by Pam Vukelic

Recently we experienced the immeasurable joy of bringing a new daughter-in-law into our family. Our son, Reed, married Mollie Mullins in Louisville, Kentucky in July. In August we hosted a reception at Apple Creek Country Club in Bismarck to introduce Mollie to our friends and family members.

Our family, thanks to my mom and dad, have had us immersed in our Norwegian culture our entire lives. It’s a rare holiday or special occasion when we haven’t made some krumkake and rosettes. This is all totally foreign to Mollie, who as you can guess by her name, comes from a mostly Irish lineage. Her mother grew up in Ohio, but they all call Kentucky home.

So, our challenge for the wedding reception dinner was to honor and include both backgrounds. We worked with Rosie, the chef at Apple Creek, to establish the entire, delicious dinner menu and decided that through a dessert buffet, we could bring in and meld our cultural influences.

Mollie was game; indeed, it would be fair to say, excited, to learn the ins and outs of krumkake- and rosette-making. For many years, our daughter, Meredith, was her Grandpa Firemann’s krumkake assistant, so she took the lead on that project. I was in charge of the stinky job of deep-frying the rosettes.

After much thought and discussion with the in-laws, we determined the appropriate counter-parts from Mollie’s side of the family would be Bourbon Balls and Buckeyes. Both of these items were new to us (other than the sampling of Bourbon Balls Mollie had sent to us for Christmas) but we were eager to help in preparing them.

Kentucky is well-known for its bourbon, and Bourbon Balls are as ubiquitous down there as Ginger Snaps are up here. There are many recipe variations but we settled on Mollie’s favorite.

Those of you who follow college sports know the Ohio State University teams are called Buckeyes. What you probably don’t know is that a buckeye is a popular nut grown in Ohio. The Buckeyes that became part of our dessert buffet are named after these nuts. The ingredients are formed into a ball and dipped in chocolate. Enough of the ball is left uncovered so that it resembles, in appearance, the nut. The end result is much like a very tasty peanut butter cup.

We had a great time working in the kitchen, preparing the items. Even Reed, the groom, turned out to be helpful in getting things accomplished. True to his “figure-things-out” nature he was soon dissecting my rosette-making process and making suggestions for stream-lining it. I must admit, the rosettes he made were pretty impressive (of course, he used the BIG iron!).

Family traditions evolve. We’re happy to include Bourbon Balls and Buckeyes in family gatherings to come.

Buckeyes
2 c peanut butter

1/4 c butter

2 to 2 ½ c confectioners sugar

Mix the above ingredients together. Form into 1″ round balls. Place on baking sheet, insert a toothpick into the center of each ball and chill for about 1 hour in the freezer.

Chocolate for dipping:

About 1/4 bar of paraffin wax

9 oz semi sweet chocolate chips

Melt wax over double boiler. Add chocolate and heat until melted. Dip chilled peanut butter balls in chocolate and place on waxed paper to harden. (Note: Do not cover entirely with chocolate, leaving a small circular space exposed, in order to resemble the buckeye nut.) Makes about 40. Recipe of Jeanne Mullins

Krumkake
3 eggs

1 c sugar

½ t vanilla

1 c whipping cream

1 T melted butter

½ t salt

2 c flour

Heat krumkake iron on low heat while mixing batter. Cook on medium high heat. Beat eggs. Add sugar, vanilla, whipping cream and melted butter. Stir in salt and flour; beat until smooth. Put about a teaspoon of batter on iron and bake until light brown. Roll on stick immediately while krumkake is still hot. Makes about 60. Recipe of Mary Lois Legreid