Lentorama 2020: 40 Days of Food

Day 4: Cadbury Creme Egg

The history of this confection - a milk chocolate egg containing a white and yellow fondant yolk - goes back to the 19th century, when John Cadbury and Joseph Fry had competing chocolate companies in the UK.  The companies pushed each other to create new treats, with Cadbury putting out the first filled egg in 1875 (though it was filled with other candies rather than a candy yolk).

The two companies merged in 1921, and in 1923 started to produce creme-filled eggs, though eggs like those you get today weren't made until the 1960s. Since then the eggs have become an Easter staple in the UK and other parts of the English-speaking world (and beyond). Adding to their appeal is their seasonal availability, although there have been versions made for other holidays (like a "scream" egg for Halloween).

Cadbury's purchase by Kraft in 2010, and its spinning off of its confection businesses as Mondelez International in 2014 led to changes that were not always welcome. There was an attempt to make the chocolate shell using powdered cocoa, which saw a drop in sales. Mondelez also moved production out of established factories in places like Ireland and New Zealand in favor of places like China and Brazil, where costs are lower. Not sure if that changed the product, but there was outcry over moving the production of such a traditional product to non-traditional locations.

Personally, I don't care for these eggs. Too sickly sweet for me. My wife loves them, and I'm happy to leave them to her.

Lentorama 2009: Great(?) Moments in Catholics on Television



April 22, 1994: Father Ted debuts on Channel 4

Father Ted was a show about Irish priests, starring Irish actors, created by Irish comedians, with location shooting in Ireland, that was made for and aired on a network in Britain, a country not exactly known for embracing the Catholic faith.

The show followed the exploits of three priests relocated to Craggy Island after each ran into trouble in their previous assignment. Father Ted Crilly was caught using funds meant for a childrens' pilgrimage to Lourdes to pay for a trip to Las Vegas. Father Dougal McGuire, who is kind of dim and not particularly religious, precipitated an unexplained incident involving a group of nuns and a ferry. The elderly Father Jack Hackett was a foul-mouthed boozer with an eye for the ladies, sent to the island after an inappropriate encounter with a bride he had just married off.

Together, the three deal with the requisite wacky locals while trying to get themselves out of scrapes, often the result of Father Ted's schemes to make money or get transferred off of the island. There's also an ongoing rivalry with the priests from Rugged Island, a kind of ecclesiastical version of the Cheers-Gary's Old Town Tavern rivalry.

As is common with British shows, Father Ted enjoyed a very short run, lasting only 25 episodes over three seasons. It was very popular, though, with the last episode becoming Channel 4's most-watched program ever. It would be shown in Australia and (fittingly) Ireland, but it never quite made it across the pond in any formal fashion (as far as I can tell). The show apparently helped further the career of a number of British actors, but the only one I've heard of is Graham Norton, whose talk show currently runs on BBC America. Sadly, the actor who played Ted, Dermot Morgan, never got the same benefit from the show, as he died of a heart attack the day after the show finished taping its last episode. Not the way Father Ted wanted to get off the island, I'd wager.

So I've been absent. What's been up? Let's start from last Friday:

Funeral - had my aunt Shirley's funeral on Friday, which went as well as a funeral could go. Saw a fair amount of family that I'd not seen in a while, and the rain managed to hold off for the most part. I did get to spend some quality time with the neices and nephews, which is always good. We got back to the house late in the afternoon, actually pulling up at the same time as our...

Houseguests - the wife's cousin and her husband are over from England, and they stayed with us for a few days. It was great fun, as we got to sightsee a bit, drank too much, and probably watched more Olympic coverage than they'd have liked (though we did see a swimming event where the Brits went gold-bronze, which went over well). I didn't get to spend quite as much time with them as I'd have liked, thanks to...

Work - our big graduation was today, and we added a little over 500 new alumni to the rolls without too many problems. We did have a few more problems than usual, though, thanks to a database problem on Monday that kept us from releasing grades to students until Friday. We could see them, so I was able to do a fair amount of my usual pre-graduation work, but parts of it got pushed back. I had a nice little plan going into the week, which was summarily blown to hell. We should have seen this coming when we closed grading with fewer than 20 individual grades missing. When I did get home, it was time to settle in and relax with...

