and the pecans. Add the orange and lemon —
rind and all — chopped very finely. Let stand in refrigerator to "ripen." Warm before serving. Serve atop a very fine vanilla ice cream in a Schaumtorte, or pour on other holiday cakes.
Bruce Flanders, director of the Lawrence Public Library, said he liked to snack during the holidays.
He shared a personal favorite for "Tasty Oyster Crackers."
His wife received the recipe from one of her co-workers, Flanders said. They prepare it every year from Thanksgiving through the New Year.
Flanders said the holidays were a good time for snacking while sitting in the La-Z-Boy and hanging out with his family.
"If you like dill, it's good," he said.
"Flanders' Tasty Oyster Crackers"
1 cup oil
1 teaspoon dill
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1 package Ranch dip
24-ounce oyster crackers
Mix oil, dill, garlic powder, and Ranch dip.
Pour over crackers in a 9-by-3-inch pan.
Mix well to coat crackers. Bake at 250 degrees for 20 minutes. Store in airtight container.
Exercise and moderation can help fight holiday fat
By Jon Schlitt Special to the Kansan
Students returning home for the holidays may run the risk of putting on excess pounds from eating too much and sitting around the house all day.
But weight gain can be avoided by following a few simple guidelines, said Ann Chapman, dietitian at Watkins Memorial Health Center. One of the major causes of weight gain during the holidays is reduced physical activity.
"Students return home for Christmas break and oftentimes are so tired from finals that many of them choose to lie around the house all day," Chapman said. "Therefore, they are not doing as much and their metabolism slows down, which leads to weight gain in many cases."
"When people attend Christmas parties and see the candy or the Christmas cookies lying around, they often don't think twice about eating it or of how much of it they are eating," Chapman said.
Chapman said that some other causes for weight gain during Christmas break were the consumption of alcohol and foods high in calories and fat.
She offered some simple solutions for students to avoid gaining weight during the holidays, including structuring their time to avoid sitting around and watching television all day, keeping food in their systems at regular intervals and setting realistic goals.
"Don't be all-or-none in your eating habits when it comes to certain foods. If you avoid
fatty foods all the time, it will only make you that much hungrier for them," Chapman said.
She also said students should to try to eat something before they went to parties so they did not gorge themselves.
Since most students will not have the benefit of walking up the hill every day during the break, Chapman suggested that they engage in some sort of physical exercise.
"Students can stay in excellent physical shape by taking a walk outdoors for about 30 minutes a day, four to five times a week," Chapman said. "Or if the weather doesn't permit them to walk outdoors, they can always go to the local YMCA and use the indoor track there."
"I'm going to visit my high school basketball team and take part in the tradition where the graduating class plays the current team for about a week," Boydston said. "I figure that, along with my usual exercise routine, should keep me in good shape."
Josh Boydston, Spring Hill freshman, said he had his own plans to stay in shape during break.
"I'm going to jog to my local high school stadium every day and run the stairs there," he said.
Brad Shyver, Stilwell sophomore, has similar plans.
Mark Truelsen, Northbrook, Ill., freshman, said he planned to take part in some winter sports to keep his weight down.
"I'll stay in shape by working out, lifting weights, playing some ice hockey and doing some sledding," he said.
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December 5,1996 The Hill
11
Holiday On The Hill
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