Smorgasbord Suggestions

[gtr]

For the past 4 or 5 years we've been doing a traditional (or
quazi-traditional) Swedish Smorgasbord in late December at the "holiday
season". We pickle a few kinds of herring, make Jansson's temptation,
maybe gravad lax, rye brot and sometimes I smoke some fish. I like to
make a few kinds of aquavit.

We also pick up some Swedish cheeses and some vursts and/or meatballs
made at a Swedish place in Los Angeles.

But I'm beginning to weary of the same old things. And in point of
fact, other than the wife and I, I'm not so sure the crowd is all that
crazy about the herring. I've been digging through a Finnish and
Norwegian cookbooks for some other Nordic ideas.

Any suggestions or other ideas for expanding or shifting the bord?

[Christine Dabney]

On Sun, 11 Nov 2012 15:21:58 -0800, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:


>
>We also pick up some Swedish cheeses and some vursts and/or meatballs
>made at a Swedish place in Los Angeles.

What place is this? I like finding new places in the Los Angeles
area, when I have a contract in that region.

>
>But I'm beginning to weary of the same old things. And in point of
>fact, other than the wife and I, I'm not so sure the crowd is all that
>crazy about the herring. I've been digging through a Finnish and
>Norwegian cookbooks for some other Nordic ideas.
>
>Any suggestions or other ideas for expanding or shifting the bord?

Hmm..how about those open faced sandwiches..I think they are Danish?
Not sure.
If you were on the FB group, I know we have some folks there that are
from that part of the world, and you could quiz them.

Christine

--
http://nightstirrings.blogspot.com

[Dave Smith]

FWIW... when we were in Sweden a few years ago we spent Midsummer with
an old friend of my wife's and her family. Dinner consisted of at least
a half dozen varieties of herring, smoked eel, meatballs, cheese pie
(basically a quiche), beer, wine and lots of Akavit . Our host had two
sample packs of Akavit, one Danish and one Swedish, and we had to try
them all. They didn't have the open face sandwich thing happening like
the Danes.

When we were in Denmark we had a smorgasbord lunch at a railway station
restaurant. They had some roast beef and roast lamb, some devilled eggs,
salad, carrot sticks, sliced radishes, cold shrimp, fish fillets... and
lots of herring. There had to be a dozen varieties of herring, picked,
smoked, raw, salted, in curry, in mustard, in sour cream.... lots and
lots of herring.... and lots of beer to go with it.

[pamjd]

Pick a different country, write names on slips of paper either draw a slip and everything is from that country, make a list of types of courses draw a slip for each course (call it international buffet), or if it is a potluck draw slips and mail them in a letter explaining the theme. Change is fun usually.

[gtr]

On 2012-11-12 00:06:35 +0000, Christine Dabney said:

> On Sun, 11 Nov 2012 15:21:58 -0800, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:
>
>> We also pick up some Swedish cheeses and some vursts and/or meatballs
>> made at a Swedish place in Los Angeles.
>
> What place is this? I like finding new places in the Los Angeles
> area, when I have a contract in that region.

Olson's Deli:
5660 W. Pico Blvd.
323-938-0742

It's where we also pick up the 5 lb. tubs of matjes herring for pickling.

[gtr]

On 2012-11-12 00:41:47 +0000, Sqwertz said:

> On Sun, 11 Nov 2012 15:21:58 -0800, gtr wrote:
>
>> But I'm beginning to weary of the same old things. And in point of
>> fact, other than the wife and I, I'm not so sure the crowd is all that
>> crazy about the herring. I've been digging through a Finnish and
>> Norwegian cookbooks for some other Nordic ideas.
>>
>> Any suggestions or other ideas for expanding or shifting the bord?
>

> Surstromming. If they don't like the herring then they're bound to
> like surstromming!

They wouldn't touch it.

[z z]

I bought Pretzel Crisps at Walmart this weekend. Garlic Parmesan.
Considering I hate traditional pretzels these are really good.
www.pretzelcrisps.com
Anyway, they have appetizer recipes you could use-I always think of
pretzels as a european food.

