Well, this friday the traditional celebration of Midsummer's Eve takes place here in Sweden, among many considered our unofficial national day! Its one of those old summer solstice fertility rites, celebrating the coming of the light, warmth and plenty, that the Church was never quite able to get rid of when the area was converted. Instead of traditionally sacrificing animals and/or slaves and hoisting the carcasses on poles, we now tend to use flowers and leaves on the pole instead. The evening also often involves some serious barbecuing and drinking... This is indeed included in my plans as well, which involves a boat trip to our summer house (or rather small cottage) in Lake Vänern along with friends. So...a Happy Midsummer to you all, wherever you may be!
Hey Heartland, I'm curious, being a "foody" and all, as to what a Swedish barbeque would include. Looking forward to hearing all about it. Thanks. Later
Same to you, Heartland. In Scotland, tomorrow is celebrated as Bannockburn Day by some people, the anniversary of the battle in 1314 when Robert de Bruis, King of Scots thrashed an army led by Edward II of England and brought the Wars of Independence to a successful conclusion. From a completely different viewpoint, it's also the feast day of John the Baptist, patron saint of Freemasons. So they tell me, anyway....
Happy Midsummer´s Eve as well! Over here in Finland this is the biggest celebration of the summer. Cities are empty of people or almost and they go to their summer cottages to spend this celebration near a lake or by the sea. Also big parties at several camping sites for instance at Rauma some 80,000 people expected and also several bands do tours of Finland at the moment. One of the main moments is the bonfire
An easier question would be what it would not include, as just about anything can be used, as long as there is plenty of it! For example, girlfriend and me made did some Greek-style marinated chicken (lemon, olive oil, oregano, etc) along with some spicy lamb sausages. Another couple threw a large piece of beef on the grill (tenderloin I belevie the English word is...). Some pork chops landed somewhere in there as well I believe. We talked about having some fish as well, but in the end everyone opted for meat, birds and sausages. This is commonly served with a couple of different styles of potato sallad - we make our own with new potatoes, ruccola sallad, capers, thrown in a mustard/olive oil mix. Oh, and perhaps the most classic Midsummer food really are various types of pickled herring, along with the first potatoes of the summer. Like many others we did this as a light lunch (along with some spiced vodka!). Importantly, the desert consists of the first strawberries of the year... [ 27. June 2005, 05:26 AM: Message edited by: Heartland ]
And a very wonderful Midsummer Eve tonight! Over here people are going right now to their summer cottages to celebrate ! Lots of drinking..erhm..and festivals and a huge bonfire!
