Yellow dough makes good buns
Remember that I mentioned the Swedish tradition of people drinking glögg and eating saffron buns? Well, this tradition extends over the entire festive season: say, December and January.
When I first tasted these Lucia buns of saffron, I wondered why on earth anyone would eat something that tasted of medicine and looked as if it were made out of neon yellow plasticine.
However, just like facial hair, the buns grow on you (as it were) and I do enjoy a saffron bun or three at Christmas time.
The Swedes usually make them in the traditional S shape (so that they look like sleeping cats), but in our household, we do not like to be constrained by tradition and we create all kinds of fantastic figures: letters of the alphabet, horses, dogs, snails, flowers, toadstools, snowmen – you name it!
I may not be able to cook, but now and then, I can manage some successful baking!
For more traditions around the world, please visit: My World!
Golden oldie: The smell of Christmas
This is a true story that one of my friends recounted last Christmas. In fact, I think the story is so funny that it deserves to be shared with you all again.
My friend (N) and his family adopted a rescue dog from Ireland a while back: an English staffie (Staffordshire bull terrier) with the sunny disposition of a dog without a care in the world, and the energy of a circus troupe of toddlers on a sugar high!
One day last winter, I was walking in the woods when I was knocked over by a compact barrel with legs, a veritable cinnamon bun with the sheer power of a tank!
My friend, N, told me this funny story about how the Staffie had embarrassed him over Christmas. He had to nip up to the shops for some emergency food and decided to take Staffie with him for the exercise.
When he got to the supermarket, he started tying her up as usual on those doggie loops they have outside the shop. Suddenly, without any warning, she jerked the lead off the loop and made a mad dash for the shop, winding N in the process.
He sped after her, only to find her with her front paws inside the first set of automatic doors and her bum firmly outside. (It should be mentioned that there is a kind of airlock system in the shop. The first doors let you come into the lobby where you can pick up the shopping trolleys and baskets. The second set of doors open up to allow you entrance to the shop itself.)
“Gotcha!” he cackled and made a flying leap at her. Just then a large lady laden down with goodies activated the second set of doors – the ones that allow hungry dogs access to paradise!
The dog dashed triumphantly through these doors, violating every known (and unknown) Swedish health regulation (and probably all the EU ones, too!), careering past the fruit and veg as fast as her little legs could carry her and right to the back of the shop. Where she stopped. And stared. And drooled and drooled in front of the delicatessen counter.
Red-faced, N finally caught up with her, grabbed the lead and started pulling her away. Just like the sword in the stone, she refused to budge. By now, both N and Staffie had bulging eyes and pools of saliva were congealing on the floor. In the end, he had to pick her up and walk back to the doors through the whole length of the shop. The whole shop stared and tutt-tutted.
He tied her up and went back inside to buy the single item on his list.
As he waited in the queue, he could hear a weird howling sound every time the doors opened.
WHOOOO! HOOO!
Silence when they shut. Then WHOOOO! HOOO! again. Poor kid bawling its eyes out, he thought. Only to have it dawn on him that it was Staffie, making a noise that she has never made before or since.
His red face turned purple, then puce. He could hear people thinking, “That’s why people like him shouldn’t have dogs like that!”
And that, dear readers, is what the smell of Christmas can do to a dog!
(These pictures are courtesy of Google and not actually photos of the dog in question.)
For more amazing pets, please visit: Pet Pride!
Christmas sunset
The sun was starting to set at around three o’clock on Christmas Eve.
The day’s shortest day has been and gone – but someone forgot to tell the sun. I didn’t mind as I was out testing my new SLR camera…
May all your skies be beautiful ones!
For more great skies, please visit: Skywatch!
Gnome sweet gnome
The children’s excitement about Christmas has reached seismic levels that cannot be measured on a Richter scale of anticipation and enthusiasm.
Each morning in the run-up to Christmas Eve – which is the BIG day here in Sweden when Santa leaves presents – the kids have been getting up and swabbing floors and windows (at around 6 am) in the hopes of keeping on Santa’s nice list!
In olden days, Swedes had house elves for that sort of thing and you only had to pay them with porridge rather than yawn-filled early mornings.
The anklebiters are also keen on the idea of having Christmas chocolates, preferably ones that they have made themselves out of melted chocolate or cocoa powder, milk and sugar!
