Re: Advent, glögg and then some

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your description of glogg, Reb. Sounds delicious. I believe I have had it in the past, but I think perhaps it had a different name, but that escapes me.I guess I didn't realize, or had forgotten, is more accurate, about your passion about religion. It is a vague recollection. I appreciate your telling me about the churches and populations. I find it very interesting.Thanks for a great post, Reb. As always, I learn something from you every time.love to you and ,Kate To: MSersLife Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 7:42 AM Subject: Re: Advent, glögg and then some

There are flu shots available, yes. But they are only recommended for people in risk groups (the people for whom getting the flu would pose a real medical problem; such as the elderly and people weakened by other serious diseases). And even though I feel ancient some days (especially in contact with the young students at the university, who some time feels like they are beings from another planet...), I guess I am not quite elderly yet... ;-)Glögg is a drink made from wine (traditionally red wine, but white is quite common too these days), sugar and spicies (i.e: cinnamon, bitter orange,, cardamom and clove). And the last ten years or so, often with some other twist to the flavoring (I guess it's the glöggmaker's way of competing for customers,

but they do come up with some amazingly good combinations some of the time...). Chocolate, chili pepper, ginger, cranberry, lingonberry and blueberry are taste additions I can remember trying. And now, this year, coffee and liquorice & raspberry...Traditionally it's served hot. But these days it's also quite common to serve it cold. I think serving as a cold drink works better with these new flavors than with traditional glögg, though.I guess it depends on the definition of "churchy", if Sweden is a "churchy" country or not. 70% of the Swedish population are members of the Church of Sweden (a church in the lutheran tradition, and also the former Swedish state

church). But church attendance is quite low. Except, as I mentioned, on Chistmas, and for the ceremonies marking the big events in life; birth, adulthood, marriage and death (baptism, confirmation, wedding, funeral). And I am not sure a majority of those 70% would self-identify as "lutheran", even though they belong to a church in that tradition. Some would. But most would say either that they are "svenskkyrkliga" ("Swedish-Churchy"), or they would say "Agnostic" or perhaps even "Atheist". Since membership in the Church of Sweden is more about traditions and ceremonies than about belief systems, for most Swedes.Naturally, a small portion of the population are members of other churches, you'd typically divide those churches into the two categories: immigrant churches and traditional free churches. The former

being churches not founded in Sweden, and with a membership largely consisting of immigrants. These are, especially, the Roman Catholic Church, and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Of course, all churches have immigrant members, and the so called immigrant churches certainly have members who are not immigrants, but speaking statistically and historically, this division does still make a lot of sense.A fairly high (but still realistic) estimate would be that about 3-4% of the population are members of either an "immigrant church" or a "free church" (the name "free church" was coined during the state church period, and is to be understood as "not a state church", since there is no state church today, strictly speaking, all churches are "free churches", but the term is still associated with a very specific group of

churches, and is therefore still best used that way, in more formal contexts one would talk about "traditional free churches", to make clear that one is not referring to all free churches, but rather to those who are traditionally known that way.Just to complicate stastistics, a fair amount of those who are members of a traditional free church, are also members of the Church of Sweden...Hope I didn't bore you to death... Religion in general, and church history in particular, is my subject you know... But long rant ends here.I think I should go and put some glögg on the stove for me now...love/RebP.S: You could read more about the Church of Sweden here: http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/default.aspx?di=657804--- In MSersLife , Kate Rothschild wrote:>> Hi Reb (and ), First of all, Reb, I am so sorry to read of your having a flu. Do you take flu shots there?> I forget what glogg is...can you refresh my memory again? Your Christmas traditions sound wonderful; I especially like the sweets (they, however, don't like

me!). I had always thought of Sweden being 'churchy' as you call it. Lutheran is the popular religion I take it?> Please send my hello and love to . Give each other a hug from me!> love, Kate> > > > ________________________________> To: MSersLife > Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 1:08 PM> Subject: Advent, glögg and then some> > >  > Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Sweden, but this past weekend was the first of Advent, marking the beginning of Christmas season, and usually celebrated by (apart from the candle lighting, of course) decorating the house for Christmas (although, not decorating, or taking in, the tree, that comes later), and by starting the indulgence in Christmas candy, and Christmas cookies, and Christmas beverages. > > And, in many families, by going to

