Swedish Christmas

This was my second Christmas in Sweden but the first one I celebrated like a Swede (the first was celebrated with other exchange students). I will just share a little about what we did and some traditions.

Rice pudding

First off, they celebrate Christmas on the 24th and then on the 25th people go out with friends and party. So on the 24th which is called Julafton, meaning Christmas Eve, we started the day with Tomtegröt which is rice pudding and it is to die for! There is a tradition that you put one almond in the pot of rice pudding and whoever gets the almond on Christmas Eve will be the first to marry or have good luck. In Daniel's family, it means you win a lot of candy. Works for me!

Melt in your mouth truffles

After this we finished up some chocolate truffles we started the day before by rolling them in cocoa powder, almonds, and walnuts.

Julbord and Daniel eating a plate

Julbord, Christmas dinner commonly includes a ham, beet salad, meatballs, and vörtbröd. At this table, we also had hard boiled eggs with a shrimp salad on top, brussel sprouts, home made crunchy bread, red cabbage salad, and ribs. Everything was amazing.

After dinner we ate candy, truffles, another rice pudding with orange wedges in it, and had some glögg, which is a red spiced beverage that you drink warm with almonds and raisins in it. Often it has some sort of alcohol. What is Christmas without alcohol.

Eggs with shrimp salad

All in all this was a very enjoyable Christmas. The dinner felt a lot less indulgent than America but the amount of candy these Swedes eat makes my stomach want to cry. I will probably be changing some of my American food traditions and exchanging them for some of these Swedish ones!

Meatballs!

Hope you all are having a nice winter and staying warm!

Flygande Jakob (Flying Jacob)

Flygande Jakob

This wonderful dish is one of my favorite Swedish meals. You are going to have to trust me on this because the ingredients sound terrible. This meal includes bananas, chicken, peanuts, cream, and a few other things that don't seem to go well together.

 The first time I lived in Sweden my roommate (now my boyfriend) brought me a spoonful of this Flygande Jakob and when I asked what it was, he made me wish I hadn't. I took the bite and was so freaked out by the ingredients, I did not give it a chance. After we had been dating for a while he decided to make it again and I happily and reluctantly gave it a real chance. Boy am I glad I did!

I have also given a popular pizza a chance and it became my favorite pizza in the world! This pizza has tomato sauce, curry, chicken, bananas, cheese, and peanuts. SO GOOD!

Okay, back to Flygande Jakob! If you trust me enough to give this a try, here is the recipe :) (For more proof that this is tasty, I gave the recipe to a fellow American and she also liked it)

Ingredients:

1.5 Cups Cream (you can used anything from whipping cream to full fat milk. I use half and half)
.5 Cup Asian Sweet Chili Sauce
2 Medium Bananas (sliced)
1 Small-Medium Rotisserie Chicken
1 Package Bacon 
1/3 Cup Salted Peanuts
Shredded cheese (optional)
Serve with your choice of rice or asian noodles! (I love noodles, so that is my choice)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 ° F.

Take the chicken off of the bones and place in a baking dish.

Fry the bacon in a frying pan until crisp. When done take out of the pan and place on paper towel to soak up some of the grease.

Mix together the cream and sweet chili sauce. Add the bananas and peanuts. When the bacon has cooled, crumble the bacon into the mixture. Stir gently and then pour into the baking dish over the chicken. If you choose to add the cheese, sprinkle on top. Place in the preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until it bubbles.

While it is in the oven, prepare the rice or noodles. When everything is finished, place the noodles or rice on a plate and spoon the Flygande Jacob on top. ENJOY!

Sweden Vs Switzerland (the difference)

When I tell an American something about Sweden, almost 100% of the time the person will ask me a question about Switzerland... A country I have never been to. For some reason, Americans have no idea there is a difference between the two countries and the fact is... they are two different countries! The American education system has failed us. Here is one geography lesson:

Sweden:

                          Where? Sweden is in Northern Europe between Norway and Flinland.     Sweden is Scandinavian.

     

  Cities:

      -Stockholm

      -Gothenburg (Göteborg)

      -Lund

      

Famous for: 

H&M

ABBA

 Pippi Longstocking

 Ikea

 Nobel Prize

 Volvo 

Sony Ericsson

Vikings

Scientist: 

Carl Linnaeus 

Language:

 Swedish

Cuisine:

 Swedish meatballs

Lax (salmon)

 Lingonberry sauce

Elk

 Swedish Pancakes 

Pickled Herring 

Lutfisk 

Switzerland:

                                  Where? Switzerland is right above Italy. It is pretty centrally located in Europe. It is surrounded by Germany, Austria, and France. 

     Cities:

      -Basel

      -Zurich

      -Geneva

      -Lucerne

Famous for: 

Lindt

Nestle

 Toblerone 

Swiss Army Knife

 Founded Red Cross

Scientist: 

Albert Einstien

Language(s): 

German

French

 Italian

 Romansh

Cuisine:

 Fondue

 Emmental

 Muesli

 Gruyère

A lot of Italian, French, and German influence.

My New Home: Halmstad

Halmstad is a fun city. It has lots of active people, young and old. Although it is a modern city, there are still traces of when a former Danish king made this city his home. I walked around town and took some pictures. Maybe this will entice some visitors :)

This is the library and our neighborhood.

 This is the bridge that we cross to get downtown. We live to the left of this. 

 Old cool building downtown.

 Brewery. Delicious beer.

 More old stuff.

 Historic old street. 

 Boat in front of the castle.

 Bad picture of the castle.

 Picasso Park form far away.

 Church.

 In Picasso Park. 

 Main street of downtown

 Jolly park between our apartment and downtown.

 Duck pond, sans ducks...

 Cute Cafe. 

 Proof that Sweden is better than the USA: Pipi hangs out in their trees!

 Homeless shelter for kitties!

Don't you want to come visit now??? You know you do!