Swedish Midsummer Party 2022

Hooray for traditions, and hosting our 3rd Swedish Midsummer Party. If you're new here, you can see the first two parties here and here. 

As you know, my dad is Swedish (we visit his family fairly often in Sweden & are always inspired by the landscape and style of dreamy Sweden!). So a few years ago, when I was thinking about the traditions I wanted to start with my own kids, it made so much sense to incorporate my Swedish heritage and throw a Midsummer party! 

A Swedish family lunch

Have I ever mentioned to you all that my dad is Swedish and that we are kinda-sorta-really into being Swedish? We grew up hosting our Swedish cousins (many of them came to live with us), and visiting our Swedish family in the mother land. Some of my most idyllic memories happened around picking berries and milking cows at my family's farm in Sweden, swooning over the quint yellow and red houses, swimming in their endless lakes, eating crayfish dinners on warm breezy nights, and being spellbound in Stockholm's old city of Gamla Stan. The last 8 years or so we've done reunions both in Sweden and in the USA with our cousins in Sweden...you can read about our last reunion in Yosemite here.

Anyway, this past Sunday my sweet Aunt Susan decided it was time to get the family together and have a huge Swedish meal. Everyone was instructed to bring something Swedish, and it was literally a blast! What is Swedish food you might ask? (As my checker at Trader Joe's asked me...) Well...let me tell you:

- Swedish meatballs: This one you may have heard of! Trust me, the homemade ones are 100 times better than what Ikea has to offer. They are literally soo yummy! But a total staple to any Swedish meal!
- Lingonberry sauce: I will forever put lingonberries on everything...they are so delightful!
- Potatoes with herbs: Red potatoes tossed in olive oil or butter, sprinkled with fresh herbs like parsley or dill. So so good!
- Baked Beans (Bruna Bönor): These are your traditional beans, but quite a bit sweeter
- Potato Sausage (Potatis Skorv)
- Pickled cucumbers- they are actually very refreshing and offset the meat and potatoes!

- Pickled Herring- Can't say I like this...at all. All the in-laws were trying it, but for us kids who grew up on it, we knew better than to even take one piece haha! 

- Salmon- Sweden, having so much coastline is known for it's yummy salmon! 

- Swedish Cheesecake (Ostkaka)- I seriously love this version of cheesecake. It's more like curds, and you put this delicious homemade berry sauce on it. 

- Swedish hard bread (Knackbrod)- whenever we are in Sweden, we will find this at almost any meal. It's like a hard cracker you can put cheese or anything on! 

There's more, but i'll stop there, haha! Getting to sit with all my family, including my 91 year old grandpa was such a treat. After thanking God, we dug into the food…and after food, enjoyed a fika (or Swedish coffee break!) There is just nothing like being with family that you love and feel loved by:)

And if you made it through and are interested in some pics from our time in Sweden last summer, here are a few fun posts with pretty Scandinavian pics:

Stockholm
Uto Island
Swedish Style (just LOVE their clean designs!)
Lacko Slot Castle

xoxox

Castles in Sweden // Lacko Slot

Kevin and I went to Sweden with literally no plans. My Swedish cousins pretty much planned our whole trip and played tour guides, and it was perfect. My one request was that we could tour a castle! I'm such a nerd and love castles SO much, and this one did not disappoint! Lacko Slot is located on lake Vanern, and is Scandanavian through and through (I kept pretending I was Anna or Elsa from Frozen, haha)

The castle was originally built in 1298, and expanded almost every century! The setting for the castle was absolutely stunning…sitting right on the shore of the lake, surrounded by gorgeous gardens and grass. We packed a picnic and ate before moving into the castle to take a tour!

After the tour we headed over to a little town nearby for Fika!! Fika is a coffee/treat break that Swedes are obsessed with- i've already told Kev we need to adopt the tradition, hehe! The boys fished and us girls laid around on the grass…it was lovely!

If you are ever in central Sweden, Lacko Slot is a perfect day trip!!