We were fortunate enough this year to be able to spend Christmas and New Year’s Eve with my family in Bozeman, Montana. We of course brought some Swedish Christmas traditions to the holiday festivities, but had a more American New Year’s Eve. So, what does this have to do about Swedish visas? Well, it seems … Read more
Wow, a year has come and gone so quickly! 2011 was my first full year in Sweden. And boy how much was learned and experienced! As you may remember, in March I experienced the Northern lights for the first time. I’ve seen them since, and hope to see them much more! In March I also … Read more
Last year I experienced my first full blown Swedish Christmas. This year we decided to take a trip across the pond to visit my family in Montana. I didn’t want my Swede to feel homesick, so we brought some things to make it a Swedish Christmas as well. First off, I wanted to bring something … Read more
Snow? Check. Panicked shoppers? Check. Christmas cheese? Check! With Christmas only 6 days away, there is a buzz in the air. Over the weekend a friend and I decided to check out some of this buzz by stopping by Skellefteå’s Christmas market. Now I’ve been to my share of Christmas markets. Prague loves to have … Read more
While my lussebullar the american way turned out yummy, I decided to do them from scratch on Lucia. The recipe itself wasn’t much harder, but for some reason the dough wanted to be kneaded for hours! I eventually gave up, and I did miss the lucia crowning ceremony at the church because of the long … Read more
Lucia is coming up this weekend, and what does that mean? Lussebullar! Since there is a big snow storm here, I decided to make some. The American way. First, buy a box of lussebullar mix. Put the yeast in warm water for 5 minutes. Put the mix in a bowl. Add the yeast and mix … Read more
This post was written in November 2011. So far there has been no recorded snowfall in Sweden. For Norrland, that doesn’t mean that it isn’t white! Over the weekend the temperature dropped below 0C multiple times. And with the mist in the air, what did we get? Frost, everywhere! It was one of the most … Read more
So last year I was a wimp, and ran away for all of November and February, the “worse” months in Norrland, at least according to a few Swedes that live here. Last year we had lasting snow from October 15th. This year? No snowfall yet! Which I have to say, makes the fall a little … Read more
Halloween. The holiday I miss the most. The holiday that I refuse to forget. And the holiday that I force on my European friends whether they like it or not! Luckily, it is not as hard as it may seem. Halloween has been making its way to Europe for years, and each year it grows. … Read more