semiswede

I don’t post much in the way of personal things on this site, but I wanted to recognize the milestone, one year anniversary of my first post. Things are very hectic in my world lately so I didn’t manage to post on the actual anniversary of May 17th but since so many lovely and exciting […]

Spring in Sweden brings a succession of holidays starting with Easter, moving on to Valborgsmässoafton, and this week’s Kristi himmelsfärdsdag, or Ascension Day which is 40 days after Easter when Jesus ascended into heaven. In Sweden it has a strong connection to nature and signals the hope of warmer weather. 

photo by Britt-Marie Sohlström, April 30, 2011 in Böle, Jamtland, Sweden We are coming to the close of another long weekend. The last one was for Easter and this time it’s Valborgsmässoafton on April 30th. It’s a song, speech, and bonfire-filled ringing in of spring named for Saint Walburga. And it flows right into the […]

Snödroppar (snow drops), the first sign of spring. We are mid-spring in southern Sweden. I can’t speak for the folks farther north, but I assume they are 3-8 weeks behind us depending on their latitude. Spring in Skåne (SKOH-nuh), the southernmost region of Sweden, begins as early as late February when the first snow drops […]

I hadn’t heard of anything edible being made from prickly, stinging nettles until my first spring in Sweden. My mother-in-law served nettle soup for lunch one day and I loved it. Now I look forward to it every spring and this year I asked her to show me how to make it so I could […]

In southern Sweden Easter is a welcoming of spring whereas in northern Sweden it’s still winter. But throughout Sweden Påsk (pohsk) means even more time off than at Christmas since the Friday preceding Easter Sunday and the Monday after are both official holidays. In addition, many people only work a half day on Thursday so for […]

I’m a huge fan of toasted marshmallows. When I was a kid my impatience to eat them meant a perfectly molten middle surrounded by an evenly golden, crisp exterior always escaped me. I usually ended up scorching my marshmallow on at least one side trying to speed up the process by getting it too close […]

March 25th is Waffle Day in Sweden and it coincides with Marie bebådelsedag, or the day of The Annunciation. Why? Largely because of variations in the Swedish dialect.

A friend of mine once described the post-semlor feeling as “pleasantly nauseous.” That’s pretty spot on. These monsters are the exception to the typically reasonably sized Swedish pastries. Tied to the fasting tradition of Lent, these cardamom-scented-cream-and-almond-paste-filled-buns-of-excess are most commonly available from the official end of the Christmas season (tjugondag Knut on January 13th) and […]

This is a salad that surprises me. I love it even though it incorporates ingredients I’m typically not a fan of (raisins and raw celery). I first tried this salad back in graduate school. We had great potlucks and even though money was tight for most of us, people always brought something interesting to try. Like […]