I haven't tried lutefisk either, and my family really didn't do lefse, although I tried some when I went to Norway last summer and it was delicious. What I'm trying to find is gjetost. I can make it (I even have a goat in milk currently), but it takes so long and my time is so limited lately, and mine isn't as good as what they sell in the store.

I don't know much at all about the Belgian culture. That would be different.

Nobody's sure about shining the sink before they do it. Think it of it like an initiation rite, and once it's done, it will be motivating. I go back and do that again when I need to re-set my gears and start over. Right now my kitchen sink doesn't work and we have to use the laundry room sink, and it's really hard to keep that looking nice let alone shiny, so it's a challenge.