They are eager to clean up after themselves, conveniently self-defeating though, as they forgot to clean their hands, thus peppering the house, walls, floor and fridge with delicious smears.
Oh, well – we usually just decorate the house with towers of LEGO. The chocolate handprints are a nice festive touch!
May you all have a laughter and chocolate filled Christmas!
Delicious church
December is a time of magical snowflakes, soft candlelight, sweet songs and even sweeter gingerbread…
The Swedes love gingerbread, but not gingerbread men with their eyes of icing sugar. No, they put together simple or elaborate houses made of gingerbread, stuck together with burnt sugar and topped with hard white icing. After New Year, they hold parties where they dance around the tree to say good-bye to it and then they break the gingerbread houses made so lovingly – and eat them.
We have a new bakery in town – with the most delightful display in the window. Our old church (nearly 1,000 years old in fact) has been immortalized in gingerbread and icing sugar!
What I love about this picture is that you can see the reflection of the actual physical church in the window.
I wish you all a delightfully sweet Christmas!
For more delicious posts, please visit: That’s My World!
Rudolph
A real live baby reindeer…
Now – where did I put that shiny red nose of mine?
For more pets, please visit: Pet Pride.
Wish you were here…
We’re having lovely crispy nostril-hair-freezing-and-cracking kind of weather.
But look at that glorious morning sun!
Feet in the clouds
It is cold and snowy. The bitter wind blows the snowflakes into my face as I plod homewards with the kids. Going from school to home along the slippery pavement requires effort and concentration.
Head downwards, I concentrate on my shoes – and my troubles. I will my feet to stay rooted to the pavement, pray for gravity to pull me pavementwards, to anchor me…
Suddenly, from behind me, sweet singing soars upwards, like balloons filled with musical air flying up, upwards to meet the snow and the stars.
It is the children, singing a song to welcome in the winter, to embrace the snow, to dance on the wind.
I look up and smile.
My feet are free from their tethers and I lose myself in that single snow-filled magical moment of song and joy.
It is only a moment, yet it is my whole world.
Of saffron buns and bringers of light
On 13 December, Swedes get up at the crack of dawn to celebrate the festival of Santa Lucia: schools, shopping centres, the streets — all are full of young girls with fire in their hair, who go round singing beautiful Lucia songs together with an entourage of handmaidens and Santa’s helpers.
The girl who is Lucia has real burning candles in her hair as she leads a procession of young women (and even boys these days, of course) bearing candles. They sing Lucia songs in Swedish – but they originate from the Neapolitan song of Sankta Lucia, which the Scandinavian tradition is based on.
There are several different legends about Lucia. Everyone agrees that she was a young girl living in Sicily in about 300 AD. Some say that she hid persecuted Christians and was burned at the stake for helping them. However, the fire refused to burn her and she ended up having her throat slit. Yes – these legends are a bit gory!
Other stories say that she fell in love with a young man who spurned her. So, in a foolish act of unrequited love, she is said to have cut out her own eyes and sent them to the man she loved. A rather strange way of declaring undying love! But as they say, love is blind…
A more likely story is that in the Julian calendar, December 13th was the longest night of the year and people in the olden days believed that evil spirits were abroad then, so they burned lots of fires to keep the spirits at bay.
Whatever the origins, this Italian saint is now the Scandinavian symbolic figure: the bringer of light. It’s all about bringing light to the darkness of winter, of bringing warmth into the cold.
Saffron buns (but not made by me!)
And, of course, it’s all about food and drink! This is the time when Swedes go mad in the kitchen and bake up storms of gingerbread and Lucia buns – more commonly called, Lucia cats (lussekatter in Swedish). These are saffron-flavoured sweet buns shaped like curled up cats with raisins for eyes. You eat these morning, noon and night – washed down with coffee or glögg. Glögg is like mulled wine spiced with cinammon sticks and cloves. You put raisins and almonds in a small cup and then fill up with glögg – and drink. You then use dainty little teaspoons to eat up the wine-soaked raisins and almonds…
And, now – if you’ll excuse me. I can hear a Lucia cat meowing to me from the kitchen!
For more glimpses into other parts of the world, please visit: My World!
Wait ewe-r turn, please!
