It’s All About Lagom

Hygge (which we wrote about affectionately back in November of 2020) is now apparently “out” – and Lagom is “in.” I can’t believe that someone like me – who has been certified to have 55%+ Swedish DNA – could have ever written about the Danish Hygge BEFORE writing about the Swedish Lagom! How embarrassing.

But now I’m back on my ethnic track and ready to share my grandparents’ culture with you :). Meanwhile, Andy is sharing something about his Belgian grandmother in today’s Andy’s Corner.

What is Lagom? Lagom is a Swedish philosophy which roughly translates to “not too much, not too little.”   Lagom encourages us to create a happy life by choosing to live a balanced and fruitful existence. Here’s a short little video if you want to know more.

According to an article in the UK’s Town & Country House, “While hygge is all about staying in with family (and potentially never changing out of your cashmere pyjamas), getting cosy and chatting with friends in a coffee shop, basically taking the time to enjoy a moment of contentment (whatever the weather), lagom is all about moderation. Rather than seizing the moment (of hygge, if you will), it’s about living a frugal life with just enough possessions; everything functional and a life in balance.”

Lagom is pronounced “lah-gom,” (“lah” like fa la la and “gom” rhymes with tom).

As the holidays and 2022 rapidly approach, working on lagom sounds like a good idea. Not too many nor too few gifts; not too much nor too little food. Not an overly-decorated nor under-decorated tree. It’s been so easy during this pandemic to shop online excessively (here’s lookin’ at me) or be too reclusive or, yes, overeat.

Case in point: caramel sea salt chips. We discovered them when our friend Connie invited us to lunch and served us cookies made with them. We brought a sackful of cookies home with us – and suddenly it seemed both Andy and I were sneaking another…and another…and another cookie from the brown paper sack. It was as if we couldn’t stop.

So, of course, I knew I had to get the recipe for my blog. Connie uses Trader Joe’s chips but I also found some Hershey’s Sea Salt Caramel Chips. Andy and I decided to do a taste test (there was no clear winner) – and our addiction to these little chips got worse. Literally, if a bag is open I can’t stop eating them, and I can’t think of any other sugary sweet thing that impacts me that way. I guess I should have suspected that I had a caramel addiction when I couldn’t quit binging on our Caramel Dessert Sauce; it’s so finger lickin’ good. How do I get my lagom back? HELP!

Lagom…moderation in all things. A worthy resolution for 2022?