still-sound 85. Ikea food

I was tempted to pick up a chilled box of Dryck Flader to go with lunch at Ikea yesterday.  It's an elderflower drink apparently.  I like the taste of elderflower.  I can't remember the last time I drank something from a juicebox.  I decided to go with water instead.

I love how Ikea promotes an unwavering sense of Swedishness at all times.  The products have foreign names ornamented with unusual accents.  When I was a kid I formulated an impression of Scandinavia based on my trips to Ikea.  I imagined it to be clean, modern, and child-friendly since there was a room filled with balls for kids to play while parents shopped.  I can't imagine parents leaving their kids unattended to play in a public shopping center now - but in the early 80s this was not a problem. 

I ate Swedish meatballs yesterday.  The meal tasted like cafeteria food which made me feel nostalgic.  Rob had a salad and a plate of smoked salmon topped with slivers of slightly-pickled vegetables.  We couldn't determine whether they were radish or turnip.  Impressively, the salmon was neither too salty or slimy.  We shared a slice of cake which featured a layer of custard and a crunchy Daim bar topping.  I had first discovered this cake perhaps ten years ago at an Ikea outside of London.  It was called Almondy.  Now when I think of Ikea I immediately think of Almondy in a Pavlovian response. I don't know if the cake is still called Almondy as there was nothing to indicate its name in the cafeteria, but I recognized it immediately nonetheless.  It certainly tasted like Almondy.

I couldn't find anything to watch on TV when I got home so I ended up watching a program about a woman who was addicted to cheesy potatoes.  It was called Freaky Eats: The woman addicted to cheesy potatoes.