Christmas dinner at Dad and Sonja’s was pretty splendid- with a standing rib roast that actually was a gift from Steve, via Omaha Steaks, plus delicious mashed potatoes, carrots, and wonderful Scandinavian cookies. (It just now occurred to me that there was no lefse, which might be a first for a Berg Christmas, but the fact that I didn’t even notice until now tells you want a wonderful meal it was. And by the way, if you don’t know what lefse is, you are a tragically deprived person.)
The only person who wasn’t ravenously devouring every delicious morsel of food within reach was Kaj, who apparently has made it his mission in life to be the fussiest eater in the entire Berg family tree. Or maybe he was just wanting to save room for the holiday delicacy which he would create later in the evening.
I’m not sure how it all began, but apparently Kaj announced to his Grandma Sonja that he was interested in whipping up a batch of “Christmas Soup” for everyone, but that he would need her help in gathering the necessary ingredients and in turning on the stove. Sonja, one of the best cooks I know, nonetheless must have realized that there was much she could learn by cooking side by side with Chef Kaj, so she was with him all the way. He began by announcing the ingredients that were necessary, and suggested that she write a list: one egg, one pickle, the juice of one clementine tangerine, parmesan cheese, and a variety of spices . . . which ended up including an entire jar of celery flakes since the top fell off of the jar as he was adding them to his mixture. (About the only thing missing was Eye Of Newt. Sonja must have been all out.) And Grandma Sonja was with him all the way, handing him mixing spoons, helping adjust the heat of the burner, etc. It was just precious, at least right up to the moment when we realized that he was expecting all of us to eat this —-. In fact, Kaj set the table almost as energetically as he cooked the food, and then announced in firm and uncompromising tones exactly where each of us was to sit. About the only thing that rocked him back on his heels was when Grandma Sonja and Aunt Kathy insisted that Kaj had to try his Christmas Soup before serving it to anyone else, because that’s what any real professional chef would do. Kaj was categorically unwilling to do that, citing his dislike of eggs, and I’m not sure they ever managed to shake him loose from that.
Watching Kaj cook his Christmas Soup was a whole lot more fun than eating his Christmas Soup, although I have to admit that the two spoonfuls I ate went down a whole lot easier than I expected them to. (It tasted a little bit like Egg Drop Soup but with something a little weird added to it.) After that, when he wasn’t looking I poured the rest of my bowl into the bowl next to mine. I would walk through fire for my precious nephew – but I draw the line at food poisoning.
In the end, it was one more case of Kaj being incredibly adorable- and of Sonja earning All-American honors as Grandmother of the Year. It takes a very special sort of love for someone with as immaculate a kitchen as Sonja to turn it over to a six-year-old . . . and to do so with a warm and authentic smile. I have a lot of very fond memories of these Christmas holidays now past, but Sonja’s smile during the creating of Kaj’s Christmas Soup is maybe my favorite memory of them all.
pictured: I know it’s a rather dark and somewhat blurry photo, but I like the way this catches some of the “action” involved in the concocting of Kaj’s Christmas Soup. You can probably make out the figure of Kaj pouring the juice of a clementine tangerine into the pot, and the navy blue sleeve belongs to Sonja, who is carefully stirring the juice into the mixture, just as the recipe in Gourmet magazine stipulated.