I remember many exciting times waiting for what seemed like hours with that beautiful, unmistakable smell of pasties(Cornish) cooking in the oven.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pasty#Ingredients
My earliest memory was at Hilltop(my grandparents big old summer house on lake Michigan) and all the buzz between the kids was we’re having Pasties for dinner. My grandmother always made it fun by making them the size of your foot. It was best to stay out of the kitchen as not to get in the way of this magical meal in creation. Then we all crowed in the enormously long table that seemed to seat dozens of cousins.
Then complete silence from the chaos as grandfather said the blessing. Then time to dress the pasty, cut them in half add a little mustard(except for cousin John who didn’t like it, I think he inherited it from Uncle Ed) and some catsup(to this day they’re the only thing I put catsup on, I don’t know who I got that from). Pick them up in your hands, yum. They tasted heavenly and every homemade pasty since, is the best one I ever had! As soon as we gobbled them down, the spying began on who only ate half and what kind of bargain could be made to get that precious leftover prize.
The tradition continues in our house as my wife makes them just as good if not better than my grandmother.