Halloween Costume

[Flyingcursor]

Check out this site on duct tape halloween costume ideas.

http://www.octanecreative.com/ducttape/halloween/

or

http://www.ducktapeclub.com/ducktivitie ... loween.asp

[Lambchop]

One of my favorites was very simple. I got a large garment bag (the kind that has a flat bottom and top and several hangers). I cut two hle in the bottom, large enough to get legs through . . .

I thought this was going to be her recipe for lutefisk . . . was following along ok, and even got the fish's legs through . . .

[I am somewhat recovered from last night's lutefisk horror. Had a large bowl of grits and bacon this morning to settle my stomach . . . feeling muuuuuch better now.]

[anniemcu]

One of my favorites was very simple. I got a large garment bag (the kind that has a flat bottom and top and several hangers). I cut two hle in the bottom, large enough to get legs through . . .

I thought this was going to be her recipe for lutefisk . . . was following along ok, and even got the fish's legs through . . .

[I am somewhat recovered from last night's lutefisk horror. Had a large bowl of grits and bacon this morning to settle my stomach . . . feeling muuuuuch better now.]

Ah... so *that's* what it means... fish with legs! And I always thought it was just 'odiferous dehydrated fish pretending to be food'.

[Denny]

Once, in college, I just wore a purple leotard w/purple tights, and cut some leaves out of green felt for a hat and earrings and went as an eggplant.

...and I suppose that it didn't cross your mind that we would ask for a picture?

oh, you can ask. (don't have one, sorry.)

Where would you be if you didn't even try?

[Lambchop]

One of my favorites was very simple. I got a large garment bag (the kind that has a flat bottom and top and several hangers). I cut two hle in the bottom, large enough to get legs through . . .

I thought this was going to be her recipe for lutefisk . . . was following along ok, and even got the fish's legs through . . .

[I am somewhat recovered from last night's lutefisk horror. Had a large bowl of grits and bacon this morning to settle my stomach . . . feeling muuuuuch better now.]

Ah... so *that's* what it means... fish with legs! And I always thought it was just 'odiferous dehydrated fish pretending to be food'.

Really. I had actually tried to summon up a mental image of "Swedish Fish" . . . trying to see if they had legs and how big . . . maybe after Chernobyl . . . more frog than fisk.

From the recipes I found, it appears to be some kind of dehydrated, lye-infused fish which is soaked for weeks--thus explaining at least part of the smell--and boiled briefly prior to serving. The result of which appears to be some kind of gelatinous mass.

[NicoMoreno]

mmmm lutefisk

How can you not love this traditional Norwegian dish?

And when you eat it with lefse.... oooo....

Actually, come to think of it, lefse is so amazingly good, that it'd make anything seem good when eaten together.

mmmmm lefse...

[anniemcu]

mmmm lutefisk

How can you not love this traditional Norwegian dish?

And when you eat it with lefse.... oooo....

Actually, come to think of it, lefse is so amazingly good, that it'd make anything seem good when eaten together.

mmmmm lefse...

hmmm... I love potato-most-anything ... and I even love anchovies, so... I would at least like to try lutefisk, though I'm keeping my expectations at bay.

So... who's hosting the sheebang?

[Nanohedron]

Okay, temporarily back to lutefisk. It's not like bacalao (salt cod) at all . It's treated with LYE (which in the really old days would have been gotten by leaching it from wood ashes), and used to be stored as dried, vaguely piscine-looking boards, basically. It used to be seen outside of shops, propped up standing-fashion all in a row against the building by way of display to attract the buyer; there are old photos of this practice. There is a tongue-in-cheek (but you can't be entirely sure) tradition of mentioning that this was also to attract the neighborhood dogs, as dog piddle was said to be an essential finishing touch to the product. Now you can conveniently buy it rehydrated in plastic pouches at your Scando-friendly supermarket. My guess is that no dogs are likely employed by such modern lutefisk makers (fisk-luthiers?).

Anyway, what the lye does, aside from preservation, is do something really weird to the flesh so that when it's rehydrated and cooked, it has a definitely gelatinous character which has a spectrum of results depending on how it's cooked. This can range from dryish, sorta like Jello or aspic without enough water (which is what I had), all the way to definitely jellylike (which I have not had, but heard testimonials to that effect), and the flesh, while approximating flaky (insofar as gelatin can be turned into flakes), is alarmingly translucent. Much is made about the expert preparation of lutefisk, and I have no idea what that really means. It will smell up your whole house in the process, though. That is a given. The taste is surprisingly delicate, but this is far overshadowed when one is faced with the texture being so dissonant from its origins, in my mind.

Then again, I have no Norwegian bloodline; I have some Swedish, and dark mutterings have it that any right-minded Swede would far prefer goose at Christmas, lutefisk being regarded askance by them. On the other hand, Norwegians say that the Swedes laugh through their noses, and that is not a compliment. I don't laugh through my nose. I do happen to love goose. But that funks up your house, too. Makes it smell like a huge grease bucket.

I don't have a Halloween costume, yet.

[Lambchop]

Okay, temporarily back to lutefisk. It's not like bacalao (salt cod) at all . It's treated with LYE (which in the really old days would have been gotten by leaching it from wood ashes), and used to be stored as dried, vaguely piscine-looking boards, basically. It used to be seen outside of shops, propped up standing-fashion all in a row against the building by way of display to attract the buyer; there are old photos of this practice. There is a tongue-in-cheek (but you can't be entirely sure) tradition of mentioning that this was also to attract the neighborhood dogs, as dog piddle was said to be an essential finishing touch to the product. Now you can conveniently buy it rehydrated in plastic pouches at your Scando-friendly supermarket. My guess is that no dogs are likely employed by such modern lutefisk makers (fisk-luthiers?).

Anyway, what the lye does, aside from preservation, is do something really weird to the flesh so that when it's rehydrated and cooked, it has a definitely gelatinous character which has a spectrum of results depending on how it's cooked. This can range from dryish, sorta like Jello or aspic without enough water (which is what I had), all the way to definitely jellylike (which I have not had, but heard testimonials to that effect), and the flesh, while approximating flaky (insofar as gelatin can be turned into flakes), is alarmingly translucent. Much is made about the expert preparation of lutefisk, and I have no idea what that really means. It will smell up your whole house in the process, though. That is a given. The taste is surprisingly delicate, but this is far overshadowed when one is faced with the texture being so dissonant from its origins, in my mind.

Then again, I have no Norwegian bloodline; I have some Swedish, and dark mutterings have it that any right-minded Swede would far prefer goose at Christmas, lutefisk being regarded askance by them. On the other hand, Norwegians say that the Swedes laugh through their noses, and that is not a compliment. I don't laugh through my nose. I do happen to love goose. But that funks up your house, too. Makes it smell like a huge grease bucket.

Oooo . . . this is sounding worse by the minute!

I don't have a Halloween costume, yet.

I thought you wanted my fleece . . .

[Nanohedron]

Now, stop that.

[Walden]

Wear a robe and carry a lyre, a monstrous mannequin's head, and a slingshot, and go as David.