Merry Xmas

[tezza]

It's nearly 9pm here in New Zealand and Xmas is just three hours away. Right now Annette is calling me for night-before kitchen duties for the feast for the dozen or so friends and family expected at our place tomorrow.

Xmas preparations are in full flight.

In the spirit of the season, I'd just like to thank everyone who'se conversed with me through this forum, and particularly those who have helped keep my collection going through timely advice and help. I've learnt a lot, and gained some confidence in maintaining and fixing these old "beasts" of mine. It's been a lot of fun; at times frustrating but mostly extremely satisfying. There are still some challenges ahead (e.g. my Commodore Pet) but I'm getting there.

Wherever you are in the world, have a safe, happy and very Merry Xmas

Tez

 

[MikeS]

Thank you Tez, and I'd like to echo your sentiments even though up here we've still got some time until the big event.

Had to start a thread of your own, eh? Well, I prefer the path less travelled myself ;-)

So, to everyone on this list, thanks for everything and warm greetings appropriate to the season!

 

[CP/M User]

Well I dare say it's 11pm around there now! ;-D It's just ticked over 9:21pm here in our part of Oz! :-D

 

[tezza]

Had to start a thread of your own, eh? Well, I prefer the path less travelled myself ;-)

Lol. I didn't see the old 2006 one lurking there. But hey, New Zealand gets Xmas first so why not. :D

Ok, about the hit the sack, all chores done. Have a good one.

Tez

 

[carlsson]

It's nearly 9pm here in New Zealand and Xmas is just three hours away.

It is so fun, at 9 PM on Christmas Eve you say it is only three hours away. Over here most of the celebration is done on the 24th so by now, noon on Christmas Day, it feels like Christmas is half over. All the giving out presents to the children was handled yesterday afternoon, so was the big family togethers and eating. On Christmas Day, some of the sales have already begun.

 

[per]

It is so fun, at 9 PM on Christmas Eve you say it is only three hours away. Over here most of the celebration is done on the 24th so by now, noon on Christmas Day, it feels like Christmas is half over. All the giving out presents to the children was handled yesterday afternoon, so was the big family togethers and eating. On Christmas Day, some of the sales have already begun.

It's like that in Norway too.

What traditional Yule-meal do you usually eat in Sweeden? In wester'n Norway (at least where I live), we eat "Pinnekjøtt".

 

[CP/M User]

Well Christmas is over for us, I dare say there's only a couple of places which are still on Christmas day, so I dare say we'll start it all over again in another 365 days! :-D

We live in a very odd place where everyone tells us the roads are full of traffic and yet when we went out yesturday, it was very quiet! :-D

 

[mbbrutman]

The kids had a good time tracking Santa's progress on NoradSanta.Com. It is convincing enough that I know some adults might get nervous about it. ;-)

 

[carlsson]

What traditional Yule-meal do you usually eat in Sweeden?

Most families eat julbord, the Christmas variation of a smorgasbord. It consists of picked herring in as many different seasonings you can find, served with warm potatoes. Then sliced ham, some other cold cut meat, egg halves with shrimps and/or caviar, different kinds of cold, sliced salmon, occasionally some vegetarian dish etc. The warm food is concentrated to small hot dogs, meatballs, possibly spare ribs and "Jansson's Temptation", a special dish made from sliced potatoes, onion, anchovies and cream, baked in the oven.

On Christmas Day, there may be a bigger variation on what is served: anything from a pork or beef dish to lamb or even turkey which reportingly has become more common even in non-expat families. Our family never served turkey though.

 

[per]

Most families eat julbord, the Christmas variation of a smorgasbord. It consists of picked herring in as many different seasonings you can find, served with warm potatoes. Then sliced ham, some other cold cut meat, egg halves with shrimps and/or caviar, different kinds of cold, sliced salmon, occasionally some vegetarian dish etc. The warm food is concentrated to small hot dogs, meatballs, possibly spare ribs and "Jansson's Temptation", a special dish made from sliced potatoes, onion, anchovies and cream, baked in the oven.

On Christmas Day, there may be a bigger variation on what is served: anything from a pork or beef dish to lamb or even turkey which reportingly has become more common even in non-expat families. Our family never served turkey though.

Pretty similar to Norway, but we usually have "Julebord" sometime before Yule, usually arranged by the company where we work.

"Pinnekjøtt" is ribs of sheep, salted (sometimes smoked too), then steamed on top of some sticks of birch. It is served with mashed rutabaga, potatos, and some kind of brown sauce.