church. Sweden is not a very "churchy" country, a vast majority of the Swedes are members of the lutheran Church of Sweden, but will typically go to church only for weddings, baptisms, confirmations and funerals. And for the first Sunday of Advent. > > We were planning to do a "full" first of Advent, with glögg (a mulled wine traditionally served warm, and traditionally associated with Christmas), cookies, spicy nuts and fruits (not very traditional, but a favorite Advent snack of ours, and it does combine some traditional Christmas ingredients in a new way, it's almonds and cashew nuts roasted with butter, garam massala and salt, and then mixed with dried apricots),  special Advent meal, etc, etc. Unfortunately I came down with the flu Saturday, and was not feeling too energetic either..., so it had to be turned into a "light version".> > We skipped the baking of cookies (had store bought cookies

instead), and the nuts and fruits, and also didn't do the Christmas gift wrapping we had been planning to do. But we did decoration (not much, but we never do, our Christmas decoration is always the "light" or "moderate kind). And we did have a nice and Advent-ish dinner, with meat and onions cooked in glögg, served with boiled potatoes and parsley butter (don't know how its sounds, but it was delicious, we tried it for the first time, have never used glögg in cooking before). The beverage was of course Christmas beer. For desert a white chocolate cream (melted white choclate mixed with Crème fraiche), flavored with saffron (a Christmas spice in Swedish cuisine), and served with fresh berries.> > And then, of course, coffee, glögg and cookies (two kinds of ginger bread). Part of our own tradition is to try new versions of glögg, and we did that this year too. One coffee version (wich was this years "special" from one

of Sweden's biggest glögg makers). That was a bit of a disappointment actually, they usually do very well with their yearly specials. It didn't taste bad, it did taste of coffee (and a good coffee), and it did have a touch of spice. But it did not taste like glögg at all. The other one, was the one we expected to be the truly bizarre one, a raspberry and liquorice flavored one. But it turned out, that the only thing really bizarre about it was how very glögg-y it was. The first taste impression was just raspberry and liquorice, but the aftertaste was definitely glögg. Truly strange, but truly tasty (and glögg-y)!> > All in all, a good Advent weekend. > > love> /Reb>

[Guest guest]

Thank you for your description of glogg, Reb. Sounds delicious. I believe I have had it in the past, but I think perhaps it had a different name, but that escapes me.I guess I didn't realize, or had forgotten, is more accurate, about your passion about religion. It is a vague recollection. I appreciate your telling me about the churches and populations. I find it very interesting.Thanks for a great post, Reb. As always, I learn something from you every time.love to you and ,Kate To: MSersLife Sent: Wednesday, November 30, 2011 7:42 AM Subject: Re: Advent, glögg and then some

There are flu shots available, yes. But they are only recommended for people in risk groups (the people for whom getting the flu would pose a real medical problem; such as the elderly and people weakened by other serious diseases). And even though I feel ancient some days (especially in contact with the young students at the university, who some time feels like they are beings from another planet...), I guess I am not quite elderly yet... ;-)Glögg is a drink made from wine (traditionally red wine, but white is quite common too these days), sugar and spicies (i.e: cinnamon, bitter orange,, cardamom and clove). And the last ten years or so, often with some other twist to the flavoring (I guess it's the glöggmaker's way of competing for customers,

but they do come up with some amazingly good combinations some of the time...). Chocolate, chili pepper, ginger, cranberry, lingonberry and blueberry are taste additions I can remember trying. And now, this year, coffee and liquorice & raspberry...Traditionally it's served hot. But these days it's also quite common to serve it cold. I think serving as a cold drink works better with these new flavors than with traditional glögg, though.I guess it depends on the definition of "churchy", if Sweden is a "churchy" country or not. 70% of the Swedish population are members of the Church of Sweden (a church in the lutheran tradition, and also the former Swedish state

