UFFDAH IT'S LUTEFISK TIME

Marge, Helen, Dorothy

This display welcomed us in.

Well here in Minnesota, the land of 10,000 lakes and 100,000 Norwegians, this is the time  of year for...THE NORWEGIAN LUTEFISK DINNER!( If you're from Minnesota chances are that you are Norwegian or at least Scandinavian.) So I trekked over to the nearby little community of Kasson for this famous annual church dinner. I went with my Mom, Aunt Helen, and their cousin Dorothy. This 50 year old annual church Lutefisk dinner draws hundreds every year. We bought our tickets,  went in and were seated in a church pew with four other people.  These people would be seated at a  table  for eight with us. We waited an hour and a half for our pew to be called during which time we watched slides of last year's Lutefisk dinner. Then our waitress came in and led us to our table. We were served family style. First we had cole slaw, lefsa with butter and brown sugar, and cranberry salad. Then they brought in mashed potatoes, meatballs with gravy, rutabagas, and lutefisk with butter.  This was all very good but I was never fond of rutabagas. I had not had lutefisk before and was going to pass on it BUT...  it WAS a LUTEFISK DINNER after all so I thought I better at least TRY some. As the platter of white fish was passed around, it looked more like gelatin as it jiggled on the plate. I took about a quarter sized amount and smothered it with butter. There actually wasn't much of a taste to it and the consistency wasn't very appealing but I was told you have to ACQUIRE a taste for it so I've now had a start. I stuck with the meatballs and mashed potatoes and had seconds. After dinner, a plate of homemade Norwegian treats and coffee were served. These were the best part!
We noticed that most of the people there were  a bit older and the tradition might die out as the younger generation may not be acquiring the taste for lutefisk.
But it WAS a fun way to experience the tastes and sights of my Scandinavian heritage. We had a fun time and filled up on great Norwegian yummies! You betcha!

Comment if you're Norwegian or Swedish!

Homemade treats to purchase...YUM!

Handmade mittens in a Norwegian pattern

Norwegian Decor

A helper in Norwegian dress

Hardanger