Pepparkake Baking Dag

Last night we went to our first "Pepperkake Baking Dag" (gingerbread baking day) party, held at the home of one of Kevin's coworkers. We had so much fun--Kevin works with some of the kindest and funniest people anywhere. We started the evening off with some glogg (hot spiced red wine, port and brandy or aquavit concoction with raisins and almonds). Yum! Our hostess had whipped up a massive batch of dough the day before, so we put on our aprons and started rolling and cutting away. To keep our energy up, the men got together to sing a Norwegian song about a little mouse who works in a bakery and mixes up the amounts of pepper and sugar, and then makes up a song to help him remember the correct recipe for pepperkake. It was very cute, and I was highly impressed at Kevin's ability to sing along.
After all the dough was finally used up and the cookies were cooling, we sat down for dinner. Rakfisk was the main dish, and wow did it reek! But again, the peer pressure got to me. Everyone, including my husband, was oohing and aahing over the rakfisk, so even though I had a nice plate of smoked salmon and potatoes, I foolishly decided I wanted to try rakfisk again. I took a little bite off of Kevin's plate--oh my, it was so much worse than the first time I tried it! I think this particular rakfisk was much stronger than the first one I tried. (I should have known by the stench that enveloped the room as soon as the rakfisk was opened! It was pretty funny, the host's daughter was cracking eggs to make scrambled eggs, and when the rakfisk was unsealed, there was such an overpowering odor of sulphur, she started sniffing the eggs to see if they were rotten!) My first instinct was to spit the foul fish out, but I'm not 5 anymore, so I couldn't. I gulped a ton of water to wash it down, but yikes, I think that aftertaste will last until Easter! Everyone laughed at my horrified face, and explained again that it really is an acquired taste, much like very strong cheese. Well, my taste in cheese is pretty limited too--I don't put any green or blue cheeses in my mouth, and if it smells like sweaty socks, there's a good chance I won't eat it! I don't think I'll be trying rakfisk again--I really have been a good sport and tried it twice and despised it twice. In the grocery store today, when I passed a cooler full of it, my stomach did a big flip flop, warning me, "Don't even think about it next year!" But I really did like the glogg--that counts for something, right?
We now have 2 huge tins full of pepparkake that I have been snacking on throughout the day. I particularly enjoyed my little tigerhawk cookie--no matter how far I travel from Iowa, I'll always be a Hawkeye!