[dsi1]

My dad lives in Sweden part of the year. A Swede asked him why Americans
make their sandwiches with two slices of bread. My dad's snappy comeback
was to ask him why Swedes make their's with only one slice. As it goes,
it's all just culture. OTOH, a sandwich tastes better with only one
slice. That's just the simple truth.

My step-mom is Swedish and I was a little puzzled recently when I had
lunch with her and my dad. I saw her eating a hamburger by first eating
the top with a piece of lettuce. Then she ate the rest Scandinavian
style. I've known her for a couple of decades and I never knew she did that!

[Jean B.]

Oh. You have me fantasizing about unagi in this context.

[gtr]

On 2012-11-12 01:33:08 +0000, Sqwertz said:

> If no surstromming, nor even herring, then maybe you need to switch to
> a different cuisine.

Well the herring passes okay, and they have an interest--or maybe it's
a token interest, in any case it's not a fucking PASSION which it is
with the wife and I.

But your end-point is valid: I need to switch to other stuff that they
can find interest and excitement and novelty in. Unfortunately with
the mix of semi-observant Jews and novice vegetarians the crew provides
other limitations.

I thought I'd make a good turn with scallop and crab dishes, but was
reminded of the "shell fish" caveat. Grr...

> How about meatballs with grape jelly?

Well the grape jelly has GOT to sell!

[gtr]

On 2012-11-12 01:48:04 +0000, dsi1 said:

> My dad lives in Sweden part of the year. A Swede asked him why
> Americans make their sandwiches with two slices of bread. My dad's
> snappy comeback was to ask him why Swedes make their's with only one
> slice. As it goes, it's all just culture. OTOH, a sandwich tastes
> better with only one slice. That's just the simple truth.

True--as long as it's got on the bias! All bread tastes better cut on
the bias and that's just an immutable law of picnic physics.

> My step-mom is Swedish and I was a little puzzled recently when I had
> lunch with her and my dad. I saw her eating a hamburger by first eating
> the top with a piece of lettuce. Then she ate the rest Scandinavian
> style. I've known her for a couple of decades and I never knew she did
> that!

The only way to find the *real* person is at the dinner table.

[gtr]

On 2012-11-12 03:08:06 +0000, Jean B. said:

> You have me fantasizing about unagi in this context.

That is a curiousity. I never realized it was a potential cross-over
between cuisines.

[Dave Smith]

No one in their right mind will.

[dsi1]

On Nov 11, 7:50 pm, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:
> On 2012-11-12 01:48:04 +0000, dsi1 said:
>
> > My dad lives in Sweden part of the year. A Swede asked him why
> > Americans make their sandwiches with two slices of bread. My dad's
> > snappy comeback was to ask him why Swedes make their's with only one
> > slice. As it goes, it's all just culture. OTOH, a sandwich tastes
> > better with only one slice. That's just the simple truth.
>
> True--as long as it's got on the bias!  All bread tastes better cut on
> the bias and that's just an immutable law of picnic physics.

What you say is true but I made some date nut bread yesterday and near
as I can tell, that has to be cut as straight and evenly as possible.
For maximum taste, butter the slice and eat it butter side down.

The Swedes are probably smarter than us because they don't bury their
sandwich fillings with a slice of bread which allows the fillings to
be displayed, and increases taste and smell. It also puts the bread to
filling ratio on a more even playing field. :-)

>
> > My step-mom is Swedish and I was a little puzzled recently when I had
> > lunch with her and my dad. I saw her eating a hamburger by first eating
> > the top with a piece of lettuce. Then she ate the rest Scandinavian
> > style. I've known her for a couple of decades and I never knew she did
> > that!
>
> The only way to find the *real* person is at the dinner table.

That's right. As a Swede, she's eminently practical. I thought it was
strange to eat a piece of lettuce on a bun but she was just getting
rid of extraneous debris before getting to the real sandwich. At home,
of course, they always eat sandwiches open-faced.

