The Yule Goat

The Benevolent Yule Goat

Along with reindeer, think yule goat at the holidays; it's been part of Scandinavian mid-winter celebrations for more than 1,000 years.

By Sue Weaver

If you think of Christmas and think of reindeer, think again. Think of the yule goat.
Call him the julbock (Sweden), julebukk (Norway), or joulupuuki (Finland), he's been part of Scandinavian mid-winter celebrations for more than one thousand years.
In ancient midwinter celebrations a human dressed in goatskins and wearing a mask portrayed the Norse thunder god Thor's goats, Tanngrisnir (Gap-tooth) and Tanngnjóstr (Tooth-grinder), who pulled his chariot through the winter sky.
In a traveling play called the "Juleoffer," the man-goat "died" and came back to life, just as the winter sun does at Yule.
Early Christian fathers frowned on pagan revelry, so they proclaimed the Yule goat a demon.
According to 17th-century Swedish records, this darker version of the Yule goat traveled the countryside demanding food, playing pranks, and frightening people on the night of December 25.

He eventually become a benevolent being, giving gifts instead of demanding them.

Still later, instead of giving presents he worked for those who brought them. Gnome-like, gift-giving Swedish tomten, Norwegian nissen, and Finnish tonttu all rode Yule goats or hitched them to their sleds.
Early twentieth century Scandinavian artists like Jenny Nyström popularized the Yule goat and his tomten handlers through hundreds of charming, antique Christmas cards you can still buy at eBay today.
Here are several more ways to add the spirit of the Yule goat to your Christmas festivities this year.

• Buy or make a straw julbock. The tradition dates back hundred of years, when families saved wheat sheaves until Christmas, then used them to create a goat effigy tied with red ribbons. Scandinavian gift stores sell them, as do eBay sellers this time of year.
• Pack up your kids and "go julebukk", a Norwegian custom whereby children dress in costume (goat, gnome, and Christmas elf costumes are especially appropriate) and appear on the doorsteps of family friends, where they sing Christmas carols in exchange for small treats.

This article is reprinted from HobbyFarms.com.



http://polarbearstale.blogspot.com/2010/12/no-christmas-without-yule-goat.html

 I couldn't find any instructions to make your own Yule Goat but I liked this picture! I went with the cookies instead. Oh, and this is all that's left of the batch of cookies I made Sunday evening, the farrier and his girlfriend were here yesterday and they really liked the cookies! ;-)

I bought my goat cookie cutter from Hoegger Goat Supply.

Brown Sugar Shortbread Cookies

These are my favorite, favorite, favorite cookies! I only ever make them during the Holidays and I usually only make one batch because I just can't stop eating them!! Did I mention that they are my favorite cookies?!? ;-)

I love shorthbread cookies anyway and with the brown sugar and pecans, these are just over the top!!

1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup pecans, finely chopped

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
Mix all ingredients together well, I use my hands. Roll out to 1/4-inch thickness. Okay, I'm going to make a plug for a fellow Farmgirl here because she has the most AMAZING product!!


Mary Beth at Oklahoma Pastry Cloth sells, well, pastry cloths! LOL!! She also has other items too! Several months ago, I ordered a pastry cloth from her and promptly stuck it in the cupboard with my rolling pin. After Thanksgiving, I was making some turkey noodle soup and wanted to make some homemade noodles so I figured I probably should get out the pastry cloth and use it, so I did. Where has this thing been my whole life?!? You just flour it up, NOTHING sticks and when you are done using it, just shake off the excess flour, roll it up, put it in a ziploc bag and stick it in the freezer! I have used it several times now for the noodles, for my Buttermilk Biscuits and now for these cookies. Go check out her site and see for yourself, she has a lot of info about them there.

Back to the cookies...roll out to 1/4-inch thickness and cut into desired shapes. I like moons and stars.

Place on ungreased cookie sheet.

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until edges are lightly brown. Let cool slightly before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.

Hey, did you notice the Yule Goat cookies? I was so excited to find a goat cookie cutter this past year so that I could make my own Yule Goat cookies this holiday season!

I have the beginnings of a whole herd! :) I'll tell you all about the Yule Goat tomorrow for Tuesday's Tails!

Linking to the Christmas Cookie Recipe Exchange at The Way Grandmama does it! :)

Oh Christmas Tree!

Our house isn't very big; in fact, there is really no place to put a 6-foot tall tree! This is my alternative. I bought this set of three pre-lit trees six or seven years ago and they still look great! They are 4-foot, 3-foot and 2-foot tall. Even though we don't have children at home, I like the primitive-homespun look when it comes to decorating. By the way, that is our pass-through fireplace behind the trees! :)

I wanted to show ya'll my collection of Christmas animals, including seven mooses! :)

I like the big guy in the back, he has on his plaid jacket and cap with earflaps!

I finally made this guy last year after having the pattern laying around for about five years!

I also crocheted a bunch of snowflakes last year to decorate the two smaller trees.

