• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Bainbridge Island
  • Books & Writing
  • Crafts & DIY
  • Food
  • Life
  • Our Wedding Cookbook
  • Printables
  • Nav Widget Area

A Mom's Year

Creating a comfortable life one moment at a time

January 6, 2020

Marilyn K’s Frikadeller (Danish Fried Meatballs)

When Tim and I got married twenty-five years ago, I meant to give cookbooks as favors to all of our wedding guests, who’d shared their favorite recipes with us. I didn’t manage to produce the cookbooks in 1995, but I’m hoping late is better than never! I think sharing these recipes (more than 100!) will be a fun part of celebrating this milestone anniversary—and celebrating our friends and family, too.

The first recipe I’m sharing is from my mom’s best friend and my honorary aunt, Marilyn Kycek. Marilyn passed away after a long cancer battle soon after we brought Lily home (I’m grateful that they got to meet each other), and it’s a loss that continues to be deeply felt. I think about Marilyn every time I sit at the piano because I have a wonderful photo of her and Yo-Yo Ma right over middle C. My mom snapped it at an event at the Ordway Center in St. Paul and it makes me smile every time. Don’t they look like they’ve known each other forever and are having the best time? That’s the beauty of music—it connects us all. Marilyn’s son, Jeff, was one of my best friends from fifth grade on, and we even went to senior prom together and had a blast.

Marilyn ran a daycare center out of her home for decades and she gave me one of the best pieces of advice ever for dealing with toddlers. If you’re trying to get out the door (or trying to do anything, really) and you have a small child taking forever or stubbornly refusing to cooperate you say, calmly, “Can you do that yourself or do you want me to help you?” Thus brilliantly making them feel empowered because they get to choose.

Marilyn was elegant and hilariously funny and always so supportive. She was one of the first people to teach me that you don’t have to be related to be family. So here’s Marilyn’s recipe for frikadeller, or Danish fried meatballs. They’re easy to make and the kind of thing kids gobble up. I usually serve them with buttered noodles and a vegetable of some kind.

Frikadeller (Danish Fried Meatballs)

1-1/2 pounds hamburger

1/2 cup flour

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

1/3-1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup ketchup

By tablespoons-full (maybe the size of 2 golf balls) drop mixture into a frying pan with enough oil to cover the bottom. Fry on medium heat till brown, turn, and then brown other side. Remove from pan and serve with ketchup.

Share this:

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)

Filed Under: Food, Our Wedding Cookbook Shannon 1 Comment

Reader Interactions

The Wedding Cookbook Project
Birthday in the Time of Coronavirus

Comments

  1. Diane says

    January 18, 2020 at 2:56 pm

    So glad you’re back and what a way to start!!! I’ve been visiting with Marilyn’s 97-year-old mother. She recently moved to the Twin Cities from southern MN. When I visited her this week, she said that it was like having Marilyn come by and that she felt her presence there. I feel the same way. How wonderful is that?! I hope I can share this post with her on our next visit!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Welcome

Hello! My name is Shannon Taylor. I'm a long-time writer and editor from Minnesota surprised to find myself on an island in the Pacific Northwest. I'm sharing this adventure with my husband, four kids, and two dogs. I “published” my first newsletter when I was nine, and I’ve loved sharing ideas, stories, and information ever since. I hope you find something here to inspire you and help you create a comfortable, cozy life.
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Email

Instagram

The Rock at BHS The Rock at BHS

Featured Posts

  • Personalized Valentine Portraits
  • Short Fiction: Claire (A Valentine Story)
  • Valentine Fill-in-the-Blanks
  • 3-D Lollipop Valentines
  • Hanging Hearts-on-a-String Valentine
  • Caped Cute-saders Valentines
  • How to Host a Chinese New Year Party
  • Make: Double Happiness Symbol for Chinese New Year
  • Chinese New Year / Fortune Cookies
  • Chinese New Year Cookies

Fiction

Fiction

Comforting as a big mug of cocoa in front of a warm fire, this cozy family novel is about the connections we make and the traditions that keep us together.

Archives

© 2021 Happy Crow Enterprises, LLC
About    Privacy Policy    Copyright
Pretty Happy WordPress Theme · By: Pretty Darn Cute Design