Påsk- Easter in Sweden

Hello, it's snowing outside (kid you not) but the household is still intent on Easter and celebrating it to the max!  Here's some interesting information on Easter (påsk) in Sweden.  Personally I am looking forward to "Dymmelonsdag" (otherwise known as "hump day") because I like the sound of it. Have a good week - the countdown has begun!

Svarta måndag 
In the old days this day was called Black Monday because it was the day when chimneys were swept. 

Vita tisdag 
Tuesday was called White Tuesday because the chimneys had been cleaned and were nice and white. 

Dymmelonsdag 
Exactly why it is called “dymmel” and what a “dymmel" is remains unclear. But on Wednesdays everybody had to be quiet to observe Easter, and a little wooden clapper was put on all the bells of the churches. Such a thing is called a “dymbil” and perhaps that’s why it is called “dymmelonsdag”. Also, the old Nordic word for quiet is “dumb” and it might derive from that. 

Skärtorsdag 
Maundy Thursday in Swedish is called "Skärtorsdag" but has nothing to do with the Swedish color for pink (skär). In this case “skär” is an old word for cleansing and cleaning as Jesus washed the feet of his apostles. Skärtorsdagen is also the day of the Last Supper. It was a dangerous day to be out, because the old spirits had been let loose (when Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus). Skärtorsdag’s night was the time to get engaged with the devil. He usually appeared at road crossings, and you could sign a contract with him that in exchange for riches, he would get your soul. Contracts like these have actually been found; the people who signed them were executed. 

Långfredag 
Good Friday was of course the day Jesus was crucified. As you can hear in the Swedish word for the day, it was a long (lång) day, and painful. In remembrance of Jesus, fasting was especially important this day, and it has been a holiday in Sweden since the 17th century. Until 1969, public entertainment was prohibited on this day in Sweden. Everything was closed, including movie theaters and restaurants. 

Check this link for more http://www.nordstjernan.com/news/traditions/6318/

Boda Borg in Boston

Take a look at my new pages, one on art, one on Nordic Niche, and another on the books I've read recently.  Hope you enjoy them!  Here's a scoop for those of you like me, with jumpy kids at home in the Boston area.  A Swedish company is opening a "Boda Borg" here.  What's that?  Well
"borg" means castle in Swedish and I guess this place offers "questing" in a castle!

The 30,000 square foot building in Malden will bring obstacle courses blended with puzzles solving. It's the first of its kind in America although the Boda Borgs have been around in Sweden and Ireland. My kids will love it!  Can't wait for it to open this summer at 90 Pleasant Street in Boston.  Read more on their website: Boda Borg, or for more information on the company check out betaboston.

Boda Borg is a chain of indoor "questing" facilities. (Photo courtesy of the company.)

Bathroom remodel dreaming

Nice looking bath picked up from Ricedesignblog via Pinterest (NOT our ugly little one)

Hubby and I are contemplating a bathroom re-do for our extremely small "master bath".  If the Lilliputians had a "master bath" it would look like this one, with a super small tub, hardly any space to move around, and a toilet that defies you to get up because it's so low to the ground.  Having no building skills whatsoever I figure the most DIY we'll get around to is pulling up the ugly vinyl flooring and possibly smashing the laminate vanity (I've always wanted to do that.)

So far our search has taken me to Lowe's, to internet sites like "Urban Outfitters" and craigslist.  As you can obviously our budget is also "Lilliputian".  But before reality sets in too hard, here's what I'm thinking.  The tiles I like are really quite simple.  They are from Lowe's and you can use any color grout you like to coordinate.

For the bathroom vanity we're thinking of this little piece which will give us more space to move around than our current one, also at Lowe's called "Emberlin".

I'm also wondering what to do with ugly-*** mirror and big bulb lights that are straight out of the '70's.  Hubby wants a medicine cabinet, but I'm thinking of using two bigger mirrored cabinets from IKEA for over the toilet.  These are called "Lillången" and have nice shelves on the sides for even more storage.  

