LearnSweden Blog

The Midsummer Life

 

This midsummer found us in the USA with temperatures around 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Despite the heatwave, we found ourselves to have a very traditional midsummer with all of our favorite foods and great celebrations with friends and then,......it was off to the pool for a cool splash. Here's a look at our Midsummer.

Now the high midsummer sun

Burns the dreaming hours away,

Kindles blossoms bright as flames,

Flashes light from leaf and spray.

 

 

Light is quivering on the moor,

Air is hot with honeyed smells,

Golden rivers burn and glide,

Shining brooks are singing spells.

 

 

Butterflies like flowers a-wing,

Tremble as they drink the light,

Golden pollen fills the sky,

Downy sees soar out of sight.

Poem by Alfred Cecil Harwood

 

 

 

 
 
 
   

  
   

Fru Semlor

What Mrs. Fields is to chocolate chip cookies, Valarie is to semlor. Yep that's me, Mrs. Semlor. Yesterday was Fat Tuesday, which in Sweden means it's the offical day to eat this divine little cardamom,marzipan filled, whipped cream topped, bun.

 

Monday saw me making these wonderful little delicacies for my family and friends. I love these little moments in a Swedish life. Coffee, Semlor, and good moments shared with those you care most about.

And so you won't feel left out......here's the recipe so you can make your own.

Semlor or Fat Tuesday Buns

1/4 cup butter
1 1/3 cup milk
1 oz or 2 packages of active yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp cardamom
4 cups flour
1 lightly beaten egg

filling:
the scooped-out portion of the buns
8 oz almond paste
1/4 cup or as needed of milk

garnish:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbls sugar

To make the buns: crumble the yeast in a bowl. Melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan, add the milk, heat until lukewarm (not over 100 degrees). Remove from heat and stir in the yeast until it is completely absorbed. Gradually stir in the salt, sugar, one egg, cardamom, and most of the flour. Work the dough until smooth and shiny, then cover and let rise 30 minutes. On a floured surface knead the remaining flour into the dough. Divide into 12 parts and hand roll into smooth round balls. Let rise 20-30 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. Set oven for 375 degrees. Brush with the beaten egg and bake in the middle of the oven 15-20 minutes until golden and baked through. Set them out to cool.

To make the filling: cut off the top of each bun and scoop out a hollow in the bottom half with a spoon, or your fingers. Mix the scooped-out bits with the almond paste. Add milk to thin the mixture to a soft, smooth consistency. Fill the buns with the almond-paste mixture and then place a big dollop of whip cream. If you make stiff whipped cream go ahead and use a pastry bag. Place the top back on and sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. 

 

Semlor or Fat Tuesday Buns

1/4 cup butter
1 1/3 cup milk
1 oz or 2 packages of active yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp cardamom
4 cups flour
1 lightly beaten egg

filling:
the scooped-out portion of the buns
8 oz almond paste
1/4 cup or as needed of milk

garnish:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbls sugar

To make the buns: crumble the yeast in a bowl. Melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan, add the milk, heat until lukewarm (not over 100 degrees). Remove from heat and stir in the yeast until it is completely absorbed. Gradually stir in the salt, sugar, one egg, cardamom, and most of the flour. Work the dough until smooth and shiny, then cover and let rise 30 minutes. On a floured surface knead the remaining flour into the dough. Divide into 12 parts and hand roll into smooth round balls. Let rise 20-30 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. Set oven for 375 degrees. Brush with the beaten egg and bake in the middle of the oven 15-20 minutes until golden and baked through. Set them out to cool.

To make the filling: cut off the top of each bun and scoop out a hollow in the bottom half with a spoon, or your fingers. Mix the scooped-out bits with the almond paste. Add milk to thin the mixture to a soft, smooth consistency. Fill the buns with the almond-paste mixture and then place a big dollop of whip cream. If you make stiff whipped cream go ahead and use a pastry bag. Place the top back on and sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. 

Semlor or Fat Tuesday Buns

1/4 cup butter
1 1/3 cup milk
1 oz or 2 packages of active yeast
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp cardamom
4 cups flour
1 lightly beaten egg

filling:
the scooped-out portion of the buns
8 oz almond paste
1/4 cup or as needed of milk

garnish:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbls sugar

To make the buns: crumble the yeast in a bowl. Melt the butter or margarine in a saucepan, add the milk, heat until lukewarm (not over 100 degrees). Remove from heat and stir in the yeast until it is completely absorbed. Gradually stir in the salt, sugar, one egg, cardamom, and most of the flour. Work the dough until smooth and shiny, then cover and let rise 30 minutes. On a floured surface knead the remaining flour into the dough. Divide into 12 parts and hand roll into smooth round balls. Let rise 20-30 minutes on a greased cookie sheet. Set oven for 375 degrees. Brush with the beaten egg and bake in the middle of the oven 15-20 minutes until golden and baked through. Set them out to cool.

