waysider

How (but not why) lutefisk became a delicacy!! By Rich Tosches For the Appleton Post-Crscent, Appleton ,Wisconsin The Scandinavian delicacy known as lutefisk - which means, literally, "cod soaked in plutonium"- dates to the Viking era. Journals from that era tell us that Vikings often came ashore and shuffled along with their hands in their pockets. Their funny appearance (huge,musk ox trousers) and vocabulary (Whooaa! Like Svenjornssen, dude! Whooaaa!") frightened the villagers. So one day, women from the Jvoorssen, Bjaastivik and Njorkssen families prepared a special meal for the Vikings. First, they gathered cod in the traditional Scandinavian way. That's right, they wrapped their sturdy arms around the middle sections of seals and squeezed real hard.(This would later become known as the Heimlich maneuver, which today is used to save the lives of people who have an entire codfish lodged in their throats.) After gathering the cod - despite what I may have implied earlier - they did not soak the fish in plutonium. No the women really wanted the Vikings to suffer. So they soaked the cod - here I am not kidding - in lye. The same lye, as you know, that is an industrial chemical and in used today as a drain cleaner. With that lutefisk information in my head I went to our village's annual Lutefisk Dinner recently, a marvelous night of traditional Scandinavian dining put on by the local Sons of Norway club. The main course, not surprisingly, was the very same delicacy served to the Vikings. Anyway, the Vikings ate heartily of this marvelous new food, despite having to chew so hard and long on the rubbery fish that in many cases, horns actually grew out of their heads (see encyclopedia drawings). Textbooks tell us that within a few years the Viking era had ended. Most historians think the advent of more powerful weapons doomed the proud, sea-faring warriors. But some historians cling to another theory: It's pretty hard to wander the globe plundering and pillaging when you cannot wander more than 50 feet from the toilet. Despite this somewhat negative side-effect - during the Lutefisk Era the Vikings had a common saying: "Leif Ericson hazzen sparts vection agenn!" ("Leif Ericson has the sports section again!") - lutefisk actually became popular with the residents of the Scandinavian countries. This would include Norway, Sweden, Denmark and Minnesota. In the centuries since, lutefisk has not only remained a crowd-pleaser among the Scandinavian people, it has also become important in the training of sled dogs. Today, a common cry from the musher on the sled - one that causes even a veteran dog to quiver - is "Vichvun yew moots vants da lutefisk?" or " Which one of you mutts wants da lutefisk?" But back to the dinner. The Sons of Norway should not be confused with a similar-sounding group, the Sons of Silence. For one thing, the sons of Silence do not hold a Lutefisk Dinner each year. And, of course, the Sons of Norway don't wear helmets, goggles and protective leather clothing. Unless they are preparing lutefisk.. The dinner was to start at 5 p.m. but I arrived at 4:30 remembering the old Norwegian saying Erly birdin ut letefisk, den dees ("The early bird catches the lutefisk, then dies."). The Sons of Norway dress up for big events such as Lutefisk Night. Many women wore the brightly colored, old-fashioned dresses of Scandinavia. The men looked just as snappy in their finest herringbone sports jackets - the traditional Scandinavian kind made entirely of herring bones. (Important note: So that I do not offend a huge group of people with some of these cheap, flippant remarks, I'd like to point out right here that Scandinavians are a striking handsome people. This makes them nearly the exact opposite of the English.) Anyway, at 5 p.m. the eating began. The dinner was held at the Benet Hill Monastery cafeteria, a facility chosen to host the Lutefisk Dinner because of the warm hospitality and, of course, because of the monks training in the Last Rites. Throughout the dinner, an accordion player entertained the crowd with all the traditional lutefisk-eating songs. This included the very popular "Sven Vood Rather yeet His Trousers" and the foot-tapping favorite, Ivane, Ivane, Your Lutefisk Has Cleared My Drain." The highlight for me came when KKTV reporter Ann Ervin asked me to speak to a live TV audience about my experience with lutefisk. She made this request roughly 1.4 seconds after handing me a plate containing a chunk of lutefisk that was the same size as my head, along with a plastic fork. The plastic fork, it turns out, could not cute the lutefisk, which is also used as roofing material in Denmark. But because the camera was rolling - and because I could not seem to recall the Norwegian word for "chainsaw" - I stuffed the entire slab of Sons of Norway lutefisk into my mouth and swallowed. Well, I've got to wrap this up now. Seems another guy also had a bit too much lutefisk. I say this because he is presently screaming "Oh , Good Lard! Ven vill yew be dun in dare?" and ramming his head against the door so hard that it it making the seat vibrate. ________________________________________________________________________________ ____ Rich Tosches is a columnist for the Colorado Springs Gazette Telegraph.

Instead of copying the URL, you copy the window where it says "embed". Next, you move to GSC. Then you paste it. Next, move down to "post options" and change the "HTML off" to "HTML on--raw line break". Then "add reply"

I can't really answer the question of "when?". When I left in about 1990, it was still a big part of the twig I attended. The twig leader always asked if anyone would like to be "ministered to" at the end of twig fellowship. (Of course, we were a bit on the renegade side when it came to towing the company line on doctrine.) We also had a full scale communion service at least once a year. The concept of sickness and misfortune being the result of misdeeds is not unique to The Way. In fact, it's not even unique to Christianity. I have heard this same doctrine spoken by people from Asia, people from Africa and people who have exposure to the Voodoo culture of the Deep South as well as others. If you listen for it, you can even hear references to this thinking in "popular" music. My personal take on it is that the human mind does not like to accept that random misfortune can befall anyone. It's a way of making sense of something that otherwise makes no sense. I'm a bit curious, is healing still taught as part of the Advanced Class? Then again, is there still some sort of Advanced Class being offered?

