J = Jansson frestelse in Swedish and Jansson`s teptation in English

Jansson`s tempration is an old and good Swedish dish available to all kind of smorgasbord and eaten both at Christmas, Middle summer , but even during the year.Just because it is so good.

And I men GOOOOOOOD.

Smile.

If you have hard time to find pickled sprats at your shop, make a trip to visit that huge Swedish furniture store you might have close by.

4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

• Potatoes, peeled -- 2 pounds
• Butter -- 4 tablespoons
• Onions, thinly sliced -- 2
• Swedish preserved sprats, rinsed (see variations) -- 1 (3.5-ounce) tin
• Heavy cream -- 3 cups
• Salt and white pepper -- to season
• Bread crumbs -- 1/2 cup

Method

1. Oven to 375°F. Slice the potatoes into 1/4-inch rounds, then cut the rounds into 1/4-inch strips.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons of the butter in a saute pan or skillet over medium flame. Add the onions and saute onions until wilted and translucent but not browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.
3. Butter a deep casserole dish on the butter and sides. Layer one third of the potatoes evenly over the bottom of the casserole, seasoning lightly with salt and pepper. Next spread one half of the onions over the potatoes, and half the sprats over the onions, lightly seasoning each layer with salt and pepper. Spread another third of the potatoes in the dish, followed by the remaining onions and the rest of the sprats and finishing with the rest of the potatoes, seasoning each layer.
4. Bring the cream to a simmer in a saucepan, then pour it evenly into the casserole dish. Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the top of the potatoes. Dot the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter over the breadcrumbs.
5. Place the casserole on a baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour, or until the potatoes are cooked through and the dish is browned and bubbling.

Welcome to Sweden !

I = Innebandy in Swedish and floorball in English

Floorball,  is similar to floor hockey, with a plastic whiffle ball used instead of a puck.
It is the most popular indoor sport in Sweden.

In floorball , there are two teams. Each team has five players plus the goalkeeper while on the field. You can use a  substitute for the game that is very intense. You should shoot the ball into the net, just like in hockey.. The team that scores the most goals wins.

It was invented in Sweden in the 1970s, so  is a young sport growing very fast, and today the Swedes are easily the world’s best.
Smile.
They are several times Worldchampion.

With such dominance, one would think that the pressure on players in the Swedish  floorballs sports system would be enormous, but that isn’t the case.
The goal of the sport system is “young people having something to do in their free time, It's not about being the best in town."
And this thinking is so typical for a Sweden . You do not need to be the best, but DO your best.
Have fun.

More than 22,000 clubs are part of the Swedish Sports Confederation, with total membership numbering more then three million – an incredible number for a country with ten million  people.

This sport is very popular among children.  70% of all players are under the age of 17.

And it is a cheap sport.  Everyone can do it.

So, dear readers, today you have learned a new word:.

Floorball and Innebandy.

Welcome to Sweden!

H = Hälsingegårdar in Swedish and Hälsinge farms in English.

When I thought about what I'll write about the letter H, I thought directly at the Hälsingegårdar.
Do not ask me why.
Me  and Hälsingegårdar ...are in lifelong love.

I have read so much about these farms, studied their architecture, their work, read books about how these  poor but even wealthy farmers lived ..
It might live a Hälsignegårds girl in my soul.
Who knows.
I want write little about their history, their arkitekture. what they did and show you some picture.






History:

The inland ice disappeared from Hälsingland more than 9,000 years ago, and this was also when people first came to these parts. They lived on hunting, fishing and gathering.

Gradually they began to keep domestic cattle and eventually crop farming also came to our region.

Houses:
These houses were built in a time when most of what you needed in life was produced on your own farm. There was milk, meat, grain, potatoes, winter feed for the animals. There was flax and butter. All of them had to be sown and harvested, prepared, processed and stored. It was not just on the farm where buildings for people, animals, feed, tools and crops were needed. These were also needed by the summer pastures, the mowable bogs and the fishing spots by the sea and lakes. All in all, a farm in Hälsingland could consist of some thirty buildings, and sometimes as many as fifty.

