Cooking Bloopers - part 1

Just to start out on a light-hearted note (and to give a peek at my duh side), herein lies the tale of one of my numerous and humorous side-tracks from the beaten path of intelligent cookery. A real Cooking Blooper (Author's Note: I hope here to hear of readers' kitchen misfires, faux pas, simmering stumbling and assorted culinary oopsie-daisies, but let it be known from the get-go: no Cooking Bloopers relayed on this site may lead to or end with the death or disfigurement of any participants, observers, or perpetrators!)

It was not a dark nor stormy night...in fact, with my memory (!), I don't actually recall either the time of day or the weather, which is in this tale totally irrelevant (we're not talking bread here!) But it was during my earliest away-from-home cooking era and before I knew a thing about salt cod, except that I adored the little wooden box it came in. The task set before me was to prepare Finnan Haddie, which seemed to me a less-than-daunting undertaking. What? fish in cream sauce? what's the big deal?

Here it is: SALT cod has to be soaked for a period of time before cooking! I think - still don't know, never recovered, never went there again! - it requires a number of soakings and discarding of the heavily salty waters before it can possibly be cooked and consumed by humans! Oh!! what a hideous meal! Of course, no one had more than one bite - how could we?! Pure salt. Makes my mouth pucker just to think of it!

So here's a call to any cook with his/her wits about them (not that I'm even now too likely to venture in this direction ever again, but for any novices who happen upon this site, as well as died-in-the-watch-cap-wool connoisseurs of seaside comfort-food) , could someone please relate preparation directions for salt cod and/or a recipe for Finnan Haddie? Better late than never!! And thanks!

Ru