Well, that's the "tree" and the rest of my mooses, later in the week I'll show ya'll our porch after it has been decorated! :)

Farmgirl Fashion - Jumpers

I'm such an old hippie, I just love wearing jumpers! When I heard this fall that big sweaters with leggings were back in style, it made me think of jumpers with leggings. The green and black jumper below was an overdress from back in my days of playing with the SCA. I shortened it a couple of weeks ago and wore it with the black thermal long-sleeved shirt and some black nylons for Thanksgiving. I liked it so much that I went hunting material for a couple more!

The jumper I'm wearing and the green one are both corduroy and I don't remember what type of material the plaid one is! It is really soft and reminded me of wool which is why I bought it. I threw it in the washer and dryer before sewing and it came out just fine. I used the green jumper as a pattern for the other two. I also cheated and serged all the edges before sewing and then just turned them under and sewed them down so I didn't have to make facings, shhhh...don't tell the sewing police! ;-)

With a pair of leggings and a thermal shirt, these jumpers are surprisingly warm and they are so, so comfortable! I may not be up on the latest fashions but I don't think the goats and chickens really mind! LOL!! When I modeled the brown one for Jerry this morning he said "Well, you certainly look very 60s!"

Linking to the Farmgirl Friday Blog Hop at Deborah Jean's Dandelion House!

Christmas Pillow

I love making crafty things but I don't do it as often as I used to. My blogging friend Kathy at Moving On To The Past posted about her Christmas Projects the other day and inspired me to dig out the pattern and material for a quilted moose wall hanging that I bought a month or so ago. The pattern is by Qweenee Quail Quilts right here in southern Arizona and is called Mary Moose. I love mooses (is that right?) and have a LOT of them for my holiday decorations so when I saw this pattern at the local quilt shop, I just had to have it, even though I don't quilt. I'll have to post some pictures of all my moosey decorations next week after we get things out. :)

Because I don't quilt, I decided to make it up into a pillow!

And because storage for holiday decorations is always a problem, I decided to make it as a pillow case that I can put over one of my existing throw pillows! Pretty clever huh?!? ;-)

I really like how it turned out! It actually took almost as long to do the applique stitching as it did to piece the little quilt! LOL!! Thanks Kathy for inspiring me to get my project out and, most importantly, to get it finished!!

Tuesday's Tails, #3

We are currently boarding two horses for a friend. He is going through a divorce and is in Texas working. The horses weren't getting fed regularly (Grrrr!!) so he asked Jerry if he would board them until he gets a place and can come get them. They have been here for over a month now and look a LOT better than when Jerry went and got them!

This is T-Bone, he is about 15-20 and has a pretty good temperament. Our friend's 11-year-old daughter was riding him. He's finally getting where you can't see his ribs so much. (Grrrr!!)

This is Flash, he is 14 months old. I had Jerry take a picture of me, at 5'3", with him so that ya'll could see how little he is, he should be bigger than that. We figure he wasn't fed properly and it stunted him. His mom was on the smaller size but still....
Also, he hasn't been gelded yet! (Grrrr!!)

 
I call him Shorty. He is just as sweet as can be, very friendly and isn't afraid of anything. Unfortunately, nobody has worked with him other than getting him halter broke. He has absolutely no ground manners! (Grrrr!!) If I had more time to spend outside (stuck in the house baking bread ya' know) I would try to work with him some so that he at least understood to back up and get out of your face! LOL!!

Of course, Paco couldn't be left out of the photo shoot!

The End!!

Chicken Stir Fry

I love making stir fry for supper, it goes together quickly and is jam-packed with good for you vegetables! :) For just Jerry and I, I only need to use one large boneless skinless chicken breast. I used to buy frozen stir fry vegetables and bottled stir fry sauce but decided it probably made more sense to use as many veggies from the garden as I could; after all, look at all the hard work that went into growing them! ;-) I also decided to start making the stir fry sauce to control the amount of sodium. One of the seasoning mixes I make is a Chinese one that I like to use to season the chicken. If you can find ground star anise where you live you are fortunate, I buy the whole ones and I have a little pepper grinder that I grind it up in.

Chinese Seasoning
1/4 cup sesame seeds
1 tablespoon ground ginger
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons ground star anise
1 1/2 teaspoons ground black pepper
1 1/2 teaspoons dried onion flakes
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon celery seed

Cut boneless skinless chicken breasts into bite-sized chunks or thin strips, season with some of the Chinese Seasoning. Let it sit while cutting up the vegetables.

Cut veggies into chunks of approximately the same size. This time, I used carrots, celery, broccoli, green beans, pattypan squash and some swiss chard. The nice thing about stir fry is that you can use whatever you like and whatever is in season! :)

Heat a small amount of sesame oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, stirring frequently, until lightly browned and cooked through. Add veggies and mix well. Cook, stirring frequently, until veggies are desired doneness. I also put a lid on and let them "steam" a bit because we like ours a little more tender. When the veggies are done to your liking, add swiss chard and stir until it wilts in.


For my sauce, I usually just mix up some soy sauce, a little sugar and some cornstarch and stir it in at the end. We like to add some crushed red pepper flakes too! You could also add some orange juice to the sauce or maybe a little ginger.


I hope this has inspired you to whip up a quick and easy stir fry sometime soon!