Nowhere else are the traces of history as tangible as in old wooden carvings.

Over hundreds of years, thousands of hands have created an essence that only time can offer. In the farmhouses of Hälsingland the work would be of a high quality. 
The farmers would use the best wood from their own forests.

Forest:

The forest would prove to be the best source of profit. Throughout history it has offered grass and leaves for fodder, wood for heating, bog ore for iron, timber for buildings and birch bark for roofs.

But above all it was the sale of tracts of forest and felling rights that became a vital source of income in the mid 1800s, when cotton began to outcompete flax

Flax :

 

Flax played a central role in the province. It most likely made an essential contribution to the grand building tradition, as flax cultivation yielded a surplus that could be processed and sold.

The good quality and the extensive knowledge concerning flax processing became the characteristic of Hälsingland farmers early on. For this reason, they also started decorating their homes with textiles at an early stage.

Welcome to Sweden!

G = Godis in Swedish and Sweets in English

If you visit a Swedish family with children under 10, you will hear some special words related to candy.

Lördagsgodis,

It means: Saturdays sweets.

”Lördagsgodis "was in the 1950s - and '60s, a concept of parental rules that children only get to eat candy during Saturdays. By children's sweets intake was limited to a single day of the week wreaked it is not as extensive caries that everyday snacking of sweets. If the kids get sweets as a gift during a another day than Saturday, these sweets are put aside and can be consumed only during Saturday.

It would help children brush 'their teeth properly' and ... no candy over until the next Saturday.

The point is; it is not important how much you eat, but how often.

Do you eat a lot at one time, then you're just sick. 

And you know what? It works.

Up to 10 years, I Think,

After that are Children to smart to see, you are eating candy and :

" Mom, it is not Saturday, "

" What? Isn`t it?"

"Sorry, honey, I Count Days wrong, again, "

Smile.

Welcome to Sweden !

F = Fika in Swedish and Coffe Break in English

"Fika" is one of the most important word in refreshments.

"Fika" is a social institution in Sweden, it means taking a break from one activity to drink coffee with friends, family or acquaintances. To drink, it's common to eat some kind of sweet, classically it is bullar, cakes and /or cookies, sandwiches. This tradition of a coffee break with a snack is central to Swedish culture, with Swedes as one of the world's biggest coffee consumers.

At my job, we have "fika" twice a day.
Officially.
There is coffee, tea, and rusks.
But on Fridays, we have a "big" fika with different varieties of bread, boiled eggs, caviar, cheeses, ham, vegetables, paté, pickled cucumber.
It is a sacred time for the entire department.
All are involved .
Managers, high and low, all the staff. Ideally at the same time and everyone talks to everyone.
In some strange way your work is happier on Friday, than other days.

Welcome to Sweden !

E = Ekerö in Swedish and Ekerö in English

:

Many who have visited Sweden says, that from the airplane windows ,  Sweden looks like  a lots of forest ,lots of lakes, seas and islands..
And it's true.

Stockholm is built on different islands. The largest, and  the one I want to talk about today, is Ekerö and literally means "Oak Island". Ekerö is the only municipality in the Lake Mälaren region composed EXCLUSIVELY of Islands.
Land elevation has reduced the number of islands and skerries to 140.
Municipality (Ekerö kommun) is a municipality in the province of Uppland in Stockholm County in east central Sweden.


Even if the City of Stockholm is the official capital of Sweden, The King of Sweden actually lives in Ekerö Municipality, at the Drottningholm Palace




The municipality contains two UNESCO World Heritage Sites. One is Birka, an old Viking Age village, and the other is Drottningholm Palace and its surroundings.





Welcome to Sweden !

D = Dagis in Swedish, Kindergarten in English

To talk about Sweden and not to mention the Swedish kindergarten, is not possible.
 It is very important thing in every family's Life.

