lördag 21 december 2013

Merry Christmas

måndag 11 november 2013

Goosedinner in Scania



In Sweden, Saint Martins day is celebrated by eating goose.

November is the time for the slaughter of the geeses.

It is quite a job to serve a goosedinner. I myself am from Scania and it is a yearly tradtition
in our family to eat goose in november. It takes several hours to roast the goose and I cook the dish myself.
Usually it weighs  9 to 10 pounds and I stuff the goose with apples, prunes and bread.
Normally it takes 4 hours to roast, and with preparation and time for the dish to res´t a little while, I would say that it takes  6 hours before it is ready to be served.
It is served with potatoes, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, apple sauce and a sauce made with madeira and sherry.

The story of Saint Martin and the geeses tell us that Martin was trying to avoid beeing a bishop and hid among the geeses. They made a lot of noice and revealed him. Another tale of him, was that he gave his cloak to a poor man. The latin word för cloak is pallium, from which palliative care is named.
Saint Martin was the first palliative giver. Martin came from Tours in France and Saint Martins day was an important mediaval feast day.

After the gees we eat a cake, Spettekaka, meaning it is baked on a spit. The batter is poured on for a long time, 24 layers and it must dry between each layer. The cake is very sweet, crisp and tasty
You can see a part of the baking in this film
http://youtu.be/4E3bq9mZvKc

tisdag 5 november 2013

Biedesign- Storytelling textiles

Visit Katja Bie at Kronborg in Elsinore during the Christmas Fare
.It take place at the Kronborg galleries during two first weeks in december
You can buy a silkkimono there,
Visit her website: http://biedesign.dk/uk/

söndag 9 juni 2013

A royal summerwedding


A lovely royal summerwedding in Stockholm. A sunny, warm day and many swedes had come to Stockholm to see a glimps of princesse Madeleine and her husband Chris O' Neill.

The wedding took place in the "Slottskyrkan" The Castle of Stockholms own church
Children from Adolf Fredriks musicschool sang and carried flowergarlands.

Many guests from the european Royal families and many guests from all over the world, Japan , USA and India




torsdag 6 juni 2013

The National Day and the swedish flag


Today on the National Day in Sweden, we hoist our flag, with the same colours as the Scanian rapefields and the bluer sky. These yellow and blue hues were decided in 1906, after that the consul
Oscar Trapp, from Helsingborg, had visited a museum in Holland and seen an old flag from 1658.
Earlier the hues were darker.

The National Day in Sweden is celebrated because in 1523 Gustav Wasa became king of Sweden.
Before 1983 it was called the Day of the Swedish flag and became a holiday first in 2005.



tisdag 4 juni 2013

Around the Sound

Welcome to Scania and Seeland

http://runtoresund.skane.org/content/welcome-scania-and-zealand

Her You can read about different excursions in two countries, Sweden and Denmark

måndag 25 mars 2013

Happy Easter

                          Eranthis hyemalis

This Easter in Scania will be quite cold, just  23 to 32 degrees fahrenheit, some snow on Good Friday and some sunshine.

This flower on the picture, winter aconite and snowdrops  are the only one I have seen in Helsingborg.

At Easter many children dress like witches and eat a lot of candies.

The Easter Bunny, that originally comes from  Germany are hiding candies in an easter egg

by some families.

The christian influence over this period of laborfree days has diminished.

In the churches, thera are of course, concerts and church services.

During the mediaval times, the churches were decorated with palmleaves.

We often bring in branches of for example willow to decorate our homes.

The custom of painting the eggs, and make the Passover meal more festive, You can find all over Europe. It b popularecame popular in the Nordic countries in the 1700s

 
 

 

 

 

måndag 18 mars 2013

The Viking Disease

A disease, very common on Island and in the north of Europe goes under the name of "The viking disease. Officially the name is Dupuytrens contracter and is a contracture of the fingers, often the ringfinger and little finger is bent towards the palm of the hand. 9 out of 10,  who gets thís disease are men, often after 40 years of age. It is inherited and uncurable.

Prince Joakim of Denmark has done an operation, which is one of the ways to handle the disease.
8 % of the Swedes have it, so perhaps they are of Viking origin.