Reflections on a Wintry Evening

By Robin G. Jordan

I spent the better part of today writing a new article for Anglicans Ablaze, “Making Sense of Anglicanism’s Protestant Heritage.” By midday snow had begun falling outside. The roofs and the yards in my neighborhood were quickly covered with snow. I was pleased to see a small bird—a slated-colored junco—eating the millet seed that I had set out for the birds. By six o’clock we had a good two inches or more of snow. I did not take a yardstick and measure how deep it was. However, I twice cleared snow from my front steps only to discover that more snow had taken the place of the snow that I had swept off.

In the article I describe historic Anglicanism as a hodgepodge, or hotchpotch, which is a dish of many ingredients. Traditionally the dish is made from mutton broth and vegetables.

Hotchpotch is French and means “shake pot.” A hodgepodge is what is sometimes described as “homely” fare, a dish that is plain and unpretending. It is a perfect dish for a cold winter evening.

I have not eaten lamb or mutton for a number of years. I became a vegetarian in my early thirties. In my house a visitor might be served a thick Winter Vegetable Soup or a hearty Lentil Soup on a night like tonight.

When they hear the word “hodgepodge,” most people who are familiar with the word are likely to think of a dish that is hastily thrown together and is not particularly appetizing. In a hotchpotch the ingredients, while they may simple, are simmered for a long time. The slow cooking brings out their respective flavors and blends those flavors together. The result is quite tasty.

A hodgepodge is sometimes confused with a hotpot, which is meat and potatoes baked together in the oven in a lidded dish. A hotpot is another perfect dish for a cold winter evening. Both dishes are savory and warming.

The trouble with a hodgepodge as with any dish is that some folks usually wants to leave out a particular ingredient that they do not like. They may want to omit two or three ingredients. They may want to leave out so many ingredients that there is nothing but the empty cooking pot.

Other folks take a dislike to the dish altogether and want something else in its place—pizza, jambalaya, haggis, scrambled eggs! All of these dishes are good in their way. But they are not a medley of ingredients slowly simmered together to bring out their respective flavors and to blend those flavors together with a tasty result.