Hello Tammy Welcome to the list. Can I suggest that you start by looking at http://www.orkneyjar.com - there is a fund of information there and beautifully presented. Kind regards -- Mike Clouston Tammy wrote: > Hello everyone! > I have been reading everyone's messages. The topics are very > interesting, but I have a few questions. Hope you do not mind me > asking and taking you off the topic. > I checked out the lights, there must be lots because they look bright. > Where is Kirkwall? > How do people in Orkney celebrate Christmas? What are some old > traditions? > Is Bannock in Orkney, the same type for dough cooked by the Canadian > Natives long ago? > My roots are from Orkney and I would love to learn more about the > land, people, traditions, history, even the weather. > Take care, > Tammy > . > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > > >

In a message dated 12/8/03 6:22:07 AM Eastern Standard Time, sigurd@orkneyjar.com writes: > > For the third time, could we keep postings to this mailing list on topic. > If food is not part of our heritage (and it started with a DEERNESS cookbook), as well as a basic part of our daily life, then what is? Do Orcadians only eat oarcakes and old potted hough? Maybe we should post an outline of what is permitted to discuss? Anne (feeling grumped upon)

In a message dated 12/8/03 12:38:19 AM Eastern Standard Time, tammyls@shaw.ca writes: > But, we will not be offering any of the snaps to > anyone. They turned out rock hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Dip them in your hot tea or coffee or cocoa... Don't throw them out! Anne, who loves stale cookies with tea

Hi Mike, I guess this is your list? I've only been on it one day and got 8 emails having to do with some kind of argument about cookies. Before I opt out of this list....was this exchange typical of what I'll be receiving? Our daughter was there this (Stromness) weekend and we're excited to hear what she thought. I looked at the pictures on your website and couldn't help but wonder why you folks don't plant some trees. thanks, Lance Groundwater Valdez United State of Alaska ----- Original Message ----- From: "Mike Clouston" <mike@mikeclouston.co.uk> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 1:45 AM Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Kirkwall's Lights > Hello Tammy > > Welcome to the list. Can I suggest that you start by looking at > http://www.orkneyjar.com - there is a fund of information there and > beautifully presented. > Kind regards > -- > Mike Clouston > > Tammy wrote: > > > Hello everyone! > > I have been reading everyone's messages. The topics are very > > interesting, but I have a few questions. Hope you do not mind me > > asking and taking you off the topic. > > I checked out the lights, there must be lots because they look bright. > > Where is Kirkwall? > > How do people in Orkney celebrate Christmas? What are some old > > traditions? > > Is Bannock in Orkney, the same type for dough cooked by the Canadian > > Natives long ago? > > My roots are from Orkney and I would love to learn more about the > > land, people, traditions, history, even the weather. > > Take care, > > Tammy > > . > > > > > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > > word > > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > > > > > > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >

Good Day Tammy and Welcome to the List! Mike suggested the website. He's right. I've found oodles of good information there, myself. I hope that might be a good place for you to start. The list discussions are infrequent, but sometimes interesting. If you are in the mood to hunt for pictures, I'd like to suggest doing a search for Charles Tait. Beautiful photos of Orkney and I believe they can be purchased as well. Hope you feel at home on the list. Pat ----- Original Message ----- From: "Tammy" <tammyls@shaw.ca> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Monday, December 08, 2003 12:29 AM Subject: [<orcadia>] Kirkwall's Lights > Hello everyone! > I have been reading everyone's messages. The topics are very > interesting, but I have a few questions. Hope you do not mind me asking > and taking you off the topic. > I checked out the lights, there must be lots because they look bright. > Where is Kirkwall? > How do people in Orkney celebrate Christmas? What are some old traditions? > Is Bannock in Orkney, the same type for dough cooked by the Canadian > Natives long ago? > My roots are from Orkney and I would love to learn more about the land, > people, traditions, history, even the weather. > Take care, > Tammy > . > > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > > >

My daughter and I just made some gingersnaps, along with other sweets for our holiday guests. But, we will not be offering any of the snaps to anyone. They turned out rock hard!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cheers Tammy

Hello everyone! I have been reading everyone's messages. The topics are very interesting, but I have a few questions. Hope you do not mind me asking and taking you off the topic. I checked out the lights, there must be lots because they look bright. Where is Kirkwall? How do people in Orkney celebrate Christmas? What are some old traditions? Is Bannock in Orkney, the same type for dough cooked by the Canadian Natives long ago? My roots are from Orkney and I would love to learn more about the land, people, traditions, history, even the weather. Take care, Tammy .