The Swedish school system offers comprehensive education for children from age 6 up to university, entirely free of charge. If your children are under the age of 6, extensive preschool/day care services are available at a heavily subsidised cost.

School and preschool are the responsibility of each municipality.



 

Today, some 80 per cent of one- to five-year-olds attend preschool in Sweden, if only for a few hours a day. This is high by international standards, and one explanation lies in Sweden’s large share of dual-earner families.
Fees are based on your household income as well as the number of children you currently have enrolled. The maximum monthly cost for your first child is SEK 1,260; a successively lower cost then applies per additional child. Every child is guaranteed a place in a preschool after turning 1, subject to certain regulations.

Children's groups in kindergarten is not large.
Those small one, between 1 - 3 years, those max of 15 in the group and has three teachers.
 Older children, they are 18 and also has three
teachers in the group ..
There are plenty of outdoor play in kindergarten, and this phrase: There is no bad weather, there are only bad clothes, was founded right here.
In kindergarten.

Welcome to Sweden !

 

 

C = Celsius, a famose Swede.

Did you know, that Anders Celsius (27 November 1701 – 25 April 1744) was a Swedish astronomer, physicist and mathematician.?
Now you know it.
Smile.
He was professor of astronomy at  Uppsala University,  from 1730 to 1744, but traveled from 1732 to 1735 visiting notable observatories in Germany, Italy and France.
He founded Uppsala Astronomical Observatory in 1741, and in 1742 proposed the Celsius temperature scale which bears his name.
Celsius.

Welcome to Sweden !

B = Bullar in Swedish, Buns in English.

Buns, especially cinnamon buns , are a part of Sweden, Swedes. A part of who we are.
Did you know that we love our buns so much, that we celebrate special day in the year, October 4th, as a  cinnamon bun day ?

I really want to encourage everyone to try  to bake these buns themselves.
It is not so hard to make and they taste  so much better, than  the ones, you can buy in IKEA.

Here is one of recipes  in English, I found on the net:

Swedish Cinnamon Buns “Bullar”

Dough
3 packages of dry yeast (40-50g)
1 cup of butter
2 cups of milk
½ tsp of salt
½ cup of sugar
5 -5 ½ cups of flour
2 tsp cardamom
Filling
Spreadable butter
Sugar
Cinnamon
Melt the butter and mix it with the milk in a pot.  Using a thermometer heat it until approx. 115 F and then pour it into a bowl. Add sugar and salt, stir. Mix the flour and the yeast together before pouring into the bowl and mix it with the rest.

Work the dough until it is smooth.  Put it aside and let it rise under cover in the bowl for 30-40 min.
After it has doubled in size divide the dough into 4 parts. Roll out each part until it is 1/4″ thick. Try to make it fairly square. Brush dough with the butter. Sprinkle sugar and cinnamon on top of the butter to your taste. Roll up into a cylinder shape and cut each cylinder crosswise into 10-12 pieces. Put each piece into a muffin cup and place them in a warm place and let it rise again under cover for about 30 minutes. Brush the buns with an egg wash and then sprinkle with “pearl-sugar” (you can buy that at IKEA). Bake the buns in the middle of the oven for 7-10 minutes 475 F (225 C). Makes about 48 buns.  These freeze well and are great warm.

A - Allemansrätt in Swedish, Right of Public Access in English

I start big.
With a prime number.
In the letter A, I will tell you about something  special and so dear to all Swedes.

Allemansrätt in Swedish, Right of Public Access in English
is a freedom granted by the Swedish Constitution which  says that despite the right to own property, "everyone should have access to the countryside under the right of public access."
Many Swedish people consider this to be a form of legacy or human right. Thus to put up a 'no trespassing' sign would be considered a violation.
Smile.

 However, there are laws that restrict allemansrätten, in order to protect vulnerable areas for example. But as long as you don’t camp in someone’s garden, leave rubbish or cause any damage, you normally have the right to roam freely in forests, have a swim in someone else’s water, put up a tent and stay for a couple of nights and pick wild berries and mushrooms.

Welcome to Sweden.