History of the Christmas tree

The tradition of having a pine tree indoors comes from Germany and Switzerland somewhere between the 1500-1600’s. It was first and foremost a decoration for the high society – such as rich and noble people – and often decorated with candy. From the late 1600’s it was spread to France, Belgium and Holland, but didn’t reach Swedish homes until the 1800’s.

In the 1800’s the Swedish decorations were quite similar to the traditional decorations we have today. The Christmas tree would have live candles, apples and (if you’re lucky) candy hanging from the branches. In the end of the 1800’s it was common to buy Christmas tree decorations in small stores, such as garlands, paper crackers and decorative red hearts.

The vikings and the Christmas tree

In Swedish, the word for Christmas is ”jul”, and has its origin in the times of Viking. The Vikings celebrated the holiday ”Yule” as the midwinter occurred. It was a way to acknowledge that the darkest time of the year was over. The Christmas tree – or the plain pine tree – was a big symbol for these dark and cold times since it was the only green tree in the forest. It symbolized continuous life and life force, as it was the only tree being green during winter.

Legends say that trees were highly respected and honored in Viking culture, and it was common to decorate pine trees outside and wear wreaths made of pine tree branches.

Swedish Christmas food

The Christmas food buffet can almost be described as a museum of Swedish culinary history. The traditional buffet is filled with foods and dishes only eaten on Christmas.

The oldest food on the buffet today is ”lutfisk”. Lutfisk is a dried fish, bleached in birch ashes until white, hard and thin. In order to eat it, the fish must be soaked in clear water for a week. It’s eaten with green peas, butter and white hollandaise sauce. The old recipes though, dated back as far as to the 1400’s, also include almonds and raisins.

Vitsippor – the flowers of spring

The warm period of spring usually happens in April or May. A clear sign of the warm weather coming back is when vitsippor are blooming. They usually blossom from the end of April and all through the month of May, making the ground beautifully white. Vitsippor are free to pick, and there are plenty during spring!

Flower wreath – the crown of summer

Hundreds of years ago, the flower wreath was an easy way to dress up – even for a wedding. A flower wreath was also a great way to preserve the magic of summer: it was said to bring good luck if you put the dried Midsummer flowers in your yearly Christmas bath.

Today, the flower wreath is a loved tradition amongst both children, older people, men and women. They were traditionally worn by women, but anyone can wear one today.

Making a wreath step by step

1. Create a circle of the thick wire, and adjust it to the size of your head. This will be the base of the whole wreath.
2. Attach the thin wire to the base, and start adding flowers.
3. Attach one flower at a time by twining the thin wire around the shaft. Alternate flowers and greens and keep twining the wire to attach everything
4. When the whole base is covered with flowers, end the twining and hide the thin wire.
5. You can preferably decorate the wreath with the satin band and end it with a bow.

One last tip: don’t be afraid to experiment or let the wreath become big, proud or exciting. Nothing is wrong when it comes to midsummer flowers and wreaths. Let your imagination flow, and enjoy the flower crown you’ve created.

The Midsummer maypole

The Midsummer maypole is richly decorated with leaves and topped off with two large flower wreaths, formed as a big cross-like statue of wooden poles. Songs and dances are held around it, and it doesn’t matter how many – or few – people there are to celebrate: the dancing will take place, no matter what! So what do we sing about? Well – jumping frogs, laundry day, and the famous fox sneaking around an iced lake… of course with matching dances.

Midsummer is the holiday of friends

If Christmas is a family holiday, Midsummer is more of a holiday for friends. We gather to eat sill (herring in different pickled variations) summer potatoes, sour cream with green onions and of course to drink nubbe. Nubbe – or ”snaps” – is a Swedish hard liquor, originally made from potatoes or grain, and is always served ice cold. And since singing is a big part of the Midsummer celebration, you can’t drink a nubbe without a small song. After the song, you raise the small glass (snapsglas) and cheer ”SKÅL”. After that, the night never seems to end!