[gtr]

On 2012-11-12 17:50:34 +0000, dsi1 said:

> On Nov 11, 7:50 pm, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:
>> On 2012-11-12 01:48:04 +0000, dsi1 said:
>>
>>> My dad lives in Sweden part of the year. A Swede asked him why
>>> Americans make their sandwiches with two slices of bread. My dad's
>>> snappy comeback was to ask him why Swedes make their's with only one
>>> slice. As it goes, it's all just culture. OTOH, a sandwich tastes
>>> better with only one slice. That's just the simple truth.
>>
>> True--as long as it's got on the bias!  All bread tastes better cut on
>> the bias and that's just an immutable law of picnic physics.
>
> What you say is true but I made some date nut bread yesterday and near
> as I can tell, that has to be cut as straight and evenly as possible.
> For maximum taste, butter the slice and eat it butter side down.

Maybe some confusion on this issue: Certainly the bread should be cut
straight and even, but when assembled in a sandwich the *sandwich*
itself must be cut diagonal in order to keep flavor molecules from
escaping.

> The Swedes are probably smarter than us because they don't bury their
> sandwich fillings with a slice of bread which allows the fillings to
> be displayed, and increases taste and smell. It also puts the bread to
> filling ratio on a more even playing field. :-)

As near as I can tell having a piece of bread, cheese, meats and
pickles all on the same plate at the same time is a Swedish "sandwich",
whether stacked vertically or laying horizontally. I'm always surprised
that they can put butter on bread and eat with pickles, a taboo in many
parts of the world.

>>> My step-mom is Swedish and I was a little puzzled recently when I had
>>> lunch with her and my dad. I saw her eating a hamburger by first eating
>>> the top with a piece of lettuce. Then she ate the rest Scandinavian
>>> style. I've known her for a couple of decades and I never knew she did
>>> that!
>>
>> The only way to find the *real* person is at the dinner table.
>
> That's right. As a Swede, she's eminently practical. I thought it was
> strange to eat a piece of lettuce on a bun but she was just getting
> rid of extraneous debris before getting to the real sandwich. At home,
> of course, they always eat sandwiches open-faced.

Or place side-by-side. A coars hunk of hand-rent bread--next to--a
piece of cheese--next to--a hunk of salami. That too seems to be a
Swedish sandwich, though clearly not as elegant to be considered
"display ready".

[dsi1]

On 11/12/2012 8:01 AM, gtr wrote:
> On 2012-11-12 17:50:34 +0000, dsi1 said:
>
>> On Nov 11, 7:50 pm, gtr <x...@yyy.zzz> wrote:
>>> On 2012-11-12 01:48:04 +0000, dsi1 said:
>>>
>>>> My dad lives in Sweden part of the year. A Swede asked him why
>>>> Americans make their sandwiches with two slices of bread. My dad's
>>>> snappy comeback was to ask him why Swedes make their's with only one
>>>> slice. As it goes, it's all just culture. OTOH, a sandwich tastes
>>>> better with only one slice. That's just the simple truth.
>>>
>>> True--as long as it's got on the bias! All bread tastes better cut on
>>> the bias and that's just an immutable law of picnic physics.
>>
>> What you say is true but I made some date nut bread yesterday and near
>> as I can tell, that has to be cut as straight and evenly as possible.
>> For maximum taste, butter the slice and eat it butter side down.
>
> Maybe some confusion on this issue: Certainly the bread should be cut
> straight and even, but when assembled in a sandwich the *sandwich*
> itself must be cut diagonal in order to keep flavor molecules from
> escaping.

There is some confusion. I was thinking of a French loaf. Come to think
of it, the Swedes seem to favor bread baked in pans. I will be watching
my step-mom very carefully to see how she cuts her bread. As I recall,
once she lays whatever it is she puts on that slice of bread, it's all
over and there can be no further slicing of the bread. It greatly amuses
me when she makes a sandwich using limp American store-bought bread
which sort of flops around during the final approach.

