Tomtegröt Rice Porridge

3/4 cup arborio rice
1 1/2 cups water
3 1/2 cups milk
3/4 tsp salt
1. Simmer rice, water and salt on low heat for 10 min or until rice have absorbed water
2. Add milk and simmer on low heat for around 30 minutes, stir to avoid burns.
3. Turn off heat, cover with lid and let sit and thicken for at least an hour.  You can also continue to simmer until thick, but it is less labor intense to cover instead of stirring.

Serve with sugar, cinnamon and butter - save some for Tomten and his helpers.

Swedish Red Cabbage

1 red cabbage head - 2 lbs
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup molasses
100 gram butter (a little less than a stick)
1 bay leaf
Salt and pepper to taste

1. Thinly slice cabbage and fry in butter for 5 - 10 minutes until translucent red.
2. Mix with salt, pepper, bay leaf, vinegar and molasses in a pot.
3. Heat and stir for about 15 minutes.

Swedish red cabbage is often served with apple sauce and ham for Christmas.

I made this again 12/22/18 and used a 1lbs (at most) cabbage head, 1 tbsp molasses and 3 tbsp 5% apple vinegar, 4-5 tbsp butter and salt, pepper - no bay leaf. Was on the phone during the frying part so it probably  fried for 45-55 minutes on low heat before adding molasses and vinegar. Turned out really good.

Tosca Cake (Swedish Almond cake)

This is my favorite  Swedish classic - love the crunchy almond topping.

Cake
3 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
a little less than 1 stick butter
1/4 cup milk

Topping
4 oz slivered or chopped almonds
1 stick butter
2 tbsp flower
1 tbsp milk or cream
1/2 cup sugar

Start by heating the oven to 375.
Butter a round form with removable bottom
Melt butter and let cool a little
Beat eggs and sugar until fluffy
Add butter to egg/sugar mixture
Add some of the flour, then the milk
At the end, add the last flour mixed with baking powder and carefully mix. Pour into form and put in warn oven.

While cake is baking, slowly heat topping ingredients, stirring until thickening. After 20 - 25 minutes - make sure cake is firm and doesn't wobble in the middle - take cake out and cover with almond mix. Bake for another 10 minutes until lightly brown.  If still pale after 10 minutes, turn oven on broil until almond topping gets golden brown. Remove from oven and with a knife, separate topping from form before letting it cool - otherwise the topping may stick to the form and separate from the cake when you remove the form after cooling.