Once a year I get lefse. And that time is coming up tomorrow night. I am truly like a child when it comes to this: giddy with anticipation.

The presents have been wrapped under the tree for weeks now, and the santa bags are filled and hidden in a super-secret location. Although I enjoy seeing people open presents, (and, once my presents arrive, I enjoy opening my own) I really love the holidays because of the food.

We used to have fondue every year until the adults finally grew tired of it. Of course, that switch happened once we children were old enough to be around the hot oil - heh. We also had artichokes, which I think can have a pretty fun symbolic meaning (and I loved the physical sensation of scraping the leaves off with my teeth.) These days we have gravlaks, pickled fish, gingerbread something with pork, and the aforementioned lefse.

As we tick down to my favorite meal, I've been craving some of my favorites from years past. My son and I ate some nice microwaved macaroni and cheese the other night, but alas the freezer case of orange boxes no longer had Welsh rarebit (also called "Welsh rabbit" despite the whole lack-of-rabbit-as-an-ingredient situation) available. (Yes, as a child I thought it was called "Welsh rare butt" - I'm sure my young sons would giggle themselves silly if I 'fessed up.) So yeah, cheese and beer over toast - yummy! I've found some Welsh rarebit recipes online, so will probably give them a shot.

But for now, I'm counting the seconds until lefse.