Sunday 22 November 2009

Call in and have a stir!




It is "Stir Up Sunday" today - the day on which we traditionally make our Christmas Puddings - and as I am a great one for tradition, I am making my puddings today. I can't put the recipe on my blog as I am sure I would be breaking Delia's copyright - I always use the recipe from Delia Smith's Christmas book - but suffice to say it contains all the usual ingredients - suet, dried fruit, oranges, lemons, spices, barley wine, stout and rum. Already the smell has spread through the farmhouse and Christmas has begun.
Everybody who stirs the pudding and makes a wish is sure to have good luck - so pop in and give it a metaphorical stir for good luck. Tonight I shall put it into the basins and pop them in the Aga warming oven for the night. Tomorrow morning I shall remove the puds and cover them in greaseproof paper and foil and store them until Christmas.
I make them for several friends too. On Christmas morning the pudding will be put on to heat through, then the farmer will heat the whisky in a little pan, fire it and pour it over the pudding.
Yum, yum. Can't wait. Christmas cakes next!

32 comments:

Heather said...

Oh Weaver - I can smell that delicious aroma and am sure your puds will be wonderful. I'm glad you are keeping the traditions going. Nothing tastes as good as a well made cake or pudding.

Dave King said...

Ah, I remember Stir-Up Sunday from my childhood. My granparents (with whom we lived) made a big thing of it, as did the vicar of the Parish Church. Reassuring to think it is still observed. I didn't know that it is.

Anonymous said...

Now I must go look for that recipe!.. never heard of it, would love a new tradition.

Anonymous said...

I stated just the other morning that I should make the Christmas pudding this year. My daughter usually makes it. I didn't know about the Stir tradition.

Woman in a Window said...

The tradition of it makes me want to be a little girl in your kitchen watching and perhaps fetching ingredients. Enjoy your day, weaver.
xo
erin

Pom Pom said...

Fascinating! Thank you for sharing this tradition with the blog world.

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

Traditions are wonderful, aren't they. The aroma is wafting over the Atlantic and I just did an imaginary transatlantic flight to give it a stir. Will we be invited at Christmas for a taste?

steven said...

weaver i love food and cannot get enough generally. christmas cake is so filled with memories and associations. of worlds long gone. people long gone. but when i see a cake it all floods back in and speaks of goodness and care and love. especially love!!! thanks so much for this - oh and thanks for letting me give it a stir! steven

Golden West said...

I, too, am all for traditions! I love how they weave the generations together. Looking back, except for a bicycle or two, it's not the gifts at Christmas I remember, but the doing of traditional things together as a family. Thanks so much for allowing us to share in your preparations, Weaver!

Pondside said...

By now you may have those puddings tucked into the oven - if not, I'll have a cyber stir too.
My mother always mades the puddings and cakes - still! I'll have to take over the task one day, but until then I'll look forward to the heavy packages that will arrive in mid December.

Jane Moxey said...

I made my wish with my cyber stir of your pud! I love Delia's Christmas book and see that she has a new one coming out. I use her book for all my Christmas stuff too. We can't find sultanas here, but I substitute golden raisins... Countdown to Christmas has begun at your house! How lovely. We have Thanksgiving to get through first! That's next Thursday here in the US.

Anonymous said...

I came from Arija's blog and I will add you to my 'Green Thinker' blog list... Michelle

thousandflower said...

Is this the same recipe? http://uktv.co.uk/food/recipe/aid/516915
I need to try this.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Heather - thanks for the comment - I do agree about cakes and puds and really they are neither of them difficult to make, are they?

Dave - I read about it in the paper, so it is certainly kept up in some places.

Karen - I suggest you go to Delia's web site if she has one - you may well find the recipe there.

Thanks Sylvia - you could start a stir tradition over there.

Erin - and licking the bowl out too.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Thanks for the comment Pom Pom.

Bonnie - I shall post the pud on the day it is flamed. You can have a slice then.

