The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft a-gley.
Bread Baking Babes (BBB): Lussekatter (St. Lucia Saffron Buns)
I WAS going to be on time. I really was!
But this is the problem with having way too much time on my hands. I have learned how to grossly mismanage it. Hence, there are no beautiful (I hope) BBB Lucia Buns to display. Yet. They WILL be forthcoming. Soon. Ish.
In the meantime, this is what I’ve been doing instead:
Packages Ready for the Mail
Hmmm. Shall I copy Kelly to say that the cat ate my homework? (Perhaps not. It’s a little too close to Santa’s visit for me to to be telling untruths, isn’t it?)
We were just about to go out the door to take the packages to the post office, when we saw that the furry black fiend wanted to go too. Wheeee!! Won’t one of my sisters be pleased as punch to receive such a great surprise this Christmas! 
(According to Canada Post, the packages have now arrived….)
Pressed by the Jones’s living on either side and across the street from us, we put up our outdoor Christmas lights:
Our Outdoor Christmas Lights from Inside
On St. Lucia Day itself, instead of staying in to eat Lussekatter (because, of course, there weren’t any made), we went for a walk to admire the neighbourhood light displays. Here are two particularly fantastic houses:
Extravagant Christmas Lights on Lansdowne
Extravagant Christmas Lights on Brock
Today, I decided it was important to polish the silver.
Just some of the silver….
I’m also just about to go to pre-shape bread made from Ken Forkish’s recipe for “White Bread with Poolish” in his wonderful book, Flour, Water, Salt, Yeast. I actually followed his recipe! I even used instant yeast….
But rest assured that I haven’t forgotten about making Lussekatter! Those will definitely be next. I think. 
I’ve made Lucia Cats before. But this time round they will be slightly different. Stay tuned for what I have done to jg’s mother’s and the BBB recipes. (The post should appear by Christmas….)
Bread Baking Babes Seasonal celebration bread: Lussekatter
Judy is hosting December 2020’s Bread Baking Babes’ project. She wrote:
Because the holiday season is here, I decided to choose a celebration bread that would light up the dark days[…] Lussekatter, or St. Lucia Buns, or Saffron Buns.
St. Lucia’s Day is celebrated most commonly in Italy and in Scandinavia. In Scandinavia, it falls on December 13th, considered to be the shortest day of the year (Julian calendar). Lucia means light, and the saffron provides the color of light. […] I researched a number of recipes, all with slight variations. Some added dried fruit to the dough; some just used the fruit as decoration. Some added cardamom along with the saffron; others said ‘no way’ that cardamom was used. There were variations in the amount of saffron used. There were alternatives to the saffron, such as turmeric. Some added the saffron directly to the dough; some steeped it in warm milk or rum (if you want an extra kick!), or crushed it beforehand.
– Judy, in message to BBBabes
We know you’ll want to make your versions of Lussekatter too! To receive a Bread Baking Buddy Badge to display on your site: make the saffron buns in the next couple of weeks and post about them (we love to see how your bread turns out AND hear what you think about it – what you didn’t like and/or what you liked) before the 29 December 2020. If you do not have a blog, no problem; you can also post your picture(s) to Flickr (or any other photo sharing site) and record your thoughts about the bread there. Please remember to contact the Kitchen of the Month to say that your post is up.
For complete details about this month’s recipe, the BBB and how to become a BBBuddy, please read:
- BBB Kitchen of the month: Judy, Judy’s Gross Eats, BBB December 2020
- BBBuddy guidelines
- about the BBBabes
Please take a look at the other BBBabes’ December 2020 Lussekatter:
- Aparna, My Diverse Kitchen: Lussekatter
- Cathy, Bread Experience: St. Lucia Saffron Buns | Lussekatter
- Judy, Judy’s Gross Eats: Lussekatter (kitchen of the month)
- Katie (BBBBB), Thyme for Cooking: Bread Baking Babes get festive: Lussekatter
- Karen K, Karen’s Kitchen Stories: Swedish-Style Saffron Buns
- Kelly, A Messy Kitchen: St. Lucia Saffron Buns (Lussekatter) #BBB
- Pat (aka Elle), Feeding My Enthusiasms: Bread Baking Babes Bake St. Lucia Cats or Luskatter
- Tanna, My Kitchen in Half Cups: BBB ~ St. Lucia Saffron Buns, Lussekatter
edit 24 December 2020: It’s a miracle! Here are my BBB Lussekatter, only 8 days late:
Wild Times with Lussekatter (BBB December 2020)
- Related:
» Lucia Cats – really late or really early?
» Lucia Cats Recipe (based on Swedish jg’s mother’s recipe)
» House with large 3-d Santa Claus in a sled being drawn by Rudolf
It just occurred to me that lussekatter would be wonderful with creme fraiche or mascarpone…
I see it links to Ksra until you have an official post?
It’s busy, even in a pandemic. All my virtual recording and mixing has me stressed because I am mixing other people’s recordings too! Doing a video recording this weekend with the good equipment up at church. Need to make sure the arrangements are good for self accompanied singing…
edit 18 December 2020, 19:01: Thanks for pointing that out, Kelly! The link is fixed now…. – Elizabeth
I’m completely stressed out by virtual recording! And I’m not even having to mix it! Good for you for doing yours AND other recordings!