Easter in Sweden

      So I wanted to post this on actual Easter Sunday, but unfortunately I  found myself ill with the flu and then life happened. We were  fortunate  enough to  spend  Easter  at Anton's parents' house and his grandparents' house.

      Easter  here is a lot different than my experiences with Easter in the US. While it is a  religious holiday,  I will be talking about the other differences. Here Easter is similar, but there are witches who ask for candy  like at Halloween. Anton says that on Easter the witches fly to blåkulla. And because of that kids dress up as påskkärringar, or Easter witches. I don't  really understand  and haven't  had the time to do the  research, but I am sure there's a lot more to it than that. We saw two children's witch costumes while shopping  and if Rosa was older, I think I would have bought one. I  want her to celebrate  both traditions when possible. 

Great Grandma Toll's Easter tree

      Decorating for Easter here seems to include  chicks, hens, and eggs. The most common decoration I have noticed is colorful synthetic feathers put on trees outside. While at Grandma's house we decorated the eggs after they were cooled with crayons. Rosa  was given an Easter  basket from the Easter  bunny, but here usually children receive  a large decorated  cardboard egg filled with candy.

      When I was young my mom had lots of beautiful  Easter decorations with bunnies, flowers, eggs, and chicks. We would always get egg  coloring kits with color dye tablets,  sometimes  with plastic cling  decorators, sparkles, stickers, or a white crayon so you can see your design around the dye.  We would then hide these eggs and plastic filled candy eggs for an Easter egg hunt. My mom always bought the  good candy or chocolates. We also  received  baskets with toys, candy, and  sometimes an outfit. I remember receiving a jump rope one year and when I was  older there were a couple of cds in my basket. I am not positive but I  think my sister and I received  our purple  bikes from the Easter  bunny. That old Easter bunny,  he (she) was so good to us! We  had a tradition of having an Easter cake when we had Easter with my grandmother in Tennessee. While the holiday as a child definitely held an emphasis on sugar, I  remember most all the fun I had.

Rosa, ready for Easter!

      Like Christmas  dinner in Sweden, Easter dinner is celebrated on the eve; so it is  Saturday, not Sunday. There is a special  Easter  drink called  Påskmust. It tastes  very similar to Julmust at Christmas time, but not quite the same. The flavor is rich and spicy like gingerbread, but light and crisper than the bolder Julmust. Also  flowers are huge at Easter  here. Of course it being the beginning  of spring I'm  sure that plays a part, but I am  sure there is never a  Easter where my mother-in-law and my husband's grandmother  does not have flowers! 

Egg decorating.

      Traditional  fare for Swedish  Easter is eggs and fish. More specifically  medium to hard boiled eggs, salmon or lox, and different  types of herring. Whatever else  is traditional to one's family is there too, like meatballs. In the US the two most common things we eat are baked ham and potatoes. A  lot of people like to get the honey or maple  flavored hams. Potatoes can be in any form, au gratin, mashed, cheesy potato  casserole, whatever way you like your potatoes. In my family,  like I know many others do, we adopt favorite side dishes from Thanksgiving or Christmas to have as well like green bean casserole and stuffing /dressing. Other dishes people like to serve are greens, sweet  potatoes, corn,  macaroni and cheese,  applesauce, rolls or biscuits, etc. Now that  people are  trying to eat healthier I am not sure what they are replacing their ham with, but I am sure it's festive. We made  green  bean casserole and tarragon  stuffing to add to Easter dinner.

    

My Easter Dinner

Our Easter Feast

       Our Easter was nice, but I look forward to next year when I can color eggs and do a Easter egg hunt with Rosa. It makes me happy thinking about relaying my traditions on her and seeing her enjoyment in them. She is one lucky little lady to have two ways to celebrate! Until next time...