So what to do with the mirror?  Some people put a frame around it which I like, and there is also the possibility of adding driftwood or tile along the sides which could be cool.  The ugly lights will be resolved somehow.  I am kind of liking this concept, which just covers the lights like so:

Cool huh? Check it out on Etsy.com at Vanity Shades of Vegas.

One last thing, if you like the farmhouse look you might like the Hemnes bathroom line, NOW on sale at IKEA, until 3/31/15!

Fashion, Spring 2015

Michael Kors, spring 2015

Hej!  Thinking of fashion today, and how I could really use a lift.  Headed to the closest store (happened to be TJMaxx) and just was seriously uninspired.  So I thought, 'k, if you can't find anything fun, make it!  Well I can sew but the issue is, I don't know what to make.  Living in the 'burbs, and slogging through this seriously debilitating winter (with Sorel boots as the height of fashion) I just don't know what looks good anymore! 

If I were to sew something I might try for a summery skirt and top, perhaps like these ones by Michael Kors, but keeping most of the pattern to the top.  What do you think?

Gingham is in too, and these skirts look easy, breezy and fun.

Who knows if it will ever get warm enough to wear something resembling this or the cool clothes in this ad video for H&M, see Cochella Clothes at H&M  In the meantime I'm enjoying dreaming of summer sun wearing clothes like these.

Spettkaka and other Swedish treats

Hej!  This interesting video will make you smile.  He talks about some "skånsk" treats including the classic dessert, Mårtens gås (goose dinner), and falafel - yes, falafel!  :) Yum!

The 400-Year-Old Swedish Dessert That Will Make You Dizzy: https://youtu.be/-spamtZh46Y

And the Melodifestival winner is Heroes!

So the results are in and Heroes won!  I'm happy for several reasons:

• I bet my husband that Heroes would win which he did royally with 35.5% of the votes
• I liked Måns Zelmerlöw's singing and his behavior during the big reveal was appropriate - nice to see he's not too cool for school.
• Måns is from Lund, my Swedish home town, yeah!

Here is the song, which I think has good chances at the Eurovision contest on May 3rd. 

Below please find my snarky comments (in italics) on each of the contestants because the best part of watching the show is getting to make fun of everyone.  That and eating cheese curls ;-)

The Final contestant list annotated by the snarky Swede aka me

• Samir & Viktor - Groupie (Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Kevin Högdahl, Maria Smith, Viktor Thell) Groupie instead of selfie cry tons of back up dancers, and two "Wham!" wanna-bes. They were excited to get points from some international country... not sure which one.  Can you say "Zoolander"? 

• JTR - Building It Up (JTR, Erik Lewander, Iggy Strange Dahl) I missed this one - my video cut out, but it didn't get a single vote so no biggie

• Dinah Nah - Make Me (La La La) (Dinah Nah, dr alban, Jakke Erixson, Karl-Ola Kjellholm Meh, cute girl but the song and the mess of chessy back-up dancers makes it a miss.

• Jon Henrik Fjällgren - Jag är fri (Manne Liem Frije) (Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Erik Holmberg, Tony Malm, Josef Melin) Lots of people wanted this "yoik" song to win (see my blog about this style of singing that the Lapps created here) but I thought it was over playing the Swedish angle.  And that's saying a lot. ;-) Great Britain liked him.

• Jessica Andersson - Can’t Hurt Me Now (Aleena Gibson, Fredrik Thomander) She's stunning, and so was the dress, but the song felt old, whiny and dusty.  She said that she would change her clothes if she won Melodifestivalen so I guess she's stuck wearing this one. Ha, ha!

• Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes (Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb) It won by a landslide.  The song is good and so are the special effects.  He's cute too.  Like that.

• Linus Svenning - Forever Starts Today (Aleena Gibson, Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Fredrik Kempe) Facial hardware, tattoes and hard body don't mix with sappy song and off-key vocals. Forever does not start today for this guy.

• Isa - Don’t Stop (Isa Tengblad, Johan Ramström, Gustaf Svenungsson, Magnus Wallin, Oscar Merner) She's a 16 year old cutie.  Hubby asked. "Who's that Zara Larsson?"  Good question, but no, not as good.  And again with the bad dancing, what's up with that?