Can now be seen on the web cam at http://www.thelongpartnership.co.uk/ -- Mike Clouston

Peggy wrote: > I have the following recipe for bere bannocks from Barony Mills, > Birsay: That's the recipe I use too. They taste great with grimbister farm cheese. Going back to potted hough - as Mike said hough is the scots word for the shin bone (I assume the hock of a horse is the same, hock/hough - must be the same source). I'd forgotten potted hough actually existed until Anne mentioned it. I don't know how easy it would be to make nowadays - with all the regulations about buying beef on the bone and such it could be difficult to get hough. Especially as there's not exactly a lot of butchers shops in Orkney any more. Donaldson's the butchers have reopened yesterday, so there's a butchers in Kirkwall again. Thinking of Potted hough just reminded me - my music teacher in primary school played in a ceilidh band called "Potted hough". By the way - the Christmas lights in Kirkwall were turned on yesterday. Fiona Orkney

If you punch up bannock on a search engine, you will discover very quickly that the Canadian native communities coveted this food very enthusiastically. It is however acknowledged as a food inherited from their Hudson's Bay Company friends (and in some cases virtual relatives) who in large part of course were from Orkney. I noticed that there has been studies of note on the native diet in the north, and bannock is still high on the consumer list. The high incidence of diabetes has given rise to bannock without grease. Thee are several references to this. I have chewed on lots of bannock, over lots of remote campfires in my life. We wrap the dough on a stick and cook it while sitting around a fire, careful not to burn it or drop it into the ashes if it flops off the stick. Stick cooking got you away from the grease in the pan, which is harder to control over an open fire and can result in some pretty greasy food. We often add raisins and nowdays dried cranberries to the dough. This beremeal version posted on this site, seems to be a little more friendly towards the arteries than some of the larded northern concoctions I have eaten. In fact, salt pork was sometimes an ingredient. (Yuk! I can still taste it. )I preferred the wild blueberries or raisins. On Saturday, December 6, 2003, at 05:37 PM, STRONSAY2@cs.com wrote: > This is the only bannock recipe in the book > I'd check for another version but I bet Fiona could give us one... > >> From Mrs Anna Allan, Greenhall, Deerness > > 2 handfuls beremeal (My guess is 1 1/2 cups) > 1 handful flour (Half the amount of beremeal) > 2 level tsp baking soda > 1 "" " cream of tartar > salt > milk > > Sift dry ingredients. > Mix with milk to dough consistency > Knead out into rounds on floured board. > Bake on girdle (griddle) > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the > word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >

Do you suppose that I could just take regular oatmeal and whirl it in my blender until it is the consistency of corn meal? As I rarely drink beer except in the summer, I shall have to begin to build up my resistence, else I shall BE retired instead of retiring at my own pace... We had about 8 inches of snow in the immediate area of Philadelphia, but just enough more to the west that my brother's 50th birthday party in Lancaster, (70 miles west) was cancelled as the band couldn't get there. But this morning is bright and crisp so I will be easily able to make it the 9 miles to church for quickie choir rehearsal before the service. The biggest irritation of the cancelled party is that another brother, coming from Raleigh NC was going to bring all the Christmas presents, and because he was coming, his wife had allowed herself to buy large, fragile (who knows what!) gifts for 2 of my (grown up) kids. Now, since I am on vacation this week, I may try to arrange a meeting half way between Philadelphia and Raleigh to exchange cumbersome packages.. Sunny days to all, Anne

Anne, I have the following recipe for bere bannocks from Barony Mills, Birsay: 2 cups Barony Mills Beremeal 1 cup plain flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. cream of tartar salt, if desired Mix thoroughly, add milk, water, or buttermilk to make a stiff dough, roll out on a floured (mixture of beremeal and flour) board to form the bannocks (this will make 2 or 3), then cook on a hot, ungreased griddle 5 minutes or so, each side until both sides are browned and the middle is cooked. Practice will make perfect. Consume with copious amounts of ale (plus plenty of Orkney butter and cheese). I brought some beremeal flour home from Orkney but haven't attempted making bannocks yet. Did you get any snow? We (in Virginia) got abut 6-8 inches Thursday night and throughout Friday. Vermont got hammered (14 inches and still coming down). Peggy, Virginia, USA ----- Original Message ----- From: <STRONSAY2@cs.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 11:55 AM Subject: [<orcadia>] Deerness Cook book found! > Fiona: > While rummaging through a box, trying to find a family memento for a nephew, > I came across the Deerness Kitchen, published by the Deerness SWRI (Scottish > Royal/Rural Women's Institute?). No year of publication. My guess is sometime > in the past 20 years. > > One of the recipes is for potted hough. WHat is HOUGH? > Even the recipe gives me no clue beyond the probability that it is meat: you > take a meat bone (nap bone: what is that?) and cook them for hours. > > It is definitely NOT an old-time collection. It includes pan pizza, Rumanian > Stew.... > I would be happy to send it to you. > > Best from the deliciously (if you don't have to be out) snowy and cold > suburbs of Philadelphia, > Anne Slater > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com >

