Christmas in Sweden
by Henrietta Skov

I had a hard time deciding what I should write about:  Christmas in Sweden at the Tai Pan Hotel in Vientiane, Laos, or Christmas in Farabol, Sweden with the family.  Both places invoke wonderful memories.  In Europe, when you do something more than twice, it becomes a tradition, so I guess we could say that Christmas in Sweden has become a tradition.  Christmas in
most countries of Europe lasts at least three days.  Most people take vacation
between Christmas and New Year which gives them several extra days.  
Since most businesses are engaging in Christmas parties and lunches
at that time anyway, the skeleton staff at work is no deterrent to business
activities - everyone is out enjoying the Christmas season.

We usually leave in the morning of December 24.  Our first stop is to take
our poor dog to the kennel.  He has been in the same kennel over Christmas
for three or four years now, and does not seem to mind.  He just ³talks²
non-stop when we pick him up on the 26th.  We then take the bridge or
the ferry to Helsingborg  and drive for about one hour to our Christmas
destination with family.  Compared to the U.S., Europe seems so small.
You can drive through several countries in one day.  

The ride through the barren, wintry Swedish countryside is illuminated
by all the lights and Christmas candles, both electric and wax candles.
The people of Sweden do not draw their curtains, so although you cannot
and would not look into people¹s houses, the warm lights in the windows
m as you drive through the small villages and farmlands give a warm comfort
to an otherwise barren environment.  

After we arrive in Sweden, we greet everyone with a handshake and the
usual small talk.  You do not wish anyone a Merry Christmas until you sit
down at the dinner table.  Our destination is a very small village with 12
houses.  One of the members of our family live in a large, renovated
one-room school house built somewhere in 1800.  But that is a story
in itself.  

Once the greetings, hugs and handshakes have finished, we go into a
warm, cozy  room where we are greeted by the warm, flickering flames
from the fireplace.  The large straw reindeer decorated with red ribbon
stands in his usual spot in the vicinity of the fireplace.  This reindeer was
a fixture of the house and the new owners have allowed him to retain his
place - a tradition, you know.  We then unpack.  Since laundry appears to
be a big issue here, we have to bring our own bedding, which is always a
challenge.  Do our sheets fit their beds?  My pillow cases are long, the
European pillows are square, so the pillows come along as well.  For
four people, we seem to be able to fill the station car quite easily.  Everything
is put into place and we begin the Christmas traditions as we have for the
last four years.

So,  what does Christmas Eve consist of?  That is when most of Europe
celebrates Christmas.  

We start with gløgg (Glühwein or Hot Apple Wine) and  cookies  
(gingerbread cookies, brune kager, Swedish cookies, hazelnut cookies
or aebleskiver).  The gløgg is kept hot in a pot on the stove and the glasses
(special gløgg glasses which resemble Irish coffee glasses).  You receive
a glass of gløgg and one or two teaspoons of slivered almonds and raisins
which are simply delicious when they have been soaking in the warm wine.
The drinks are served with a teaspoon so you can easily scoop out the
raisins and slivered almonds.  The rest of the afternoon is spent preparing
for the big event - the Christmas Eve dinner.  

The Christmas Eve dinner for this family consists of a mixture of Danish and
Swedish cuisine and can last anywhere from three to four hours.  We usually
start with fish - graved laks (buried salmon) or smoked salmon with freshly
grated horseradish, capers, a tablespoon of scrambled egg, and white or
French bread.  French bread may only be served with salmon, cheese and
shrimp - it¹s the tradition.  This is accompanied by a fine selection of white 

wine.

We then continue with trays, bowls, terries, and platters of roast duck and/or
roast goose, home-made pork sausage (medister pølse), pork roast with crackling (the skin of the roast is scored into fine strips and once the roast is ready, it is put under the grill or very high heat until the skin is crunchy and crackling), sugar-browned potatoes, boiled potatoes, hot pickled red cabbage and, of course, the brown sauce.  A traditional feast in this family.  This part of
the meal is helped along with a wonderful red wine.

Now comes the dessert,  an overwhelming, satiating experience.  As
is traditional, a huge (humongous would be a more apt description) bowl of
rice pudding (ris a l' mande) which is a combination of cooked porridge rice,
vanilla essence, whipped cream and toasted slivered almonds.  In this mound
of a dessert is one whole, toasted almond.  You must continue to eat the
dessert until  someone finds the almond so he/she can gloat over the
³almond prize² which is usually a box of chocolates.  Yes, Scandinavians
live to eat.  

The tables is cleared and the festivities continue with more wine or beer .
But first, we have to sing at least four traditional Christmas Carols and
dance around the Christmas tree.  When I asked why we could not just
sit and sing the carols,  I was told that it was a ³traditional² to dance around
the tree.  We then seat ourselves and everyone takes one turn to pick up
one present and deliver it to the recipient of that present.  We all wait in
utter suspense until that present is opened, discussed and admired.  
This ³tradition² continues until all the presents have been opened.  If
there are a lot of people - one year we were 18 people - we can easily
continue the Christmas Eve celebrations until midnight after which we
pack up, tidy up and head for bed.  Christmas Day is another big event
when we start the traditional Christmas lunch around 1:00 or 2:00 p.m.
and finish by 10:00 or 11:00 p.m.  On the 26th the celebrations
culminate with a cleanup of all the leftovers, take a bit of a rest and then
plan the New Year¹s Activities and meal!  

Hot Tip

                                       Cracking Walnuts:

     Cracking walnuts can be a bit of a messy chore.   Try this;
Spread a few newspapers on the kitchen table.  Place a
small board (cutting board) near the newspapers on the
table.  Place the walnuts inside the opening of an old plastic
bag.  Crack each nut while it is inside the bag, then push
it to the bottom of the bag.  When you have about eight
to ten cracked walnuts, shake the bag a little,  pour  the
contents out on the paper and pick out the meats.  Push
the shells to one side and  continue cracking more walnuts.  
When you are finished, just scoop up the paper and
walnut shells and throw them out.  This procedure should
prevent the usual mess and walnut shells flying around in
the kitchen.

Advent Sunday
The first Sunday of Advent in Western Christianity.


The
word
comes from
the Latin "adventus",
meaning "arrival",
and the period is one of
preparation before
celebrating the birth of Christ
at Christmas. It
marks the beginning of the Church's
year. Various customs
are associated with Advent. One that still
survives in parts of Europe, notably
in Germany, is the hanging of Advent wreaths.
These are rings made up of sprigs of
evergreens such as holly and ivy, into which are fixed
four red candles. They are hung from the
middle of the ceiling and on each Sunday of Advent one
candle is lit so that by Christmas all four are
burning. In Britain in Victorian times, the Christmas pudding
had to be made before Advent commenced. This
was always on Stir-up Sunday, the last Sunday before Advent,
when the pudding was solemnly stirred in an anti-clockwise
direction by every member of the household before it was boiled (with
silver charms or
coins hidden in it)
for several hours,
then left to mature
until Christmas Day.

First Sunday of Advent    
December 2, 2001    
 Second Sunday of Advent     
December 9, 2001    
Third Sunday of Advent     
December 16, 2001     
Fourth Sunday of Advent    
December 23, 2001      

Thanks be to God for his unspeakable Gift-

indescribable
inestimable
incomparable
inexpressible
precious beyond words.

LOIS LEBAR


What can I give him,

   Poor as I am?
   If I were a shepherd,
   I would bring a lamb;
   If I were a wise man,
   I would do my part;
   Yet what I can I give him-
   Give my heart.

CHRISTINA GEORGINA ROSSETTI
(1830-1894)