• Magnus Carlsson - Möt mig i Gamla stan (Thomas G:son, Lina Eriksson) I really did not like this song.  Guy seemed desperate, and I gues it's his eigth time at the Music Festival so it all makes sense.  The whole thing, including his eyebrows, felt overproduced.  Sorry.

• Eric Saade - Sting (Fredrik Kempe, Hamed ”K-one” Pirouzpanah, David Kreuger, Sam Arash Fahmi) This was my second favorite.  He had a Michael Jackson jacket which deterred by a nice danceable song.  He's from Skåne too!

• Mariette - Don’t Stop Believing (Miss Li, Sonny Gustafsson) Mariette, what can I say, the dreadlocks and crow apparel didn't work for me.  The Mediterrean nations seemed to approve but it was cheese city.  The witches coven in the back didn't help one bit. It's so bad it's funny.  I have to post her video so you can check out the dancer with weird feet that appears early in the song.  Not to be believed. 

• Hasse Andersson - Guld och gröna skogar (Anderz Wrethov) Good old Hasse, so Skånsk he's almost a parody of himself, but fact is I do know people who talk like that.  Anyway the whole package with the syrupy dance band nostagia, combined with his heavy accent proved too much for my taste.  Many Swedes loved him of course. HH called him the Swedish Kenny Rogers - Kenneth Rogersson perhaps?

My son thinks I'm being too cruel so my apologies, in advance, but it's just toooo much fun not to diss.  Add comments if you have anything to add or think I'm nuts.  (Swedes can get very passionate about this stuff I know.) More here about the contest  melodifestival-2015.html On to Vienna!  I bet Conchita is looking forward to meeting Måns.  Can you see why I love this ****?

Conchita Wurst

Melodifestival! Finals in 30 minutes...

The countdown begins, and I've got svtplay.se up and running. It's a strong bunch of contestants this year, should make for a good show.  Hubby is making us some smoothies, and I've got the popcorn. And may the best man, woman or other win!  More here about the contest http://livinglavidalagom.blogspot.com/2015/02/melodifestival-2015.html

The Final

The line-up of the final looks like this:

1. Samir & Viktor - Groupie (Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Kevin Högdahl, Maria Smith, Viktor Thell)
2. JTR - Building It Up (JTR, Erik Lewander, Iggy Strange Dahl)
3. Dinah Nah - Make Me (La La La) (Dinah Nah, dr alban, Jakke Erixson, Karl-Ola Kjellholm)
4. Jon Henrik Fjällgren - Jag är fri (Manne Liem Frije) (Jon Henrik Fjällgren, Erik Holmberg, Tony Malm, Josef Melin)
5. Jessica Andersson - Can’t Hurt Me Now (Aleena Gibson, Fredrik Thomander)
6. Måns Zelmerlöw - Heroes (Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Joy Deb, Linnea Deb)
7. Linus Svenning - Forever Starts Today (Aleena Gibson, Anton Malmberg Hård af Segerstad, Fredrik Kempe)
8. Isa - Don’t Stop (Isa Tengblad, Johan Ramström, Gustaf Svenungsson, Magnus Wallin, Oscar Merner)
9. Magnus Carlsson - Möt mig i Gamla stan (Thomas G:son, Lina Eriksson)
10. Eric Saade - Sting (Fredrik Kempe, Hamed ”K-one” Pirouzpanah, David Kreuger, Sam Arash Fahmi)
11. Mariette - Don’t Stop Believing (Miss Li, Sonny Gustafsson)
12. Hasse Andersson - Guld och gröna skogar (Anderz Wrethov)

Sweden's new font of knowledge

So OK, this has been in the news for a whilte but I thought I might point out for those who haven't heard (probably most everyone I gather) that Sweden has a new type font.  Meh, you say? Well it actually is pretty exciting not only to designers and other type nerds, but also politicians who are a little skeeved by the supposed rise of "Swedish Nationalism".  Whoa, I think introducing a type font and mentioning the rise of nationalism in the same sentence is a little bit far-fetched.  I mean let's face it, Sweden has always been a very aesthetic culture.  Having a new "national font" is not the same thing as an anti-immigration sentiment or is it?  Read more on gizmodo for their thoughts on this matter. Personally I think a little Swedish pride is in order - just as long as you don't make me use Sweden Sans I am Ok with it.

