Christmas traditions: steamed bread pudding and wassail.

Christmas brings an annual 4 generation gathering of the Clan for my and my wife's families with the oldest, my father-in-law a spry 94 years old and a great-grandson of 9. We enthusiastically embrace tradition and one of our most beloved Holiday desserts is steamed bread pudding, made in a steamer that has been passed down from my wife's great-grandmother. When it was first acquired has been lost in the annals of history but it is at least a century old piece of Americana. My wife is the current caretaker of the steamer and she will eventually pass it on to a fifth generation. I'm in charge of the Wassail and uncovered a very old recipe that I replicate every year which matches up extremely well with the pudding. Copious amounts will be consumed with a little spiced Rum for those that imbibe. Sláinte!

I remember the time, around 40 years ago, that my late gran described how her mother would "source an" animal's brain from the local butchers and then boil it. She went on to describe how "absolutely delicious" it was to eat. None of the younger generation of our family wanted to sample this delicacy.

On our first outing together, my future wife and I discovered that we both loved Christmas mightily. Over the intervening forty-three years we've established many traditions. One is her Christmas bread. The recipe is actually a Polish/Ukrainian Paska, or Easter Bread. It is a light, sweet braided bread with raisins. My wife bakes it fresh on Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning we brew fresh coffee, toast slices of Paska and slather them in butter, and enjoy them as we open presents. Yum!

Bob

We treated ourselves as there is only the wife & I for xmas tea (& Biscuits - Siamese) been 10 odd years since we had some marron got them from Ferguson Valley Marron Farm.
Cooked'em their way was really scrummy vinegar with black pepper fresh buttered bread om goodness 3 each went down nicely feel full as a goog now but a nice little splurge by us.

They are a fresh water species highly sought after by ppl and are heavily regulated by the fisheries dept 1 month season January roughly but can be cancelled if the numbers have been hammered out of season.
Ppl do it but if caught the penalties are very severe can result in jail time and loss of your vehicle/boat with a very hefty fine per marron in-fact the fisheries inspectors are more empowered than general duty police officers, same for undersized ones you could lose your expensive 4 wheel drive if you have one..............

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

"source an" animal's brain

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My father left england by himself at 16 yoa to come to Australia he loved kippers in tomato sauce and loved crumbed sheep's brains my mother used to cook, dad was born in 1913 so I gather during the WWI period & beyond food was limited, me I'm in no hurry for crumbed brain matter!

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Originally Posted by CINDERS

and loved crumbed sheep's brains

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Yer, it was the "affectionate way" that my late gran was describing "boiled brain matter" that her mother "served-up" that sticks in my memory.

I was trying to recall what sort of brain she said was sourced from the butchers by her mother and yes it was probably sheep.

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Originally Posted by Flying10uk

Yer, it was the "affectionate way" that my late gran was describing "boiled brain matter" that her mother "served-up" that sticks in my memory.

I was trying to recall what sort of brain she said was sourced from the butchers by her mother and yes it was probably sheep.

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For those who fancy Haggis....real traditional Haggis not the simpering crap they serve today but the real McCoy made from a sheep's pluck know that there are few inedible parts of sheep, or "sheeps" as Jeremy Clarkson calls them so I'm not surprised brains are on the menu too.

Oooo, I got deep fried haggis with thyme up on Falkirk hill when I was in Scotland. Loovely.

Bob

For the Christmases I spent in England with my mum's family, I have fond recollections of the Christmas pudding with the sixpence and my favorite was the Tunis cake with all that lovely chocolate and Marzipan fruits.

BEAR
Oh Yes, I forgot, Christmas Crackers. We have those as part of my family's Christmas today.

My in laws were Norwegian. I loved most of the Christmas food, but the Lutefisk was unbearable. Oofda! I tried to impress my father in law by eating it. He just laughed at me. He drank a lot of Schmitz beer to wash down the lutefisk! My wife still makes all the goodies (krumkake, prune whip, and lefsa).

I forgot to mention Lutefisk is dried white fish (cod) preserved with lye. It is rinsed in water for several days to remove the lye before eating. Phew!

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Originally Posted by Salt Flat

My in laws were Norwegian. I loved most of the Christmas food, but the Lutefisk was unbearable. Oofda! I tried to impress my father in law by eating it. He just laughed at me. He drank a lot of Schmitz beer to wash down the lutefisk! My wife still makes all the goodies (krumkake, prune whip, and lefsa).

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Never had the opportunity to try lutefisk but I had a Norwegian friend in Canada who made roll mops every Christmas. They were delicious!