>
>> The Swedes are probably smarter than us because they don't bury their
>> sandwich fillings with a slice of bread which allows the fillings to
>> be displayed, and increases taste and smell. It also puts the bread to
>> filling ratio on a more even playing field. :-)
>
> As near as I can tell having a piece of bread, cheese, meats and pickles
> all on the same plate at the same time is a Swedish "sandwich", whether
> stacked vertically or laying horizontally. I'm always surprised that
> they can put butter on bread and eat with pickles, a taboo in many parts
> of the world.
>
>>>> My step-mom is Swedish and I was a little puzzled recently when I had
>>>> lunch with her and my dad. I saw her eating a hamburger by first eating
>>>> the top with a piece of lettuce. Then she ate the rest Scandinavian
>>>> style. I've known her for a couple of decades and I never knew she did
>>>> that!
>>>
>>> The only way to find the *real* person is at the dinner table.
>>
>> That's right. As a Swede, she's eminently practical. I thought it was
>> strange to eat a piece of lettuce on a bun but she was just getting
>> rid of extraneous debris before getting to the real sandwich. At home,
>> of course, they always eat sandwiches open-faced.
>
> Or place side-by-side. A coars hunk of hand-rent bread--next to--a
> piece of cheese--next to--a hunk of salami. That too seems to be a
> Swedish sandwich, though clearly not as elegant to be considered
> "display ready".
>

I have had this sandwich at my dad's house.

[Chemo]

Sloppy Joe's.

[gtr]

On 2012-11-12 20:19:30 +0000, dsi1 said:

>>> What you say is true but I made some date nut bread yesterday and near
>>> as I can tell, that has to be cut as straight and evenly as possible.
>>> For maximum taste, butter the slice and eat it butter side down.
>>
>> Maybe some confusion on this issue: Certainly the bread should be cut
>> straight and even, but when assembled in a sandwich the *sandwich*
>> itself must be cut diagonal in order to keep flavor molecules from
>> escaping.
>
> There is some confusion. I was thinking of a French loaf.

Ah yes! This too much be cut diagonal!

> Come to think of it, the Swedes seem to favor bread baked in pans. I
> will be watching my step-mom very carefully to see how she cuts her
> bread. As I recall, once she lays whatever it is she puts on that slice
> of bread, it's all over and there can be no further slicing of the
> bread. It greatly amuses me when she makes a sandwich using limp
> American store-bought bread which sort of flops around during the final
> approach.

I find this all very interesting. I would very much like to see video
of your mom's construction process.

[dsi1]

I know what you mean. The Swedes are an interesting people. Under normal
conditions I could get some video footage but she's got the eye of an
eagle and is on the suspicious side. For now, it's probably best that I
relay the things that I can observe until her eyesight goes down a few
points.

[gtr]

Hidden kitchen-cam!

[dsi1]

Ha ha, indeed!

[Jean B.]

But I like that idea!

--

[Jean B.]

Sqwertz wrote:

> Somehow I ended up with grape jelly in the cupboard. I would never
> buy grape jelly. And I have meatballs, too. Those I DID buy.
>
> -sw

Oh dear.

[gtr]

Let your mind wander: How much real difference is there between
ligonberry jam and grape jelly with your Scandinavian meatballs. I've
never been able to get with the "appropriate" lingonberries, but my
wife (a jam-o-holic) can hardly think about such meatballs without it.

So for those I'm hell-bent to drag into my culinary cul-de-sac, maybe
that's the beckoning "milkbone" they need to make it all lock in.

I'm just sayin'...

[Jean B.]

I guess my increasingly fertile (wandering) mind, as far as food
goes, does not want to wander in that direction.

[Jean B.]

