Chaos in the Home

Chaos reigned at my house yesterday, and I loved it!

My granddaughter, Heather, and her two sons came over in the morning to make nisu. Nisu is the old name for the Finnish sweet biscuit now called pulla; and I have been making it once or twice a year, using my Mumma's recipe, since I was a teenager. While Heather and I were working, Den was hauling boxes of Christmas decorations down from the attic, and trying to keep an eye on Peyton, who had to make sure everything in the house was in exactly the same place as the last time he visited, which was about a week earlier.

Heather put on Christmas music while we worked; we needed to get in the Christmas spirit. Just as we finished kneading the dough and putting it to rise for the first time, my daughter-in-law Beth came in. She and Heather, with Peyton's sporadic help, decorated the tree and managed to make the house a bit more festive.

Heather and I then added the eggs to the nisu dough, more flour, and kneaded well; and put it to rise, once more, behind the wood burner. Next, Peyton, Landon, and I decided there was just time for a quick swim before the nisu needed to be braided and put in the pans. Actually, Peyton decided and I just went along to hold Landon. Soon Landon and I were done in the pool, so we dried off and got dressed. Peyton stayed in the pool a while longer, with Paappa on guard. 

Unfortunately, Peyton didn't stay in the pool long enough; he had to help with the nisu dough braiding, which took no time at all. After rising for the third time, the nisu was ready to bake. By now, son Adam had shown up, bearing takeout salad and sandwiches. Assorted drinks - coffee, milk, and water - were gotten, and butter taken out of the refrigerator. 

With Heather baking pan after pan of nisu, and the rest of us trying to find room in our small house for drinks, toys, dogs, plates, babies, and napkins, we were ready for fresh, hot biscuit. The girls had done a great job; it was delicious!

Somehow, we had managed to get everything done. The dogs were fed, Landon had a nice long nap, Peyton played and worked as hard as only a three-year-old can, the tree and house got decorated, everyone got fed, and there was nisu for everyone for Christmas. What a wonderful day! Thank you all.

Family Day

Yesterday was nisu baking day! For those of you who don't know what nisu is, it is a traditional Finnish sweet biscuit that takes a long time and a lot of muscle to make. I started baking this delicious biscuit when I was about 16 years old. My aunt gave me a copy of my mumma's (grandmother to those non-Finns out there) recipe. My mother, a non-Finn herself, had never made this traditional biscuit, but encouraged me to try, because my father, and the rest of my family, loved it. And so a tradition was born.

I know there are people out there who bake nisu (also called pulla) on a regular basis, maybe even as much as once a week; but that is not in my nature. For one thing, it is hard to make; and if I made it all the time, it wouldn't seem as special. Besides, I can go to the Finnish Heritage Museum on any Saturday and get a cup of coffee and a slice of nisu for $2. Or buy a biscuit at the Finnish Treasures gift shop, also in Fairport Harbor. But back to yesterday.

My daughter-in-law and granddaughter came over yesterday morning (not too early; they know my habits), and we started right in. Someone had to watch my two great-grandsons, so I just gave directions and played with the boys while Beth and Heather did all the work. How special is that? While the dough was rising near the wood burner, the girls even decorated the Christmas tree that Den had put up the night before, and got out all the Christmas objects, articles, artifacts, or whatever you want to call them, and decorated the house.

Just as the first hot biscuits were coming out of the oven, my son, grandson, and grandson's girlfriend showed up at the door for coffee and nisu. So now you can see how special yesterday was. I hope you all have a day like that in your Christmas season.