Here's a bit about "Bannocks or Oatcakes" as found in my "A Taste of Scotland in Food and Pictures" (printed first in 1970) but there was no mention in the index of hough, sorry, Anne. Fiona in Deerness, perhaps you might know about potted hough - or could ask the butcher in Deerness!!? What, there isn't a butcher in Deerness....!!? Bannocks or Oatcakes: ...easier to make 1 large oatcake at a time and cut it into quarters (or farls) for cooking as the mixture stiffens if left too long. After cooking they can be stored in a tin and either lightly toasted or heated in a slow oven to crisp them. A heavy frying pan van be used instead of a gridle or they can be baked in a moderate oven for 20 mins. This quantity makes 1 large bannock the size of a dinner plate (or 4 to 8 small ones). The gridle must be heated before baking. 4oz (2/3 cup) medium oatmeal a pinch of salt a pinch of bicarbonate of soda 2 teasp melted fat (bacon dripping is good) additional oatmeal for the kneading about 1/4 cup hot water In a basin mix first 3 ingredients then make well in the middle and pour in the melted fat. Stir around, then add enough water to make a stiff paste. Scatter a board or table thickly with oatmeal and turn out the mixture, roll into a ball. Knead well with the hands covered in oatmeal to prevent sticking. Press down a little and keep the edges as regular as possible. Roll into 1/4 inch thickness and shape by putting a dinner plate on tiop and cutiing round the edges. Finally sprinkle with a little meal and cut into quarters or less. Place on a warmed gridle or pan and cook until the edges curl slightly. In Scotland they are finished on a toasting stone but a medium hot grill to crisp the other side is adequate. Mix another bannock whilst the oatcakes are 'finishing'. Interesting addition to the text: "Froissant, the 14th century chronicler, writes that the Scottish soldier always carried a flat plate of metal and a wallet of oatmeal as part of his equipment. With a little water he could always make himself an oatcake over a wood fire, which contributed to his remarkable stamina." Off to watch the Big Read! Fiona in York UK >From: "Dutch Thompson" <dutchink@isn.net> >Reply-To: ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com >To: ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com >Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Deerness Cook book found! >Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 15:20:14 -0400 > >Hi Anne- > Is there a recipe for bannock by any chance- I'm researching (mainly) >Scottish foods from early 20th C and have heard many variations on bannock >& >biscuits made from flour fresh from the mill. >Both hough & a nap bone are new to me. I have my grmum's (born 1893) >cookbook from when she started collecting recipes as a girl and there are >many different hands writing recipes in the book for her. >The pages stained with molasses and butter etc contain the tried-and-true >hand-me-down recipes that my Mum and now sometimes my wife cooks- ginger >snaps that snap ! > >cheers Thompson > _________________________________________________________________ Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger

STRONSAY2@cs.com wrote: >Fiona: >While rummaging through a box, trying to find a family memento for a nephew, >I came across the Deerness Kitchen, published by the Deerness SWRI (Scottish >Royal/Rural Women's Institute?). No year of publication. My guess is sometime >in the past 20 years. > >One of the recipes is for potted hough. WHat is HOUGH? >Even the recipe gives me no clue beyond the probability that it is meat: you >take a meat bone (nap bone: what is that?) and cook them for hours. > >It is definitely NOT an old-time collection. It includes pan pizza, Rumanian >Stew.... >I would be happy to send it to you. > > > Hi Fiona and all "Hough" is the Scottish name for shin of beef. You can find another recipe here - http://thefoody.com/meat/pottedhough.html I think "nap" is just another name for the shin bone. -- Mike Clouston