Sqwertz wrote:

> On Mon, 12 Nov 2012 21:43:03 -0800, gtr wrote:
>
>> Let your mind wander: How much real difference is there between
>> ligonberry jam and grape jelly with your Scandinavian meatballs. I've
>> never been able to get with the "appropriate" lingonberries, but my
>> wife (a jam-o-holic) can hardly think about such meatballs without it.
>>
>> So for those I'm hell-bent to drag into my culinary cul-de-sac, maybe
>> that's the beckoning "milkbone" they need to make it all lock in.
>>
>> I'm just sayin'...
>

> Meatballs with grape jelly are a culinary past-time here in RFC.
>
> -sw

Oh sure, but we don't all need to gravitate toward that thought.
So many flavors, so little time....

[David Harmon]

On Mon, 12 Nov 2012 00:05:18 -0600 in rec.food.cooking, Sqwertz
<swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote,
>The two pieces of bread are a portability issue. American sandwiches
>are meant to be "hand held".

That is the central point of the whole sandwich concept. Anybody
watching a.b.f can easily see that you understand sandwiches.
Something wet and gloppy on top of a piece of bread, that you
cannot by any stretch of the imagination pick up to eat, is not a
sandwich. It is criminal to call it one. It is SOS.

[gtr]

What about a torta ahogada? Is that not a sandwich, or is not not hand-held?

[Doug Freyburger]

gtr wrote:

>> Sqwertz wrote:
>
>>> Somehow I ended up with grape jelly in the cupboard. I would never
>>> buy grape jelly. And I have meatballs, too. Those I DID buy.
>

> Let your mind wander: How much real difference is there between
> ligonberry jam and grape jelly with your Scandinavian meatballs. I've
> never been able to get with the "appropriate" lingonberries, but my
> wife (a jam-o-holic) can hardly think about such meatballs without it.

Meatballs with grape jelly are a common family reunion picnic dish. For
when you want to cook for the lowest common denominator in yuor family I
suppose.

To me the amount of sugar is the difference. Grapes are sweeter than
lingonberries and jelly is sweeter than preserves. Double whammy. I'd
go with the most concentratede least sweet preserve of any fruit of
berry you have. I have grape jelly but it's not the only preserve in my
shelf.

[gloria p]

On 11/13/2012 1:30 PM, Doug Freyburger wrote:

>
> To me the amount of sugar is the difference. Grapes are sweeter than
> lingonberries and jelly is sweeter than preserves. Double whammy. I'd
> go with the most concentratede least sweet preserve of any fruit of
> berry you have. I have grape jelly but it's not the only preserve in my
> shelf.
>

Meatballs with grape jelly are too sweet. Red currant or lingonberry
are much nicer. Lingonberry preserves are wonderful with roast chicken
or pork.

gloria p

[Nunya Bidnits]

Sqwertz <swe...@cluemail.compost> wrote:

> - the two pieces of bread are for
> protection - to keep our dirty hands clean.
>
> -sw

So true.

[gtr]

Many thanks to all for Smorgasbord suggestions. I haven't gone through
the whole list to award specific thanks, but we are doing the onion
pie, as well as somebody's saurkraut salad (with apples). Likely some
other stuff.

We'll host it this Saturday, so I picked up the 4 pounds of herring at
Olson's Deli in LA. Anyone considering going there, I'd recommend
doing it soon. The crew that owns/runs the place have got to be in
their 80's. They no longer make sandwiches--too much trouble. They
never do in December anyway, their "high season". But a new
Swedish-speaking kid said he'd been there since March and they
apparently didn't star up again in January. Cash only, no credit cards
with the oldest looking cash register I've ever seen outside a movie.

I picked up the matjes herring, some odd pickles, a couple of pounds of
their meatballs, and three cheese, Vasterbotten, Prastost and Danbo.
And some rollepolse, a lunche-meat rolled thing, that is fabulous. Same
as last year.

Tonight we pickled up the herring; one with apples, onions and sour
cream, one with onions, carrots, juniper berries and dil, and one in a
multi-mustard blend. We also prepped the gravlax. They all looked
great! I love this routine, it's great fun.

