A Taste of Swedish Silverhill
The 100th Year Sampler

         Have you ever wondered about what people thought was special a hundred years ago? Our church is a hundred years old this year and we have been thinking a lot about these things. That's why historic Zion Lutheran Church invited Heritage Day visitors to its “A Taste of Swedish Silverhill - The 100th Year Sampler.”

     These foods were special in 1905. Some of them may be unfamiliar, but even today there are many places in the United States where they are common fare. Here is what Heritage Day visitors were able to sample in our smorgasbord:

     Swedish Korve - This is a Potato Sausage with pork, beef, and potatoes. It was a special treat around holidays like Christmas.

     Swedish Turnips - We call this vegetable the rutabaga and was much appreciated by those early Swedes. It was often combined with potatoes to make rotmos. Rot is from kålrot and mos comes from mashed. It's common in Sweden today.

     Potatis - This is close to our word “potatoes,” isn't it?

     Krumkage or Krumkake - Think of a cake that's moist and crumbly. Loosely translated, we can call this “Crum Cake”.

     Sprits - Think of sweet cookies and Christmas time especially.

     Flat Brod - We use a term that isn't too common anymore. The word is “hardtack.” It's not the best translation, but it is an unleavened bread.

     Smor Brod - These are open-faced sandwiches common in the Smorgasbord tradition of Scandinavia and usually eaten using a knife and fork.

     In past years, Zion has had bake sales, sponsored fish fries, and even entered a float in the parade. Also pictured is the 1987 “Viking Ship” float made by the Nitteberg family.

Click on the Heritage Day pictures (right) to go to a separate page of Zion Lutheran Church - Heritage Day Memories.

         This year, during Heritage Day, Zion opened its doors to the community to our new Library/Museum. Thanks to Ernie and Henrietta Burnett for locating and displaying many artifacts dating back to the early days of “Swedish Lutheran Zion Church”. The Museum was inaugurated last year for Heritage Day (but blown away by Hurricane Ivan.) This was its first Heritage Day.

Click on the Museum pictures (left) to go to a separate page for the Zion Lutheran Church Museum.