halloween in stockholm

halloween is not quite the same in stockholm as it is in north america.  

halloween - saints day - is celebrated by paying respects to loved ones that have passed on.  many shops close for the day and many swedes take the day off work too to spend time with family.  the place to go is not door to door collecting candy but instead to the cemetery to light a candle or two.  it is said that cemeteries are flooded with beautiful candlelight on this night.  take a peek here and here.

tricking or treating does happen but on a low key scale.  although kai collected a total of 10 candies (!) he had access to many more at the halloween party we attended.  and, he had a blast with the other kiddos playing games and working in the haunted room.

the decor was amazing!  céline, our french hostess, is the craftiest woman i know, she thought about every detail.  the guests were decked out too - there was a flamingo dancer, a lumberjack (stefan), zombies, cats, indian jones made an appearance, beat up hockey players, and more.   the food was also creative - meatloaf to look like creepy hands in a pile of mush, pumpkins throwing up avocado dip, dessert mummies, and stefan's witch fingers.  one little boy refused to eat them - "but they belong to someone" - even though he was repeatedly told they were pretend :)

witch fingers
adapted from martha stewart's recipe

what you will need
2 tablespoons red food coloring
30 blanched almonds
2 large eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup confectioners' sugar 
5 tablespoons granulated sugar
1 pinch salt
1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
* stefan thought the cookies were too sweet and suggests cutting the sugar by two thirds

what to do

1. heat oven to 350°. line two baking sheets with silpats (french nonstick baking mats) or parchment paper, and set aside.
2. place food coloring in a shallow bowl. crack each whole almond into halves. and toss them into the bowl with the food coloring and stir them until the color is evenly distributed. leave them in the bowl and stir them every so often until the color is as dark as you like. * stefan prepared the almond halves and put them aside but didn't place them in the food coloring, keep reading)
3. separate 1 egg. set aside the white. in a small bowl, whisk together yolk, remaining egg, and vanilla. set aside.
4. in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, combine butter, confectioners' sugar, granulated sugar, and salt. beat on medium speed until well combined. add egg mixture, and beat until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add the flour, and mix on low speed just until incorporated. wrap the dough in plastic, and chill until firm, 20 to 30 minutes.

1. divide the dough in half. work with one piece at a time, keeping remaining dough covered with plastic wrap and chilled. divide the first half into fifteen pieces. on a lightly floured surface, roll each piece back and forth with palms into finger shapes, 3 to 4 inches long. pinch dough in two places to form knuckles. score each knuckle lightly with the back of a small knife. transfer fingers to prepared baking sheets. repeat with remaining dough.
2. when all fingers are formed, brush lightly with egg white. position almond nails; push into dough to attach. * stefan placed some red jelly on the nail beds before applying the almond nails to give a red rim around the almond nails.
3. bake until lightly browned, about 12 minutes. cool completely.  * stefan says the ends of the fingers come out too rounded after they are baked so he suggests after they have cooled for a bit, cut off the ends and insert an almond sliver to look like the fingers were ripped off and bone was protruding.  then to make them even more creepy, once the fingers were completely cooled he dipped their ends into raspberry jam for that extra bloody, severed look!  it's very effective.  
4. note: to make the knuckles more creepy just shape them big and uneven. to keep them from puffing out too much roll the fingers extra skinny (skinnier than you want them to look if that makes sense). i also try to get them out of the oven before they brown. i sometimes add a bit of almond extract to dough. * stefan says to definitely add about 1/2 teaspoon of the almond extract to the dough.

1. enjoy, if you dare!  i will ask friends to send me their pics of the witch fingers since i definitely will not be able to access my dead iphone's photos.
2. hope you had a scary halloween with lots of candy.