Tomorrow is silents night in LA, so we have to put the prep on hold for
one night. We've been attending "A Century Ago" since 2007 at the
Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences ("The Oscards"). We're now
up to "A Century Ago: The Films of 1912":

http://tinyurl.com/cw2gfwg

Since 2003, Randy Haberkamp has presented clips and short films that
were first screened 100 years ago. He adds a bit of scene-setting to
let you know what times were like at the time; economically,
politically and culturally. For instance, can you believe that in 1910
95% of all births took place at home?

There is also the amazing Mike Mortilla at the piano, improvising
scores to everything, one of the best accompanists alive that can do
this.

It's as much as tradition as the Smorgasbord and betweent the two of
them in more or less counts as "the holidays".

[jmcquown]

On 12/13/2012 12:19 AM, gtr wrote:
> Many thanks to all for Smorgasbord suggestions. I haven't gone through
> the whole list to award specific thanks, but we are doing the onion pie,
> as well as somebody's saurkraut salad (with apples). Likely some other
> stuff.
>
> We'll host it this Saturday, so I picked up the 4 pounds of herring at
> Olson's Deli in LA.
>

> Tomorrow is silents night in LA, so we have to put the prep on hold for
> one night. We've been attending "A Century Ago" since 2007

(snip)

> For instance, can you believe that in 1910 95% of all births
> took place at home?

Sure I can. My mom remembered her little sister being born in an
upstairs bedroom. That was in 1930. All of grandma's kids were born at
home. There may have been a doctor or midwife in attendance but more
likely a neighbor lady.

Jill

[gtr]

On 2012-12-13 05:19:14 +0000, gtr said:

> Tonight we pickled up the herring; one with apples, onions and sour
> cream, one with onions, carrots, juniper berries and dil, and one in a
> multi-mustard blend. We also prepped the gravlax. They all looked
> great! I love this routine, it's great fun.

For future reference: I searched hard and long some 6 years ago trying
to find fresh herring. My conclusion is it can't be had in Southern
California, but I did find one place that would sell me a 100 pounds of
the stuff or some such. In any case idle diners/picklers do *not* want
fresh herring anyway. You want matjes herring, which is already
pickled or salt herring. It's much easier to start off with the matjes,
since you can then just add whatever flavorings you like, leave it for
an hour or a weekend and you're done.

With salt herring you have to wash it thoroughly, put it in a marinade
for 24 hours and then you've got the base to work with. Hardly worth
the effort.

In any case, I finally found both matjes (packed in water, sugar, salt,
dill, "seasonings" and sodium benzoate) and salted herring (packed only
in salt) imported from Sweden by Chicago Importing in Elgin. 2 Kilos
per bucket, roughly 2.2 pounds of herring. It's labeled "Norse Pearl".

Googling it, you'll find it is available at least in Marina Market (
marinamarket.com ) in Poulsbo, Washington, along with all other manner
of Scandinavian and Nordic grub. Also at Bavaria Sausage, Verona,
Wisconsin outside Madison. ( bavariasausage.com ). They both ship, but
it may need to be ice-packed and/or overnighted and could cost $20-ish
over the $30-ish cost of the herring.

Anybody done business with Bavaria sausage? They seem to have a hell
of a store!

[Gary]

My daughter, Melissa, was born at home in our bedroom in 1979. We had a
midwife on call but she almost missed the event. No cell phones then.

[Cheryl]

On 12/13/2012 12:19 AM, gtr wrote:

I hope it turned out well and that you had lots of happy eaters. :)

[Cheryl]

On 12/13/2012 12:19 AM, gtr wrote:

> We'll host it this Saturday, so I picked up the 4 pounds of herring
> at Olson's Deli in LA. Anyone considering going there, I'd recommend
> doing it soon. The crew that owns/runs the place have got to be in
> their 80's. They no longer make sandwiches--too much trouble. They
> never do in December anyway, their "high season". But a new
> Swedish-speaking kid said he'd been there since March and they
> apparently didn't star up again in January. Cash only, no credit
> cards with the oldest looking cash register I've ever seen outside a
> movie.
>

> It's as much as tradition as the Smorgasbord and betweent the two of
> them in more or less counts as "the holidays".
>

I hope it went well and you had lots of happy eaters! :)

[Kris]

I do a smorgasbord every year (just last weekend for St. Lucia day). I always add ham & Swedish meatballs. I also have hardtack and lefse. Swedish Brown Beans and cucumber salads also.

