Swedish Midsommar

I am about to experience an annual holiday celebration in Sweden, Midsommar! It is tradition to wear wild flowers in your hair, dance, and drink with family and friends. Oh yes, and eat loads of pickled herring. I am making this a challenge to try every kind of herring I encounter. This will NOT be easy. We'll see what happens...

SO Midsommar was amazing!

What is Midsommar? I found out that it is the longest day of sunlight of the year it was still light outside at midnight so we got there at 1 and drank wine, Swedish schnaaps (40 percent) and ate swedish herring then we went and danced around the midsommar field.

I spent the entire day with my boyfriend and his family. Including his adorable Swedish cousins! As if talking to children isn't hard enough when you are an unfamiliar face, I had to face the challenge of a language barrier as well. At one point during the day, Alma, a two year old girl came up to me and spoke in Swedish, and all I could say was Hej! and asked her if she knew any English. The whole family witnessed this and got a good laugh at the two most confused girls in the room trying to communicate...

The Swedish Food 

I decided that the dishes alone deserved its very own passage in my midsommar post! Everything so fresh with bold flavors and unique presentation. Starting from the right of the table, we had a Crisp bread in Swedish means knäckebröd. This is a flat and dry Nordic type of bread or cracker, containing mostly rye flour. It is popular in armies and schools because of its light weight and simple, transport-friendly shape. Also, it is very cheap and if stored in dry conditions it will keep fresh and edible for a very long time. Next we have Gravad lax, (French in origin) is a dill-cured salmon which should preferably be served with a mustard sauce.