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bonnyclabber: msg#00029

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Subject: bonnyclabber

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The Word of the Day for October 29 is:

bonnyclabber \BAH-nee-klab-er\ noun
: sour milk that has been thickened or curdled

Example sentence:
When Grandma was a little girl, one of her jobs was to feed the
bonnyclabber to the chickens.

Did you know?
In Irish Gaelic, "bainne clabair" means "thickened milk." In English, the
equivalent word is "bonnyclabber." Whether or not this bonnyclabber is "the
bravest, freshest drink you ever tasted" (as the English Earl of Strafford
enthused in 1635) or "would make a hungry parson caper" (to quote English poet
Thomas Ward in 1716), it has been a part of country folks' diets for many a
year. Today, you might see "bonnyclabber" as a recommended substitute for
buttermilk in a recipe for Irish soda bread (complete with directions for
making your own bonnyclabber). The American version of bonnyclabber, brought to
U.S. shores by Scots-Irish immigrants, often goes one step further in the
thickening process, to produce something more akin to cottage cheese.






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