Just another Old Hippie trying to get by in today's Blue Meanie world... a chocoholic blonde bohemian rune-reading, tree-hugging, lefse-munching Norse hedniska. Have aebleskiver pan, will travel! I love baking most of all-- breads, cakes, cookies and pastry... quiche, tarts & pies. Chocolate! Coconut! Cake decorating and candy-making. Anything with cardamom, almond paste or Nutella. Stir-fries and deep fries. Roasted poultry, curries and savory slow-cooked stews. Rice/pilaf dishes. Anything with garlic, feta cheese, artichokes or capers. Scandinavian, Indian and vegetarian cuisine. Christmas traditions: My grandmother's steamed carrot pudding and mincemeat pie. My grandmother's Christmas cookies, which she let me help cut out and decorate (molasses cookies-- including gingerbread boys with silver dragee buttons & eyes-- and sugar cookies with multi-colored nonpareils). My aunt's Christmas Snowballs (vanilla ice cream rolled in coconut and topped with icing holly and a red candle). My uncle's rosettbakkelser (crisp, deep-fried pastry rosettes dusted with powdered sugar-- a traditional Scandinavian holiday treat). Scandinavian recipes that remind me of my Swedish and Norwegian great-grandparents-- my way to honor their memory and keep the old ways alive. And last but not least, my grandmother's lemon meringue and lemon angel pies, and her strawberry jam (which she made from fruit grown in her own backyard). My favorites: At age 17, hearing my home ec teacher tell me that I had made the flakiest pie crust she'd EVER tasted! Also during my high school years, making a Baked Alaska at home, all by myself, and having it come out perfectly-- toasted meringue and all! Just to name a few: The evening I decided to make Vegetables Benedict for my father, and ended up creating a hideous mush of boiled greens and cereal instead (he bravely consumed all that was on his plate, but declined seconds). The night I cooked (and ate) a spoiled butterfish, and then spent the next twelve hours deeply regretting it (hey, I come from a long line of lutefisk eaters-- what the heck does "bad" fish smell like, anyway?). And then there was the time I attempted to make stuffed tofu-- with a package of SOFT tofu (LOL)! To top it all off, the night I set the oven on fire trying to broil salmon steaks, and the fire dept. had to come to the rescue, sirens and all, fully attired in emergency garb and carrying hatchets, hoses, and all the assorted emergency accoutrements. UFF DA!