Anybody celebrate May Day?

[LJ-Bain]

I am of Finnish heritage and May Day is HUGE there.
I decided to celebrate it this year with what is typical there...jelly doughnuts and this homemade lemon/brown sugar mead (non alcoholic) called sima.
Does anybody else celebrate it in any way, shape or form? Just curious.

[jgeekie]

My GF's Finnish so suspect I'm going to start celebrating May Day.

Jay

[MaryK]

When I was small we used to make little baskets and fill them with pansies and take to the neighbors.. We would set the little basket on the porch... ring the doorbell and then run and hide. I do have very fond memories of May Day.

[C0urt]

we have a bike race coming up on may day. I want to compete, but I will sit out because of my epilepsy. Weren't for that. I think I could probably do well.


t's been 3 years! That means it's time to put on your climbing legs and your drinking arms! If you don't feel like climbing, leave your legs at home and just give you arms a workout. We need your help to empty a keg.

Registration starts at 7:00PM, and race starts at 8:00PM. Same route as last year. I'll post a link to the route so you can get familiar if you have never attended.

This will be a time trial style race, meaning each person will be racing the clock. There will be a 1 minute gap between each person, so no mass start.

$5 to race, $0 to hang and empty the keg. There will be a CASH PAY OUT! KOM (first place men) and QOM (first place women) will split the cash from the entry fees. Extra special prize for DFL.



But reading it is time trial and not racing with others on a hill. I may race any way. and just race in the last slot.

[CathyAnn31]

I'll celebrate and buy some jelly donuts. Yum yum!!

[P-Funk]

Donuts and mead! Is there an open invitation?

[Rae1889]

Mmmmm. Got a recipe for that mead??

I have never even heard of May Day, But I do have Dutch friends that celebrate Queen's Day!

[LJ-Bain]

Ask and ye shall receive! I hope this recipe works for you Rae! I use old Groschlt bottle of beer (yucky stuff but cool bottles for reasealing) When I'm cooling the liquid I just leave it in a non metallic bowl with plate over top of it. Nothing fancy.

■4 quarts of water
■1 cup brown sugar
■1 cup granulated sugar
■2 lemons, thinly sliced
■1/8 tsp active dry yeast
■4 raisins
■1/8 cup sugar for carbonating

In a large stock pot, boil the water, then stir in sugars. Add lemon and turn off heat.
Once the liquid is room temperature, transfer it to a Ball or Mason jar and add the yeast. Cover with Saran Wrap, but make sure to poke a few holes in it so that the CO2 can escape. Allow the mixture to ferment on counter for about 8 to 10 hours. You should start to see little bubbles coming up the side of the jar–good sign!

Sanitize another container (or containers) into which you will transfer the Sima to carbonate. You can do this by running it through a dishwasher, boiling it, or washing it with sanitizing solution. If none of these are options for you (i.e. you live in a tiny studio apartment in New York like my friend International Export Director #1, or you don’t often–or ever–use your dishwasher, like my other friend, Law Student #1), running the container under some blazing hot water from the tap (or boiled on your stove) might do the trick. But I can’t vouch for these strategies since I haven’t tried them.

Take out the lemons and transfer the mixture into the sanitized container with 1/8 cup sugar (I usually boil about 1/8 cup of water to dissolve this before adding it to the mixture). Add raisins. Close the container tightly. In 8-48 hours you should see bubbles collecting and the raisins rising to the top of the container. Once the raisins have risen, it’s done! Pour into a glass and enjoy.

[C0urt]

decided to sit out of the race, it is a night time race. and the last thing i really want is to have a seizure during a night race on one of the harder courses in the city.

waaaaaa!!!

[P-Funk]

Thanks for the recipe!

[Rae1889]

mmmm thanks for the recipe. I like Groschlt actually lol

[LJ-Bain]

Hope everything enjoyed May Day. I was unfortunely "indisposed" and was in bed for the most part but I'm making up for it today! Rae, you actually like Groschlt? Well save your bottles for me! I actually like Guinness (or did) and that certainly isn't for everyone.
COurt, sorry you had to sit out of your race. I know you're supposed to keep one eye closed to prevent things from happening but it's tricky to do without getting an eye patch or something when you're out that long exposed to things.
Well, I hope everyone enjoyed their May Day.
The sima recipe was off the net. I actually don't have a friend who is a Law student or know anyone who lives in New York but the recipe sounded identical to mine otherwise.

I fogot to mention...that if you don't drink these relatively quickly they can actually become slightly acoholic.

[Starfish]

... What's May Day? We do not have this in my part of The US.

[jgeekie]

Isn't alcoholic mead kind of the point?

Jay

[LJ-Bain]

It's true, alcoholic mead is what it's all about...me and alcohol don't mix right now so the n/a type makes me feel like it's almost like the real thing! Kinda like a mocktail!

Starfish: May Day is mainly a european and U.K. thing I think. It's an old pagan spring festival when the seeding has all been done and the warmer weather is arriving and somehow it's worked into the patron saint of workers and there's dancing around a maypole with ribbons, women wearing flowers in their hair and washing their face in the morning dew, in Finland there's lots of drinking and parading in the street and balloons, and in Hawaii it's "Lei Day"...

People where I live don't celebrate it either. It's just because of my heritage that I even know about it. Different strokes for different folks.

[momof3boys]

When I was small we used to make little baskets and fill them with pansies and take to the neighbors.. We would set the little basket on the porch... ring the doorbell and then run and hide. I do have very fond memories of May Day.

We did the same thing when i was little. I remember getting lots of candies, and popcorn and filling the baskets. Now it seems like the kids these days dont want to do that. Our kids did bring home a may day basket from their teachers though!

[P-Funk]

People where I live don't celebrate it either. It's just because of my heritage that I even know about it. Different strokes for different folks.

I think it’s important to carry the traditions from your past. My mom’s side of the family is all from Lithuanian. Every Easter we would have egg wars. Two people each hold an egg and one knocks theirs against the other. The egg that doesn't crack is the victor. So now, it’s not Easter unless I do that. It also makes use of all the colored egg.