Other Norwegian traditions is Juleribbe (ribbs from swine, usually eaten in sout or east parts of Norway), Juletorsk (Cod, Also common in western parts of Norway), Lutefisk (sun-dried Cod, prepared in lye, western and problably northern parts of Norway. Not too common), Pizza Grandioza (Low-quality frozenpizza, Everybody who doesn't care at all about traditions).

 

[Terry Yager]

Most families eat julbord, the Christmas variation of a smorgasbord. It consists of picked herring in as many different seasonings you can find, served with warm potatoes. Then sliced ham, some other cold cut meat, egg halves with shrimps and/or caviar, different kinds of cold, sliced salmon, occasionally some vegetarian dish etc. The warm food is concentrated to small hot dogs, meatballs, possibly spare ribs and "Jansson's Temptation", a special dish made from sliced potatoes, onion, anchovies and cream, baked in the oven.

On Christmas Day, there may be a bigger variation on what is served: anything from a pork or beef dish to lamb or even turkey which reportingly has become more common even in non-expat families. Our family never served turkey though.

That does it! I'm moving to Sveden!!! Caviar...mmmmmmn...

--T

 

[Terry Yager]

Pretty similar to Norway, but we usually have "Julebord" sometime before Yule, usually arranged by the company where we work.

"Pinnekjøtt" is ribs of sheep, salted (sometimes smoked too), then steamed on top of some sticks of birch.

Drool... Yellow Birch is my favorite (sweet) wood for smoking/BBQ-ing with, although most Americans prefer sum'n like Apple or Hickory. For a spicier taste, you can't beat Russian Olive!

--T

 

[Ole Juul]

I'm kind of old fashioned and almost Victorian when it comes to this kind of thing, so Danish Christmas has to have a special rice porridge but I won't get into the details of that history now. As far as the food is concerned, I haven't done a traditional Danish Christmas for some years now.

One tradition that I do keep, however, is the traditional tree. I am rather old fashioned in that regard and use the Victorian hand made decorations which I do myself. I suspect that what I do is only seen in books and probably perhaps museums in Denmark now. I take this to the same extreme of authenticity that others do old computers on this forum. There are two kinds of candle holders which are prevelant. The clip-ons which are you can still buy (even in Canada) and the hanging (self leveling) ones like I have here. Those are easy to make yourself with little lead balls on the end. The only thing I'm missing is the tinsel. I lost mine some years ago and have not been able to find a replacement. Perhaps tin foil can still be purchaced somewhere and I could cut my own. The aluminum kind looks out of place on a tree like this and would be historically incorrect. Still, I'm keeping the tradition as well as I can. Here is this year's:

 

[carlsson]

Yes, a lot of restaurants serve julbord all through December, but it doesn't prevent many families to put together their own for Christmas.

We also eat lutfisk, but it is a dying tradition and frankly I've barely ever tasted it. It is a very lean and healthy food though, so dietists probably think it is one of the best choices of food for Christmas.

Frozen pizza, eh? I can imagine a home-made pizza from julbord leftovers: some ham, some meatballs, some cheese, add some tomatoes and so on. It may actually be a common meal a few days past Christmas.

 

[CP/M User]

carlsson wrote:

Yes, a lot of restaurants serve julbord all through December, but it doesn't prevent many families to put together their own for Christmas.

We also eat lutfisk, but it is a dying tradition and frankly I've barely ever tasted it. It is a very lean and healthy food though, so dietists probably think it is one of the best choices of food for Christmas.

To be quite frank Carlsson, I've never heard of any of those things, though I guess the food we eat rubs off from the places Australia looks too.

I come from the bush as you're probably aware, though my folks are originally from the City and they thought the problem with the bush was keeping track of the news and stuff happening in the City! Honestly it doesn't really matter where you are in the planet - since media deliberately show what they want you to see, rather than what the real facts are, what others do/have is illrevelant! Not that I'm a great supporter for copying others - perhaps Australia haven't got Christmas right, and what we're doing is incorrect - after all we've simply adopted some of the customs based on our ancesters which came to Australia, not that I want to offend them or anyone here. Sure I feel it's fine to accept Christmas, though perhaps it should be something more traditional and seperate from the rest of the world??

Frozen pizza, eh? I can imagine a home-made pizza from julbord leftovers: some ham, some meatballs, some cheese, add some tomatoes and so on. It may actually be a common meal a few days past Christmas.

