Comments on: Comfort Food For Thought

By: Patricia Koerner

Patricia Koerner — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 16:05:25 +0000

can relate to the food comments. remember coming home from country grade school and walking in the door and smelling the aroma of homemade bread. has to be one of the best smells on earth! Oh and the fried potatoes, always tasted the best in the cast iron fry pan.

By: grouse

grouse — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 03:52:37 +0000

That canola oil, vegetable oil, linseed oil are all gonna kill ya quicker than lard. My new motto is to ask the missus to use lard for cooking, butter for buttering, cream for creaming and red wine for cooking and drinking. It’s proven that red wine is great for the heart. So based on the chemistry that I learned at Volga High (Go Cossacks!) all the bad stuff should be neutralized and made harmless with some red Schade wine. It’s the good Norwegian Lutheran stuff. If you analyze every third letter going diagonally from Luther’s small catechism you’ll find that the phrase “drink more red wine so says the Apostle Paul.” Now that’s a big enough hint for me!

By: Per Pål P

Per Pål P — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 17:03:35 +0000

I’m just home from the grocery store with 2 cans of Deming’s Red Sockeye Wild Alaska Salmon…(In my opinion, the ONLY kind to buy)….1 for Salmon Loaf…the other for another favorite Salmon Dish….Creamed Salmon and Peas on Toast…. (Ja…I know most Norwegians love just creamed peas on toast)…but Creamed Salmon and Peas…fantastic. Just take your fry pan and put in a nice dollop of REAL butter….then dump the can of salmon…juice, bones, and all into the pan…on a VERY low heat…saute the salmon and butter….then mix a rue of Melk (whole melk) and flour and add to pan….just “bubble … low and slow” when thickened, add peas (I like canned peas, the little early peas in the silver can but frozen are good too)… 4 slices of buttered toast…add a nice portion of creamed salmon and peas on each sliced…as you stack’em up) And it never hurts to add a nice dollop of butter on top and watch it melt down the sides. Salt and Pepper to taste…. Smakke godt…
Grouse…who ever came up with Canolla Oil? That’s worse than uffda…that’s right down with ishda..(Ishda…what Norsk women said when the hired man walked in the kitchen with manure from the pig barn on his shoes).

By: Jeni

Jeni — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 11:20:30 +0000

True to Southern cooking, which my father was, my mother fried everything using lard, bacon grease, or any fat drippings.

When my brother was around 13 years old he developed symptoms of arthritis due to all that fried food. Lard was banned, so was butter, and bacon was placed on paper towels to remove the excess grease, fat was cut off from meats before fried. Reducing the fat reduced my brother’s symptoms so that was good.

My mother used to make salmon patties instead of loaf, using the same recipe as above. Those were good. She and I would remove as many of the bones as possibile before blending it with the other ingredients. Eventually, salmon was canned “boneless,” i.e. bones removed before canning, but we would still find a few.

I was never much of a brown gravy fan, oh, but creamed gravy was wonderful! Bad for the arteries, but we did not know it then so maybe it didn’t count? LOL

By: grouse

grouse — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 03:47:41 +0000

I’d guess there was company coming. It looks like the sun is shining low in the west window, and like Doug said, the chairs are gone, so someone was coming for supper.
Everyone used lard and butter. Then, some major company started touting how healthy vegetable oil was, and that lard and butter and cheese would clog your arteries and kill you dead in your tracks. They forgot to mention killer trans-fats. As a result, we’ve suffered a lifetime of poor pastries, and mediocre cooking. This week, surprise your grocer, and demand lard. Word will get out…they’ll order more! The vegetable shortening folks will wonder what happened. Their prices will drop like a rock. Lard prices will soar, benefiting local hog farmers. They in turn will buy more stuff locally, creating more jobs here and afar. No wait….Crap, they’ll buy more stuff on line…and then we’re all gypped.

By: Doug Lund

Doug Lund — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 02:21:56 +0000

Grant. I remember the small glass plate on the wall had a religious message..God Bless This House..or something like that. I’ve enlarged the image but still can’t tell for sure what’s on the table..which had a green top, by the way. It could be that we had company for dinner that day because the table is pushed against the wall and the extra kitchen chairs aren’t there meaning they were being used for the dining room overflow. Or it could have been an anniversary. The items atop the table could be gifts; a mystery beyond solution, I’m afraid.

By: Per Pål P

Per Pål P — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 01:21:28 +0000

Several questions…. Doug…. What was on the plate on the wall next to the table? What was on the table ? What color was the table ?

By: Sweeps

Sweeps — Sun, 19 Aug 2012 00:07:27 +0000

At our family reunion last weekend, several of us cousins talked about Grandma’s kumla. There was no stuffing bits of ham inside; she boiled them in the broth of uncured ham, which was served along side the kumla. It’s very hard to find uncured ham, so if any of you have any ideas, I’d love to hear them! (And I’m a city girl, so please take pity on me if I’m misspeaking about “uncured ham”; maybe that’s all ham is, cured pork. I don’t know, but I’d love to find out!) Thanks for the memories and the blog, Doug!

By: Suzan

Suzan — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 23:28:22 +0000

Seeing that kitchen pic brought a flood of memories of time in the kitchen with Grandma and Grandpa. It sure seemed bigger then! I can remember sitting at that table eating Sugar Corn Pops for breakfast and later Sardines. Both treats Grandpa liked! Tough, chewy dumplings are the only way to go. I thought that was your recipe. Your chili is a staple at my house. Mmmmm…tater tot casserole. In my house of non-potato eaters, I could have the whole thing! Adding tater tots to the grocery list. Now I need to find something to eat!

By: Pat K

Pat K — Sat, 18 Aug 2012 22:43:13 +0000

isn’t it wonderful the things you learn at Nordic Fest? My youngest daughter and family live in Decorah…son-in-law owns the Pizza Ranch! thats a good eat, too. Nordic Fest is a fun wkend the end of July for anyone to attend. Pat