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A Euro 2012 party!

By Juliette Thomas on June 8, 2012

Swedish Meatballs

Meatballs chez Fuse

Football tournaments such as the Euro and World Cups are always fun in our house. For those that don’t already know, I’m Scottish and my husband is English. Given that Scotland doesn’t often make the final cut, I’m always looking for an alternative team to get behind.  While my husband dreams that I am cheering on England alongside him, he’s getting used to the fact that I am more likely to be found rooting for England’s opposition (but let’s not get into that now).

I know that football is going to take over our house from today until the end of Euro 2012. As a somewhat less-enthusiastic  fan, I’ve discovered that rather than sulk in another room while the game is on, it is far more fun to embrace football by throwing parties themed around ‘whoever England is playing’.

With my friends and me each hosting an England game in the first round, I’ve drawn Sweden from the hat. Our pre-party and half-time music will be Swedish House Mafia (interspersed with ABBA, naturally).  Swedish food sales in the UK have risen by almost 30% in the past five years and I’ve searched the internet for some inspiration to discover some really interesting treats to offer my guests.

We’ll be serving the brilliantly named God Lager. A pilsner style beer from the Swedish microbrewery, Nils Oscar.  And for those that want to try something a little different we’ll have OP Andersson – a very popular Swedish aquavit with a distinct flavour of caraway, fennel and aniseed and also Elderflower flavoured aquavit (best served chilled apparently and accompanied with some singing!). For those that are looking for a softer option there will be Organic Lingonberry Cordial.

Nibbles will be roll mops and also Kavli Rakost on crispbread (a very interesting looking cream cheese with prawns from a tube) as well as some speciality cheeses too.

It has to be meatballs for the main course, served with lingonberry jam and creamy mashed potatoes. Rather than serve up IKEA’s best offering (which is very tempting I have to say), I’m going to attempt this homemade version instead.

At half time, there will be homemade Swedish Chocolate Coconut Balls (if, of course I haven’t eaten them all by kick off).

So, if anyone asks me if I’m looking forward to Euro 2012 I can wholeheartedly say ‘yes’. I can’t wait to try some these Swedish treats and to teach my guests a Swedish drinking song, or two.

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