Hi Fiona- Thanks for recipe- what would we do without our 2 Fionas on this list ! cheers Thompson ----- Original Message ----- From: "Fiona Pearson" <fcpearson@hotmail.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 4:56 PM Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Deerness Cook book found! > Here's a bit about "Bannocks or Oatcakes" as found in my "A Taste of > Scotland in Food and Pictures" > (printed first in 1970) but there was no mention in the index of hough, > sorry, Anne. Fiona in Deerness, perhaps you might know about potted hough - > or could ask the butcher in Deerness!!? What, there isn't a butcher in > Deerness....!!? > > Bannocks or Oatcakes: > ...easier to make 1 large oatcake at a time and cut it into quarters (or > farls) for cooking as the mixture stiffens if left too long. After cooking > they can be stored in a tin and either lightly toasted or heated in a slow > oven to crisp them. A heavy frying pan van be used instead of a gridle or > they can be baked in a moderate oven for 20 mins. This quantity makes 1 > large bannock the size of a dinner plate (or 4 to 8 small ones). The gridle > must be heated before baking. > 4oz (2/3 cup) medium oatmeal > a pinch of salt > a pinch of bicarbonate of soda > 2 teasp melted fat (bacon dripping is good) > additional oatmeal for the kneading > about 1/4 cup hot water > In a basin mix first 3 ingredients then make well in the middle and pour in > the melted fat. Stir around, then add enough water to make a stiff paste. > Scatter a board or table thickly with oatmeal and turn out the mixture, roll > into a ball. Knead well with the hands covered in oatmeal to prevent > sticking. Press down a little and keep the edges as regular as possible. > Roll into 1/4 inch thickness and shape by putting a dinner plate on tiop and > cutiing round the edges. Finally sprinkle with a little meal and cut into > quarters or less. Place on a warmed gridle or pan and cook until the edges > curl slightly. In Scotland they are finished on a toasting stone but a > medium hot grill to crisp the other side is adequate. Mix another bannock > whilst the oatcakes are 'finishing'. > > Interesting addition to the text: > "Froissant, the 14th century chronicler, writes that the Scottish soldier > always carried a flat plate of metal and a wallet of oatmeal as part of his > equipment. With a little water he could always make himself an oatcake over > a wood fire, which contributed to his remarkable stamina." > > Off to watch the Big Read! > Fiona in York UK > > > > >From: "Dutch Thompson" <dutchink@isn.net> > >Reply-To: ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com > >To: ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com > >Subject: Re: [<orcadia>] Deerness Cook book found! > >Date: Sat, 6 Dec 2003 15:20:14 -0400 > > > >Hi Anne- > > Is there a recipe for bannock by any chance- I'm researching (mainly) > >Scottish foods from early 20th C and have heard many variations on bannock > >& > >biscuits made from flour fresh from the mill. > >Both hough & a nap bone are new to me. I have my grmum's (born 1893) > >cookbook from when she started collecting recipes as a girl and there are > >many different hands writing recipes in the book for her. > >The pages stained with molasses and butter etc contain the tried-and-true > >hand-me-down recipes that my Mum and now sometimes my wife cooks- ginger > >snaps that snap ! > > > >cheers Thompson > > > > _________________________________________________________________ > Stay in touch with absent friends - get MSN Messenger > http://www.msn.co.uk/messenger > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >

In a message dated 12/6/03 2:46:16 PM Eastern Standard Time, dutchink@isn.net writes: > sometimes my wife cooks- ginger snaps that snap ! > A local bakery makes "Ginger crisps" that are purely heaven. I prefer them a bit stale as they get slightly chewy... Will you share the recipe, and adorn it with your Grandmother's name? Anne

This is the only bannock recipe in the book I'd check for another version but I bet Fiona could give us one... >From Mrs Anna Allan, Greenhall, Deerness 2 handfuls beremeal (My guess is 1 1/2 cups) 1 handful flour (Half the amount of beremeal) 2 level tsp baking soda 1 "" " cream of tartar salt milk Sift dry ingredients. Mix with milk to dough consistency Knead out into rounds on floured board. Bake on girdle (griddle)

