Crayfish party

Helsinki, 25 degrees


Filled was the air with a dreamy and magical light; and the landscape lay as if new. In summer, the song sings itself.

You already got a sneak peek of Finnish crayfish parties from my previous post, but here follows a more thorough description of one that I participated in last weekend! This party was held among friends in an idyllic countryside setting about 30 minutes outside of Helsinki. Join in!

You might remember my blog post from last year about our annual crayfish party in honor of my mother's birthday. If not, you'll find it here. Last year I had a 60's theme. This year my mom's crayfish party didn't have any theme like that since we unusually held it our summer cottage. I guess being in the midst of the green was the theme, hehe.

However, this summer I've had the pleasure of going to another crayfish party as well! The more the merrier, if you ask me seeing as I'm mad about crayfish! The second one was held at one of my dear friends' home in Tuusula, about half an hour drive from Helsinki.

For those of you readers who aren't familiar with Finland's crayfish tradition, I can tell that the crayfish season started in Finland on the 21st of July and continues until the end of October. Arranging a special party entirely dedicated to feasting on boiled crayfish is a popular tradition in the Nordic countries, like Sweden and Finland. You can read more about the tradition here.


The party was set summery and ever so beautifully outside on a patio. The yellow wooden house belonging to my friend's family is wonderfully romantic if you ask me. I loved the rustic decoration details they had in the house; vintage trunks as tables, lanterns, vases with hay as decor, window wall mirrors and so on.


Red is a quite natural theme color for this kind of party since the boiled crayfish are vividly red. We decorated the dining space with red table cloths, red carnations, crayfish knives, crayfish themed paper streamers, red candle cups and crayfish themed napkins and collars. In the end, the table really looked welcoming!


I usually eat crayfish with toast bread, mayonnaise, and dill - delicious! Water cups with lemon were also set at the table for hand washing in between, and it was definitely needed! Eating crayfish is some messy business, but oh what fun!


The atmosphere at the crayfish party was very relaxed and informal, including consuming of several schnaps with the food and singing of schnaps or also known as drinking songs (a Swedish tradition also practised among the Swedish speaking Finns like me). I was happy to notice that my Finnish speaking friends happily joined in on the songs! If you've never heard of drinking songs, have a look at the video clip I found on Youtube that describes the phenomenon quite well. Don't look if you don't have a sense of humor!



Something very common at crayfish parties is also that somebody starts to play with his/her food - in this case it was me! What can I say - I had such a great time with my dear friends! This is how fun life is supposed to be!


During this crayfish party, I wore a linen dress from Mango and some floral wedge shoes from H&M. I also had red lipstick and braids in my hair! Simple, but so summery and chic!


This was definitely one of the best parties this summer and I got memories that I will cherish for a long time!


What is your favorite festivity during summertime? Do you have a special gastonomic treat that you look forward to eating just during the summer?

What's your opinion?

  1. Love your blog! Wanna follow each other on GFC and Bloglovin, also on twitter? it would be very nice. just let me know and I'll follow you back asap! :D

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  2. The food look so yummy! And you look very beautiful too.
    I experience all year round summer, soooo I guess day to day activity?
    I would want to experience 4 season! :D

    Google + / Twitter / Bloglovin


    with love, Cassandra xx
    http://backtofive.blogspot.com

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    1. Thank you Cassandra! I would love to know about your local food treats!

      xxx
      E

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  3. Hi sweety, the crayfish party sounds like such a delight! Ive only ever had Mozambican crayfish before, but it looked nothing as red and vibrant as this. How does one serve it? With a sauce? Looks delicious. Love this pretty shade of red lipstick on you, its dynamic!

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    1. One cooks the crayfish in salt water that has dill in it. Then one opens the boiled crayfish by hand with a specific knife made for creyfish eating. Once one has opened the crayfish, one eats the meat - either on toast bread with mayonnaise and dill or just straight away without anything extra! It's so good!

      xxx
      E

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  4. sounds like you'll would enjoy real Cajun food.

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  5. Amazing photos! everything looks super beautiful! and I love your red lipstick;)

    Xx

    Alexandra

    www.fashion-bridge.blogspot.com

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  6. strawberries are this special treat, I think, and everything barbecued too, of course :P btw, I didn't know about the crayfish thing before reading about it from your blog last year. I myself don't eat it. but it looks like such a lovely event and I loved seeing all the photos. what a beautiful house indeed! oh and when it comes to drinking songs then I can't help it but I pretty much hate those :P obviously we have them in Estonia too but yeah, it's simply not my cup of tea at all, hehe.

    Maiken,
    Maikeni blogi - part of me

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    1. Strawberries are lovely; here we eat mostly strawberries and peas in summertime.
      Drinking songs are so much fun!

      xxx
      E

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  7. Great Post! Love the red Dress :)

    kisses

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  8. Looks awesome!
    Let me know if you want to follow each other on gfc, bloglovin, facebook and/ or pinterest.
    Overdivity

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@elisabeth.rundlof