To quote one of the Söderhavet's designers, Stefan Hachenbach: “We have an expression in Swedish, lagom, which means ‘not too much and not too little’, something in the middle that means you’re content. We Swedes are happy with that. And lagom is what we’ve aimed for with Sweden Sans.”  more here  Well OK then Stefan, I'm down with that.  Lagom rules!

Travel to Sweden!

So excited, we booked our trip to Sweden!  I am thrilled to be heading back to see friends and family there.  I looked around the internet for some ideas, and ran across this little article which is kind of fun if you are, like me, planning a trip.  Read CNN's article which will give you some good ideas to prepare you for a trip there.  And it's a great time to go!  The dollar is at a high so it's not as expensive for Americans.  Don't believe me?  Check it out here, dollar at 9-year high.  See?

FYI, the Swedes still are not full members of the European Union so don't stock up on euros.  You can get krones but they will take credit cards everywhere, and here's an important tip - KNOW YOUR PIN!  I can't stress this enough as our American credit cards are quite antiquated.  In Europe they won't ask you for a signature, they will ask you for a pin code.  If you are like me and you don't know it, you will be in trouble.  Luckily the last time I ran across this at Copenhagen Airport I happened to have some Swedish krones on me (kronor) that covered my trip across the bridge to Sweden, but I'm not making that mistake again.  (BTW, I missed some very good sales at Lindex that year due to this little snafu.) :(

This year I am going to visit the Stockholm archipelago with my immediate family and I can't wait to show the kids the islands.  We're also going to Djurgården and Gröna Lund while we are in the nation's capital. There is so much to see, for now I'll just leave you with some mouth-watering photos of the beauty that is Sweden in the summer.  Hej så länge!  (Bye for now!)

p.s. let me know if you plan to head to Sweden this summer too :)

Kakelugn

Hi everyone, one of my favorite inspirational home decor sites has posted a series of kakelugn shots. What's that?  It's a fireplace from the 1800's that uses a tile surround, and usually is the prettiest and warmest place in the house.  Check out this nice white one in the corner of this modern, white kitchen that My Scandinavian Home posted.

Another beautiful white one is in the livingroom.  Typically you would have burning logs and you could close the doors to keep the room warm for a long time as the tile heated up, several hours even after the fire went out.  That sounds pretty good right about now.

Here's another shot of the beautiful living room.  Even without the kakelugn this room with its high ceilings, beautiful floors, and chandelier would be a place I'd love to kick off my shoes and hang out in.  File under living room inspiration!  Inspired by the stove?  Read mrre about swedish kakelugn at this site with beautiful shots and great information at theswedishfurniture.com.

Have a great and warm weekend!

Are you Swedish?

So is this finally time to touch upon the growing debate taking place in Sweden about the rights of Swedes, who's Swedish, and who should stay and who should go?  NO!  I am not going to go there other than to say as an American of Swedish descent I am disgusted by the Sweden Democrats who oppose integration of immigrants, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sweden_Democrats.  Don't they realize that immigrants bring a host of skills and resources to the party?  Then again, living in America, I also know how hard it can be to live in a multicultural society and that it's important that all sides be heard.  I plan to get more knowledgeable about this important issue when I am in Skåne... in the meantime, passing on some old timey fun stuff on finding more out about your background.

If you are of Swedish descent and would like to research your background the Swedish Genealogy Guide has a lot of interesting information including this resource to help out with your research: http://swedishgenealogyguide.com/dictionaries/1788-swedish-english-dictionary. The blog especially has some fascinating information for you history buffs.  Did you know for example that vaccinations started against smallpox as early as 1756 in Sweden?  Beginning in 1816 all children had to be vaccinated against it, information which existed usually in the church records, or household papers. Also if your ancestor was a sailor as many of ours were this is a great place to start: blog

Sjömanshus (Sailor house) document from Swedish Genealogy Guide site

Polkagris

Candy, candy, candy....the Swedes are renowned for the sweet tooth.  They actually eat more candy than any other country!  (37 pounds/per person/year)  Here's some links to candy that you can make at home, or buy on-line that will remind you of the old country.