I payed a hefty price twice after Christmas last year, battered fish & chips. I nearly very bad Stomach cramps because my body wasn't accepting Batter any longer. I paid the price twice because it wasn't until I got better after the first load, I had another Battered Fish and the pains came back - in that event it wasn't as bad, though because I ate it for Dinner I was up all night with the pains. The first lot was far worse cause I got it from the Fish & Chip Shop - which generally load the batter into the fish! I was in pain for a good couple of days (even on meds to ease the stomach cramps!). So no more batter for me - which I guess is good!

 

[carlsson]

In Australia, Christmas equals midsummer so you probably have other things to eat and ways to celebrate. I'd bet you can have a barbeque outside, take a swim at midnight... well, some people may try that in Sweden too. *brr*

You've never heard of lutfisk.. until a few years ago I had never heard of vegemite neither. Ok, those two products can in no way be compared, but that's another story.

 

[per]

You've never heard of lutfisk.. until a few years ago I had never heard of vegemite neither. Ok, those two products can in no way be compared, but that's another story.

When I thinks of lutefisk, I also think of other scandinavic fishmeals, like rakfisk (nearly the same as the Swedish surströmming). I wonder if it would legal to sell it in the US at all.

 

[tezza]

In Australia, Christmas equals midsummer so you probably have other things to eat and ways to celebrate. I'd bet you can have a barbeque outside, take a swim at midnight... well, some people may try that in Sweden too. *brr*.

Yep, you can do all that. Strangely, it's common to adhear to a Northern Hemisphere tradition. That means a big roast meal at midday (we had lamb). In the evening though, BBQs and swimming can be the order of the day.

Tez

 

[Ole Juul]

When I thinks of lutefisk, I also think of other scandinavic fishmeals, like rakfisk (nearly the same as the Swedish surströmming). I wonder if it would legal to sell it in the US at all.

Of course I've heard of lutfisk, but never had the oportunity to try it. I think its one of those things that "defines" Sweden. There are laws against it in some places even in Sweden isn't there? In Canada, most fermented products are illegal to sell so yes, lutfisk might not make it across the border. On the other hand, canned goods are sterelized, so .... who knows. You're certainly not going to get anything "live" here. lol

I grew up with many foods that would be considered strong nowadays. Canadian food is generally quite bland. The only strong flavour which you can get regularly here is hot. Not very sophisticated. In fact in the last 30 years or so they've made laws that make the importation of proper cheeses almost impossible. Many traditional foods, infact, are illegal here. The large food companies like Kraft have lobbied for laws that favour their products. Too bad, I wouldn't mind a good piece of gammlost or camembert, right about now. The camembert you get in Canada is pasteurized before it matures so its not very tasty.

There are some good things to get here though. Vegemite and Marmite for example. I can't stand the taste of Vegemite (apologies to the Aussies) but I absolutely love Marmite. I'll bet either of those two would suite a Scandinavian palate.

 

[CP/M User]

What do we know! :-D

What do we know! :-D

carlsson wrote:

In Australia, Christmas equals midsummer so you probably have other things to eat and ways to celebrate. I'd bet you can have a barbeque outside, take a swim at midnight... well, some people may try that in Sweden too. *brr*

A couple of years back we had one of the coldest Christmas days recorded - there was actually Snow on the nearby hills too! A couple of times (that day being one) Tasmania was getting it cold as well and the mountain just out of their main city had snow on it! This Christmas it was pleasant, though I wouldn't have been going swimming at midnight!

You've never heard of lutfisk.. until a few years ago I had never heard of vegemite neither. Ok, those two products can in no way be compared, but that's another story.

And Julbord.

Unfortunately Vegemite has become the victim of foreign trading since the company have sold out to a foreign country - so they get the money from us, the only good thing is jobs, however I heard about what had been happening in New Zealand and all I can ask is why is Asia making Vegemite when they hate the stuff!?!?
There's alternative "mites" which I've tried, Aussie figure Dick Smith also setup his own Aussie foods and announced his own Aussie mite, however we never saw any of his mite to try it out. Because I grew up on Vegemite it's the taste I've acquired, sure the alternatives taste similar, though it's always been the Vegemite I've preferred.

So it would seem we're all victims on what we know, which means we're all isolated in our own little parts of the world. Some people say travelling is the best way to see what the world looks like, though I'm not fond of travelling and feel the Internet can plug in some of those holes anyway! When I got away from the TV screen a couple of months ago though, I felt like I could throw all of that away and live in the worldliness. TV and media just throw so much useless information at you and most of the time it's their views their showing rather than what's really happening - sure it's bad when people are killed, injured or people are simply fighting and raging over Christmas or at anytime, though most of the time it's not clear what's happening or there's an argument they simply want to push across which is makes it okay for anyone to accept when it's simply spin.