I'll Take Sweden!

Bob Hope at his best... After seeing this movie, I'm even more excited to go home in 27 days. Bob Hope (Bob Holcomb) and his daughter (Jojo) move to Sweden, and hilarity ensues. See the attached video clips for a feel of how this 1960's classic produces quotes such as, "It looks like the smartest decision I ever made was to come to Sweden…for more than one reason," "Well this is the first time someone has decorated my interior with your exterior," and my personal favorite "That's like leading me to the Smörgåsbord table and taking away the herring!"

Are we there yet?

Still soooo much time till I leave, so I decided to eat an entire tin of Danish butter cookies and drink a whole bottle of non-alcoholic Glögg. Excited yet?

Swede in the city...

The shirt says: Kiss me, I'm Swedish... thats all I really wanted for Christmas, but I also got a Nuvi GPS unit to help me navigate the streets of Europe on foot (just 28 days left!) Now follow the directions on the GPS (or better yet, the directions written on my shirt.)

Food for Thought

Here is my plate from Christmas eve dinner:

Two pounds of Lutfisk wasn't close to enough. I can't wait to eat like this EVERY DAY for the next six months... nothing says good morning like a herring for breakfast! Smörgåsbord here I come...

Make Love, Lutefisk, NOT War

This evening, the 21st traditional Swedish Christmas Eve Lutefisk dinner will occur. For those of you unsure of what this delicious feast is:

"A common food dish of Sweden, made from whitefish, usually cod, soaked in water and lye (caustic soda) prior to cooking, using a process referred to a "luting" which served to dry the filet so it could be preserved. During earlier times, potash was used instead of lye. The whole or cut pieces of the cod were placed in a tub filled with cold water changed daily and allowed to remain in a cold area for approximately a week. After a week, lye was added to the water and again the fish was kept in the solution for 4 days, during which time it began to swell in size as half the protein in the fish is removed. At this point the meat of the fish is poisonous and cannot be eaten, so it is then washed with cold water and placed in a bath containing only water for another 4 to 5 days to remove the lye. The steeping and bathing of the fish fillets as well as the loss of protein, which continues as the fillets are washed prior to preparing, results in a clear, gelatin-like appearance and texture to the cod meat. It is the lye which contains an alkali solution that causes the reaction to occur so the meat of the fish takes on a clear, translucent, Jell-O consistency.

If delicious comes to mind, you might be a Swede! I'll save leftovers (if I don't eat it all) for anyone interested...