Abba in a tube

A very generous Swedish family let me stay with them last night, in Muttonham. The feast was well underway when I arrived last evening.


We began with Corona at 6 (to accompany the chile and cornbread), Swedish Gevalia coffee at 9 (to go with the chocolate mousse), followed by Lapsang at 10 (to go with the shortbread). We took a break to go to bed. The feast resumed at 7:30 with black tea, pancakes, rolls, kefir (in a bowl), a large tray of cheeses, salami, braunschwaiger and a mysterious product in a tube. When I enquired about it, the little Swedes wrinkled their noses and told me that if I ate it, I'd have to brush my teeth, that it was stinky, and I also heard a "gross!"



I couldn't resist, stinky breath or not. Someone passed me a spoon and I tried a squirt. It was salty and smoky. Yum. Poppa told me he liked it on cheese, just like the kid in the illustration. I asked them if there was any connection with the other Abba. They said "no," but the kaviar came first.

The IKEA Constant

They do a lot of their grocery shopping at the local IKEA. They showed me a vintage Billy, from 1970, and it was the same color as the one they got last year. They were nearly identical.