The history of having crayfish

In Swedish, crayfish are called ”kräftor”, why the whole celebration is called ”kräftskiva”. Swedes have caught crayfish for many, many years, but it became regulated by the Swedish state in the 1920’s because of the fear that crayfish would run out.

The regulation limited crayfish catching to the months of August and September, and quickly became a celebrated tradition when the season started. Still to this day it’s a beloved tradition, often celebrated with friends, great food and of course the thing Swedes do best: silly hats and weird songs.

Eating crayfish

Having crayfish is a loved tradition, and often done during a party with friends called “kräftskiva”. Here are the must-haves for a proper kräftskiva:

1. A long table – the more people the merrier – with a nice table cloth
2. Hanging garlands of colorful little flags
3. Round, hanging lamps made of paper, with a picture of a smiling face
4. More hanging decorations made of paper, in the shape of crayfish
5. Bibs for adults – of course decorated with a crayfish
6. Small party hats – decorated with what? Crayfish!

Snaps, drinks and cheese pies are additional foods and drinks for a kräftskiva, even mandatory for some. Oh, and since you eat crayfish with your hands: don’t forget to load up on napkins!

Chanterelles are popular and easy to recognize

Chanterelles are one of the most popular mushrooms in Sweden. They are easy to spot in the forest since they are bright golden-yellow, and often pop up in groups on the same spots year after year. The way they’re shaped and colored is quite unique, which makes them hard to mix up with other mushrooms.

Another thankful thing about chanterelles is their love of sunlight. They thrive in mixed and bright forests, and they often grow by the side of the forest path. So you don’t have to walk far into a dark, thick forest to find them – sometimes you can pick a whole basket full of them without having to deviate from the path.

Finding chanterelles

Here’s what to look for to find plenty of chanterelles:

• bright places in the forest
• mixed forest (not a thick pine tree forest)
• look closely to the path you’re walking on
• if you’ve found chanterelles on one spot before, it’s likely to find them there again
• golden yellow clusters of mushrooms!

Good luck finding chanterelles – the golden mushrooms of the forest!

Picnic or fika during winter? Yes!

Having a picnic outside by a fire is a classic activity for many Swedes. It’s an easy way to enjoy winter, to keep warm and spend time outdoors. Plus it doesn’t take much to have a picnic outdoors: many camping sights and open places in public forests have fire-stations for people to use. They are built to be safe and attract people to be outside. So if you’re visiting Sweden in winter, you will find many Swedes out and about in the forest, even though there’s snow and freezing temperatures – it’s an easy way to stay mentally healthy, getting fresh air and spending time with others!

Fika for a winter-picnic

There will be no winter-picnic without something sweet and preferably warm to drink. Here’s a list of options that many Swedes bring along in their backpacks:

• One thermos of hot coffee
• One thermos of hot chocolate (for kids or non-coffee-drinkers)
• A small bottle of cold milk (most of the time for the coffee)
• Cinnamon buns (and many!)
• Sweet crackers – like oat crackers with chocolate
• Napkins

If you’re heading out with kids, Swedish pancakes are an easy and popular choice to bring. Make the pancakes the day before (or in the morning), roll them up with some jam and put them in a box to bring, making both kids and adults extra happy!

Are Midsummer flowers really magical?

Hundreds of years ago, the beliefs of creatures and magic were part of everyday life, and a way to explain unexplainable things. Today, we can turn to science to understand nature. Back then, we turned to magic and religion.

So, did it work? Hard to say – maybe it worked for some girls, if they happened to dream of the neighbor boy? But the best answer would be: try it for yourself. The tradition lives on, and there are plenty of flowers to pick during Midsummer. If not for the magic, it’s a lovely way to seize the Swedish Midnight sun.

The rules for picking Midsummer flowers

Unfortunately, it’s not as easy as just picking seven flowers and placing them under your pillow. To really get in touch with the magic, there are several rules to follow if you want everything to work out. One rule is to make everything backwards as much as you can. Doing things in the wrong order, backwards or upside down was believed to ”shorten the way” into the magical world – simply because it was the opposite way of the normal Christian way of living. Another rule is to not break the magic by talking – silence is key!