Isa McCallum’s first memory of Sunday school was marching around the perimeter of the church’s kindergarten room, singing hymns like Onward Christian Soldiers. That was long ago in Belfast where Isa grew up. She misses this old Methodist hymn and describes it as “a rousing hymn you can get your teeth into.”
Today, Isa is a member of St. Andrew’s Memorial Presbyterian Church, in Port Credit, but she started her church life at Belfast Central Mission. (Established, in 1889, and still going strong.) Isa attended the mission throughout her high school years and sang in both the junior and senior choirs. According to Isa, every Christmas these ambitious choirs would sing the Christmas part of The Messiah.
As a teen, Isa was secretary of the Young Worshippers’ League, a post that involved keeping attendance records. “The children and young people had a card and I stamped it each Sunday. At the end of the season, I went to a book store and chose suitable books for the prize winners,” she recalls.
Interestingly, during Isa’s school years, the world was in Deep Depression, but Isa was unaware of the desperate hordes. “I was an only child and an only niece. Everything was given to me. Also my father worked as a printer and was never out of work,” she says. And during the war Belfast, a city with a major ship yard, was a target for German bombers, but Isa’s family were unscathed although she does recall the evacuation of local children.
After high school Isa, then Miss Coyle, worked as a bookkeeper in the office of Ministry of Finance in Northern Ireland’s House of Parliament (Stormont). Soon Isa met Robert McCallum and that was to change her life. In 1950 she married Robert, a millwright. In 1963 he was offered a good job in Malton, Ontario, at the Douglas Aircraft factory. By then the McCallums had four children. Robert went ahead and Isa followed a few months later with four small boys in tow. She describes the trip to Canada as an awful experience. On arrival, the family settled in Rexdale.
“I didn’t want to come. In Ireland, we had a nice house with a garden. In Canada, we bought a hole in the ground, in Mississauga. After two years the house was finally built and we moved in. And I’ve been in this same house for 50 years,” says Isa, who settled well once she had her own house to nest in. (Her husband, Robert McCallum, died in 2004.)
Two weeks ago, the St. Andrew’s ladies had their annual Christmas bazaar and raised $6,500 for church work. Although Isa’s job was selling baked goods, she confesses she is not a baker and, in fact, “detests” cooking. So when it comes to potlucks and church suppers, she prefers to take a fruit or green salad. After some cajoling, Isa did admit her one specialty is a roast beef dinner. (With all those men to feed, no wonder! ) As a result, over the decades, Isa has become proficient at producing a decent Yorkshire pudding from a few simple ingredients. Isa’s secret is prepping her muffin tins with hot oil.
By the way, Isa will serving tea and hot chocolate, at Footprints of Christmas, St. Andrew’s annual outdoor Christmas pageant. Dec. 4,5,6, at 6:30 p.m. 24 Stavebank Rd., Mississauga. (905-278-8907)
ISA McCallum’s Yorkshire Pudding
Pre-heat oven to 425F. Makes 12.
INGREDIENTS: 1 ¼ cup milk. 3 eggs. 2 cups flour. Pinch salt. 2 to 3 tbsp vegetable oil
METHOD:
Mix together milk , eggs , flour with an electric beater. Heat oil and prepare a muffin tin with the hot oil. Fill with batter. Bake until puffy and golden. (Should be under 20 minutes) Serve hot.
