Swedish Christmas Day

Mother’s parents emigrated from Sweden in the early part of the 20^th century.

These are the Swedish/Canadian Christmas customs passed on to their family . . .

From my uncles’ journals . . .

Grandma, grands and aunties.

Grandma and the grands.

Uncle Roy: After unwrapping our presents, we stayed up late with our new toys or board games (Monopoly, Snakes and Ladders, Chinese Checkers) and snacked on nuts (Brazil nuts, hazel, nuts, walnuts and peanuts), Japanese oranges, chocolates and Mama’s delicious cookies. Late to bed, tired and happy, there was no desire to rise early on Christmas morning. Perhaps the Scandinavian Christmas Eve tradition had its origin from the desire of parents to sleep a little later on Christmas morning!

Uncle Don: One Christmas, we received a Monopoly game. We began to play without reading the rules beforehand.

When we lit on an opponent’s property and couldn’t pay the rent, we would offer one of our properties for sale which would be enthusiastically bid on by the other players in the game.

By the rules we should have mortgaged our property to the bank at half its value.

Anyway, as I recall, no one was able to gain an upper hand so the game went on until 4 am when we were too tired to play.

Everyone went to bed with the game still unfinished and all participants still in!

Uncle Leif: However, there were chores to be done so we couldn’t sleep in for too long. Mother was always up bright and early, preparing Christmas Day breakfast, including lots of cold fish (herring and anchovies), hard boiled eggs and, of course, cinnamon buns. Mother had filleted and pickled the herring a few weeks prior to Christmas. Anchovies were small fish (4 inches long), pickled whole. Probably to shock visitors, some of the boys ate the head and all!

The hosting of Christmas and New Year’s Day dinners (served mid-afternoon) rotated among the Berg families of Pete and Ellen [my parents], Sigvard and Erna [My uncle and his wife] and Henrik and Anna [Another uncle and his wife]. It was a joyous time spent visiting, playing card games, checkers, etc.

The only time liquor was served in the home was if guests were present, as on Christmas and New Year’s Day. Adults would take their whiskey straight from a shot glass, prior to the main meal.

Uncle Roy: Two enormous meals were served, one at noon and another at about 7 pm. Featured were roast turkey or goose with dressing, vegetables, mashed potatoes, gravy and all the trimmings, finished off with mince pie, fruitcake and cookies.

I remember being stuffed so full that I could hardly move, but I couldn’t compete with Bern and Leonard Rasmussen [a family friend] who were the easy winners of the big eaters’ contest.

Fortunately, between dinner and supper, we had a few outdoor chores (milking cows and feeding animals) which relieved some of the pressure on our stomachs before returning for more food (GROAN! GROAN!)

Pickled Herring (Grandma Berg’s recipe)

Jar of pickled herring fillets without the cucumber pickles [They can be purchased at your local grocery store]

Cut the herring into bite-sized pieces and place a layer in a glass bowl.

Cover with thinly-sliced red onions.

Follow with alternate layers of herring and red onions until the herring have all been used.

Brine: ½ cup water

½ cup vinegar

½ cup sugar

1 Teaspoon mixed spices

Boil brine for 5 minutes. Allow to cool. Strain to remove spices.

Pour over herring and onion layers.

Let marinate for several days before eating. Note—do not sample early!

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