I hope the following doesn't alienate everyone, but I have a confession to make. Today I experienced a first. I attended a christening.
It was the first time I've been to a christening, and also the first time I've been in a catholic church and attended a catholic service. I've seen these things on movies and TV but never been there, in the flesh.
It was the wierdest experience and I felt like a foreigner in a strange land where all present spoke a totally different language to mine.
But - to cut to the chase - religion aside, I'm reviewing the morning tea which followed the christening. A strange thing, I hear you all thinking! Has Rita totally lost it now?
A definite NO to that! Can I venture to suggest that Rita had an epiphany? That funny little custom of the ladies of the parish catering for the gathering is still very much alive and well, in that little corner of Hobart anyway.
I'm going to go out on a limb here and make the definitive statement that it was the BEST morning tea I've ever had - and it was all the most simple of tucker ever!
It was your little homemade sausage rolls, cream sponges (all sliced & ready to load onto your cake plate), assorted slices, biscuits, fruit cake, mini quiches - all so lovingly made.
The flavours were absolutely delightful, and took me straight back to childhood when this kind of spread was the norm. I know todays flavours and foods are great, but this exceedingly simple, straightforward and pure-tasting food was out of this world.
Like the good old favourite, the roast, this food has got to be everlasting, so tonight I find myself saying "A pox on all caterers and commercial food"! (Till tomorrow when I need a reliable caterer!).
Sunday, 14 October 2007
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9 comments:
As a very lapsed catholic who spent most of childhood with these strange beliefs and rituals, I find it even weirder these days when attending very occasional catholic ceremonies - 20 years ago it was weddings and baptisms; these days, alas, it is more often funerals!
I also recall especially in the country, any food served, often prepared by the ever industrious Catholic Women's Asociation, was also wonderful in the way you have experienced.
Anon2
Yes, the Country Women's Association are legends too, Rita.
Still say the fruit cake by one of their members at a Kingston regatta (remember that!) stall many moons ago was the best I ever ate.
And I've eaten a few.
Sir Grumpy
Mark my words Rita, this type of food will be picked up by one of the celebrity types, it kinda has already, & jabbed at us as some new thing.
Good simple food like this never goes out of style, its just that the generation that know it are getting thinner on the ground.
I'm not getting thinner on the ground, though, Gobbler. Only wish I was.
Sir Grumpy
As Gobbler says, this food is due for a revival as there is a generation who have been raised without it. They will leap on it as some now fangled fad, while the rest of us reminisce.
I recall the baptism of a child of a single mother in a catholic church some years ago. The priest was not impressed by the mother and appeared particularly facetious when stating that he was about to "exorcise the sins of the mother". Whereupon the baby promptly exorcised breakfast in a stream of projectile vomit in the direction of the priest. Lunch was stodgy Polish fare.
Can't sleep huh Stickyfingers? Thanks all for your comments.
I agree, obviously, and feel sorry for those of the younger generation whose upbringing didn't include this automatic acceptance of food such as I described in my post, and to have that as your norm, on which to base the balance of your life experiences (gastronomically speaking).
I won't comment on the projectile vomiting baby except to heartily endorse its actions! I am told I too was a famous projectile vomiter so empathise. We have ways of getting our message across!
Anon2 - your mums pavs are living examples of the food we're talking about here, so revel in them! Mon should be revered for her skills and talent in that. Chris - your mums sponge cakes ditto.
Truth be told - I select my friends according to their mothers cooking!
As one on the cusp of that generation who hasnt expereinced that food - we lack good comfort food. I always remember going down to Cygnet with our choir a couple of years ago, and singing in the catholic church hall. The nuns put on afternoon tea for everyone, and OH MY GOODNESS was it good. Sister Veronicas sponge cake will ALWAYS be the bar by which I measure all other sponge cakes. Light, fluffy and the cream and strawberrry filling....I'm savilating just thinking about it.
When I first read Ritas blog on Sunday night I had a little smile to myself.
I spent Sarturday making peppermint chocolate slice, lemon sour cream cake and my grandmothers afghan biscuits.
I had just made cheese scones for my kids and their friends for afternoon tea.
Monday night I cooked roast pork,with excellent crunchy, {as it's caled in my house} homemade apple sauce and roast potatoes, pumpkin, parsnip, carrots and mashed swede with homemade gravy.
At work , first thing this morning I had to make a fresh 5 or 6 batches of cheese and bacon scones, which when served warm and buttered, went with a flourish.
It has now occurred to me, after reading the comments on Rita's blog, that this is not a normal occurrence in most people's houses. Having said I made scones at work, I run a high school canteen, and am still amazed at the number of kids that approach me and say "what's a scone?"
At first I thought they were joking, but after realising with horror that they were deadly serious, I now shout them scones. Heaven forbid a child grows to adulthood without tasting a hot fresh cheese scone, slathered with butter, straight from the oven.
I still have trouble getting my head around the fact that not everyone eats like this.
A dead give away should have been one year when a group of my friends, with children in tow, went to Bruny Island for the weekend. My three children spent the weekend munching on others mum's bought biscuits and cakes, while my homemade lot went in record time, devoured by hordes of littlies who'd never had homemade anything.
I love the best of both worlds, and hope my children do the same. We regularly have something new, that we've never had before, in the hopes of broadening our horizons,{or my hope of broadening my families, and them pretending to enjoy the experience to please their Mum} but at least once or twice a week we have something wonderful, that we've all grown up with.
Every year for my birthday, my mum cooks me a golden syrup steamed pudding, resplendant on a plate complete with candle.
Just for the record, I have just turned 40, Hubby is 35, and kidlings are 15, 13, and 11.
I can only hope this is a tradition in our family that is never lost.
What a nice story & Happy Birthday Christina! Your children sound blue-printed to me enough to carry on the tradition.
I'm sure they will.
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