I talked yesterday about the Soiney side of our Christmas celebration.  I thought today I’d tell you more about Erik’s side…the Brekkes   They are a wonderful family to be a part of and I feel very loved by each of them.  It was the year of the ’J', as we welcomed not only Jannah into the family, but my soon to be sis-in-law Juli.  Everyone is very excited about the two new J’s. 
     We started out our MN tour by stopping at my in-laws little ’farmette’ first.  Let me begin by explaining how great this little place is.  When I go there I relax in-front of their fireplace, take walks in the woods, play cards, relate (our term for chatting about important things and having crazy in depth discussions about anything, from politics to theology.  We also jokingly call it HDR…heavy, deep and real), and eat way way too much delicious mouth watering food. 
                                All of it is wonderful……EXCEPT THE LUTEFISK….UFFDA. 
     Some of you may be wondering what the heck lutefisk is.  Those Norwegians out there are sadly shaking their heads and acknowledging that they understand what this crazy stuff is.  Lutefisk is a cruel joke played on Norwegians many years ago by their ancestors the Vikings.  Okay, okay maybe I’m being a bit harsh, I am after all part Norwegian.  Well, lutefisk according to The American Heritage Dictionary  is defined as follows:
         A traditional Scandinavian dish prepared by soaking air-dried cod in  a lye solution for several weeks before skinning, boning, and boiling it, a process that gives the dish its characteristic gelatinous consistency. 

     The Brekke family proudly serves lutefisk for Christmas dinner.  This year we had a whole five pounds of the goo.  Grandpa Conrad and Great Uncle Tilford eat most of the ‘fish’ and everyone else seems to take their obligatory one small scoop.  I took a very very very tiny amount…you might have needed a magnifying glass to identify what was on my plate.  Last year I got away with not eating any, claiming it could ‘hurt the baby’ as I was pregnant with Jannah…I couldn’t come up with a good excuse this year. 
     Usually, the smart Brekkes take their bite with a bit of mashed potatoes and meatballs.  At least that’s what they advised Juli as she tried it for the first time.  The ‘true’ eaters pour melted butter on their fish and go to town eating (slurping?)  pounds of the stuff.  I finished my minuscule bite and then moved on to the mouth watering meatballs, mashed potatoes and other great side dishes.   Uh huh…that explains the annual Christmas weight gain of 50 pounds. 
      I should be fair to my heritage and let you know that Norwegians make some pretty darn good food.  I can’t get enough meatballs, lefse (like a tortilla only more thin and you put brown sugar and butter on it), rosettes (one of the many varieties of cookies) and there’s also rumagrout (basically this is melted fat with tons of cream and sugar, it’s really healthy for you, I swear!)  Yum…and to think I need to wait almost a whole year to have more! 
     Just to let you know how scary this years lutefisk was…my usually smart and brilliant husband said to me while eating the Christmas dinner…”Hey, the lutefisk isn’t too bad this year.”  He then proceeded to eat about twoish plus scoops of it.  Erik, as much as I love ya, you’re going to have to patiently wait until next year…there’s no way I’ll allow that smell anywhere near me!
     To end this session I’ll leave you all with the song we sang at our meal….just after we said our Norwegian table prayer.  It’s the famous lutefisk song sung to the tune of ‘O Christmas Tree’.  Feel free to join in and sing along in your most fake Ole and Lina Norwegian accents…or you can sound like Erik who somehow has this strange Indian/Norwegian accent combined.  Okay, here we go…

                                 Lutefisk… 0 Lutefisk… how fragrant your aroma
                                 0 Lutefisk… 0 Lutefisk… You put me, in a coma 
                                 You smell so strong… You look like glue
                                 You taste yust like an overshoe 
                                 But Lutefisk … come Christmas Eve 
                                 I tink I’ll eat you anyway.

               Then there’s my brother-in-law Luke’s favorite verse
                            (yes, there are multiple verses, I’ll just share two)
                                
                                 Lutefisk … 0 Lutefisk … I put you by the doorway
                                 I vanted you to ripen up … yust like dey do in Norway
                                 A dog came by and sprinkled you … I hit him vit an army shoe
                                 0 Lutefisk … now I suppose
                                 I’ll eat you as I hold my nose.

P.S. 
Love you Brekkes…thanks for letting me be part of your family!