The Top 40 Traditions of Christmas: The Story Behind the Nativity, Candy Canes, Caroling, and All Things Christmas Read Online Free Page B
Author: David McLaughlan
Tags: Religion & Spirituality, Christmas, Holidays, Christian Books & Bibles, Christian Living
Christmas market in Strasbourg, France, has been held continually in the same location around the cathedral (wars permitting) since 1570.
Traditionally, the markets tend to open on the first week of Advent, or simply the first day of December. Being primarily sales opportunities, they try to make the most of the festive season, stopping on the most suitable day before Christmas (often Christmas Eve!). Of course, they are very good fun as well!
Why?
Another name for the Christmas market is the
Christkindlmarkt
, or “Christ-child market,” which might imply a spiritual origin. But while the traders and chambers of commerce who instigated them may well have been spiritual men, the market (in the days before High Street stores) would simply have been a good retail opportunity and a way to liven up the dreary midwinter.
Strangely, though, they often do have a feeling of camaraderie, a way of bringing people together. Usually everyone is cold, happy, and sharing in an experience that only happens once a year. Materialistic or not, the Christmas market is a good place to find some free Christmas spirit!
12
Christmas Pudding/Mince Pies
Who?
The traditional round shape and general recipe for the Christmas pudding was established in Victorian England. Before that it was made, in various forms, by agricultural folk all across Europe.
The Victorians added some of the more exotic spices and ingredients, making it a dish for the wealthier members of society. Thankfully those ingredients are now more easily available, and whether or not a Christmas pudding appears on a Christmas dinner table is more related to the individual tastes of the family involved than money and social status.
Jesus and the twelve apostles are represented in the mix, which is traditionally supposed to have thirteen ingredients.
What?
Christmas pudding is the traditional second course to the Christmas dinner (third, if there is a starter). It consists of flour, suet, bread crumbs, spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar, sultanas, raisins, currants, mixed peel, almonds, apple, orange, lemon, eggs, rum, barley wine, and so on. There is no definite recipe because different families have different ways of preparing their family’s favorite Christmas pudding. Some families have recipes handed down over several generations.
Amazingly Christmas puddings and mince pies began as the same thing. Meat would be preserved during the winter months by wrapping it in what was basically Christmas pudding mix, becoming, in essence, large meat pies. In modern times, though, meat has generally disappeared from Christmas puddings and pies.
Where?
The mix that became Christmas pudding and mince pies was commonly used among farming folk in Europe. It was particularly popular in Germany, and the prince-elector of Hanover brought it to Great Britain when he became King George the First. He was affectionately known in Britain as “the Pudding King.”
The habit of hanging the pudding in a cloth for several weeks to allow it to “ripen,” thus giving it its distinctive spherical shape, was firmly established in Victorian England. Since coming to the United States and becoming more commercially available, the pudding has developed a much more practical flat base—to stop it rolling off the plate!
When?
The original mix that became the Christmas pudding and the mince pie is known to have been used as a meat preservative as far back as the early fifteenth century.
In medieval times the church ruled that Christmas puddings should be made on the twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday (Trinity Sunday being late May or early June, depending on the church and the year).
The mix was known by many different names, such as “pottage,” “plum porridge,” and “plum pudding.” The first time it is known to have been referred to as Christmas pudding was in the cookbook
Modern Cookery for Private Families
, published in
Traditionally, the markets tend to open on the first week of Advent, or simply the first day of December. Being primarily sales opportunities, they try to make the most of the festive season, stopping on the most suitable day before Christmas (often Christmas Eve!). Of course, they are very good fun as well!
Why?
Another name for the Christmas market is the
Christkindlmarkt
, or “Christ-child market,” which might imply a spiritual origin. But while the traders and chambers of commerce who instigated them may well have been spiritual men, the market (in the days before High Street stores) would simply have been a good retail opportunity and a way to liven up the dreary midwinter.
Strangely, though, they often do have a feeling of camaraderie, a way of bringing people together. Usually everyone is cold, happy, and sharing in an experience that only happens once a year. Materialistic or not, the Christmas market is a good place to find some free Christmas spirit!
12
Christmas Pudding/Mince Pies
Who?
The traditional round shape and general recipe for the Christmas pudding was established in Victorian England. Before that it was made, in various forms, by agricultural folk all across Europe.
The Victorians added some of the more exotic spices and ingredients, making it a dish for the wealthier members of society. Thankfully those ingredients are now more easily available, and whether or not a Christmas pudding appears on a Christmas dinner table is more related to the individual tastes of the family involved than money and social status.
Jesus and the twelve apostles are represented in the mix, which is traditionally supposed to have thirteen ingredients.
What?
Christmas pudding is the traditional second course to the Christmas dinner (third, if there is a starter). It consists of flour, suet, bread crumbs, spices, nutmeg, cinnamon, brown sugar, sultanas, raisins, currants, mixed peel, almonds, apple, orange, lemon, eggs, rum, barley wine, and so on. There is no definite recipe because different families have different ways of preparing their family’s favorite Christmas pudding. Some families have recipes handed down over several generations.
Amazingly Christmas puddings and mince pies began as the same thing. Meat would be preserved during the winter months by wrapping it in what was basically Christmas pudding mix, becoming, in essence, large meat pies. In modern times, though, meat has generally disappeared from Christmas puddings and pies.
Where?
The mix that became Christmas pudding and mince pies was commonly used among farming folk in Europe. It was particularly popular in Germany, and the prince-elector of Hanover brought it to Great Britain when he became King George the First. He was affectionately known in Britain as “the Pudding King.”
The habit of hanging the pudding in a cloth for several weeks to allow it to “ripen,” thus giving it its distinctive spherical shape, was firmly established in Victorian England. Since coming to the United States and becoming more commercially available, the pudding has developed a much more practical flat base—to stop it rolling off the plate!
When?
The original mix that became the Christmas pudding and the mince pie is known to have been used as a meat preservative as far back as the early fifteenth century.
In medieval times the church ruled that Christmas puddings should be made on the twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity Sunday (Trinity Sunday being late May or early June, depending on the church and the year).
The mix was known by many different names, such as “pottage,” “plum porridge,” and “plum pudding.” The first time it is known to have been referred to as Christmas pudding was in the cookbook
Modern Cookery for Private Families
, published in
Readers choose
Mary Jane Maffini
D. Wolfin
Fern Michaels
Kathy Cano-Murillo
Kimberly Raye
Charles Todd
Patrick O'Brian
Alannah Carbonneau
Ray Russell