Sandvold Edward O. - Gudruns Kitchen: Recipes from a Norwegian Family

This is, in fact, just what it isan all-you-can-eat buffet full of more varieties of food than anyone could ever eat by herself! The smrgsbord, a staple of all special occasions, lets guests know that the cook has gone all out and is eager to please whatever the craving of the day may be. Any large get-together is an occasion for a smrgsbord, and the fundamental concept is inclusiveness: cold foods, hot foods, appetizers, salads, jellies, cheeses, assorted pickled goods, smoked seafood, meats and game, desserts, ad infinitum. A smrgsbord of the Gudrun variety includes four or five dishes out of each food category, always to include smrbrd (open-faced sandwiches), Norwegian meatballs, fiskeboller (fish balls), herring and salmon, fruit soup, rmmegrt (sour cream porridge), and a broad array of desserts. We usually were so satisfied from our meal, and the salads and vegetables that went with it, that we did not crave dessert. That came later, or with coffee at varied times during the daybut not with our main meal. We always ate together around the kitchen table.

Our mother would keep serving to be sure we had everything piping hot, and we could not get her to sit down until we were nearing the end of the meal. As soon as our plates were clean she would come with seconds (or thirds), and if we said we couldnt eat anymore, she would say with a sad face, Oh, you didnt like it. CHRISTMAS Christmas is a month-long cooking bonanza that begins right after Thanksgiving, when zillions of krumkaker, or crisp Norwegian waffle cookies, are made and distributed to friends and relatives both near and far. In Gudruns house, a dinner on Christmas Eve, or julaften, would inevitably start with the koldtbord (cold board) delicacies of smrbrd, assorted cheeses and flat bread (our family liked the Ideal brand), and salmon and herring. The Christmas fish, lutefisk, is served swimming in melted butter and often accompanied by boiled potatoes and sliced cucumber salad. Christmas morning breakfast centers around the pastry called a kringle (a coffee cake with many thin layers of buttery pastry, filled with almond paste or jam), plus coffee and milk, soft- and hard-cooked eggs in egg cups, grapefruit halves topped with a maraschino cherry, and other breakfast assortments.

Christmas Day, or juledag, dinner begins with a fruit soup and