ethnic

It's not until you are a fully grown up adult and wanting to cook things from your childhood that the reality of how ethnic your upbringing was hits you.
In my teen years I was aware that there was quirky things about my family that other folks didn't do. It was generally only around the holidays that I noticed these things. I figured it was just our family traditions and thought nothing more about it.
In my twenty's I noticed several other things and again just shook my head at the differences. I figured it was the Canadian mixed with Southern that created it's own interesting mix of what ever it was, that was uniquely my family.
Now on the eve of my thirtieth birthday i just have to admit that I had an extremely ethnic upbringing. Now ethnic may not be the term you would think of seeing my all Caucasian family, but ethnic it was. It was not American. It was British by way of Canada. Yes there was a decent helping of southern mixed in. But if you take the time to look real close, most traditional Southern anything is classic English with more flavor.
I grew up eating Shepperd's pie, toad in the hole, pork sausages with fried or mashed potatoes and onions smothered in gravy (bangers and mash), pasties, meat in gravy on toast, sitting down for tea, cucumber sandwiches, tomato sandwiches, butter tarts, mince meat tarts, and so many other things. That list doesn't even take into account Christmas crackers, boccie ball, curling or any other Canadian thing that we do.
We might have looked all American from the outside but we most certainly were not. I suppose it makes sense, of my four brothers and sisters only one is American born. My older sister who shares my father, was born in the US. We were both born in the Ozarks. My parents were high school sweet hearts. Later when my Canadian born mother remarried it was to another Canadian. Both of them Canadians only three to four generations off the boat from England. How could they help but raise us up in a Canadian way. It's their heritage that they shared with us. They might not have intended our household to be so ethnic, but it was in all the little Canadian things that they do that made it our home.
So thank you mom and mike for my Canadian quirks and thank you dad because my husband teases me often that my southern is showing.