James O'Brien

A few months ago, a friend and former colleague sent me a “Thankyou/Swedish Care Package”, which consisted of some famous Swedish confectionary – Daim and Bilar – along with some yellow and blue balloons, and some Swedish flags (to be used at a Eurovision Party).

As I never had or went to a Eurovision Party this year, the flags and balloons have been sitting on my desk at work, awaiting a reason to celebrate. When I mentioned to my colleague in the office next to me Swedish National Day was coming up, she suggested I should hold a “Morning Tea” to celebrate.

Though I think she might have been “taking the piss”, I was inspired to follow up. Morning or Afternoon Tea is quite popular on my floor at work. With a large cohort of “young mums” on my floor, baking is quite popular. Though I will often bake bread, I’m not a particularly good cook, and so I sometimes feel a little left out. So, I decided to “get organised” and began to organise a “Fika” (the Swedish word for Morning or Afternoon Tea).

To celebrate, I organised some kanelbullar from the Koket Cafe in Paddington and a Prinsesstårta from the Fika Swedish Kitchen in Manly, along with some famous Swedish confectionary – Kex and Daim.

To get the cake ready for an 11am start involved an early morning ferry trip to Manly (5.30am), to ensure I could be back at work in time for a 9.00am meeting. The trip was worth it, as I enjoyed the early morning experience of the Manly Ferry. With only a few people on board, it was awesome to go out the front and experience the (admittedly cold) morning experience of Sydney Harbour.

The efforts were appreciated by my colleagues, who wholeheartedly enjoyed the offerings. Though admittedly, there was a mid-afternoon “sugar hangover” for many of us.