Polkagris (literally "peppermint pig)
In Grannä they make their mint polkagris and other "karameller" in this shop.  You can buy the delicious goodies at the shop or online in Sweden (didn't seem to work with my American credit):
http://www.polkagris.com/shop.  And for more information about this yummy confection check out Nordstjernan.  For those of you willing to get sticky, the peppermint recipe is below!*

Swedish Fish
I wrote about this once before (here) but check out these gorgeous all-natural Swedish fish and other beautiful candies at Sugar Fina! http://www.sugarfina.com.  They do ship in the US and internationally (although that's a little rich for my blood, sorry Mamma.)

Chocolates
Mmmmm... Marabou.  Growing up in Sweden who didn't hear this "reklam" (ad) being played at the movies and it always made my mouth water.  (Marabou has a cool ad playing on their website http://www.marabou.se/ about a Swede living in Kenya.  She misses her friends, family and Swedish chocolate.  Me too!)  Marabou still has a production facility in Upplands Väsby but they are now owned by the largest chocolatier, Mondalez International.  One of the many Swedish food websites that carry Marabou in America is http://www.swedensbest.com/chocolate1.html.

Lösgodis
Sockerbit in NYC let's you recreate the act of building your own candy bag with "penny candy" such as many children do every Saturday.  It's called "lördags godis" or "Saturday candy" and it's a treat. Check out more on them here, and some background https://www.sockerbit.com/inspiration.html
You can buy many Swedish candies on their site, including one of my favs "Marianne".

From IKEA's candy selection

* I think some day I may break out my candy thermometer but in the meantime, if you try this recipe, let me know how it goes! Tack

---

PEPPERMINT PIG

4 cups granulated sugar

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/4 cup water

1 teaspoon marshmallow creme (store bought)

2-3 drops red food color

1/2 teaspoon peppermint oil

1 square of aluminum foil, approximately 12- by 24-inches or larger

1-2 tablespoons margarine

Combine granulated sugar, corn syrup and water in a heavy, large saucepan over medium heat. Insert candy thermometer in pan and bring to 300-degree boil. Remove from heat, add marshmallow, red food color and peppermint oil and stir vigorously as mixture froths up, cools and begins to thicken.

Place foil on counter and smear with margarine. Scraping bottom and sides of pan, pour candy on to foil to form a thin layer. While candy is cooling, press a buttered cookie cutter (pig or any holiday style) down into candy and leave it sitting there until candy sets up hard. Break the candy outside the cutter away, gently remove candy from cutter and serve — or simply break the candy into pieces, when it is hard.

The Swedish Chef and beautiful buns

Ok, here I am back again with another delicious recipe... semlor or fastlagsbullar as they are also called are something that the Swedes look forward to all year.  These buns are especially delicious because they are served with mounds of whipped cream and filled with almond paste.  Yum!

I decided to make a batch on a particularly snowy day and they came out delectably even though I used the spray whipped cream and old marzipan.  Well we were snowed in!  ;-) So if these were good I bet yours will be even better.  Here's the recipe for semlor. (Semla is singular, semlor is plural.)

Just a little background on the buns, they are traditionally served on Fat Tuesday and sold for the month of February - March in bakeries across the country.  I found this nugget of information on the Local site (local.se):

The buns hold a notorious role in Swedish history linked to King Adolf Fredrik. On the day now known as Fat Tuesday in 1771, he collapsed and died after eating a meal of lobster, caviar, sauerkraut, smoked herring, champagne... and 14 servings of semlor, his favorite dessert.

Semlor buns have been available in Swedish bakeries for 200 years - but in late January 2015, we watched as the classic buns took a new, modern twist.  

Click on the link above and you're going to see a SEMLA WRAP!  Wha'?!  For us traditional American Swedes that's pretty much hearsay, although I do hear that they are good.  But for now I will leave you with a picture of the real deal, a beautiful picture of some beautiful buns. (Hey, do you think if I put that in the labels that I'd get more hits?) Ha, ha! Enjoy!

beautiful buns