semiswede

Shortly after I posted about fläderblomssaft (elderflower cordial) last June, I learned that you can also make a drink out of lilacs, but it was too late. The lilacs were gone. So I have been waiting patiently since last spring for the lilacs to bloom again. 

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 […]