When I was growing up I thought that both my grandparents were Norwegian. I knew that my grandfather's parents came over on a boat, and because it was all Norway all the time in the house I just assumed that Grandma had a similar lineage. Imagine my surprise when as a grown up I learned that Grandma was French-Canadian. Really!?! She left her home when she was young, and as far as I know never went back. She wound up in Washington state, working at the Hanford nuclear plant, which is where she met my Grandfather.
My grandmother passed away this past summer and it is still very, very hard for me. We have many Scandinavian traditions that we incorporate into our holiday celebrations, but surely there are a few French-Canadian rituals we can add. A quick google search brought up some very interesting folk stories, but the thing that popped up over and over again was the Bûche de Noël, or Yule Log. This is a custom I can get behind.
Of course, my Bûche de Noël needs to be gluten free, and knowing gluten free baking as I do, the whole rolling thing felt very, very shaky. But, I pushed up my sleeves and got to work. I used this recipe* and it worked out just great. The rolling was pretty fiddly, but not impossible. I served the cake on Christmas Eve and knew there would be plenty left as part of our Christmas morning breakfast. This is also when I planned to photograph my pretty log. So where is the photo?
Tom, the kitty, has been known to jump up on the counter at night while the house is sleeping. I know this because he leaves behind tell tale kitty paw prints, and sometimes tufts of hair can be found on my ipad cover. We have learned to never leave food out, not even a loaf of bread because he will rip through the bag and help himself. Right about now you are probably thinking this is going to turn into a story about a bad kitty. Nope. Before husband and I went to bed Christmas Eve, I wrapped the Bûche in plastic wrap and slipped it into the oven to keep it safe. The first thing I did Christmas morning was turn on the oven so that it would be hot and ready to make bacon. Only, I missed a step. The step where I remove the lovely yule log from the oven before turning it on. By the time I smelled it, it was too late. The plastic had melted onto the cake and the whole thing went into the trash.
Even with that tale of woe, I am still glad I took the time to make a Bûche de Noël and it is certainly going to be a tradition from here on out.
*If you feel like getting a little adventurous with your own yule log, Let Us All Eat Cake: Gluten-Free Recipes for Eveyone's Favorite Cakes is a fantastic book and includes instructions for a pumpkin Bûche de Noël with a white chocolate frosting.
Posted with Blogsy![[http://knitandnosh.typepad.com/knit_nosh/]'s gallery on Punk Domestics](https://www.punkdomestics.com/sites/default/files/badges/GalleryBadge150.gif)
