Christmas Pudding

did you know that it was stir-up sunday over the weekend?

the victorians coined this holiday for the making of Christmas pudding.

we've adopted this annual tradition making it for grandpa gerry who loves a 

good plum pudding after his Christmas dinner.

since it needs a full four weeks to age properly, the sunday before advent we gather

and combine all the interesting ingredients.  then following the ritual, we each take a turn giving the spicy mixture a stir while making a wish.

since a good many of gerry's children and grandchildren were here on stir-up sunday, 

they all took a turn in the tradition.  if you've got a lucky sixpence handy, stick it into the dough because whoever finds it in his or her portion on Christmas day is destined to be wealthy the following year.

once the nutty, spicy, suet, egg, bread, brown sugar, candied fruit, dried fruit etc. concoction

is throughly mixed (and wished upon) it sits overnight.  in the morning, the dough is poured into a large buttered pudding basin, covered with waxed paper and muslin tied tightly around the rim and set to steam in a large pot for 8 hours.

it then gets to sit on a cool, dark shelf until Christmas day when it gets

another 2 hour steam and is finally unmolded.

at the end of the Christmas feast, it is time to serve this patient pudding in all its glory......  

accompanied by brandy butter or whipped cream, topped with a festive sprig of holly, covered with brandy and brought flaming to the table.

let the holiday season begin!