I found a delightful photo on this site, which I’d like to share.
I don’t know where it was taken, but I can just imagine cycling down a lonely lane in Scotland and coming across this scene.
Why is it there is always a queue outside the Ladies but not the Gents?
For more amusing pets, please visit: Pet Pride
Scandinavian humour
Who says Scandinavians don’t have a sense of humour?
(I found this gem on the Internet, but with no information as to who the photographer is. Whoever you are – I thank you for making me laugh!)
Party Queen
I know the title sounds like an Abba song… but this is my very last post about my birthday. I promise!
I just wanted to say a huge enormous glittery THANK YOU to my insane kind friends who organized a party at their house, cooked all the food and then cleaned up after we had all gone home. It was no mean feat considering the kids outnumbered the adults….Did I mention how crazy wonderful they are?
I even got a delicious chocolate cake – and a royal crown and wand. I kicked off things nicely by asking everyone to address me as Your Majesty for the entire evening…
I may have got a bit carried away waving my wand around and ordering people to obey me! Not all the adults thought it was fun to hop backwards on one leg while holding their noses and trumpeting like elephants. (Not really sure why – because it was hilarious to watch)…
I thought I detected some quiet mutterings wondering whether I had just turned 50 or 5.
Or, as the oldest anklebiter put it, “You’re really getting in touch with your inner child, mama!”
Where angels sing…
Winter blasted its way in – if only for a short, giddy moment of sunlight and frosted beauty.
For a couple of crispy sweet days, the very air seemed to tremble and sing with the promise of winter.
Colours seemed more alive against the sugar icing covering of frost; rune stones spoke softly of their thousand years of history.
Here – in this old meeting place – where Vikings used to get together to give out justice and sort out their problems; where two one-thousand-year-old rune stones witnessed the rise and fall of mighty men and times gone by…
Here, in the utter silence between the crunch of frost and my heartbeat, between what has been and what is yet to come…
… just for a second, I thought I heard the angels singing.
For more glimpses into the world we live in, please visit: That’s My World!
Canine yoga?
NEWSFLASH!
Oscar wins first place in the Best Stuffed Dog Impression Contest!
Apparently, neck muscles are optional when you really want to relax…
For more amusing pets, please visit: Pet Pride!
Golden moments
Those golden moments in the stream of life rush past us, and we see nothing but sand;
the angels come to visit us, and we only know them when they are gone.
George Eliot
What golden moments are happening in your life at the moment?
Kids write the funniest things, don’t they?
Many thanks for your birthday wishes yesterday!
Today, I got a large pink envelope from my sister and family – with cards from her and my niece and nephew.
My nephew’s card was refreshingly honest:
Yes – you read right!
It says: Happy Birthday. I didn’t think you’d live this LONG! Hopefully, you’ll live forever!”
My dear nephew may just have the makings of a diplomat, don’t you think?
And if you’re thinking that my family has its fair share of nuts, you’d be right. I think we must be like squirrels – in that we hoard the nuts!
Drop me a line and let me know which nut would suit you…
It’s just a number…
Welcome to my birthday party today! That’s right – I just happen to be a year older on this very day.
How old? Well, I like to say that age is just a number and that it’s the life in your years that counts… But if you push me, I have to confess that my age has a 0 in it.. and a 5… (though not necessarily in that order)!
For some strange reason, this is an important age in Sweden and after discussing it with their friends, the anklebiters have come to some conclusions:
Anklebiter #2 (6.5 years old): “Mama, when you’re 49 years old, you can still play with children. But when you’re 50, you have to stop…”
My reply? You only have to stop if you grow up as well as old.
Anklebiter #1 (8 years old): “All my friends are jealous that you’re so old.” (Why – thank you!) “You’ll have to take lots of rests when you turn fifty though…”
Ahhhh – if only!
And if I am to go through a mid-life crisis, then I’m not sure which one it should be, as Steve Toltz so amusingly put it:
“There were no two ways about it: I was in a crisis. But recent shifts in the behaviour of different age groups made it hard to know what type – How could it be a midlife crisis when the forties were the new twenties, the fifties the new thirties . . . I had to read the lifestyle supplement to make sure I wasn’t going through puberty.”
For more slices of life, check out: That’s My World!
Who says what?