I wish you all a very happy Easter although the weather isn’t very good. I hope the sun does come out.
When I think about Easter, there are a number of foods that immediately come to mind. They include hard-boiled eggs, ham, and roast leg of lamb, not to mention jelly beans, Peeps, and Cadbury eggs. But above all else, the one thing that stands out as the food of the season is hot cross buns.
Growing up I could always count on my to be up and baking us plenty of buns but with just Ray and I it doesn’t seem worth it and it would mean I would eat far to many.
What are hot cross buns?
A traditional hot cross bun is a yeasted sweet bun that’s lightly spiced and studded with raisins or currants, then marked on top with a cross that’s either piped in icing or etched into the dough.
While hot cross buns are now sold and enjoyed throughout the year, they were once reserved for Good Friday alone.
There isn’t one clear explanation for why hot cross buns make their way to our table around Easter. Some theories rest in Christian symbolism, though there are several stories (and even some tall tales) about their origins. Some talk about hot cross buns (which may have at one time been called Good Friday buns) being baked and eaten solely on Good Friday, while others mentioned them being eaten throughout Lent.
Here are a few of the stories that are told about hot cross buns:
- A 12th-century monk introduced the cross to the bun.
The origins of hot cross buns may go back as far as the 12th century. According to the story, an Anglican monk baked the buns and marked them with a cross in honor of Good Friday. Over time they gained popularity, and eventually became a symbol of Easter weekend. - Hot cross buns gained popularity in Elizabethan England.
Towards the end of the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth I passed a law limiting the sale of sweet buns to funerals, Christmas, and the Friday before Easter. The English were deeply superstitious, believed the buns carried medicinal or magical properties, and were fearful of those powers being abused. Some even believed that buns baked on Good Friday would never go stale.
As a way to get around the law, more and more people began baking these sweet buns at home. Not only did they grow in popularity, but the law became too difficult to enforce and was eventually rescinded. - Superstitions about hot cross buns baked on Good Friday.
There are also more than a few stories that indicate hot cross buns were baked on Good Friday for superstitious reasons. One tale states that buns baked on this day and hung from the rafters of a home would ward off evil spirits in the coming year. Another talks of these buns protecting sailors from shipwreck, while off at sea. Yet another version mentions that sharing the bun with a loved one guarantees friendship in the coming year.
On the asbestos front just look at what you can still buy today. http://m.asbestospacking.com/asbestos-yarn.html
I do hope Customs are on the ball and confiscate these products if bought but I really do fear that things are getting through.
The Flask has reared its ugly head again. Thermos flasks containing deadly asbestos materials are for sale in the UK. The use and import of asbestos has been banned in the UK for many years, but unfortunately many asbestos containing products still manage to find there way in to the UK market on a regular basis.
Boyes Turner previously reported on a case of children’s toys being sold on ebay, that story can be read here.
Recently, insulated flasks available to purchase on ebay, Amazon and in John Lewis have been recalled after it was realised they contained asbestos within them.
The flasks which were manufactured in China had loose fill asbestos packed within the two insulating walls of the flask for heat retaining purposes. If one of these asbestos containing flasks was dropped and the outer wall of the flask was cracked, deadly loose asbestos fibres could be released which could cause the fatal disease mesothelioma if they were inhaled.
The flasks in question were the “1 litre Pendo flask” (picture below). The precise models being recalled are those with the barcode: 5050577588369, and the model number: O-58836.
Thermos flasks containing deadly asbestos materials for sale in the UKThermos flasks containing deadly asbestos materials for sale in the UK.
If you have one of these flasks and you suspect it may contain asbestos stop using it immediately and contact your retailer to see if your flask is a part of the product recall.
Its 2017 and Asbestos was banned in 1999 we really should not be reading stories like this but we are which goes to show we must be vigilant all the time.
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A 1950s medical journal rated Kent as one of the best cigarettes for removing harmful tar.
The packages above represent a typical Kent cigarette with the micronite filter package. The filter media is made of crimped layers of paper, typical filter fibers and crocidolite fibers.
Manufacturing cigarette filters using the ‘dry’ process; this involved mixing the crocidolite and other substances and depositing the mixture onto filter paper.
There is an excellent eBay seller that when listed has some the best Kent micronite filter displays accompanied with a very detailed explanation behind the micronite filter and its composition, Also there have been many in-depth analysis of the Kent Cigarette one such research document is titled Crocidolite Asbestos Fibers in Smoke from Original Kent Cigarettes, by William E. Longo, Mark W. Rigler and John Slade.
Other Asbestos Uses With Tobacco
A compound of tobacco and asbestos was mixed to make paper for cigarettes. The paper is cut up like cigarette paper, and a number of leaflets are put together in book form. To use it you take a leaf and roll it up between your fingers, and it is ready for smoking. As asbestos has neither taste nor smell it does not interfere with the flavor of tobacco, while the veil effects of smoking are obviated.
For pipe tobacco the mixture was made up so that the asbestos is not observable in the mixture. It was very cool to smoke and consumed the nicotine in the tobacco, while it burned right down to the bottom of the pipe. A pipe smoked with this tobacco-asbestos was said to be always dry and left no filthy moisture in the stem.
Robert H. Jones, Asbestos, Its Properties, Occurence, & Uses, London, 1890
What to do with those Asbestos Ashes
Where else would you flick those asbestos ashes but an asbestos ashtray!
History has a lot to answer for the deaths of Mesothelioma please lets stop the madness of Asbestos
Source http://www.thekitchn.com/heres-why-we-eat-hot-cross-buns-at-easter-holiday-traditions-at-the-kitchn-217463
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