Davidson Hall at J. C. Campbell Folk School where the Kitchen, Music and “Wet” Studios are located.
Back in 2005 Joe and I attended a week long seminar at J. C. Campbell Folk School which is located in the beautiful Appalachian mountains in Brasstown NC. The campus is set in the most secluded environment and it is easily navigated with numerous trails for an early morning walk. Each day begins with the tradition of Morningsong which is a combination of music and folklore, a great way to start your morning. Meals are served family style in the Dinning Hall which is a great opportunity to meet new people from all walks of life. The campus also has a charming History center and a wonderful Craft Shop which features pottery, handwoven items, jewelry, wood crafts and ironwork. Back in 2005 Joe took a Viking Blacksmithing class and I took a Scandinavian baking class and it turned out to be one of those fantastic experiences that stays with you forever. So you can imagine my surprise and excitement when I was approached by Campbell Folk School to come down and teach the Scandinavian baking/cooking class during their Scandinavian Heritage week during March 2013.
Director of J. C. Campbell Folk School Jan Davidson performing Morningsong. It’s a wonderful beginning to your morning and each day Morningsong is led by someone different.
I didn’t catch their names but they were great. If anyone knows who they are please let me know.
David Baker taught the Kaleidoscope class and he was a riot, a real viking 🙂
Local Fireman J. D. Robinson doing Morningsong and smartly incorporating fire prevention into his routine.
The class turned out to be a really good group which meshed together very nicely. There were five wonderful ladies, all with fantastic personalities: Lucrecia, Paula B, Paula C, Roberta and Lynn Ann and then we had one gentleman named Mark which turned out to be a really funny and pleasant feller.
Our class left to right: Paula, Roberta, Lucrecia, Lynn Ann, Gitte, Mark and Paula
For the class I had prepared recipes which were Danish, Norwegian, Swedish and Finnish in origin and the class was set up to be predominantly baking with one full day of cooking savory foods.
Mark making Pebernødder
Roberta and Paula carefully following a recipe
Lynn Ann making Æbleskiver, they were delicious!
Lucrecia and Paula made the classic Othellolagkage. They did an outstanding job.
Here are a few pictures of some of the baked goods the class made. We made a lot more than this but I didn’t get pictures of everything.
Othellolagkage, a true masterpiece!
Making Hindbær Roulade
Swedish Lussekatter, before baking.
Birkes with Remonce.
Kringle pastry
Æbleskiver, the only thing missing is a warm glass of Gløgg.
Finnish Christmas Stars.
Norwegian Krumkake, they were served with vanilla and chocolate filling. Very popular!
Scandinavian Toscakake.
Kiksekage, very decadent.
The Fiddle class stopped in and serenaded us. They were well fed.
Midweek is when we cooked the savory foods leading up to our dinner party on Wednesday evening. I wanted them to experience small samples of typical Danish foods and there were some hesitation and a lot of joking 🙂 about eating Marinated Herring and Liver Pate in particular, but I think all in all, they really did like those foods. Our dinner that evening turned out to be a lot of fun and it was a real pleasure meeting everyone’s significant others and family members.
Our dinner party.
The menu consisted of a mixture of different food:
Smørrebrød with Danish Rye Bread (Rugbrød), Marinated Herring (Sild) and homemade Curry Salad (Karrysalat)
Smørrebrød with Rye Bread, Liver pate (Leverpostej), fried mushrooms and bacon
Meatballs (Frikadeller) with Red Sweet and Sour Cabbage (Rødkål) and Caramelized Potatoes (Brunede Kartofler)
Ris a La Mande with warm Cherry Sauce (Ris a La Mande with Krisebær Sovs)
Lucrecia stirred and stirred the Risengrød so it wouldn’t burn. She deserved some sort of “stirring” award 🙂
Making “oh so wonderful” Liver Pate.
Danish Smørrebrød with Marinated Herring and homemade Curry Salad (Karrysalat).
Friday afternoon was the closing ceremony and all the different classes put on a display of what they had been making during the week. As for our class, we spent the morning baking so we could provide samples of some delicious special treats to all the other students and instructors. All of the samples were gone within fifteen minutes and we got great reviews on our baked goods. Great job Guys! 🙂
Scandinavian Baking Class at the Closing Ceremony
The Fiddle class provided entertainment at the Closing Ceremony.
Viking Style Ironwork
Thread Art
Norwegian Rosemaling
Birch Bark Basketry
Nordic Knitting
Woodturning
Kaleidoscopes
Figure Carving
Weaving
Norwegian Bentwood Boxes
Needle Felting
I wanted to say thank you to all of my students for being so pleasant and I hope you enjoyed tasting all the delicious treats we made. I also wanted to say thank you to Carla Owen who initially approached me to teach at the Folk School and to Nanette Davidson for all of your help and the generous offer you extended to me. I thank all of you!
The Easter Bunny also made an appearance at the Folk School. (David Baker in disguise)
Source: My Danish Kitchen
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My Danish Kitchen 