To make the filling: cut off the top of each bun and scoop out a hollow in the bottom half with a spoon, or your fingers. Mix the scooped-out bits with the almond paste. Add milk to thin the mixture to a soft, smooth consistency. Fill the buns with the almond-paste mixture and then place a big dollop of whip cream. If you make stiff whipped cream go ahead and use a pastry bag. Place the top back on and sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve. 

Wedding in Thailand

By Per Svangren

How about a wedding on the beach at sunset? How about not spending too much money. Well we have a solution for those couples wanting such a wedding. Koh Lanta Thailand.

We will arrange everything you need for your special day. Clothes, hair, make up, the ceremony, transportation, hotel, dinner/reception, and all of the needed papers to get married in Thailand. This past year we've had the pleasure of serving100 happy couples with their special day. All with an unforgettable and beautiful stay on Koh Lanta, Thailand.

 

Goodbye Christmas

                            

In Sweden we buy around 3,000,000 Christmas trees every year. A tree costs around 200 Swedish crowns which gives 60,000,000 crowns or about $ 8,000,000 USD.  The price of a Christmas tree changes depending  where in Sweden it is bought. In smaller cities it could cost around 100 SEK and in the center of Stockholm it could cost up to 600 SEK.
92% of all families with smaller children have a Christmas tree. Compared to families without children, at just 42%

Most families bring home the tree around St. Lucia while others wait until the day before Christmas to buy it, and bring it home to decorate . There it will stand inside until January 13th , Tjugondag Knut. This is the traditional day for taking down all Christmas decorations, undress the tree, dance around it and give all dancers a small bag of candy.

                             

                             

                          

Now the trees will warm people up when burning the in the fire place or in the big central incinerator.

 Here in Stockholm, the town arranges a place where people can leave their trees.  From here they will be transported and burned down. People leave them as they are or pack them in big plastic bags. For all of those falling pine needles , many people opt for the plastic bag. We opt for the vacuum cleaner.

           

          

         

      

So on this day of Tjugondag Knut remember to eat all of your left over cookies and enjoy this last moment of Christmas. Goodbye Christmas until next year!

          

Nobel Day 2008

                           

Every year since 1901 the Nobel prize has been awarded on Dec 10th, the anniversary of alfred Nobel's death, for achievements in physics, chemistry,physiology or medicine, literature and for peace.

                          

The Nobe Prize is an international award administered by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm, Sweden. The peace prize is awarded in Oslo, Norway. In 1968, Sveriges Riksbank established The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in memory of Alfred Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prize.

From the moment the 2008 Nobel laureates arrived in Stockholm they have participated in an extensive program of events including press conferences, receptions, Nobel Lectures, concerts and a royal banquet which will take place this evening.

                         

                        

                        

                      

The Nobel Laureates for 2008 are:

Physics: Yuichiro Nambu. Makoto Kobayashi and Toshihido Maskawa.

Chemistry: Osamu Shimomura, Martin Chalfie and Roger Y. Tsien.

Physiology or Medicine: Harald zur Hausen. Francoise Barre-Sinoussi and Luc Montagnier.

Literature: Jean-Marie Gustave le Clezio

Peace: Martti Ahtisaari

Economics: Paul Krugman

Each Nobel laureate recieves as Nobel priz diploma which is a unique work of art, created by leading Swedish and Norwegian artists and calligraphers.

Nobel Prize Medal which is made of 24 karat gold plate on 18 carat green gold.

Nobel cash prize award of SEK 10 million (Over 1 million USD)

The above information was obtained from www.nobelprize.org . For more information on the Nobel Laureates as well as a live broadcast of the award ceremony today 4:30-5:30 CET please go to www.nobelprize.org .

Tomorrow we will have our own Nobel photos from the festivites.

                            

Turkey Day ......

 also known as my first Thanksgiving. As you've been reading I've been on the road. First stop was New York City but the second stop was Maryville, Tennessee.

We were invited to spend Thanksgiving with the Budayr's.  As this isn’t a tradition we celebrate in Sweden, everything was new for me and my family. You can compare the food in a similar way with  Mårten Gås Day in Sweden. That's the day we have svartsoppa, goose with special things served with it and for dessert, apple pie.

We arrived in Maryville the day before Thanksgiving and became part of all the preparations for the big day.

           

This time I was behind the camera catching all of Valarie's cooking secrets on how to prepare this wonderful feast.

                            

          

                               

                             

So this was what was on the table for this eating session. Turkey stuffed with lemons and herbs while cooking. The birds were also covered with herbs and spices while being continually basted every 10 minutes. 

Valarie has a special stuffing she makes from fresh corn and cornbread and then fried lightly as small patties, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes,green bean casserole, spinach pies, grapeleaves, salad, sweet potatoes, rolls, and 18 bottles of sparkling juices.

