Jordan Almonds
Normally, I dread baby showers and avoid them with any lame excuse I can think up. There's only so much I can take of those dumb diaper games and oh-so-cute baby clothes. Maybe it's just because I've had kids for so long, but I find myself honestly asking, "Are people still having babies?". It's exhausting for me to even think about . But people are still having babies and they're still getting all excited about little booties and clever names. I feel sorry for them with their high expectations and idealistic visions. It's never what you think it is. I'm not saying it's all crap, but first time parents think it's all going to be pink and fluffy and perfect. I almost can't bear to look them in the eye or have conversation with them, as I don't want to be the one who breaks the sparkly spell. Not that I could. I also don't want the question, "Why didn't you tell me?" to be directed at me one more time.
Anyway, today I went to the first of two baby showers I'm invited to this month and surprisingly, I had a pretty good time. It was a "high tea" at a prestigious spa/resort here in our snobby little wine country, and it was rather pleasant. Fancy tea, tasty little sandwiches, and the cutest sugar cubes I've ever seen. And tucked into a little pink tissue paper bootie at my place setting, were the cutest Jordan almonds. I can't believe I just said that. While ol' preggo Anea was carefully opening her mountain of adorable gifts, I started wondering about these weird things called Jordan almonds. So I snuck out the back door and came home to Google them.
Jordan almonds are named after a variety of almonds originally grown along the Jordan River in Palestine characterized by long, thin, slender, rather smooth kernels in thick, heavy shells. The shape of these nuts make them ideal for the 4 day process of sugar coating. The reason these confections, or "confetti" are used at weddings, is to symbolize the bittersweetness of marriage. Bitter almonds on the inside, sweet sugar coating on the outside. Yes. Indeed.
Typically 5 almonds are used in each party favor, to represent 5 wishes for the new couple; health, wealth, happiness, fertility and longevity.
I don't know what it means to decorate them like cute little babies and use them at a baby shower, except perhaps that the hostess has too much free time. Or a lot of crazy friends.
7 comments:
Good grief
I know who you are.
of course you do. you are v. smart. :-)
Guess what I found out today??
There is a tea house in RENO!!!!!!!!
first: sugar cubes comein cuter shapes than little cubes?
second: they're decorated like little babies, and there's five of them? Obviously they've been watching that one episode on the discovery channel wehre the mommy mouse is trapped in her burrow by a snake and, just before bolting for freedom, she decides she's not going to let the snake ingest all the effort she's put into her brood so far and eats as many of her offspring as she can and then heads for safer lands.
Let's check out the tea house next time I'm at your house. And I don't know when that will be so don't bitch at me.
I used to have cute little bunny rabbits when I was a little kid. When I couldn't find all the little pink new babies one day, my mom told me that the mamma bunny ate them. She ATE THEM!! I think I threw up. Now I tell my kids that story when they're pissing me off.
Thanks for the reciprocal lesson there Mars. I appreciate it.
Oh, and the sugar cubes were cubes, but there were little tiny pink roses, complete with little tiny green leaves, 2 of them, painted on the top with frosting. And there were hundreds of them. Who has this much time? Tell me Anea, who has this much freaking time? They were completely adorable.
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