The Christmas tree is decorated. The food is being prepared. All the gifts are wrapped. Yeah, I think Christmas is finally upon us!
Christmas gifts waiting under the Christmas tree. Photo: Erik Forsberg, (CC BY NC SA)
Monthly archives: December 2010
Merry Christmas!
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Most people would say being together with family and friends is the most important part of celebrating Christmas. A lot of Swedes would probably add watching Donald Duck on TV at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve to the list of important features during Christmas.
Everyone is unfortunately not in a situation where they can enjoy the holiday with loved ones. According to a survey made by Stadsmissionen (charity organization) in April 2010 at least 2982 persons are homeless in Stockholm. To make people more aware of this problem Stadsmissionen created the campaign “Help us bring down an old Christmas tradition” (”Hjälp oss att bryta en gammal jultradition”) to raise money to this cause.
On Christmas Eve Stadsmissionen will put up big flatscreens at Stureplan in central Stockholm and broadcast “Donald Duck and his friends wish you a merry Christmas” (“Kalle Anka och hans vänner önskar en God Jul”). The hopes are, of course, that the ratings will be as low as possible.
Another part of the campaign is an exhibition of gingerbread houses. Architect Eva Grane and confectioner of the year, Roy Fares, have created gingerbread houses framed as symbols for what a home can look like for a homeless person. The exhibition is open until January 9 at the Museum of Architecture in Stockholm.
One of the gingebread houses in the exhibition to help put focus on homelessness in Sweden. Photo: Stadsmissionen
Here at the Swedish Institute, we always say that we need to find new “icons” for Sweden. ABBA may have been a great band, and they may still be the best known Swedish band outside the Swedish borders, but they have long since passed their expiry date, so to speak. And we feel that we need to find other Swedish celebrities to use when promoting Sweden, like Robyn.
Still, I can’t help sharing this weird little YouTube clip of ABBA’s Björn and Benny singing Silent Night together in silly Santa hats. Enjoy!
Yesterday was Lucia and here at the Swedish Institute we enjoyed saffron buns, gingersnaps and hot mulled wine during our coffee break.
For those who missed out on the Lucia celebrations yesterday – take a look at this!
In May this year, Jamie Oliver went to Stockholm to try out the Swedish cuisine.
In the first part Jamie visits an indoor food market, makes Gravad lax and after riding a speed boat through the Stockholm archipelago he ends up in the forest to pick blueberries and mushrooms.
In part two we get to see more coffee and cakes, and when Jamie bakes blueberry buns it’s easy to understand why Swedes love their fika.
After experiencing fermented herring in the third part of the program Jamie tries out the food at a Swedish canteen together with the Royal guards.
In the fourth and last part of the program, Jamie fishes for crayfish and get to experience a real Swedish crayfish party, hats and singing – the whole shebang!
Here you find Jamies recipes and at Sweden.se we have all the recipes you need to make the Swedish culinary classics.
