So IL Nordic Circle

10/11/2026

For the cooks in your family (from the UFFDA Shop in Red Wing, MN)

09/19/2026

Yummy food at the Scandinavian picnic today!

09/19/2026

09/19/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1Dxn7tXYFS/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Sale ends 9/21.

09/15/2026

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Krumkake came to Minnesota with Norwegian immigrants and it is still made in this state on irons that have been in families for four generations.

The name means curved cake. It is a thin cookie, barely thicker than paper, cooked on a decorative iron and then rolled into a cone while still hot.

The iron is the whole tradition. Two hinged plates with an engraved pattern, originally heated over a stove burner, now often electric. The design presses into the batter, so every cookie comes out stamped with a floral or geometric pattern. Old irons came over from Norway and the patterns vary by family.

The batter is simple. Eggs, sugar, butter, flour, cream, and cardamom, which is the flavor that makes it read as Scandinavian rather than generic. Some families add a little vanilla or lemon.

The technique is where people fail. You drop a spoonful on the hot iron, close it, cook it maybe thirty seconds a side, then lift it off and roll it around a wooden cone before it cools. You have about four seconds. Cool too long and it cracks. Roll too early and you burn your fingers, which happens to everyone and is part of the process.

An experienced grandmother can run a batch with two irons going and never break one.

They are served plain, or filled with whipped cream and berries at the table.

Where they show up is Christmas. The Norwegian holiday cookie tray in Minnesota runs krumkake, rosettes, sandbakkels, fattigmann, spritz and lefse alongside.

Sons of Norway lodges, Lutheran church bazaars and the American Swedish Institute all sell them in December.

The irons get handed down.

And somebody in every family is designated the one who can still do it.

09/08/2026

The World Choir Games are the choral equivalent of the Olympic Games: a large international festival and competition for nonprofessional choirs from around the world. They are organized by INTERKULTUR and normally take place every two years in a different host city.

The 14th World Choir Games were held August 6–16, 2026, in Helsingborg, Sweden. More than 160 choirs and about 8,500 singers from over 40 countries and regions participated.

International juries scored the choirs on matters such as technical accuracy, intonation, sound quality, interpretation and overall artistic performance. Choirs could receive bronze, silver or gold diplomas or medals; the highest-scoring gold-medal choir in each Champions category was named a World Choir Games Champion.

Here is a link to the Kvinnekoret Kvitre (Norway) entry "Mannen og kråka"

This is what happens when powerful women’s voices meet Norwegian fo...

09/05/2026

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For more info and to sign up: https://givebutter.com/scandinavian-picnic-2024-copy-vjxf6w

08/28/2026

From our friend in Norway:

Thank you, Bill and Wendy for your greetings🥰King Harald has been a uniting, tolerant, including, warm, wise, humerous, participating and «down-to-earth» man, whom the population in Norway loves, respect and acknowledges. He was personal and brave and showed and shared the specter from vounaribility to joy with all of us❤️. We will miss him and now we greet and welcome his son, Kong Haakon the 8th welcome🇳🇴