Thank God for lutefisk and lefse..

Quote from Erica Jong: ADVICE IS WHAT WE ASK FOR WHEN WE ALREADY KNOW THE ANSWER BUT WISH WE DIDN'T.

Today. December 5, 2009, is the first Suday in December. For the last nine years four couples and two elderly ladies have been having a lutefisk supper the first Sunday in December. We alternate the location every year. This year Paul and Verna Lewison will be the hosts. Ruth Ann is the lady who prepares the lutefisk as she has done it for over 50 years and is the only one who knows how to do it.

Our meal consists of all kinds of Norwegian foods which were brought to America by our ancestors in the 1800s. The names of these foods are lutefisk,lefse, sandbakkles, rosettes, krumkakke, and kringle. Lefse is a potato flat bread that looks like a pizza crust.It is made on a special grill that we had to purchase in Minnesota (the state with the most Norwegians). Most Norwegians put butter and brown or white sugar on the lefse and then roll it up. However, other Norwegians were raised to lay the lefse on their plate and cover it with mashed potatos, gravy, meat balls and lutefisk - then fold it over like a taco.

The sandbakkles, rosettes, krumkakke, and kringle are Norwegian pastries. All four are made from flour, sugar, butter and milk.The only difference is the shape. A special grill is needed to make the rosette - when done it looks like a big snow flake. A krumkakke is shaped like an ice cream cone, a sandbakkle is like a little cup and a krinkle is like a figure eight knot. Our Norwegian ancestors didn't have many choices in their food supply so they probably shaped these pastries differently to make them more appealing. The truth is they all taste the same. But we Norskies love all of them.

Then there is the lutefisk. It needs a special paragraph. Lutefisk is s cod fish. Lutefisk, which means lye fish, has quite a reputation. In the old days Norwegians used to soak the cod in lye to preserve it. When they wanted to eat it they soaked it in water for several days to get the lye out.
Now we buy it frozen and soak it for three days in salt water. The it is baked. We eat it by pouring melted butter on it and salting it. It does have quite a smell and even some of the non-Norwegian spouses in our group will not eat it.

The bottom line is that "us true Norskies" look forward to this first Sunday in December. We are all grateful for lutefisk, lefse and the pastries. Life is good.