In our church there has been a raging debate about lamingtons. Specifically, the debate is around whether they should have jam or no jam? I think, as a some-time lamington-maker, this is the wrong question.
Yesterday we had after-church gatherings around food to celebrate who we are as a community and to foster engagement and relationships. We had the most brilliant morning! A week or two ago we were approached by one of our pastors, who whispered in Miss Mischief's ear; a special request for her lamingtons. She had made lamingtons for him when he was over for dinner once, while his wife was overseas. He felt special and spoilt and…well who could possibly deny a man who asks so humbly, and we had to bring something anyway?
Funnily enough, others had the same thought. Lamingtons everywhere! It should have been dubbed "Lamington Day". Very few were homemade though, so many offerings had jam in them. I think this has happened with the advent of pre-prepared food and bakeries. When I was a child, and all lamingtons that were consumed were made at home, there was no such thing as jam lamingtons. And I know why. They are fiddly as all get out to make. And time consuming. When you are dipping squares of cake in runny chocolate icing and waiting for them to drip off a little and then rolling in them coconut at 10.30pm you are not dealing with jam and slip-sliding pieces of cake as well. Your people are lucky to be getting lamingtons at all because they are truly a labour of love. Your people would do well to remember this!
So yesterday I heard of one pastor who asked quietly "who would bring lamingtons without jam?" and I saw another pick up a lamington and put it down to get a different one. I caught him doing it and in true mother-form I asked "did you really just pick that up and put it back? What are you doing?" (we have a good relationship!). He responded that the first one didn't have jam.
Hmph!
Neither of these men have ever made lamingtons. At 10.30pm at night.
The question, dear pastors, is not "Should lamingtons have jam or no jam?". The question should be "Do we have lamingtons or no lamingtons?" Because if people are making them at home they're not doing jam!!
So yesterday I heard of one pastor who asked quietly "who would bring lamingtons without jam?" and I saw another pick up a lamington and put it down to get a different one. I caught him doing it and in true mother-form I asked "did you really just pick that up and put it back? What are you doing?" (we have a good relationship!). He responded that the first one didn't have jam.
Hmph!
Neither of these men have ever made lamingtons. At 10.30pm at night.
The question, dear pastors, is not "Should lamingtons have jam or no jam?". The question should be "Do we have lamingtons or no lamingtons?" Because if people are making them at home they're not doing jam!!
2 comments:
Oh, dear, I don't even know what a lamington is. But jam inside does sound nice!
xofrances
I agree - no jam for sure! Old recipes for lamingtons definitely did not have jam. I haven't made lamingtons since we had to make them in Home Ec, about two million years ago!
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