church). But church attendance is quite low. Except, as I mentioned, on Chistmas, and for the ceremonies marking the big events in life; birth, adulthood, marriage and death (baptism, confirmation, wedding, funeral). And I am not sure a majority of those 70% would self-identify as "lutheran", even though they belong to a church in that tradition. Some would. But most would say either that they are "svenskkyrkliga" ("Swedish-Churchy"), or they would say "Agnostic" or perhaps even "Atheist". Since membership in the Church of Sweden is more about traditions and ceremonies than about belief systems, for most Swedes.Naturally, a small portion of the population are members of other churches, you'd typically divide those churches into the two categories: immigrant churches and traditional free churches. The former

being churches not founded in Sweden, and with a membership largely consisting of immigrants. These are, especially, the Roman Catholic Church, and Eastern Orthodox Churches. Of course, all churches have immigrant members, and the so called immigrant churches certainly have members who are not immigrants, but speaking statistically and historically, this division does still make a lot of sense.A fairly high (but still realistic) estimate would be that about 3-4% of the population are members of either an "immigrant church" or a "free church" (the name "free church" was coined during the state church period, and is to be understood as "not a state church", since there is no state church today, strictly speaking, all churches are "free churches", but the term is still associated with a very specific group of

churches, and is therefore still best used that way, in more formal contexts one would talk about "traditional free churches", to make clear that one is not referring to all free churches, but rather to those who are traditionally known that way.Just to complicate stastistics, a fair amount of those who are members of a traditional free church, are also members of the Church of Sweden...Hope I didn't bore you to death... Religion in general, and church history in particular, is my subject you know... But long rant ends here.I think I should go and put some glögg on the stove for me now...love/RebP.S: You could read more about the Church of Sweden here: http://www.svenskakyrkan.se/default.aspx?di=657804--- In MSersLife , Kate Rothschild wrote:>> Hi Reb (and ), First of all, Reb, I am so sorry to read of your having a flu. Do you take flu shots there?> I forget what glogg is...can you refresh my memory again? Your Christmas traditions sound wonderful; I especially like the sweets (they, however, don't like

me!). I had always thought of Sweden being 'churchy' as you call it. Lutheran is the popular religion I take it?> Please send my hello and love to . Give each other a hug from me!> love, Kate> > > > ________________________________> To: MSersLife > Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 1:08 PM> Subject: Advent, glögg and then some> > >  > Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Sweden, but this past weekend was the first of Advent, marking the beginning of Christmas season, and usually celebrated by (apart from the candle lighting, of course) decorating the house for Christmas (although, not decorating, or taking in, the tree, that comes later), and by starting the indulgence in Christmas candy, and Christmas cookies, and Christmas beverages. > > And, in many families, by going to

church. Sweden is not a very "churchy" country, a vast majority of the Swedes are members of the lutheran Church of Sweden, but will typically go to church only for weddings, baptisms, confirmations and funerals. And for the first Sunday of Advent. > > We were planning to do a "full" first of Advent, with glögg (a mulled wine traditionally served warm, and traditionally associated with Christmas), cookies, spicy nuts and fruits (not very traditional, but a favorite Advent snack of ours, and it does combine some traditional Christmas ingredients in a new way, it's almonds and cashew nuts roasted with butter, garam massala and salt, and then mixed with dried apricots),  special Advent meal, etc, etc. Unfortunately I came down with the flu Saturday, and was not feeling too energetic either..., so it had to be turned into a "light version".> > We skipped the baking of cookies (had store bought cookies

instead), and the nuts and fruits, and also didn't do the Christmas gift wrapping we had been planning to do. But we did decoration (not much, but we never do, our Christmas decoration is always the "light" or "moderate kind). And we did have a nice and Advent-ish dinner, with meat and onions cooked in glögg, served with boiled potatoes and parsley butter (don't know how its sounds, but it was delicious, we tried it for the first time, have never used glögg in cooking before). The beverage was of course Christmas beer. For desert a white chocolate cream (melted white choclate mixed with Crème fraiche), flavored with saffron (a Christmas spice in Swedish cuisine), and served with fresh berries.> > And then, of course, coffee, glögg and cookies (two kinds of ginger bread). Part of our own tradition is to try new versions of glögg, and we did that this year too. One coffee version (wich was this years "special" from one

of Sweden's biggest glögg makers). That was a bit of a disappointment actually, they usually do very well with their yearly specials. It didn't taste bad, it did taste of coffee (and a good coffee), and it did have a touch of spice. But it did not taste like glögg at all. The other one, was the one we expected to be the truly bizarre one, a raspberry and liquorice flavored one. But it turned out, that the only thing really bizarre about it was how very glögg-y it was. The first taste impression was just raspberry and liquorice, but the aftertaste was definitely glögg. Truly strange, but truly tasty (and glögg-y)!> > All in all, a good Advent weekend. > > love> /Reb>

