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Who Brought the TO-IT

© Katherine Austinson

Coffeetime was a twice-a-day ritual growing up around my Danish grandparents.

When Gramps was working out in the field, Gram even drove the old pickup out to him with the whole SPREAD! But it wasn't just a fresh pot of coffee - oh no - to Gramps, it wasn't really a good coffeebreak unless you added something else TO IT! So Gramps would always ask, "And what's the TO-IT, today?" And Gram would always answer with cookies, coffeecake, Danish pastries and open-faced sandwiches.

My grandparents were the children of Danish immigrants to the U.S. In fact, my Gramps came over on the boat as a toddler. Over the years they taught Danish traditions to each of us by practicing them. And the biggest tradition had to be COFFEETIME!

I can find Danish pastries today for my TO-IT at several sites on the web. NordicHouse has Almond Fingers and Ginger Cookies. Also, Racine Danish Kringles® has the best Danish Kringles I've ever tasted! They are a very special type of delicate, flaky pastry - you need to give them a try to fully appreciate them!

Do you have coffeetime memories and how do you make them come alive again? Do you have a special TO-IT for your morning coffeebreak? To this day, when we meet up with my family members, it's inevitably around coffeetime and the question always comes -- "Who brought the TO-IT?"

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