Hot Cross Buns
This morning I had a pair of 'hot cross buns" for breakfast.
I don't really like them because I don't really like sticky, gooey, sweet stuff. That sort of thing sticks in my teeth and gets on my beard.
Nonetheless, I get excited every spring when I see them for sale for the first time in the store, and can't pass them up. This year, I first saw them at Market Basket, a chain grocery store in the next town. I couldn't help myself, I grabbed a box of them and I wasn't the only one to do so because the checkout girl said that she had seen a lot of people buying them that day, but was not familiar with them and had never seen them before.
It's a holiday thing. One of those little things that brings back memories and really makes me miss my family. I remember my Mom getting excited about seeing them in the stores for the first time in the spring. She used to sing the little song about them:
Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
one a penny,
two a penny,
hot cross buns.
If you have no daughters,
give them to your sons,
one a penny,
two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns
It's an old street-hawker's song from centuries ago. These sticky little breakfast rolls have a very old history. They can trace their lineage back to the 1300's in a different form, and the current form that incorporates a cross on top made out of frosting goes back at least to the early 18th century in England.
For the past year, I have done a really good job of sticking to my 18th century diet. I've lost roughly 35 pounds. This is one of those times where I make an exception and buy something store-made. Not that I'm looking for a loophole, but buying a specialty pastry that is documented historically is certainly keeping within the guidelines of my dietary experiment.
Experimental diet aside, I'll eat them because they remind me of my Mom. The way we ate them in my family is to cut them in half, butter them and heat them in a frying pan until the frosting "cross" just starts to melt on the edges. As I put them onto my plate to carry them to the table, I can hear her voice singing "Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one-a-penny, two-a-penny..."
I'm the only one in my household that eats them, which is sad to me because it is a tradition. I'll do it every year, carbohydrates, sugar and white flour be damned! Without our family traditions and cultural eccentricities like only eating certain foods at certain times, life would be pretty boring, wouldn't it?
I don't really like them because I don't really like sticky, gooey, sweet stuff. That sort of thing sticks in my teeth and gets on my beard.
Nonetheless, I get excited every spring when I see them for sale for the first time in the store, and can't pass them up. This year, I first saw them at Market Basket, a chain grocery store in the next town. I couldn't help myself, I grabbed a box of them and I wasn't the only one to do so because the checkout girl said that she had seen a lot of people buying them that day, but was not familiar with them and had never seen them before.
It's a holiday thing. One of those little things that brings back memories and really makes me miss my family. I remember my Mom getting excited about seeing them in the stores for the first time in the spring. She used to sing the little song about them:
Hot cross buns,
Hot cross buns,
one a penny,
two a penny,
hot cross buns.
If you have no daughters,
give them to your sons,
one a penny,
two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns
It's an old street-hawker's song from centuries ago. These sticky little breakfast rolls have a very old history. They can trace their lineage back to the 1300's in a different form, and the current form that incorporates a cross on top made out of frosting goes back at least to the early 18th century in England.
For the past year, I have done a really good job of sticking to my 18th century diet. I've lost roughly 35 pounds. This is one of those times where I make an exception and buy something store-made. Not that I'm looking for a loophole, but buying a specialty pastry that is documented historically is certainly keeping within the guidelines of my dietary experiment.
Experimental diet aside, I'll eat them because they remind me of my Mom. The way we ate them in my family is to cut them in half, butter them and heat them in a frying pan until the frosting "cross" just starts to melt on the edges. As I put them onto my plate to carry them to the table, I can hear her voice singing "Hot cross buns, hot cross buns, one-a-penny, two-a-penny..."
I'm the only one in my household that eats them, which is sad to me because it is a tradition. I'll do it every year, carbohydrates, sugar and white flour be damned! Without our family traditions and cultural eccentricities like only eating certain foods at certain times, life would be pretty boring, wouldn't it?
posted by MVTCoPete | 12:07 PM
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