I think it may had something to do with a private interpretation of the scriptures that instruct not to place one day above another. With that in mind, how then do you justify a celebration for Pentecost, 40th anniversary, homecoming of the WOWs(ROA) or any of the other many celebrations that WERE observed?

Sooooooo-------- Are you suggesting then that one can injure ones self by "lifting"? Now that's nothing to sneeze at!

Kinda reminds me of the time Little Johnny's teacher asked him to name the seasons. "Well". said Johnny,"first there's squirrel. then there's deer, then there's turkey------------"

Personally, I don't see a problem with someone "lifting" their cares and concerns up to God and putting them in His hands. It just seems, to me anyway, that once you give them to God, He's not going to drop them or give them back. That's why it makes sense to "lift" something the first time and subsequently "pray" about it. Maybe that's where the phrase, "It's out of my hands now." originated.(But probably not :) ) Hence, a "lift list" makes sense for first time items but is really a "prayer" list thereafter. With that said, I think for many people, it's really just a matter of semantics (and habit) and may or may not be an indication of the true nature and essence of their prayer. As always----Just my opinion

Happy B-Day, Mr. Moose!!!

When I was growing up, there were many people in our neighborhood who were first generation immigrants from Eastern Europe, Russia and Ukraine. Many spoke very little English. Not only did they bring their native languages, they brought their unique manner of dress and dance and, of course, many types of food that I had never heard of. Near downtown Cleveland, there was/is a large European type market. Part of it is indoors and part is outdoors. The individual stands are run by vendors who independently own the businesses and rent the spaces. Early in the morning, several times a week, I would see the ladies with their folded up wire pull-carts boarding the city bus to make a trek to the market. They would buy lots of fresh food in smaller quantities. Maybe this practice had to do with nutrition. Maybe it was because they were limited by what they could transport on the bus. Maybe it was because they didn't have access to refrigeration in their homelands and the habit lived on. But, looking back, I have to also wonder if maybe they continued to do it this way because it afforded them an opportunity to interact with people who shared a common language and culture. So much of that culture has disappeared that the younger people don't even realize it ever existed. It's a pity, really. It must have been a lot of extra work but it held its own rewards. BTW---We eat something here that is a variation of Spotted Dog. It's called Old Fashioned Bread Pudding. Kinda of a "hurry-up" version of the original, of course. It, too, includes currents in the ingredients. No chopped toad in it, though, to the best of my knowledge.

T minus 88 87 and counting.

I'm An Alright Guy

The Ford Brothers

Fear of what would happen if I ever left after hearing "Da Trute"!

T minus 89 and counting!

Pssst! BOWTWI There's a bit of a hint in Tom's post.

Shout!--------Lulu

Will there be any Polka music?

GEO I didn't intend to sound cold although I realize now, that is how it came out. I only meant that the style of writing in your post closely resembled that of Notes From Underground. Please accept my apology. waysider

Shout!-----The Isley Brothers

The vernal equinox (first day of spring) will arrive on 3/20 2008 @ 05:58. Only 90 days 'til spring!!!

When I was young, I never needed anyone.

I think the strange one named Tom should get the next one as he was already in hot pursuit when it entered my little "burg" at a high rate of speed.

Hmmmm! I forgot about this thread. Here's how it was explained to me "way back when". (Please bare in mind that there was a dinosaur roaring in the background at the time I heard this so I may not have it completely accurate.) ----------------------------------------------------- As a child, you go to your Daddy with a broken kite. The kite's damage is weighing heavily on your mind. Therefore, you "lift" the kite up (since Daddy is much bigger than you) and "relinquish" it to him so he can fix it. As you do so, your concern and anxiety melt away because you are confident Daddy knows exactly what to do to fix that busted kite. The remedy is now in his hands and the burden of concern has been "lifted" from you. (and transfered to Daddy.) --------------------------------------------------------------- I haven't a clue what scriptures were used to illustrate this. It does make sense when you look at it that way. But, my problem with using terminology like this is that it is exclusive in nature. Now, someone else pointed out that they have heard the phrase used elsewhere. That would certainly diminish or even eliminate the exclusive aspect of its usage. Still, don't you think that we should have been striving to use terms that were more universally understood? (in light of of us being an "outreach" ministry) I mean, we should have tried to develop a vocabulary that made outsiders feel INcluded, not EXcluded. The part that REALLY did not make any sense was the idea of a "lift list". I mean, if you relinquished your concern and anxiety about a particular person or situation yesterday, how come it found its way back into your hands today? Did your Daddy hand the busted kite back to you when you weren't looking? Seems like you should lift it once and be rid of it, no? That's where it seems more appropriate to use the word "pray" than "lift". Somehow it seems OK to pray about something more than once but kinda weird to give the same thing away time after time. Just my take on it.

That's just too funny Bible Dave! I don't suppose you were ever called out in the middle of the night by a limb leader and made to sit in total darkness and silence until the mighty MOG himself appeared and told you all what worthless pieces of cr@p you all were and that the ministry was going down the tubes because you, representing the birthplace of the only ministry that ever mattered, were total screw-ups. I don't suppose you were ever publicly ridiculed, belittled and told that's you are not supposed to think, you are supposed to jump when the MOG says jump without pausing to question. Think that stuff didn't happen?There were 49 people in the room, besides myself, when those 2 occurrences took place. And there were more---lots and lots more. No. nobody stood in a pulpit and said" take your Bibles and turn to----" but if you see this stuff often enough it is the same as being taught by example. Guess I was a poor student, though because I just couldn't bring myself to utilize those kind of tactics. There's about a gazillion accounts here on GSC of people being "taught" that very thing by virtue of example. PS--Say, can I have some of your purple Osley berries?

Just for fun