Lutefisk and Lights on Little Christmas Eve

When I married Scott 25 years ago, I didn’t quite realize that I was marrying into The Hansen Clan. His mom was 100% Norwegian and loved traditions. She and her five siblings were made to promise their immigrant parents that they would keep the family together and keep the traditions going.

It lasted for many decades, until the children’s children started having children and the memories faded and the promise was broken. But I give my husband credit. He has strong and good memories of all the family gatherings 50 and even 60 years ago. Scott really enjoys keeping as many of the traditions alive as possible–and he truly loves his family. And I love my husband, so I go along for the ride and claim to be Norwegian by default.

When all the aunties were alive, they would plan gatherings for every holiday together. My husband and I began hosting the family Christmas parties in our hangar (attached to our house) a few years after we were married and that lasted for 15 years. The biggest Hansen Clan gathering was with 70 family members and was the best fun, food and fellowship ever. All that to say that we still try to keep some of those Norwegian traditions alive, even if it’s just the two of us.

Well, tonight is Little Christmas Eve–the eve before Christmas eve. Early on in our marriage, we decided that on this night we would eat the traditional lutefisk and then hop in the car and check out the Christmas lights in town. Many folks would call a meal like this “disgusting.” There are lots of jokes about stinky lutefisk and the Scandinavian people who love it. Seriously, eating slimy jellied cod doesn’t sound appetizing, but it’s not that bad, unless the texture makes you squeamish. We searched all over town this year (I guess with Covid-19 disruptions, it’s hard to get) and finally found some frozen lutefisk at Econo Foods. I peeled and boiled small potatoes, melted a stick of salted sweet butter, and threw the lutefisk into a pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. Perfect! A little salt and pepper on the mound of potatoes, jellied snot-like fish, drenched with melted butter and we had a meal fit for King Olaf himself!

Since there is only a little wet snow on the ground right now, we had no trouble getting into town for a look at the Christmas lights. We found clumps of well-lit and beautifully decorated houses on West A Street and in the Heights. It was especially beautiful seeing one home that had the Nativity scene fill the entire front porch. Oh, how we appreciate the efforts of those folks to make Christmas “merry & bright.” I’d say our 2020 Little Christmas Eve was a success!