We celebrated Christmas together at home this year, Hannah, Emma, Caroline and me. The weather was nothing to write about, generally grey and quite close to zero out side…no sign of the Swedish winter, no snow, no frost, not an icicle insight. In side, we had at least decorated the flat with Christmas lights in the windows and on the balcony, plenty of candles and a Christmas tree. 
I put up the tree, then Hannah and Emma decorated it on Sunday evening on the 23rd. Christmas Eve is the big day in Sweden and Germany, so we decided to stay with this and open presents in the evening. We started the day with the traditional Swedish morning dish of warm rice pudding with cinnamon. At 11 we drove into town and went to the German church in the old town for their Christmas service. This added to the German content for Christmas and I think Caroline was very pleased we all went along with her for this service, filled with children and a nativity play. In the evening we ate quite a Swedish dinner with pickled fish to start with and then cooked ham, red cabbage and a creamy potato and anchovy pie. Then we all sat down and opened the surprisingly large collection of presents which lay under the tree.
Christmas day was mostly spent preparing the Christmas dinner, with our 6kg turkey. We sat down to eat in the afternoon to eat our traditional English Christmas meal with roast potatoes, parsnip, sprouts, bread sauce, stuffing, and of course the turkey. After a short break, we all went to the cinema together to see a film, The Golden Compass, with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.
I think we had a good Christmas together with a decent mix of traditions… and it was another first, celebrating Christmas with Caroline and the girls. Now we just need to find a way to use up all the leftover turkey and ham!
I put up the tree, then Hannah and Emma decorated it on Sunday evening on the 23rd. Christmas Eve is the big day in Sweden and Germany, so we decided to stay with this and open presents in the evening. We started the day with the traditional Swedish morning dish of warm rice pudding with cinnamon. At 11 we drove into town and went to the German church in the old town for their Christmas service. This added to the German content for Christmas and I think Caroline was very pleased we all went along with her for this service, filled with children and a nativity play. In the evening we ate quite a Swedish dinner with pickled fish to start with and then cooked ham, red cabbage and a creamy potato and anchovy pie. Then we all sat down and opened the surprisingly large collection of presents which lay under the tree.Christmas day was mostly spent preparing the Christmas dinner, with our 6kg turkey. We sat down to eat in the afternoon to eat our traditional English Christmas meal with roast potatoes, parsnip, sprouts, bread sauce, stuffing, and of course the turkey. After a short break, we all went to the cinema together to see a film, The Golden Compass, with Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.
I think we had a good Christmas together with a decent mix of traditions… and it was another first, celebrating Christmas with Caroline and the girls. Now we just need to find a way to use up all the leftover turkey and ham!
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