[Guest guest]

There is a quite similar drink called Glühwein (a bit different in spicies, but similar apart from that). Could that be the name you are thinking of?Well, religion is what I've done most of my academic writing on... A fourth of my Master's degree is in Theology, but my studies have mostly been done from a sociological/antropological/historical angle. And some that should perhaps be called philosophy/history of ideas (analysis of ideological content in sermons, for instance, and even an piece on religious themes in the novels of the Swedish novelist Lars Gustafsson, who you could read more about at Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lars_Gustafsson ).love/Reb> >> > Hi Reb (and ), First of all, Reb, I am so sorry to read of your having a flu. Do you take flu shots there?> > I forget what glogg is...can you refresh my memory again? Your Christmas traditions sound wonderful; I especially like the sweets (they, however, don't like me!). I had always thought of Sweden being 'churchy' as you call it. Lutheran is the popular religion I take it?> > Please send my hello and love to . Give each other a hug from me!> > love, Kate> > > > > > > > ________________________________> > From: Reb D reb_41se@> > To: MSersLife > > Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 1:08 PM> > Subject: Advent, glögg and then some> > > > > >  > > Thanksgiving is not a holiday in Sweden, but this past weekend was the first of Advent, marking the beginning of Christmas season, and usually celebrated by (apart from the candle lighting, of course) decorating the house for Christmas (although, not decorating, or taking in, the tree, that comes later), and by starting the indulgence in Christmas candy, and Christmas cookies, and Christmas beverages. > > > > And, in many families, by going to church. Sweden is not a very "churchy" country, a vast majority of the Swedes are members of the lutheran Church of Sweden, but will typically go to church only for weddings, baptisms, confirmations and funerals. And for the first Sunday of Advent. > > > > We were planning to do a "full" first of Advent, with glögg (a mulled wine traditionally served warm, and traditionally associated with Christmas), cookies, spicy nuts and fruits (not very traditional, but a favorite Advent snack of ours, and it does combine some traditional Christmas ingredients in a new way, it's almonds and cashew nuts roasted with butter, garam massala and salt, and then mixed with dried apricots),  special Advent meal, etc, etc. Unfortunately I came down with the flu Saturday, and was not feeling too energetic either..., so it had to be turned into a "light version".> > > > We skipped the baking of cookies (had store bought cookies instead), and the nuts and fruits, and also didn't do the Christmas gift wrapping we had been planning to do. But we did decoration (not much, but we never do, our Christmas decoration is always the "light" or "moderate kind). And we did have a nice and Advent-ish dinner, with meat and onions cooked in glögg, served with boiled potatoes and parsley butter (don't know how its sounds, but it was delicious, we tried it for the first time, have never used glögg in cooking before). The beverage was of course Christmas beer. For desert a white chocolate cream (melted white choclate mixed with Crème fraiche), flavored with saffron (a Christmas spice in Swedish cuisine), and served with fresh berries.> > > > And then, of course, coffee, glögg and cookies (two kinds of ginger bread). Part of our own tradition is to try new versions of glögg, and we did that this year too. One coffee version (wich was this years "special" from one of Sweden's biggest glögg makers). That was a bit of a disappointment actually, they usually do very well with their yearly specials. It didn't taste bad, it did taste of coffee (and a good coffee), and it did have a touch of spice. But it did not taste like glögg at all. The other one, was the one we expected to be the truly bizarre one, a raspberry and liquorice flavored one. But it turned out, that the only thing really bizarre about it was how very glögg-y it was. The first taste impression was just raspberry and liquorice, but the aftertaste was definitely glögg. Truly strange, but truly tasty (and glögg-y)!> > > > All in all, a good Advent weekend. > > > > love> > /Reb> >>