It is traditional in England to drink wassail- a hot punch at Christmastime and New Years.  An authentic recipe involves apples, oranges, spices and eggs- as in egg nog!  I do like hot apple punch, and I do like eggnog, but I’m not so sure I would like the two together!

Did you remember to leave out a glass of Sherry for Father Christmas?  In America, we leave out milk and cookies!

In English speaking countries around the world, it is popular to celebrate the New Year with singing Scotland’s Bobby Burns’ Auld Lang Syne.

The first verse and chorus of Auld Lang Syne is the common one sung at the stroke of midnight-

Should Auld acquaintance be forgot,

And never brought to mind?

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,

And auld lang syne.

chorus:

For auld lang syne, my jo,

For auld lang syne,

We’ll tak a cup o’kindness yet,

For auld lang syne.

A Belleek Quaich (Scottish toasting cup)

About a month ago, while finishing the final chores of the last garden season, I wondered if I could grow a little windowsill garden over the winter.

I saved the root end of a stalk of celery and sat it in a jar with just a little water in the base and within weeks, I had little white roots at the bottom and baby sized celery leaves sprouting from the top!  It has now graduated to its third jar!  (I’m so proud).

Around that same time, I collected the seeds of a bell pepper and tried to sprout them on top of the refrigerator, but it was too hot and they dried and shriveled.

I have an avacado pit suspended over a clear jar of water with little toothpicks, hoping that some roots will appear- so far it is  just a cracked seed.

My latest adventure started today!  I received an Amaryllis bulb and forcing vase for Christmas.   Since an Amaryllis is native to South Africa, and my window sills seem native to Siberia, I have ordered a window sill heating mat.

Boxing Day is a holiday not celebrated in the US, but in Commonwealth countries such as the UK, Ireland, and Australia. In these places, it is a holiday with its own traditions.

One tradition is for families to gather and eat up the Christmas leftovers, mince pies and Christmas cakes (fruitcake).

It is the second of the twelve days of Christmas- most people can remember the traditional song- but do not realize that there really are twelve days of Christmas, ending on Twelfth Night with its own cake!

Today is also the Feast of Saint Stephen- of the Good King Wenceslas song!

The name of this pie may be off-putting, but if it is called “Christmas Pie” – well that makes a big difference!   In medieval times, it was common to cook meat, fruits, and spices together.  Nowadays, we like our meat for dinner and our fruit and spices afterward.

This pie is truly a taste of the past.  Large “coffin” pies and castle shaped pies were common in those times- pies are now smaller, and mincemeat pies are commonly made in small individual pie tins.

I have had an authentic mincemeat pie once, included in its ingredients were beef and suet.  My husband and I were guests at a church Christmas party, and the pie was “forced” upon us by a zealous mincemeat prophet- I could not believe how tasty it was!  So please do not scoff-  try a bite of Christmas pie for old times’ sake.

Christmas caroling is a favorite tradition enjoyed by adults and children alike.   Some Christmas carols are simple songs that can be learned by nursery children, such as Away in a Manger and others, like Handel’s Messiah, are quite complicated.

Some favorites of mine include Good King Wenceslas and I Saw Three Ships.  I have a recording of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir singing these classic carols that is perfect  for setting the tone for Christmas celebrations.

Often, groups of people will get together and “carol” at the house of a shut in or at a nursing home- I have seen many sick patients’ spirits revived by these musical guests!  My best caroling memory is when my father and his church visited my home when the children were young- the doorbell rang, and my children ran to the door naked- we were just finishing their bath- and we stood at the door with them wrapped up in toweling and enjoyed the fine carols.

My family always gets excited if I am making Yorkshire Pudding.   It is, when baked properly, a light pancake-like bread eaten with a meat and gravy type dinner.

My favorite no-fail recipe for Yorkshire Pudding is found in The Frugal Gourmet Celebrates Christmas.  It is one of many wonderful recipes in this cookbook.

My one helpful hint: I have not had good luck making this dish in a cast iron pan.   A thin metal baking dish (square or round) works best.  I have made little Yorkshire Puddings in muffin tins, also.

A treacle tart is something that I have never eaten.  It is a very English dessert, and the closest American dessert I can imagine would possibly be Shoo Fly Pie.

A tart is generally a very shallow pie, sometimes topped with a crust.  A treacle tart is a buttery crust filled with a mixture of Golden Syrup, lemon zest, and breadcrumbs.  Golden Syrup (of which Lyle’s is a popular brand) is similar to American Karo corn syrup.  For a stronger molasses taste, dark corn syrup or molasses can be added to taste.

I believe I may bake a Treacle Tart tomorrow, and I imagine it will go down perfectly with a nice cup of tea.

My cardinal is back!  I haven’t seen him for a long while.  Word must have gotten around about my feeders!  I usually have 2 pair of cardinals in my garden each winter, and I was beginning to worry that they weren’t coming back.

I knew he was back without even looking out- his “cheer” is distinctive.

For the last few months, I have made it my habit to enjoy tea and biscuits (cookies, to Americans) at bedtime.  Lately, with all of the cookies I have been baking for Christmas, it has been hard to make a choice.

Date Nut Meringues were tonight’s treat.  The recipe is from my husband’s grandmother.  At some point in the past, I compiled her famous Christmas cookie recipes into a little booklet and distributed it to family and close friends.

I cannot imagine the work involved in making just one treat in days long past.  The date nut meringues required whipping egg whites to a stiff peak- easy enough with my mixer, but hard to do by hand.  Pitting and chopping dried dates, cracking, picking, and chopping English walnuts- I know first hand that this is hard work.

When I tasted my cookie this evening, I remembered the hard work that went into it and it made me feel a pleasant nostalgia for all things old fashioned and homemade.