Normal Families, and Pitting Olives
One of our family sayings is, "I wonder what normal families talk about at mealtimes?" I think it was Tui who coined it a few years back, when most of the offspring were still at home, and one mealtime we were all sitting round the table involved in one of our regular discussions about word derivations or usage. This is the kind of discussion which makes it essential, in our house, for a dictionary to be kept on the dining table (next to the Crockford's Clerical Directory). We were some way into this discussion, when this rather younger Tui added her two-pennyworth: "I wonder what normal families talk about at mealtimes?"
This came to mind during this evening's meal (now reduced to just three of us at table) when we began to speculate on the commercial process for pitting olives. I'm afraid to say that Ask Jeeves didn't help much with this - frankly, I don't know why I bother to retain him - and as so often it was Google that came to the rescue.
We now know that most of the machines for commercial olive pitting are manufactured around Seville in Spain, and exported throughout the world. The essential process was as we imagined, but some questions remain unanswered, particularly: How are the olives positioned and held in these machines? But you can read as much as we found out at the Olive Oil Source.
If anyone happens to have one of these machines at home and could describe it to us in more detail, I'd love to hear from you.
This came to mind during this evening's meal (now reduced to just three of us at table) when we began to speculate on the commercial process for pitting olives. I'm afraid to say that Ask Jeeves didn't help much with this - frankly, I don't know why I bother to retain him - and as so often it was Google that came to the rescue.
We now know that most of the machines for commercial olive pitting are manufactured around Seville in Spain, and exported throughout the world. The essential process was as we imagined, but some questions remain unanswered, particularly: How are the olives positioned and held in these machines? But you can read as much as we found out at the Olive Oil Source.
If anyone happens to have one of these machines at home and could describe it to us in more detail, I'd love to hear from you.
4 Comments:
Don't know if it's your age, or the fact that you've forgotten your eldest daughter... but I'm fairly sure it was I who coined the phrase. Tut tut.
Sun x
This raises a couple of questions (trivial but good fun maybe) in my mind and I think I might lay small wager on the answer to the second:
How many people have Crockfords in their house never mind on their dining table?
Which household in the Oxford diocese will have
1 copy of crockfords and if not an olive pitting machine but at least the detailed workings therof before Christmas of this year?
Apologies, dear Sun; no doubt you are right; I just didn't think it was that long ago the phrase became part of our shared speech!
Why are the daughters called Sun, Li, Tui?
I found your blog when I was looking for the pit removing process..
My son and I were pondering the same question....
Just how do they get the pits out..
Post a Comment
<< Home