April 11, 2019
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Coffee
I never met my Swedish Grandfather because I missed him in time by a couple of years, but I understand that he drank his coffee through sugar cubes that he held between his teeth.
My Grandma Harriet's kitchen was always the family coffee center - Yep the aromas of coffee grounds and canned cat food were always in the air. We kids were never allowed to have any coffee because it would "stunt our growth." (28 Swan St. Schenectady, New York - There used to be lots of trees on Swan St, but I think they all were done in by some disease. The cats would climb up the tree and get in through the attic window that was always left open. We lived downstairs at 32 Swan and my other Grandma lived upstairs. Church was down the street.)
I started imbibing coffee when I met a Swedish friend in Okayama. If you visited her house you could not not drink coffee. She always had "something to chew" on the side, and that usually involved whipped cream which was all right, because it was half air and no one gets fat on air.
You know in Japan we have a tea ceremony, right? I was once treated to a Finnish coffee ceremony. Both father and son took turns tenderly grinding the beans and then boiling them up in a pot. When the brew was served up, Mr. Finlander suggested that since it was probably stronger than what I was used to, I should use a lot of sugar, and he offered me a container. I threw in a couple of heaping teaspoons and took a sip... of VERY SALTY coffee. Now I couldn't ruin the coffee ceremony, so I directed the fellow's attention to whatever the kids were doing outside the window and ran to the kitchen sink.
