Santa is coming

Christmas eve (which is when Christmas is celebrated in Sweden), we had a traditional buffet dinner at my mothers place, with lots and lots of food, including pickled herring, gravid lax (a salmon dish), smoked salmon, boiled eggs with caviar, pâté, Christmas ham with different mustards, meatballs, sausages, red cabbage and brown cabbage, rice and milk porridge, home made Christmas candy and lots more.

As you understand, Christmas the Swedish way is a lot about food. To the food you drink snaps (aquavit, a kind of vodka spiced with different herbs) and beer. Before dinner you have glögg, which is a sweeter Swedish version of glühwein (hot spiced wine) and after the dinner we had champagne.
We also give gifts to each other, and even my sister’s dog got some (of the edible kind - very popular).

Some of the cold dishes

Max the dog checking out one of his gifts