The Frugal Swede: What you can get for $5

You may not believe this, but last night I was taking a walk along Edgcumbe Road and a handsome elderly man came out of one of the elegant mansions right about the same time. He cut across the wide lawn and came up alongside me, matching my stride. He had silvery hair and a slender frame and an intense, weathered face.

"Going for a walk?" he said.

You can imagine I'm just the slightest bit uncomfortable but I play along.

"I am." I look back to his lawn. "Nice garden," I say.

"Oh, that's not the real garden," he says. "The real garden is in back." And then he tells me about his tomato crop and how good it was this year.

"Isn't that what we're all supposed to do now? Grow our own food?" he says.

I tell him I'll take a walk back there sometime to see it. I ask him how long he's lived there.

"Well, to be honest, I don't really live there. My daughter does. I come up to visit. I'm here quite often."

I think about this.

He says, "I live in Northfield. I teach at St. Olaf."

I look over at him. He has a twinkle in his eye and now I think it's quite nice that he has joined me on my walk.

He says, "But now I must leave you, I'm going to the circus." You may not believe this but we do have a Big Top right down the hill from our house.

"She told me I should buy my granddaughter something after her performance. I have only five dollars in my pocket. What's a poor Swede to do?" he says.

And then he leaves me. I think about him a long time after that, as I finish my walk. And I know all of you out there might be screaming and swinging your arms wildly: "Send him to Ikea! Send him to Ikea!" because we all know the cartloads of items you can get for $5 there. But this is the New Sweden. Actually, Chicago has more Swedes than any other place in the U.S. but the Twin Cities has more ACTIVE Swedes. Big Difference. So what's a poor Swede to do? Here's what you can get for $5 in the Cities:




Two paks of Swedish Fish, 2 for $5, Walgreens this week








Admission to the American Swedish Institute, Minneapolis $5 fee for those over 62






Authentic Swedish Limpa, baked in the old world tradition with buttermilk and molasses, from one of four Twin Cities Taste of Scandinavia locations or online, $4.35/loaf











And to wrap up a nice evening in St. Paul, in the den of your daughter's house, how about a used copy of a book in the well-done mystery series by the pair of novelists, Maj Sjöwall and Per Wahlöö, who manage to combine an Ed McBain-like style with social awareness and critique. Could you get any more Swedish than that? Start out with The Laughing Policeman, only $2.28 used from Amazon.com. With regular shipping, you should come out right around $5.