More Swedish-ness

This past weekend at the cottage, I participated in two very Swedish activities.

The first was the lingon experience.  The lingon plant grows very low to the ground, under the cover of birch and evergreen trees.  Depending on the exposure to sunlight, the berries ripen to a deep red in late August or September.  Here in Sweden, there is evidently a 'proper' weekend to begin picking -- I guess so that everyone gets an equal opportunity to forage the forests for these tart little gems.  The berry pickers that we used for blueberries come in very handy when there are good quantities of fruit available.  We sorted our find and then Jennie cooked them a very short time with some sugar.  They retain their tartness and make an excellent accompaniment to savoury dishes like the traditional palt (potato ball with meat filling), but are also great with waffles (the Swedish ones are thinner and crispier than what I make at home) and on cooked oatmeal.

Then last night, we lit candles all along the deck and the dock and placed our chairs at the end of the dock to watch the boat parade.  Led by the little local tourboat- Emma - there were 95 motorboats altogether that went by in the dark with at least 2 or 3 lights each.  It was a delightful show.