5/16/2023 0 Comments Midsummer in smalland![]() Just don't forget to make things festive with flowers, candles, pretty table linens and dishes, and, if you can swing it, a real fire! If you'd like to try your hand at your own midsummer party, feel free to steal liberally from the menu above. Next year I'll make sure to have the flower crown activity ready to go, I'll decorate more with some Scandinavian flags and a mini maypole or two (I don't think I could swing a giant one), and aquavit is definitely going on the menu for next year. In all, a delightful party, despite the weather, and one I'm definitely going to repeat. That was the only platter of sandwiches to be totally gone by the end of the evening. To a person the 15+ people who attended loved it. But the runaway surprise hit of the afternoon was the brunost with strawberry jam. ![]() ![]() The extra creamy rice pudding with raspberries was my take on the Swedish rice pudding the society made by the gallons for the big Scandinavian festival I grew up attending every year. The rhubarb gin turned out divine, and everyone was curiously addicted to the elderflower punch. The pickled beets went home with another friend who loves them, and the last bits of the extremely good creamy cucumber salad went home with another friend's kids, who couldn't stop eating it. I sent the jar home with a friend who fell in love. It was my Swedish grandpa's favorite, but although it was nowhere near as bad as I feared as a child, the creamy sweet-and-sour flavor was not my favorite. I tried pickled herring for the first time. The midsummer porch picnic was born and now I want to do one every year! Scandinavian Midsummer MenuĪlthough the party was a smash success (the first guest arrived at 2 pm - the last left at 10:30 pm), and we did get our bonfire outdoors, we were having too much fun to make the flower crowns I had planned! And the unseasonably chilly weather (a high of just 63 F after the previous day's high of 90 F was a bit of a shock) did put the kibosh on some of our plans. There are far fewer of us out East than back home, so I decided to introduce my friends to a real Scandinavian party. Here in the northern United States, it just means the sun sets a little later than normal.Įver since my mom died, I've been feeling the need to reconnect with my Scandinavian roots. As the longest day of the year for the Northern hemisphere, the summer solstice near the Arctic circle means just a few hours of twilight, and no actual nighttime, for weeks. Midsummer also heralds the season of midnight sun. Spring fish runs, woodland strawberries, and early vegetables like new potatoes all reflect the arrival of the summer season in Scandinavia, which is later than in most of Europe. Salmon, shrimp, herring, sour cream, dill, cucumbers, strawberries, almond-flavored desserts, and whipped cream feature prominently in most Midsummer menus, along with copious amounts of aquavit (which, sadly, I could not find in my local liquor stores). John's Eve - is the night before midsummer, and in Norway is often celebrated with huge bonfires, including the one in Ålesund, Norway, which features the largest bonfire in the world! In Sweden, where midsommar is the biggest deal in all of the Nordic countries, the maypole is generally the center of midsummer celebrations. Celebrated since pagan Viking times, the festival emphasized the importance of the sun and fire. Then it would get raised up at the park and everything felt festive! The picnic would be held in a big covered park pavilion, and we'd often have live music or visiting Scandinavian bands, but the food was the main attraction. The morning of, we'd wire leftover fresh flowers onto the garland and then deck the maypole, which had to have been at least 20 feet tall. ![]() My florist parents and I would do all the decorations for the maypole - a local guy would bring a huge harvest of poplar and cottonwood branches to serve as the greenery, and my dad would wire it all onto feet and feet of garland. ![]() We'd have a big potluck, replete with Scandinavian goodies, in a local park, raise a giant maypole, and then sing and dance Swedish songs around it. Today is Midsummer! The summer solstice is a big deal in Scandinavian countries, and I grew up celebrating it with my local Swedish Society. ![]()
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