Christmas Decorating?

[Outdated]

I might make a Pavlova this year! I'd forgotten about making them for Christmas.

I actually don't like them, too sweet, but it's culturally unacceptable for me to say so.

They also form part of the friendly rivalry between Australia and New Zealand over who invented it. Either way it was the Aussies that named it.

For a while here there was a trend in Sydney that when a famous opera singer visited we would have a famous chef create a special desert for them in their honour. Not all of these were terribly successful but when Dame Nelly Melba visited we got the desert called Peach Melba, and when Nadezhda Pavlova visited we got the Pavlova.

 

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

No, it's a pavlova. A shell of meringue filled with cream - real cream, not fake sugary rubbish, and then topped with fruit. Incredibly popular here and in New Zealand.

View attachment 147315

It looks delicious.

 

[Outdated]

It looks delicious.

They can be had any time of year but have also become an almost essential part of any Christmas Lunch.

The traditional desert was the very old fashioned English Christmas Pudding served hot with custard. These were a very dense dark fruitcake steeped in brandy and left hanging to cure for a couple of months before Christmas. You steam them to cook them. I loved the taste of them but could only ever eat a tiny bit because it sits in the bottom of your stomach like a brick.

I grew up with these things swinging around in the laundry for a couple of months of every year.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

It's a very old English tradition that I suspect was borrowed from the French - Christmas Bonbons.

These have a small cracker inside. You and someone else grab and end each and pull it apart with a bang. One person ends up with the majority of the bonbon and what's inside.

What is inside: a small toy, a slip of paper with a lame Dad joke on it, and a paper crown.

The Christmas bonbons get shared around just before Christmas Lunch so when it's meal time everyone's sitting around the table wearing a silly paper crown.

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My grandmother was Scottish and she bought or sometimes made me what she called "Christmas Crackers". They looked very similar to the Bon Bons. I don't remember the contents of the tubes. But there were little toys I think and candy. Maybe there was a crown too? I don't really remember what was inside. But it was a special tradition when I was small.

I remember seeing the box of Christmas crackers laying out on her table, Mid-December, and not being able to handle the wait til Christmas. It was just too exciting.

 

[Yeshuasdaughter]

They can be had any time of year but have also become an almost essential part of any Christmas Lunch.

The traditional desert was the very old fashioned English Christmas Pudding served hot with custard. These were a very dense dark fruitcake steeped in brandy and left hanging to cure for a couple of months before Christmas. You steam them to cook them. I loved the taste of them but could only ever eat a tiny bit because it sits in the bottom of your stomach like a brick.

I grew up with these things swinging around in the laundry for a couple of months of every year.

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Is it like a fruitcake?

 

[velociraptor]

I grew up with these things swinging around in the laundry for a couple of months of every year.

It is something my mother also used to do, and the recipe went missing when she passed. I need to look into recreating it next year for my own daughter. Thanks for reminding me of this.

 

[Roisin]

Christmas pudding is a favourite of mine, with extra brandy and custard.
Its very dense, like a fruit cake but with way more fruit.

 

[Outdated]

Is it like a fruitcake?

Yes, a very dense and very heavy fruitcake. I can't remember all the process of making them though, Mum used to make 3 every year, one for us, one for her mother and one for her grandmother who was still alive back then, but she stopped doing it when we were teenagers.

There were coins and charms in them too. We always had to give them back afterwards for next year but it was a nice surprise to see who got what. Don't just use any old coins for that, a lot of metals are poisonous. That was why we always had to give the coins back again, they were from before WWII and pure silver.

 

[Judge]

Always one thing I enjoy about what the city does each season. Spending a whole lot of time and expense over wrapping all kinds of lights over so many trees. Makes for some very colorful evenings!

 

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

I love Stollen and Lebkuchen.

 

[Mary Terry]

I actually don't like them, too sweet, but it's culturally unacceptable for me to say so.

They also form part of the friendly rivalry between Australia and New Zealand over who invented it. Either way it was the Aussies that named it.

For a while here there was a trend in Sydney that when a famous opera singer visited we would have a famous chef create a special desert for them in their honour. Not all of these were terribly successful but when Dame Nelly Melba visited we got the desert called Peach Melba, and when Nadezhda Pavlova visited we got the Pavlova.

I've always made Pavlovas as multiple layers, stacked on top of each other with whipped cream between each layer and piled high on top. It's citrus season in the US so I decorate them with segments of fresh oranges, grapefruits, pomelos, pineapples, etc. The citrus helps offset the sweetness. You can reduce the amount of sugar you use to make them, too.

I think I'm going to do it this year, Outdated. Thanks for a new idea.

 

[velociraptor]

I think I'm going to do it this year, Outdated. Thanks for a new idea.

Y'all are hell on diets. Someone needs to say this.

 

[Mary Terry]

They can be had any time of year but have also become an almost essential part of any Christmas Lunch.

The traditional desert was the very old fashioned English Christmas Pudding served hot with custard. These were a very dense dark fruitcake steeped in brandy and left hanging to cure for a couple of months before Christmas. You steam them to cook them. I loved the taste of them but could only ever eat a tiny bit because it sits in the bottom of your stomach like a brick.

I grew up with these things swinging around in the laundry for a couple of months of every year.

View attachment 147320

My mother made dark fruitcakes soaked in rum and let them "cure" for several weeks in tins. She also made a light-colored fruitcake soaked in brandy. They were filled with dried and candied fruits and nuts, very dense cakes.

 

[Mary Terry]

Y'all are hell on diets. Someone needs to say this.

Amazingly, there isn't an overweight person in my family but these are special occasion treats, not things we eat routinely. Splurge!

 

[Judge]

Amazingly, there isn't an overweight person in my family but these are special occasion treats, not things we eat routinely. Splurge!

That was always one of my personal Christmas traditions. Indulging in snacks I wouldn't normally eat. let alone buy. Though admittedly, my cherished Holiday Egg Nog is completely out of hand price-wise.

I used to always enjoy a few boxes of Andes Cherry Mints, but they haven't been available in at least the last three years. Maybe they aren't produced any more. Only Target used to carry them here though.

 

[Outdated]

Though admittedly, my cherished Holiday Egg Nog is completely out of hand price-wise.

Egg Nog isn't a Christmas thing here. It was a very common and popular drink when I was growing up but it was cold rather than hot and it wasn't associated with any holiday, you don't see it very often any more.

 

[Judge]

Egg Nog isn't a Christmas thing here. It was a very common and popular drink when I was growing up but it was cold rather than hot and it wasn't associated with any holiday, you don't see it very often any more.

I can't honestly recall if or when Egg Nog was sold outside of the peak seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Though frankly I suspect this is strictly a strategic marketing dynamic of capitalism- somewhat contrary to considerations of supply or demand.

 

[velociraptor]

my cherished Holiday Egg Nog

I gave that up when I quit drinking. Doesn't taste right without rum in it.

 

[Dagan]

Ginger....bread.....houses....for the win.

 

[FayetheADHDsquirrel]

Egg Nog isn't a Christmas thing here. It was a very common and popular drink when I was growing up but it was cold rather than hot and it wasn't associated with any holiday, you don't see it very often any more.

Egg nog goes along with Thanksgiving and Christmas here but it is cold here too.