Eyes that see the good in things: September 3, 2018

Anyone who has read this column since it started, has read about my parents and the respect I have for the love they share and the way they live their lives. On the day this paper will come out, our family will be gathering to celebrate this couple on their 60th wedding anniversary, with a Norwegian themed party.

These two people have set the bar high for their kids and grand-kids and their example is one that we all strive for in our own relationships. Their journey started with a blind date and a shared milkshake, letting my mom in on my dad’s love for ice cream. It was difficult for him when a health issue required him to eliminate dairy products a few years ago. So, it was a big deal this week when the doctor lifted that restriction. I was wandering around Wal-Mart in Devils Lake on Saturday, when my sisters were texting group messages about the party. My youngest sister had just gotten off the phone with Mom and Dad, who were going out for ice cream. We laughed and wondered if they’d be splitting a milkshake.

After a little coaxing, our parents finally agreed to the party we wanted to throw for them and we have been having fun planning it for over a year. Planning events has changed with the advent of new technology. The siblings have shared many texts, instant messages, phone calls and group chats over the past year. One Note pages helped make decisions and share pictures of ideas and chore lists. Online meetings helped us be able to organize and share documents when we were feeling overwhelmed.

A few weeks ago, I spent four days at my sister’s house. Since the party will celebrate our Norwegian heritage, we planned a trip to Minneapolis to shop for some of the specialty items we would need. A day planned to pick up 25 pounds of lutefisk and visit a Scandinavian specialty shop. After some contemplation, we purchased several different kinds of Norwegian cheeses, fruit spreads, frozen lingonberries and dried herring. We also visited a specialty fish shop where we decided on smoked salmon and ciscoes, and sampled many kinds of pickled herring. Who knew that a lingonberry cream herring would taste good? Really! Since the fish shop is close to my sister’s home, she’ll go back and pick up the fish closer to the day of the party.

Yes, I realize I may have lost a few of you here, in talking about the lutefisk and pickled herring. That’s okay, many of our own family members were making faces at us when we talked about it too. We didn’t need to buy very much of it, but a little is needed for authenticity’s sake, and because we remember them from our childhood when they were served at our grandparent’s homes.

The next day, our brother and sister-in-law joined us for a day of making potato dumplings and ham. Or potato klub. Or kumla. I’ve idly wondered over the years why there are so many names for the same dish. We peeled and ground 40 pounds of potatoes, making sure to press as much water out of them as possible. Then we mixed in the rest of the ingredients, formed the dumplings, cooked them and prepared them for the freezer. We finished the day feeling tired, but with a sense of relief that things were getting finished up ahead of time. Unfortunately, my time in that gazebo I told you about in a previous column, was very limited on that trip.

We went to our respective homes that next day, knowing what we were each supposed to be making and bringing to the party. We have been sharing texts and pictures as we complete our projects. My Kransekakke baking day started as a bit of a fiasco; it was difficult for me to get it out of the pan at first. If you aren’t familiar with Norwegian fare, Kransekakke is known as the Norwegian wedding cake. It’s an almond confection, baked like a cookie in rings of graduated sizes, that are frosted and stacked on top of each other like a tower. Fortunately for me, my aunt had left helpful tips in her recipe in the family cookbook. Like making sure to use butter, because vegetable oil makes it stick. And not letting it cool too much before you try to remove it from the pan. She promised that you eventually figure out when they need to be removed from the pan and she was right. I got so that I could tip them over and watch the different sized rings fall out of the pan. But not before I had several failed attempts.

The next day, my sister had some of the same problems with her almond cakes. She sent a picture of her cake with half the cake still stuck in the pan. We still have a lot of work to do before the week is over. My brother and sister-in-law are getting the lefse ingredients together to have a lefse making station, where people can try their hand at rolling and frying lefse if they like, and then eat it warm off the grill. They are also making the Spritz cookies.

The sister from Colorado already finished the sandbakkels and will be packing up the camper and her family to make the drive to North Dakota. Between the rest of us, we are baking krumkake, fattigman, rosettes, flatbread and lingonberry cakes.

Of course, the week has not been without challenges. A camper refrigerator fire will cause the Colorado sister to arrive a day later than planned. The lefse-making family that was working on repairs for their fridge before making the trip for groceries, ended up buying a new fridge anyway. Add to that a family funeral for the uncle of my sister-in-law and brother-in-law (my brother and sister married siblings) and a surprise birthday party for my husband’s aunt. I guess we are having to use some of the lessons that our parents taught us about dealing with the problems that life hands us and learning to be flexible about our expectations.

The Facebook event page has allowed us to be able to talk with extended family members who will be attending, and even encouraging Scandinavian dress has been fun. My parents have been working on their costumes. My mom has a vest and long skirt and an antique bridal bunad pin. My dad will be wearing a vest, knickers and a black hat. Even the kids are getting involved with some Norwegian slogan t-shirts. My costume still needs a little embroidery work. Cousins traveling from Washington, California and Colorado are starting their travels and will be here soon.

That’s why it’s the party itself that I’m looking forward to. The lefse station will be fun, especially for the kids who have never done it before. Hopefully, everyone has a chance to take their picture in the selfie station, complete with Viking props, and cool mountain backdrops and other costumes. Coloring pages and crayons for the little ones, along with a playground out the back door, games for the older ones should help keep kids busy, as we gather our families together for lots of visiting with people we haven’t seen in a while. Lots of coffee, lots of food, lots of noise and lots of fun!

I close with Norwegian congratulations to my parents as they celebrate 60 years of marriage.

Mom and Dad, Gratulerer med 60 aars bryllupsdag!

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