As city streets lie blanketed in snow
Beneath a dim and ever-darkening sky
And countless creatures stilled in slumber lie
The murmur of hushed voices, soft and low
Around a fire, where broth is bubbling slow
Sound sweeter than sweet music heard on high
As if there’s something sacred as they try
To touch a place condemned so long ago.
If anything could bring a sense of peace
To all the rows and rows of wretched souls
That line these streets, it would be on this night
Which once was holy, joyful. Now, at least
Six voices break the silence, warm the cold.
Do they still feel the ghost of candlelight?

Keep Looking says, "This is a Petrarchan sonnet. This form of sonnet originates from Italy, and differs in several ways to the Shakespearean sonnet, which is more common in English. As it was first made for the Italian language, its rhyming scheme can be tricky in English, as it requires you to find a lot of words with the same rhyme. However, it's certainly doable! One of the most famous Petrarchan sonnets in English is Elizabeth Barret Browning's 'How Do I Love Thee? (Sonnet 43)'. Petrarchan sonnets are made of an 8-line octave followed by a 6-line sextet, and there's usually a 'turn' in the poem's theme or story at the 9th line. The octave has a rhyming scheme of ABBAABBA, while the sextet can have several rhyming schemes, most commonly CDCDCD or CDECDE (I used the latter)."

GaelleDragons says, "Because there is no way Emil wouldn't want to put real candles on the christmas tree and there is no way it wouldn't end badly. Fortunately Mikkel is always there to keep things from going boom, even if Emil calls him a killjoy."

gjuerne says, "I was raised in an upper Midwest Swedish/Norwegian/Saami family, and we kept the Scandinavian Christmas Eve Julbord tradition which included trays of many kinds of delicious butter cookies. Here is a recipe for a family favorite, and for fruit soup, always part of the Julbord dessert array."

SPRITZ
1 cup butter, creamed
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 egg or 3 egg yolks, unbeaten
1 tsp almond extract
1/2 tsp baking powder
2-1/2 or more sifted cake flour
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Add sugar to creamed butter, mix until fluffy. Stir in egg and almond extract. (Add a few drops of green food coloring at this point if you plan to use the Christmas tree shape, which my family always does.) Sift baking powder and cake flour together, stir into the butter/sugar mixture. Don’t over mix! Fill cookie press and force dough onto baking sheets. Bake at 400° for 7-10 minutes, or until edges just start to brown.
Pro tip: use plain metal baking pans; the dough from the cookie press will not stick to no-stick or “easy release” pans.

NORWEGIAN FRUIT SOUP
2/3 cup large pearl tapioca
2 quarts water
1-2 cinnamon sticks
2 tart apples, peeled and thinly sliced)
1 cup prunes
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp vinegar
Juice of two lemons (approx 1/4 cup)
2 cups tart cherries & juice (I usually use frozen)
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Simmer tapioca, apples, and cinnamon sticks in two quarts of water until the tapioca is half done. Add the rest of the ingredients — you can add frozen raspberries, blackberries, or blueberries if you wish, or some tart jelly. Cook until the tapioca is clear, or has a tiny white “eye.” Adjust the taste to your preference with sugar or lemon juice, my family likes it a bit on the tart side. We serve it warm, or hot. I adore it and always stick a few servings in the deep freezer because it is also delicious chilled on a hot summer day.

Now, imagine the crew of SSSS gathered around Siv and Torbjorn’s table for Julbord, and Onni and Lalli monopolizing the sweets on the table! Kitty will be trying to swipe a delicious morsel or two of fish, and Emil’s cousins will be up to mischief. God Jul and many thanks to all my fellow Minnions who have brightened my month with delightful art, stories, recipes, and poems!