When the burial site of Phillip of Macedonia was discovered, mixed among the cremated bones were acorns and oakleaves. Acorns were placed in Viking windowsills to guard against thunder. You could still see this cultural memory in heavy, ivory white plastic buttons on curtain cords into the 1960s. I caused a minor scandal telling this to my grandmother's next door nieghbor of 40+ years, a very devout Baptist. She immediately cut the buttons off her venetian blinds and threw them out. Problem was the cords slipped out of their channels and the liberated slats all crashed to the floor. So she hangs heavy Pendelton blankets on all the windows until after the Sabbath. Unfortunately, the Methodists across the street saw the temporary milkman without a correct white uniform make a delivery and jumped to conclusions of sinfull activity behind the blankets. By lunchtime the rumours had circled up and down the street faster than our feared pandemic bird flu. My grandmother seized my book of MYTHS FROM THE GOLDEN AGES and had severe words about 5 y/o boys who looked at pictures of half naked Swedish ( harumph, probably Lutheran) harlots. Then she marched out with a fresh batch of preserves as an excuse to talk to and mollify everyone. I slipped out to my friend Aaron's house. His father was peeking out the window laughing and his grandmother was yelling at us in yiddish to come eat. I had a yarmulka put on my head, we said prayers and ate dinner. The moral of my story is to learn the folkore of new foods. Sometimes there are real world lessons in them. Like the classic " keep your mouth shut except for eating."