Christmas is coming!

We've woken this morning to a very pretty wintry scene with clear blue skies and a dusting of snow on the hills and roofs.  I'm looking forward to making the Christmas pudding, following our traditional family recipe and, looking back to when I blogged about it last year, my tradition of being a week late in making it (apparently Stir Up Sunday was last week!).

Whilst the pudding is steaming I'll write our Christmas cards to family and friends who are overseas so I can get their parcels posted in time to meet the Royal Mail's recommended last posting dates.  I'm always surprised to find how early they are:

International Airmail

Monday 6 December South & Central America, Caribbean, Africa, Middle East, Asia, Far East (including Japan), Australia  and New Zealand

Friday 10 December Eastern Europe, USA and Canada

Monday 13 December Western Europe

UK

Wednesday 15 December Standard Parcels

Saturday 18 December Second Class

Tuesday 21 December First Class

I will, of course, post myfuroshiki orders as soon as I can.

Christmas pudding

Well it's pouring down with icy cold rain - a lovely day for staying at home and catching up with life. I've been pottering round the kitchen, reorganising the cupboards and making Christmas pudding and (since what is a pudding cloth but a furoshiki by another name?) I thought I'd share the results.

Pudding topped with greaseproof paper, waiting to be wrapped - I just wanted to show a picture of the basin, an old one of my Gran's which is now a lovely mottled colour after years of pudding making service:

Pudding wrapped and ready to steam:

Both the pudding recipe and the wrap are super simple. Here's the recipe for the pudding: In a large bowl, mix 1 mug of each of the following: plain flour, brown sugar, currants, sultanas, suet, white breadcrumbs plus 1.5 teaspoons of mixed spice and 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder. Add 1 mug of milk and stir well. Put into greased pudding basin (to give some idea of size, mine holds c 2.5 pints), cover with greaseproof paper (with a pleat in the middle) and secure with string. Tie in pudding cloth using water melon wrap and steam for at least 6 hours. This should be done about a month before you want to eat it. On day of use steam for a further 2 hours.

And here's a reminder of the "watermelon" ... "pumpkin" ... and now "Christmas pudding" wrap ...