Mother’s parents
emigrated from Sweden in the early part of the 20th 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!
This is the BIG ONE!
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Love it! Especially the idea of opening presents Christmas eve! I am so impatient...ask my parents!
ReplyDeleteThe over-eating continues to this day. With less chores to shift some of it...
ReplyDeleteI think I could only go for opening gifts Christmas Eve if I was guaranteed the same procedure on Christmas morning lol.
ReplyDeleteWhat great memories! And good luck on the book contest!!
ReplyDeleteI love these memories! Playing Monopoly with self-made rules until 4 a.m. and then getting up to do chores made me wince, though :)
ReplyDelete