St. Lucy's Day

After cooking a feast, I then stayed up late to prepare the saffron dough for the luskatore. I have gotten much better at this recipe; the notes I made in the cookbook were helpful in getting it right this year. And last year, after the fact, I realized that the problem I had with baking them was due to our oven being broken. This year it heated right up to 475 degrees in a matter of minutes rather than an hour.
I used the new red linen place mats to line the two breakfast trays and some of the greens from the flowers from Ms. H's baby shower. The mug with the elf like people was a souvenir Mr. W's parents brought him from Norway and the Battenburg lace bun holder was a souvenir my parents brought me from a trip to The South.My Little Helper came down stairs to help me make breakfast. He brushed the egg wash on the buns before they went into the oven and had the brilliant suggestion that I not add the raisins until afterward. I think he is smarter than the recipe! He also remembered that last year I made a letter R and a letter E out of the dough since those were his favorite letters. I continue to be amazed at his memory!
Once upstairs, I put Bay Boy in the nightcap that came with the size 5 nightshirt. At age 3 last year it was too small for Our Little Helper. I chalked that up to my son having a big noggin'. But this year it just barely fits on the baby's head! I refuse to believe that my one year old has a bigger head than Irish 5 year olds; I think the sizing is just completely flawed. However, he does look awfully cute in it!As we ate, I read an excerpt from Kirsten's Surprise from the American Girl's series. I've mentioned before that it was my younger sister's book of which introduced me to this St. Lucia Day tradition. I borrowed the book to explain the Swedish custom of serving breakfast in bed to your parents. I skipped all mention of St. Lucy being a virgin and martyr, rather that she loved God very much, and her name means light hence the candles.
Breakfast in bed can be a recipe for disaster...but is as cute as can be!Easter has it's egg hunt and St. Lucy's Day apparently has it's Cheerios hunt as Baby Boy spilled the bowl and proceeded to eat them out of the covers. Our Little Helper said he thought that we were having a nice picnic. Here he is picking the raisins off. Maybe next year we'll be eating breakfast in bed in a larger room which could accommodate larger nightstands. Things get a little precarious with two little boys schooching around in the morning.