          

          

         

          

          

        

Before eating, everyone stood around the table and in a short or a longer speech said something to be thankful for, a true gratitude circle. It was so nice hearing all of the things that we have to be thankful for. Both in big and in small ways.

       

        

        

After eating all of this we had to take a walk, so we could manage to eat all the pies that were served. Pumpkin, chocolate, and sour cream apple.

                     

    

 Together with coffee, we were really stuffed and finished up the day with a music session in the living room. There were pianos, guitars and a lot of other instruments that together with songs let the day be a memory forever.

    

    

     

 

 

Martin and his Goose

        

                                                         

                                                   

Have you found your perfect goose for today ? Why you ask ? Well today is Martin's Goose Day. Who is Martin and why does he have a goose ? Though Mårtin's Gås is known throughout Sweden, it is most popularily celebrated in the southern province of Skåne. The Martin we are celebrating is the Bishop Martin of Tour,who before he became bishop was a heathen in the year 300 A.D. 

The reason we associate geese with Martin is that when the church was trying to elect him as a Bishop he ran away and hid in a goose pen. The startled geese started honking and gave away his where abouts. Martin was so angry that he had all of the geese slaughtered. He couldn't let all of these good geese go to waste, so he had feast and they ate them. Martin did become Bishop and the patron saint of Tours. 

Part of a true goose dinner is a delicacy known as Black soup. Black soup is made from goose blood, chicken bouillion, cooked apples, vinegar, and many spices. During our goose dinners we always have brussel sprouts, potatoes, and red cabbage. 

         

I can't mention goose or geese without thinking of NIls, a very famous character in Selma Lägerlof's book 'The Wonderful Adventure's of Nils'. A wonderful creative geography lesson of Sweden. You can find this wonderful book at the LearnSweden book store, www.learnsweden.com .

       

Have a great Marin Goose Day and remember to honk if you love geese. :)

Special Sunday Edition: Happy Father's Day Dad

Happy Fathers day!

Today is the day that we Swedes are celebrating our sweet dads. All over the world, but on different dates dads get celebrated, but on the second Sunday in November it’s the Swedish, Finnish, Norwegian and Estonian fathers turn to get the focus.

This is the day when all the men's clothing stores bunker up with ties and the bakeries make special cakes iced with “Happy Fathers day”.  

The celabration for this day, however is very different from family to family. My dad has never been very fond of getting presents. He’s the guy who enjoys a nice dinner more.  Since he’s the one in our family who cooks almost every day this is a perfect day for us kids to let dad rest with a glass of wine and cook dinner for him. He doesn’t even have to do the dishes.  Family rules say: that if you didn’t cook you get to do the dishes but a special day like this, he is free from all kitchen work.

And of course, there is no father's day without the cake.

This is how us kids show our appreciation to our father. This year is different with me being in America and my father in Sweden. I can’t do the dishes for him today. But I sure will eat some cake in his honor. So, happy Fathers day, dad!

          

Blueberry Day

            

            

              

            

            

It is officially the end of summer when we have blueberry day. The baskets are gathered. The picnic hamper is packed with great food. The thermos are filled with water, lemonade, and coffee and then we're off to pick blueberries.

Some to eat now.

Some to eat later......

and some spiced to warmly put on top of vanilla ice cream.

                           Spiced Blueberries

                          7 oz of blueberries

                          1 tbsp of sugar

                          1 tsp of balsamic vinegar

                          pinch of cloves

                          pinch of cinnamon

Put on the stove top with a lid ,cooking on medium for 5 minutes, stirring every now and then. Once you have some juices going let it gently boil for another 4 to 5 minutes. Let it cool a bit and place over vanilla ice cream or spread it on bread. Refridgerate afterwards for up to one month.

~Enjoy~

                                                                                                                             

Glad Midsommar

                                                  Midsommar  is Here !

The longest part of the year seems to be the wait between January and Midsommar.  As cities and towns empty with their inhabitants heading for their summer cottages or camping places Sweden is preparing for its all night party.  I can’t think of a better reason to stay up all night than to enjoy the midnight sun. 

First things first, however, there is a Majstång  (maypole) to be decorated with flowers and wreaths. There is the food to be prepared and the musicians need a place to warm up their fiddles.  It is a week’s worth of hustle and bustle to make sure everything is ready. 

                                                               

All is prepared. Three or four different types of herring, newly picked small potatoes, strawberry cake and schnapps.  The fiddles have tuned and are ready to lead the procession of the majstång.  As the pole rises we all join in a round dance and sing about a frog.  We sing. We dance. We eat.  Summer is here.

                                                         

Enjoy the following photos from last year’s Midsommar.  We will have photos, a video , and some recipes of this year’s midsommar on Saturday. Glad Midsommar !

The majstång is raised.