Steven, I have yet to meet a man who is not mad about christmas cake and pudding.

Golden west - yes I agree, Christmas is all about family.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Pondside - yes you were in time for a cyber stir, so make your wish.
Jane - I am hoping to add Delia's new book to my christmas list - her recipes are so easy to follow.

Rambling woods - thanks for visiting, I shall pop over now to visit you.

The Weaver of Grass said...

Margaret - yes it is the same recipe and I can thoroughly recommend it.

Maggi said...

I can smell that from here. I haven't had traditional Christmas pud for years.

Leenie said...

Mmmmmmmm! Add my cyberstir.

Unknown said...

If I have a go at stirring your pudding, I will have to wish for a joyous Christmas Season for all! Is that stirring enough?

Totalfeckineejit said...

I love Christmas pud, Weaver, with cream and custard.Delish!I'm stirring away like Billy-oh and wishing away too.If you dont mind I'll stay and have a little nip of Rum and a sup of Mackeson, and is that,could that be barley wine you have there? The most drunk I have ever been was on a canal boat weekend in Staffordshire about 20 years ago, where the locals in a pub were buying me pints of Barley wine, I had no idea how strong it was till I tried (unsuccessfully) to navigate my way back to the boat.

Hildred said...

Weaver, if I am too late to stir I can at least breathe in the lovely fragrance. Do you put trinkets, or small change in your pud? My Grandmother always wrapped a dime (Cdn money) and to my chagrin I remember a Christmas when I was very small and rather spoiled and made a fuss about not getting the dime.... ah, the things that stay with us to keep us humble....

Crafty Green Poet said...

now that's something i never do, I always buy an organic veggie pud from the local wholefoods store. Thanks for the invitation to join you in the kitchen, hope you and all your friends enjoy your puds!

Titus said...

Ah, Weaver, I can smell it!
I am one of those weirdos who likes raw mixture best of all ...

Heather said...

So pleased you are enjoying Workshop on the Web - I love it too and there is always something that appeals. I really must pull my socks up and start on the free online lessons from Maggie's and Carol and Lynda's books. I keep reading about them and that's as far as I get.

Tess Kincaid said...

I especially love the stirring and the wishing part.

CHummelKornell said...

I'm so sad that I missed the opportunity for a quick stir! Your pudding sounds wonderful and I love the tradition. Thanks so much for sharing. Christmas is coming and while there is much sadness in the World, we should try harder to hold onto the old ways. Give a hand to those less fortunate and Thank God for all the blessings we have.

Bernie said...

Sounds wonderful. We always used to have English Plum Pudding with a butter hard sauce but I haven't had it in years. We always had to have fruit cake which has gained such a horrible reputation through the years. Used for door stops etc. But I make a very good one following a southern style of the traditional recipe with twice as many fruits that are thoroughly marinated in brandy for days before I make it. Everyone I can get to taste that seems to like it.

The Weaver of Grass said...

All your cyber stirs were gratefully included in the process and all you wishes have gone forward to that great tombola in the sky where wishes are processed - so hope your wishes come true.
That TFE is a glutton for punishment - cream AND custard on his pudding??? I hardly dare tell him that the farmer drank the stout which was left in the tin, the barley wine went down the drain I am afraid - the recipe only wanted 5ml and neither of us felt like a drink of barley wine!

Unknown said...

Hello Weaver,

How well I remember all of us giving the Christmas cake mixture a stir when Mother made them. She also made her own mincemeat, which always went through the mincer, and lemon curd. Christmas puddings were grandmother's province.

Dinesh chandra said...

I like old monk the xxxrum the smell is great but My wife alwyas told me don't drink .

god to read the line between.

regards

dinesh chandra

Granny Sue said...

We will be doing our fruitcakes on december 5th--a little late but the only time my seven sisters and I could get together. Our english moter used to clal it Stir-up day too--you brought back such a memory with that phrase!