23 December: Christmas pudding

On this date in 1848, The London Illustrated News published the first Christmas supplement with advice on ‘making the Christmas Pudding’. 10 things you might not know about Christmas puddings:

1. Christmas pudding is sometimes referred to as "plum pudding", even though it doesn't have Plums in it. "Plum" is a word used in olden times to mean any dried fruit such as currants or raisins.
2. Christmas pudding used to have meat in it. In the 14th century people used to eat a kind of porridge with beef, mutton, dried fruit, Wine and spices. It might have been cooked inside an animal skin. It was eaten before Christmas as a fasting meal. In the 16th century it had evolved somewhat - it now contained Eggs, breadcrumbs and more booze - Beer and spirits. By Victorian times, it had become Christmas pudding as we know it today, having lost the meat somewhere along the line.
3. Traditionally, the pudding should be made on the Sunday before Advent, or "Stir-up Sunday". The pudding should contain 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his disciples. Everyone in the family should have a turn at stirring the mixture, from east to west (the direction of travel fo the three wise men), and as they do so, make a secret wish. The name "Stir-Up Sunday" doesn't only refer to stirring a Christmas pudding. It actually comes from the prayer of the day from the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, which starts with the words "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people."
4. The sprig of Holly on top is a reminder of the crown of thorns Jesus wore.
5. Another tradition is to pour even more booze, usually brandy, over the pudding and set light to it at the table. The flames are said to represent the love and power of Jesus.
6. Yet another tradition is to put things in the mix for people to find (and possibly break their teeth on) which are omens for the coming year. The most common one now is a coin, traditionally an old sixpence, which means good luck. This tradition started with Twelfth Night cake, eaten at the very end of the celebrations. This cake would have a dried Pea or bean in it and whoever got it was king or queen for the night. This dates back to the 14th century. The first coins to be used were Silver farthings, then pennies, then threepenny bits and then sixpence. Unless you have an old sixpence lying around, today's equivalent would be a 5p piece. Other items sometimes placed in the pud included a Button (if a single man found it, it meant he would not marry in the coming year); a Thimble (ditto for single women) or a ring (which meant you would get married in the coming year, or that you'd be rich).
7. Christmas pudding is steamed rather than baked because in olden times, not every household had an oven.
8. The spices and alcoholic beverages used to make the pudding were once very expensive, hence the pudding was to be eaten on a special occasion.
9. In the early 20th century, there was a campaign by the EMB (Empire Marketing Board) in the UK to make Christmas pud represent the British Empire. The Board asked Buckingham Palace for the recipe for the Christmas pud served to the royal family and re-worked it to make a pud for a smaller gathering (8 rather than 40) and to make sure that each ingredient represented one of the Empire's colonies (eg currants from Australia, rum from Jamaica, brandy from Cyprus and so on). They then distributed the recipe in Newspapers and magazines, and even handed it out to the public for free. People could also write in to the EMB to ask for a copy. Thousands of people did.
10. Christmas pudding keeps really well - if it wasn't all eaten at Christmas, it could be kept for Easter. Some families even made their Christmas pudding the previous Christmas and let it mature for a whole year.

A Christmas Novella

A Very Variant Christmas

Last year, Jade and Gloria were embroiled in a bitter conflict to win back their throne and their ancestral home. This year, Queen Jade and Princess Gloria want to host the biggest and best Christmas party ever in their palace. They invite all their friends to come and bring guests. Not even the birth of Jade's heir just before Christmas will stop them.

The guest list includes most of Britain's complement of super-powered crime-fighters, their families and friends. What could possibly go wrong?

Gatecrashers, unexpected arrivals, exploding Christmas crackers and a kidnapping, for starters.

Far away in space, the Constellations, a cosmic peacekeeping force, have suffered a tragic loss. They need to recruit a new member to replace their dead colleague. The two top candidates are both at Jade and Gloria's party. The arrival of the recruitment delegation on Christmas Eve is a surprise for everyone; but their visit means one guest now faces a life-changing decision.

Meanwhile, an alliance of the enemies of various guests at the party has infiltrated the palace; they hide in the dungeon, plotting how best to get rid of the crime-fighters and the royal family once and for all. Problem is, they all have their own agendas and differences of opinion on how to achieve their aims.

Not to mention that this year, the ghosts who walk the corridors of the palace on Christmas Eve will be as surprised by the living as the living are by them.

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