I noticed some suggest sandwiches. I always have open-faced shrimp salad sandwiches on the small cocktail rye bread.

JUST NO LUTEFSIK. Hee hee...

Hope this helps,
Kris

[gtr]

On 2012-11-12 01:33:08 +0000, Sqwertz said:

> On Sun, 11 Nov 2012 16:46:42 -0800, gtr wrote:

>
>> On 2012-11-12 00:41:47 +0000, Sqwertz said:
>>
>>>> Any suggestions or other ideas for expanding or shifting the bord?
>>>

>>> Surstromming. If they don't like the herring then they're bound to
>>> like surstromming!
>>
>> They wouldn't touch it.
>
> If no surstromming, nor even herring, then maybe you need to switch to
> a different cuisine.

>
> How about meatballs with grape jelly?

By the way only yesterday did I understand the meatballs and jelly
shtick. As we were making the meatballs and getting out the required
ligonberry jelly I realized that somewhere in the midwest somebody
decided to try a more easily accessed variety of jelly. Surely that's
where this meatballs and grape jelly thing came from. The tastes are,
of course, in no way similar but I can see how such things could
migrate.

[gtr]

On 2012-12-16 00:40:12 +0000, Cheryl said:

>> It's as much as tradition as the Smorgasbord and betweent the two of
>> them in more or less counts as "the holidays".
>>
>
> I hope it turned out well and that you had lots of happy eaters. :)

Thanks; yes! The event was an unqualified success. All of the six
guests at one point or other said it was some of the best food they'd
ever eaten, was better than the restaurant that introduced us to a real
Swedish smorgasbord, etc. A number carped about how they had gotten
too much on their plates in the first few passes, and so never got a
chance to eat something else.

We've pickled our own herring (or flavored, if you prefer) four 5 years
now and these were the absolute best, also acknowledged by the crowd
and the fact that afterwards there was only a couple of pieces left.

The rye cracker-bread we've tweaked for years is all done. We made a
double order of it (about 16 two-foot pieces), and have got the process
nailed. We expected some left over, but got less that 2 pieces.

The wife morphed a few chicken-liver dishes into a new one that
featured clove, allspice, marsala and currants. Everybody loved it; not
the usual response to livers and/or pate. The sauerkraut recipe (with
apples, pickles, onions and sour cream) that I got hereabouts was also
a hit! I don't think of my crew as having conservative or plebian
tastes, but normally they don't jump on these kinds of dishes with such
enthusiasm.

Dug out mother-in-laws antique china, put a cucumber bisque in a
lovely old soup terrine.

After the meal, full of home-made akvavit and Carlsberg I inexplicably
drug some conga drums out of the garage to play on. When someone else
sidled up, I then got out a Brazilian surdo, then "the black bag" full
of maracas, afuche cabasa, shereke, finger-cymals, cuica, claves, samba
whistles and so forth. Then for about 45 minutes we wailed away along
with whatever came up on the random music queue which ranged from
1930's Fletcher Henderson big band stuff and 20's Louis Armstrong, to
Nat Cole, Ivan Lins, Red Norvo, Sinatra, Bix Beiderbecke, Django,
Compay Segundo, GalCosta, Mel Torme, and on and on.

I was flabbergasted how readily and enthusiastically the crew jumped to
it, kept good time, and had no complaints about the diversity of music.
Then lots more akvavit until the wee hours. An historic party.

Man oh man oh man.

[gtr]

Actually, I see by reviewing the thread that I had the same revelation
(though in the abstract) earlier. Forgotten, the satori arrived anew in
the presence of actual meatballs and actual lingonberries.