Lögberg-Heimskringla - 24.02.1995, Page 6

6 • Lögberg-Heimskringla • Föstudagur 24. febrúar 1995
Huldufólk.
Continued from p. 1
Heather Ireland with lceland's President Vigdís Finnbogadóttir
Treats á la
Heather Alda lreland
Heather Alda Ireland has many
passions in her life but most of
all she loves to sing. She also
loves her Icelandic heritage. Heather
was bom in Winnipeg, the daughter of
Johannes and Bergljot Sigurdson. Her
grandfather was the poet Gottormur J.
Guttormsson.
Heather Ireland is a professional
singer. She has been a soloist with vari-
ous orchestras and choirs in Winnipeg
and Vancouver. She has performed on
radio and television and in public
recitals. She will sing in the Vancouver
Opera production of Peter Grimes in
January. As a student in Winnipeg,
Heather took an active part in Icelandic
festivals. It was then that she developed
an interest in maintaining and nurturing
the music of her heritage. In 1986 she
produced a cassette entitled “Komin
Heim — Favourite Icelandic Songs.”
Heather has also edited and pub-
lished Aurora/Áróra — poems by
Guttormur J. Guttormsson in the origi-
nal Icelandic with English translations.
Following the publication of the book
in 1993, Heather went to Iceland. There
MESSUBOÐ
Fyrsta Lúterska
Kirkja
Pastor Ingthor I. Isfeld
1030 a.m. The Service followed by
Sunday School & Coffee hour.
First Lutheran Church
580 Victor St., Winnipeg, MB
R3G 1R2 Ph. 772-7444
beseeches her to accompany him, as
her services are needed as a ljós-
móðir, or midwife. She kindly per-
forms the duty on the floor of a cot-
tage where, upon instilling water into
her eyes, she gains a mysterious vision
of many other individuals crowding
the back of the room. For her loving
duty she is given some finely woven
fabric, and the promise of abundance.
Happily, she later marries, thereby ris-
ing socially and finding the joys pre-
scribed for her, but later loses her sec-
ond sight.
Through such tales, initially told to
beloved children and grandchildren,
some of whose fates would be marked-
ly different from their sisters’, Icelandic
women helped, consciously or not, to
justify their society, palliate the disen-
franchised, and encourage harmony
through the vehicle of oral literature.
By such loving relations, they inculcat-
ed in young girls the Roman and more
widely stoic adage never to despair,
which was a psychological prepared-
ness many would need as they found
themselves reduced in status and
denied the proper outlet for their sexu-
ality in marriage, thereby sometimes
having to rely on infanticide to take
care of the unsolicited and insupport-
able effects of their occasional amours,
an element also related in huldufólk
stories.
Dr. Jón Haukur Ingimundarson,
through his fine scholarship, has con-
tributed significantly to our under-
standing of what compelled our daring
ancestors to forge a new life for them-
selves in the forbidding Canadian
wildemess, and we wish him the best
success in publishing his provocative
and brilliant work.
Shrimp Pate
she had an audience with both President
Vigdís Finnbogadóttir and Prime
Minister Davið Oddsson. At the book
launching reception, she also sang sever-
al of the poems of her grandfather that
had been set to music.
This year Heather Ireland was
appointed Vice Consul for Iceland in
Vancouver.
Heather is a keen reader and has
acquired a large library of Canadian and
American literature, English fiction and
drama, South African and Australian
novels. She is also an outdoor enthusiast
enjoying hiking, cycling, skiing and wind
surfing. A much-loved birthday present
from her husband recently was a wind
surfing sail specially made for Heather in
the cólours of the Icelandic flag.
Heather and her husband William E.
Ireland, Q.C. live in West Vancouver
and they have three children — David,
Signy and Erik.
The Irelands have travelled extensive-
ly in Europe and have been to South
America and Southeast Asia. They have
also recently made several visits to
Tokyo to visit their son David who is a
trade officer with the Canadian govern-
ment there.
Heather’s recipes below are from dif-
ferent periods in her life. The wild rice
recipe and her grandmother’s pie are
from her Manitoba days while the
seafood recipes have a more west coast
character.
