Brett Sisman Remembers Norwegian Grandparents
Life is good when you have Norwegian Grandparents. Christmases at my grandparents ranch followed the traditional Norwegian Smorgasbord with such marvelous treats as Lefse that was made in Iowa by a friend of my grandmother's and shipped overnight to Texas on dry ice. Lefse looks like a tortilla; it is buttered and sugared and rolled up. Papa (Grandfather) loves Lutefisk; it is cod soaked in lye that is served with mashed potatoes and a lot of melted butter. Grandmother usually prepared beef tenderloin with a Christmas ham, scalloped corn, sweet potato casserole, a frozen salad made of cream cheese, whipped cream, and maraschino cherries, a green salad, and a huge array of desserts. The Norwegian desserts were rice pudding, fattigmand, Kranskakke, krumkakke, and rosettes. The large family of aunts, uncles and cousins brought food that included a lot of cookies and candies, although all of the food wasn't traditionally Norwegian.
Grandmother went all out decorating the house with the largest tree she could find that touched the ceiling. The table was beautifully decorated with favors, and even the dining chairs were decorated with ornaments as gifts. After heartily stuffing our stomachs we began Christmas ritual of clearing the tables and doing the dishes while we waited with great anticipation for the arrival of Santa Claus. Uncle Jim was the best dishwasher which caused Grandmother to fondly state, "Jim is my favorite child."
After the dishes were done, Grandmother read the Christmas story, or as we grew older we played out the Christmas pageant by donning bathrobes to be the shepherds or wrapped un in bolts of fabric to be angels while one of us would the narrator. Once the story was read, we sang Christmas carols going around the Christmas tree. My brother and some of the cousins played guitar.
At some point Papa would announce, " Oh, oh, I hear the sleigh bells ringing! I hear the reindeer prancing on the roof. Let's run outside to see Santa Claus!" Then the grandparents got wiser as we got older so they arranged for the REAL Santa Claus to come to the house with the gifts. I was the one who pulled down Santa's beard and informed all of my cousins, "Santa is a fake."
Grandmother went all out decorating the house with the largest tree she could find that touched the ceiling. The table was beautifully decorated with favors, and even the dining chairs were decorated with ornaments as gifts. After heartily stuffing our stomachs we began Christmas ritual of clearing the tables and doing the dishes while we waited with great anticipation for the arrival of Santa Claus. Uncle Jim was the best dishwasher which caused Grandmother to fondly state, "Jim is my favorite child."
After the dishes were done, Grandmother read the Christmas story, or as we grew older we played out the Christmas pageant by donning bathrobes to be the shepherds or wrapped un in bolts of fabric to be angels while one of us would the narrator. Once the story was read, we sang Christmas carols going around the Christmas tree. My brother and some of the cousins played guitar.
At some point Papa would announce, " Oh, oh, I hear the sleigh bells ringing! I hear the reindeer prancing on the roof. Let's run outside to see Santa Claus!" Then the grandparents got wiser as we got older so they arranged for the REAL Santa Claus to come to the house with the gifts. I was the one who pulled down Santa's beard and informed all of my cousins, "Santa is a fake."
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