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Friday, October 19, 2007

Home Cooking, Scottish Style

Mom, Dad, and I were born in Scotland. My two brothers were born in Canada. Mom and Dad maintained many old country ways and spoke with a Scottish brogue. My brothers and I learned the meaning of our parents’ Scottish words, and we learned to eat some Scottish food that didn’t quite measure up to levitical dietary standards. We filled up on “black puddin’” without ever calling it what it was—blood sausage. Tripe, the lining of a cow’s stomach, was frequently another meal du jour. We also ate such delicacies as tongue and “pottied heed”—head cheese—and lots of thick porridge.
Occasionally, I would push my plate away, but Dad would intone, “You get that knocked into you or I’ll break baith your legs.” So I knocked into me whatever was on the plate.
I don’t recall ever eating at a restaurant. We always ate at home. But that home cooking, Scottish style, must have had something go for it. My older brother and I enjoy good health in our seventies, and my younger brother enjoys good health too.
So blaw the pipes as a tribute to Scottish cooking!
No, I don’t want to order a plate of “black puddin’” today, but there is something to be said for being content with whatever we can afford to eat. Most of us in the Western World eat too much and seldom give thanks for the bounty God has given. Hunger ravages countries not far from ours, where kids rummage through dumps in search of scraps of food.
Canadians celebrated Thanksgiving earlier this month, and a month from now Americans will celebrate Thanksgiving by gathering with family and friends to share an enormous meal complete with turkey and two or three kinds of pie. Some Americans will call the occasion “Turkey Day,” but the day was instituted as Thanksgiving Day. That’s what it should always be—a day to give thanks to our loving heavenly Father for what He has given to us.
His greatest gift, of course, is the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ (Romans 6:23). Let’s offer special thanks for Him this coming Thanksgiving.

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