Goose dinner - meeting up with the family in Gothenburg

Spent the weekend in beautiful Gothenburg (Göteborg), Sweden, last weekend. We have a family tradition to meet and have goose together. Goose dinner is common in the very south of Sweden, just like it is in Germany, although we have somewhat different things with the goose in Sweden compared to Germany - we have normal boiled potatoes, the Germans like their Knödel (or Klösse), a form of potato dumpling, easily described as mashed potatoes spiced and made into a ball, and then boiled (in the cases that I know of at least). And the Germans like their cabbage with it as well. But in principal it is the same; Goose, potatoes, sauce etc. It is even on the same day in the beginning of November - Mårtensafton in Sweden, Marten in Germany. The difference is that in Germany it is celebrated all over the country, in Sweden focus is in the south, and many up north are not even aware of this tradition.

But anyhow, for our family it is a tradition, and this year we had decided to do it as well, but to celebrate later, for various reasons - we needed to try and get everybody together and when I need to travel and others have to work weekends it is not always the easiest task. But this time we managed to get almost everybody together, which was nice.

Interestingly it was also the weekend many celebrate the American Thanksgiving - also with a bird, but a turkey (never understood how American Turkeys can be so big by the way, a normal American Turkey is considerably bigger than a normal sized Swedish (or European) one. But that is another mystery that I guess I have to think about another time...

Yes, that is my plate you see on the picture. It was worth it... And notice that this is after we ate the soup that comes as a starter... The soup that I am basically the only one who really eats, as one of the main ingredients are... goose blood. The rest are not so keen on it, except possibly my dad, and mum eats a bit too, although I suspect it is more for the sake of it and not really because she likes it... I normally do spice the soup up a bit with some sherry, pepper, and other ingredients. It is already tasty but the extra sting is needed.

Dinner with my family is always an interesting experience, interesting and a lot of fun. It's a good thing that no one can hear us though because the discussions are always many and long and sometimes - no, often - full of associations and internal jokes. I think we may shock some, but once people get to know us they seem to be OK with it - at least that is what it seems like, because they stay... :-)

Can you by the way imagine that I, after this, and the soup, and some refill, I still managed to eat some apple cake? Wish I had had more though... ;-) It was probably a good idea that I went for a walk with my sister before dinner.