Thursday, July 17, 2008

Swedish Coffee Pot and Man

I'm not Swedish. As far as I know - besides my husband - I'm not related to anyone who has an ounce of Scandinavian blood in them. I never even gave Sweden a second thought until I attended North Park University, a private liberal arts college in Chicago that was founded by Swedes. Our school's colors were blue and gold, our mascot was a viking, and dala horses lined the shelves of wannabe Swedes in many a dorm room housed in buildings with Swedish names (Anderson, Olson, Sohlberg...you get the picture).

Don't get me wrong, there are lots of great things about Sweden that I've encountered so far: beautiful land and scenery, fine crystal, wonderful textiles, strong history and culture, yummy pancakes, not to mention its inhabitants aren't hard to look at. I just never jumped aboard the longship. I guess I always somewhat prided myself on the fact that my ethnic background was an Irish, German, and Czech conglomeration and never really concerned myself with the pride of my viking counterparts.

TK, while not obnoxiously so, loves most things Swedish. Being about 95% Swedish himself, there are a few new Scandinavian elements to my life. Lingonberries hold a spot on our refrigerator shelves. We have a special pan and spatula for making Swedish pancakes. Christmases with the Johnsons include korv, Swedish meatballs, pickled herring, and before we know it, Madeline will be a little Sankta Lucia running around serving us gingerbread biscuits. I'm coming to terms with the fact that my future children will rightfully consider themselves to be of Swedish heritage, a thought which had been furthest from my mind while growing up.

And so, there comes a time when one must throw down her arms and accept the reality in which she finds herself. A few weeks ago, while cleaning out a closet full of old kitchen items at our church, I found this Berggren Trayner coffee pot and knew (since it matches a coffee mug he already has and loves) this would be a new-found treasure to TK. Instead of hiding it away so that a limited amount of Swedish paraphernalia would enter our humble home, I caved and showed it to him. He, for course, melted.

While I'm not about to entertain the idea of having a collection of these dishes or any other collection of Swedish goods (mark my words), this coffee pot will do just fine and I am happy to welcome it into our doors. I'm not quite sure what it says, but I suppose finding out could be my first task in my acceptance of my now semi-Swedish self. I say bring on the glögg, full force.

15 comments:

Anonymous said...

Being swedish myself seeing the coffee pot reminds me of hearing my grandpa pray IN SWEDISH at our meals when I was young. And I totally recognize these dishes. What I want to know though is are you going to make swedish egg coffee in it? Because if done right that stuff is really really good! :)

p.s. thanks for your comment on my sentiments and for being someone who "comes" to lunch, dinner... :)

Melissa said...

Ooh, I love it. I'm not Swedish either, but have come to appreciate a lot about that land and its people. Then again, I respect any culture that brews strong coffee and brings groups of friends together to enjoy it each afternoon!

Amy and Andrew said...

Here's to heritage-by-marriage! Just don't get a Volvo.

Anonymous said...

Swedish AND Norwegian by marriage as well :) I've embraced my inner Scandinavian design freak and you can too! Which means that you might need to get a lovely coffee cup designed by one of my favorite Swedish ceramicists, Marie-Louise Hellgren to drink out of when TK brews coffee in that pot. Like this one:

http://www.scandinaviandetails.com/s.nl/c.406039/it.A/id.235/.f?sc=8&category=9790

Liz said...

There was always a very similar coffee pot in my house growing up. My mom is Swedish to the core and it easily took over my dad's German heritage. But, not to the obnoxious point. We had this coffee pot and possibly 4 matching mugs and maybe one of those horse things, but that was about it. Except at Christmas! That's when it all came out! I remember one year being Santa Lucia for a tea party my mom helped host.

Anonymous said...

I love the coffee pot! And I think I'm going to mount a Swedish Christmas this year, even though we are not even vaguely Swedish...

Anonymous said...

I understand what you're talking about, because I'm now Danish-by-marriage (Brian's dad is actually FROM Denmark) and we even had some Danish traditions at our rehearsal dinner and wedding.

Sarah Daigle said...

Welcome to the clan Sarah! Now you the button that someone gave Eric, "Don't blame me, I married a Swede".

By the way, the loose translation is "coffe is the best drink in the world".

Swedish Colombian said...

What a great find! If your Swede decides he doesn't like coffee anymore, I know a lil condo kitchen it would fit in...

Anonymous said...

S-

I just found the SAME EXACT coffee pot at my cabin and it's sitting right next to my computer as we speak.

Nathan and I make homemade potatis korv and also have lingon as a staple . . . forgetting that it might seem odd to the general public (those who are not Swedish). Sanne is more Swedish than I am . . .

Glad you're embracing it but not over the top : )

Josh By Himself said...

Swedes... is there anything they can't wuss up?

Anonymous said...

I love that coffee pot. I've seen other items with that pattern on them before. Very cute.
- Kelly

Ann-Marie said...

My mother has one of these (and my mother-in-law probably does, too). It's wonderful for warming up glögg, but some day I will have to learn how my Grandma Olson used hers to make egg coffee. But probably just the once.

Anonymous said...

i am looking to purchase a coffee pot like the one in the picture. Could anyone help me find one??
I live in Montana.

Anonymous said...

Wow, seeing that pot brought back memories. My mother was swedish and she had that exact pot. I can't remember anymore what else was in the set, but wow I remember that from when I was a toddler.