The Olympics - which would be fine if I was in as much in love with swimming and gymnastics as NBC would like me to be. I wound up missing some sports entirely (cycling and judo), which others I've only caught fragments when I managed to catch a recap or the start of early morning coverage on one of the cable outlets. I feel like there was more variety to coverage in 2004, or at least the scheduling allowed me to see more.

So there it is. Back on the blogging wagon this week. Expect multiple appearances of the Book Log.

Book Log 2008 #14: Sword Song by Bernard Cornwell

The latest in the Saxon Tales series, as the Saxon-raised-Dane Uhtred wavers in his oath to Alfred, King of Wessex, when he is tasked to drive the Danes out of London.

It's a fine story, even without the usual dash of nostalgia that historical fiction gets from setting up in London past (it's too far in the past to really get that). The website notes that this takes place about five years after the last book, which I hadn't really noticed. Given the subplot about Alfred's daughter getting married, I should have twigged on to this, as she wasn't really marrying age in the previous book.

40 Days, 40 Churches

Day 43: St. Barnabus Church, Dibley, Oxfordshire, England

Located in a rural corner of England, St. Barnabus was one of the first Church of England parishes run by a female vicar after ordination of women was approved in 1994. The Reverend Geraldine Granger took over after the mid-service death of the 102 year old Reverend Pottle. The community took to her slightly unusual methods - such as a springtime service to bless the village animals - and came to accept her as their spiritual leader.

40 Days, 40 Churches

Day 32: King's College Chapel, Cambridge, England

We'll stay academic for this chapel, which could probably hold every other chapel mentioned in this series and have room left over for a couple of the smaller churches. It's very impressive, especially the ceiling, supported by the world's largest fan vault.

Seeing this was the high point of our day in Cambridge, though to be fair we didn't have much of a day. The weather was awful, and we got stuck in one of the slowest restaurants I've even been to for lunch, so our sightseeing plans were curtailed a bit. We did have a nice chat with a local while watching the River Cam swell, and we did see the Mathematical Bridge, but it wasn't the best day of our trip by any means.

Book Log 2008 #9: On Royalty by Jeremy Paxman

Paxman, a British journalist known for his aggressive interviewing, takes what he calls a "very polite inquiry" into the role of royals in the modern world, with a predominant focus on his native Windsors. Among the anecdotes and quirky history, two questions emerge: why are the royals still around, and why is the general public so fascinated by them?

I like the first half of the book better than the second, as it takes a wider view of royalty (an early chapter focuses on Leka, the pretender to the Albanian throne) and has a more logical progression to the topics covered. The second half bogs down a bit, I think, while examining the failure of republicanism to replace the monarchy. After that the expected slog through the death of Diana and the annus horribilis drags things out even more.

So while there's a lot to like here, I think the book doesn't quite answer the questions it raises.

40 Days, 40 Churches

Day 18: Westminster Abbey, Westminster, London, UK

It's hard not to think of Westminster in terms of history, from its role as Britain's coronation church to the array of individuals buried within its walls. But it is an actual church as well, though I can't quite imagine going their for service every week. It seems like overkill, like using Fenway to play wiffle ball.

The one time I've been there was nothing service-related going on, but we did walk around the grounds and got to see some of the young choristers in its choir school at lunch. It was pretty much what you'd expect from a cafeteria full of elementary school-aged kids.

And if there's not enough history here for you, the houses of Parliament are located across the street. Or if you want something more modern, the London Eye is a reasonable walk away on the other side of the river. This trio of sites was pretty much one of our days in London.

40 Days, 40 Churches

Day 17: St. Mary and St. Gregory, Frithelstock, Devon, UK

I tend to agree with W. G. Hoskins, who notes on the linked page that St. Mary and St. Gregory is unexciting. Still, it's very atmospheric, especially when examined at twilight. I have some pictures of it, which of course I don't have anywhere that I can link to right now. That fits in with my general lack of a write-up about the trip to England last summer, not to mention my laziness in putting up links to the travel-related material.

In any case, should you find yourself in this part of England, stop by and take a look after a nice dinner at the Clinton Arms, though based on group feedback you'd be better off avoiding the clam appetizer (too small). I'd highly recommend the "Dover smokey," a fish and smoked cheese dish which is much better than it may sound.