Fastelavnsboller

Happy Shrovetide everyone!

Today in the office there was a traditional Danish celebration - Fastelavn, or Shrovetide. Actually it was on the weekend but people generally let it spill over to Monday (team building!). It's much like Hallowe'en with piñatas made of wood but still supposed to have candy inside. Much improved from the pre-16th century tradition of what could be termed as 'whack-a-cat'.

It is the end of winter. The fasting of winter has ended and to celebrate, children dress in costumes and go out to collect coins. The day prior, one would prepare a small barrel by soaking it in water for 24 hours, then decorating it with bright paper or what tickles ones fancy, filling it with candy (or a cat, but let's move on from there) then hanging it where then people line up to take a whack at the barrel.

She won, and was queen, so crowned. There was another crown for the king but I don't think we had one because I didn't see any of the guys wearing the crown reserved for them. This was her doing:

As you can see, no cat. But not even candy! To be truthful, there was a basket of Danish licorice that does not taste like what Canadians think of as licorice. Salty soap? Less sweet than Thrills gum ...

If you gave me this gum, I hated you. You were no fun. You ate soap. You smelled like poo. Stop coming to my house. It is not candy, it is a punishment so don't offer me Danish licorice.

And then it was time for cake and coffee! Boller, or buns, are served and we were social and chatted for about 20 minutes. It was a very nice break in the day and lemme tell ya, Danes know how to make coffee!

Sunset was a lava-coloured sky from my window tonight.

Boller op

og boller ned

Boller i min mave

Hvis vi ingen boller får

Så laver vi ballade