Hi Anne- Is there a recipe for bannock by any chance- I'm researching (mainly) Scottish foods from early 20th C and have heard many variations on bannock & biscuits made from flour fresh from the mill. Both hough & a nap bone are new to me. I have my grmum's (born 1893) cookbook from when she started collecting recipes as a girl and there are many different hands writing recipes in the book for her. The pages stained with molasses and butter etc contain the tried-and-true hand-me-down recipes that my Mum and now sometimes my wife cooks- ginger snaps that snap ! cheers Thompson ----- Original Message ----- From: <STRONSAY2@cs.com> To: <ORCADIA-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Saturday, December 06, 2003 12:55 PM Subject: [<orcadia>] Deerness Cook book found! > Fiona: > While rummaging through a box, trying to find a family memento for a nephew, > I came across the Deerness Kitchen, published by the Deerness SWRI (Scottish > Royal/Rural Women's Institute?). No year of publication. My guess is sometime > in the past 20 years. > > One of the recipes is for potted hough. WHat is HOUGH? > Even the recipe gives me no clue beyond the probability that it is meat: you > take a meat bone (nap bone: what is that?) and cook them for hours. > > It is definitely NOT an old-time collection. It includes pan pizza, Rumanian > Stew.... > I would be happy to send it to you. > > Best from the deliciously (if you don't have to be out) snowy and cold > suburbs of Philadelphia, > Anne Slater > > > ==== ORCADIA Mailing List ==== > To unsubscribe from the Orcadia mailing list, send an e-mail with the word > 'unsubscribe' in the message body to orcadia-l-request@rootsweb.com > >

Fiona: While rummaging through a box, trying to find a family memento for a nephew, I came across the Deerness Kitchen, published by the Deerness SWRI (Scottish Royal/Rural Women's Institute?). No year of publication. My guess is sometime in the past 20 years. One of the recipes is for potted hough. WHat is HOUGH? Even the recipe gives me no clue beyond the probability that it is meat: you take a meat bone (nap bone: what is that?) and cook them for hours. It is definitely NOT an old-time collection. It includes pan pizza, Rumanian Stew.... I would be happy to send it to you. Best from the deliciously (if you don't have to be out) snowy and cold suburbs of Philadelphia, Anne Slater

Hello Orkney Affectionados, on this wonderful site: I took a few days in our near North, in fact on the world's largest freshwater island, to walk in the woods and hike along the winter shores. Migrating waterfowl were splendid; black ducks, buffleheads and others, and I saw at least a hundred deer, some of which involved very close encounters. I flushed a huge covey of sharptail grouse. My faithful, resting navy blue Volvo received a snow white arial bombardment from a huge bald eagle who perhaps didn't enjoy having his solitude shared with a featherless two-legged intruder, and wrote with unbridled enthusiasm his big note of protest in lumpy gooey quickly frozen circles on the car roof, perhaps to suggest I park in a less offensive location next time. We ate some some mouth-watering fresh whitefish and homemade blueberry pie at the rustic kitchen of Mme Benoit, who at just 70 years lives an hour from the closest village. Shuffling along the rocky shores, I thought of Orkney. Offshore from where I was treking, headlong into that raw north-west wind with no buildings visible anywhere along the distant North Shore, I was reminded that this rugged historic waterway looks today exactly as it did when our Orcadian relatives once paddled by that very place in their colourful birch bark Montreal canoes, daydreaming about their croft and loved ones. I was reminded of that rocky shore outside Finstown where my family lived, learned and loved for all those years. A local Orkney artist recently painted that place for us, and we just received her artpiece a few weeks back in the mail. In order to make a copy for a couple of people in Orkney, which we were thankfully permitted so to do, the work was scanned and compressed onto a transferrable cd format. After the flurry of recent weeks on this site, from lots of people who never volunteered a solitary peep in the last six months, we were all able to confirm that this site we cherish is alive and well, deep and widespread across our shrinking choking planet, and reactive as a horse's tail in fly season, in varying degrees of passion depending on the topic of the day. Criticisms of topics acknowledged and notwithstanding, I agreed with those who enjoyed the awakening. I feel the site that I have observed for quite some time, went through a confirmation and verification of who and what the subscribers are. Hats off to Sig. Thanks for your tolerance and the opportunity you have given to all of us. Therefore, to my point, should any one of you wish by chance to see-to in fact experience visibly- where the typical passion comes from that many of we distant offshore and long-ago-exited enthusiastic Orcadian families express on this site, I would be only too thrilled to share and to e-mail to any of you the new painting of our old stone croft, up off the rocky shoreline, on a awe-inspiring Orkney day. The Kirkwall native artist created a wonderful message and mood and statement that will endure. Hasta Luego Amigos: Stephen