More stuff about the Vikings...

[lph]

Lutefisk is awful stuff, so I sure wouldn't eat it without quantities of akevitt I'm American/Norwegian, brought up in Norway by, uh, untraditional parents, so I managed to avoid lutefisk throughout my childhood. Most people do eat it though, with joy, so one Christmas I decided to be brave and go eat lutefisk with my colleagues. They all told me of the wonderful "tilbehør", side-dishes - melted butter, sweet goat's cheese, crispy bacon, stewed peas. They were right, the side-dishes were great. The lutefisk was still horrible

It's normally eaten indoors in quite fine restaurants, not an easy dish to serve outdoors. Besides it would get cold within minutes.

Yup, eating out is expensive, but still a lot cheaper than it used to be, with lots more cheap restaurants now. Norwegians home-cook a lot more than Americans, I think. But basically wages are higher.

Oh, and reindeer is excellent meat. We eat it a lot, it's plentiful, very tasty even though it has little fat, and it's ecofriendly.

Yup, shootingstar, the Vikings were a very violent bunch. I don't feel any need to identify too much with them... but their mythology is pretty cool, and a nice balance to the Greek/Roman.

zoom-zoom - do you know where your ancestors came from?

[zoom-zoom]

zoom-zoom - do you know where your ancestors came from?

I think mostly Trondhjem. It's interesting, my best friend did a year of HS there. We met years later. I love when she speaks Norwegian to her kids and dogs.

I've never had lutefisk. My mom was forced to eat it as a kid. SO glad neither of my folks like the stuff.

[lph]

Trondhjem is a really lovely town, you should definitely visit if you have a chance. Have only been there a few times, but just got back from a work trip there and had a few hours to explore the town, very friendly. The area around is not the most stunning Norway can offer as mountains and fjords go, but rolling countryside and lush forest in heaps and bounds.

[uk elephant]

Trondheim is of course the best of Norway's larger towns....I'm not biased at all, being born and raised there. And I would like to chime in that lutefisk is best avoided like the plague! Just the smell is bad enough! And there is no need for eating fermented or rotten food now that modern refridgeration is available.

[salsabike]

I just finished my first visit to Norway. It's GORGEOUS! And the reindeer sausage was very good.

PS Gietost! We brought some home from Undredal. I fell in love with Norway.

[lph]

Undredal is soooo pretty! As is the whole area around there. One of my favourite parts of Norway.

Last year I paddled from Undredal, out the Aurlandsfjord and in the length of Nærøyfjorden. Beautiful I've posted photos from there before on the kayaking thread, but since I'm officially tooting Scandinavias horn on this thread, here's a link to a few more:

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?s...9493c10&type=1

and one from Undredal. It's an emergency fire alarm phone thingy, and the sign reads: "Break glass. Open door. Lift the receiver. When the phone is answered, explain calmly what has happened. Replace receiver. Close door."

[lph]

by popular demand
The fox as shepherd, or why the fox has a white tip to his tail
(this story is best read aloud, with appropriate voices for the three animals, gruff for the bear, spooky for the wolf, and ingratiating for the fox)

Once there was a woman who went out to hire a shepherd to tend her livestock. On her way she met a bear. "Where are you going, woman?" "I'm out to hire a new shepherd", she said. "I can be your shepherd, why don't you ask me?" said the bear. "Well, can you call the animals to you?" she asked. "How-ah!" called the bear. "Oh no, I certainly don't want to hire you," she replied, and carried on her way.
Next she met a wolf. "Where are you going, woman?" "I'm out to hire a new shepherd", she said. "I can be your shepherd, why don't you ask me?" said the wolf. "Well, can you call the animals to you?" she asked. "Hoo-hoo!" called the wolf. "Oh no, I certainly don't want to hire you" she replied, and carried on her way.
Next she met a fox. "Where are you going, woman?" "I'm out to hire a new shepherd", she said. "I can be your shepherd, why don't you ask me?" said the fox. "Well, can you call the animals to you?" she asked. "Dilly-dally-doo-ee!" called the fox, as sweet as can be. "Yes, you can be my new shepherd!" said the woman, and hired him on the spot.
The first day the fox was a shepherd, he ate up all her goats. The second day he finished up all her sheep, and the third day he ate up all her cows. When he came back home that evening the woman asked him where her livestock was. "The skulls are in the river and the rest is in the woods" he replied. The woman was churning butter at the time, but felt she had to go see what was going on, and while she was away the fox nipped into the churn and ate up all the butter. When the woman came back and saw this she was so furious that she picked up the churn and threw it after the fox, so that the final spatter of cream landed on his tail as he ran away.
And that is why the fox has a white tip to his tail.