A salmon-bone to pick with IKEA

The trip between Hopkinsville, Ky., and Cleveland, Ohio, with two little ones in tow, is ardorous. The one bright spot had always come in the form of a cobalt blue building looming on the horizon of the interstate not far past the "Florence, Ya'll" water tower. IKEA. The land of modern but affordable DIY furniture, random houseware bargains and, a decade ago, an exciting Scandanavian cafe. The West Chester IKEA, outside of Cincinatti, is our half-way point and stopping point of choice because of the kid-friendly bathrooms, eating area and play areas. It has ceased to be an exciting stop for me, though, because I can only taste my memories of favorite dishes like Pittya-pana and Three Salmon plate.

They've still got the multi-colored carrots, Swedish meatballs, elderberry flavored drinkboxes, and maybe one overcooked fish dish on their menu, but IKEA's top-floor cafe has slowly slumped in my opinion from a destination ethnic eatery to a hum-drum cafeteria.

The rest of the store's offerings include chicken fingers and fries, mashed potatoes, soggy steamed vegetables, mac n cheese, dried out wrap sandwiches, a hockey-puck sized conglomeration of spinach and eggs and limp salad bar fixings.

It really depresses me!

Chicago food - September 2010

The best fish I've ever eaten... Trout at Tre Kronor, a Swedish restaurant in Chicago. It was butterflied and served with sauteed spinach and a chunky tomato sauce, most likely drenched in butter and lemon :-) The creamy white mound is potato gratin.

Swedes feed 2

IKEA has changed their menu a little since the last time I was there. Mom and I both ordered the apple glazed salmon, which came with new potatoes and multi-colored carrots. Yep, all those colorful things are carrots. The orange are the sweetest, the white are kind of firm and turnip-y and the red ones were more mushy. And the yellow carrots taste a bit like squash.

We shared an order of Swedish pancakes with lingonberries for dessert. Stephen had fun gawking at the ground floor from his third-floor vantage point on my lap.

Swedes feed

It's tradition at the Tilsches to have a Swedish-themed meal over the holidays. Our smorgasbord included limpa -- a mild and sweet swedish rye with a hint of licorice -- and pickled herring...
Also, smoked salmon, cucumber slices in vinegar, shrimp...
Deviled eggs, rye vita (Thanks, Susie!), potato sausage, bundoost (a swedish cheese, I'm sure I've spelled it wrong), lingonberry jam, and some sweet potatoes.

I had to eat my smorgasbord in about 3 minutes because Stephen was ready for his lunch too.

Swedish Eve

New Years and Christmas Eve dinners in my family are typically a meal of tasty snacks. This year was no exception. Mom and Dad even brought the candle set that propels 3 angels around a set of two bells... a happy memory from childhood. We had the traditional Swede-treats for Christmas Eve dinner... and then some. No limpa or lutfisk this time, but we had plenty to eat:
1. Smoked salmon
2. Pickled herring
3. Potato sausage
4. Lingonberries (actually cranberries)
5. German potato salad
6. Shrimp
7. Wasa crackers
8. Roasted potatoes
9. Tortilla pizzas
10. Stuffed mushrooms
11. Seaweed salad
12. Sourdough rolls from Schlabachs
13. Many different cheeses
14. Corn salsa and tortilla chips
15. Roasted chestnuts
And we didn't have room for dessert:
1. Schlabach's fudge pie
2. Jennifer's pie (see food quiz below)
3. Pizzelles (Joe's favorite cookie)
4. Almond cigars (made yesterday)
5. Cookies, chocolate

Joe inspects the dinging angel candles for the first time. It was dinging a little awkwardly that night. Nan always had her set out for holiday meals, so it was cool that my parents brought theirs. Below, I hold up a perfectly intact chestnut. Apparently Italian chestnuts are the way to go.. the other kind is just kind of mealy and bland. Ours were rich and sweet.

Swedish rats

A visit to my hometown is not complete if it doesn't involve several hours at IKEA. Salty licorice fish, anyone? Click on the pic to see it close up.

Three-stories high, this blue and gold behemoth is home to a fast food restaurant (selling 50-cent hotdogs and 99 cent cinnamon rolls), a specialty food shop (selling gummy rats and lingonberry jam) and a Swedish cafe (below).

I like to eat at IKEA maybe even a little more than I like shopping there. The food is always tasty and filling and dirt cheap. Yah. We ate dinner there on Thursday night. (My last post was actually Wed. night, I goofed.) Mom had the 3 salmon plate, dad the chicken marsala, me the baked salmon.
Mom's dish was the most photogenic.