Rice, Bacon, and Conference.

It is that time of year again...General Conference. And for the first time in years (not since we lived in AZ), we are on our own for conference.

Now you have to understand. It's a family culture kind of thing. My grandfather and grandmother on my dad's side both come from West Virginia. They lived here in Utah for all their married lives, but brought some of their culture and food traditions with them. And one of them is Bacon and Rice. You cook up rice and serve it with bacon, and there you go. Thinking back on it now, it seems like a poor man's food, the kind of stuff you have when it's the only stuff you have. My understanding was that my grandfather used to eat the rice and bacon with the bacon grease poured over the top. All I can say is Eewww.

But then I guess our tradition isn't that far removed. For as long as I can remember (and I remember being 2) we had this for breakfast on Sunday morning. We take the cooked rice, crumble bacon on top, sprinkle sugar on top of that, and pour milk on it to create a warm, salty/sweet meal. I think the toasted English muffins with raspberry jam and grape juice came a little later, but it rounded out the meal.

To any newbies to this post, you may be saying Blech. And I would understand. There were years where I would eat the bacon on the side, but not add it to the rice and milk. And to this day the bacon has to be the right level of crispy or I won't add it, because there's nothing worse than soggy bacon. It 's like eating straight fat.

We used this meal as a litmus test for all potential in-laws. If they could eat it without gagging, they were acceptable. It was always funny to see the first bite reaction. I don't know what my other siblings did, but I gave my future hubby lots of info before his formal introduction. And he actually likes it now (better than I do, I think.)

So for years, every conference, we, and as many siblings as were around, would come to my parent's house for the traditional breakfast and Conference. Three of my four brothers moved out of state this past year, and my parents are in California with my VERY pregnant sister, so we get to do it on our own. The food won't change. Not a bit. And since I'm cooking the bacon, it'll be perfect.

I feel a little forlorn, though, realizing that yes, at nearly 40 and with 5 kids, I guess I'm finally a grown up and can do this on my own. But on the other hand, it's kind of exciting being handed the baton, carrying on the torch of tradition. So onward Oliphant family, along the well-tasted path of tradition. Yum!