Today our quilting group met in the afternoon. So, I had time to run morning errands. I was still shopping at lunchtime. (My bowl of raisin bran – long gone.)
On my way to the milk cooler, I passed the bakery cart. A bag of wheat bolillio rolls caught my eye.
This bread's rich taste is very close to that of Norway's kneip bread. My thoughts began to roll: Norway, open-face sandwiches, lunch!
Rather than eat before quilting, I decided to take lunch to share. We usually have "coffee" (beverages with sweets) during our meeting. Today I'd expand our horizons with a smørgåsbord of open-face sandwich toppings.
Back home, I whipped up a batch of Italian salad. I grew to love the Norwegian-deli version of this dish during my college-dorm days in Telemark. My wing mate showed me how to stir in cubed ham for a satisfying sandwich spread. When I wed three years later, another dorm mate sent a cookbook called "Eat the Norway" which included a basic recipe for this popular salad. Here's my version – inspired from my days at Grivi Student Home.
Grivi Italian Salad Spread
In a bowl, toss:
1 small carrot, grated
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 apple, chopped
1/2 cup chopped cucumber
1 pickle, chopped
1 cup ham, cubed
2 cups finely-shredded cabbage
In a separate bowl, mix:
1/2 cup light Miracle Whip
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp mustard
Stir dressing into the vegetable mixture. Refrigerate to blend flavors. Serve "open-faced" on a slice of heavy bread.
* * * * * * * *
With my "main dish" complete, I scanned our refrigerator for other Nordic toppings, piled them into a shopping bag along with a serving plate, bread tray and cheese cutter – which Norwegians will proudly tell you their ancestors invented! Down in the church-basement kitchen, I made final preparations for...
...an array
of
Nordic
smørbrød
(translated:
buttered
bread)
Out in the dining room, the ladies worked on world mission projects: laying out fabrics, tying quilts and rolling used-sheet strips for bandages. Soon I heard comments.
"What's Wendy doing in the kitchen?" one asked. Another guessed, "Getting supper ready for confirmation class."
"No," I replied. "This is for us!"
"She's preparing a feast," someone guessed. "I think I smell beef roast and mashed potatoes?"
"It's a smørgåsbord," I said. "I was shopping at lunchtime –"
"Big mistake!" she interrupted. "Shopping on an empty stomach."
"I know. But, my mistake is your reward," I said. "I found a bag of bolillio rolls and was inspired to make Italian salad – the Norwegian way. Pretty soon I was pulling out all kinds of Norwegian sandwich toppings."
When we finally sat down to coffee, I explained:
to
represent
"pølse,"
I used
summer
sausage;
For
farmer's
cheese –
provolone –
topped
with
cucumber.
These
cloud berry
preserves
came from
Sweden's
mountains.
Scandinavians will confess that they guard these berry-patches secrets – just like we Minnesotans guard our favorite fishing holes.
Then I
confessed –
about the
last topping:
real goat cheese
and homemade
strawberry preserves.
"When I first came to Norway as a 16-year-old, I hated their caramel cheese. But after a year immersed into their culture, I wanted to BE Norwegian... and that meant learning to like geit ost. One summer afternoon during an alfresco lunch by the lake, I shaved off a slice, set it on my tongue, and let it melt in my mouth. After the initial bitterness wore off, I grew to love geit ost.
To offset its strong taste, Norwegians use a dab of strawberry preserves – like this one homemade by my neighbor lady.
Værsågod!"
With that welcome and a table prayer, we hungrily part took in the Smørgåsbord.
...for Laundering Out
8. Filling 