(Scandinavian Press)
1 cup celery
1 can tomato soup
1 envelope gelatin
Worcestershire sauce
1 cup mayonnaise
1 1/4 cup onion
2 tbs. chili sauce
1 tbs. lemon juice
8 oz cream cheese
1 Ib shrimp
Chop the celery and the onion finely. Heat the tomato soup and chili sauce.
Add the gelatin, lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Cool mixture slightly.
Soften the cream cheese and combine it with the soup and add mayonnaise.
Add the shrimp and the chopped vegetables to this mixture. Pour into a slightly
oiled mold and chill for several hours. Unmold and decorate.
Wild Rice Casserole
1/4 cup butter or margarine 1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup chopped onion 5 chicken stock cubes
1 cup wild rice, washed 1 cup long grain white rice
1 1/2 tsp. salt & dash of pepper 2 tbs. parsley
Preheat oven to 400. In hot butter in dutch oven, sauté celery and onion until
tender. Add stock cubes dissolved in 5 cups boiling water, wild rice, salt and
pepper. Stir well. Bake covered 30 mins. Add white rice and stir. Bake 30 mins
longer or until rice is tender and all the liquid is absorbed. Fluff with fork. Turn
onto serving platter and sprinkle with parsley.
Serves 6-8.
Poached Sole With Grapes
1 1/2 Ibs sole 1 1/2 cup milk
3tbs. margarine 4tbs. flour
1/4 Ib grated sharp cheddar cheese 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup white wine 1 cup green grapes
Preheat oven to 325F. Roll fillets and secure with toothpicks. Poach in hot milk
until they lose transparency. Remove to buttered casserole. Make a cream
sauce using the poaching milk. Add cheese, seasonings and wine. Pour over the
fish. Sprinkle with papriká. Bake 25 mins. Just before serving add grapes.
Serves 6.
Amma’s Rhubarb Pie
2 1/2 cups finely chopped rhubarb 1 cup sugar
3 tbs. flour 1 tbs. butter
2 eggs 2 tbs. water
Preheat oven to 425F. Cover with rhubarb boiling water and let stand 5 mins.
Drain. Sift flour and sugar. Add melted butter, beaten eggs and water. Mix with
rhubarb and fill unbaked pie shell. Bake 10 mins. Reduce oven to 35F. Bake
another 35 mins.
“Nobody tells me what’s the right
thing to do. I think for myself,” said
Indriði shrugging his shoulders.
Þorbjörg kept on talking. “This time
the salmon seems to fill all your thoughts.
You’ve left the eagle to perish.”
Indriði gave a start. “Maybe now that
I’m older, I realize that although an eagle
is more picturesque, a salmon is more
useful.”
Again a hostile silence fell between
them. Then Indriði spoke in a conciliato-
ry tone. “Trust me, Þorbjörg, I’m sorry
this has happened, but I’m sure my solu-
tion is the best.”
“It’s certainly the easiest one for you,
but rather a left-handed help for my
brother.”
For a while they sat in silence. Þorb-
jörg was still as if stunned by the fateful
news. Then Indriði broke the silence.
“Lately, I’ve not been sure who comes
first, Hörðr or I. Before we were married
you said, ‘You’re going to be my hus-
band, while Hörðr is only my brother.’
Do you remember?”
Þorbjörg did not answer. She was
thinking back to that summer night, four-
teen years ago, when she had given her
pledge to a gentle youth who had wooed
her on the banks of the Salmon River.
Who could have foreseen this? Was she
about to face the same dilemma as had
her mother?
“I can’t desert Hörðr in his need,” she
said as if talking to herself.
“I’ve asked him to come here. He
can’t expect me to go and fetch him,”
said Indriði impatiently.
“But I’ll go.I must know what’s hap-
pening to them.” Þorbjörg stood up.
“I’ll neither urge you nor hinder you.
You are free to do as you choose. But
don’t forget that your brother is now an
outlaw.” Indriði spoke somewhat coldly.
“I’m not likely to forget,” answered
Þorbjörg equally coldly.
Continued next week