OT Christmas customs in Australia

Oh Sally - I remember my mum doing mincemeat and liqueured fruits for
Christmas. The had to be bottled up in winter months here. I always
thought the Brandied Apricots were best.

My version of this is -
Pack the jar with apricots, cover with brand, seal, leave for six months,
take out apricots and give away, and drink the brandy!! ROFL

But I remember stirring the pudding for luck, and helping dip the liq
cherries in chocolate. Oh, they always tasted so much better that bought
ones!!!!!

--

Cheryl
http://community.webshots.com/user/witchofthewest
cawaitesATnetconnectDOTcomDOTau


"Sally Swindells" wrote in message
...
We say 'pudding' often instead of saying dessert, but apart from rice
and other milk puddings, ones actually called pudding as part of their
name are usually the hot, homemade ones like steamed sponges and bread
and butter pudding, though there is the wonderful Summer Pudding which
is a basin lined with bread and filled with fresh summer fruits. You
put a weighted plate on top and leave it overnight so all the juices
are absorbed by the bread

I still make my own Christmas Puddings, but I steam them in basins in
a steamer. My recipe makes two big ones, so I keep one till the next
Christmas - they improve with keeping. We have just finished a stray
one that was coming up to 3 years - it was delicious. The first
boiling is for a min of 8 hours, and on Christmas Day it gets about 5
hours. With repeated boilings they go really dark and moist. We
usually have them with a sweet white sauce with a llittle brandy in,
or with Brandy Butter - butter mixed with icing sugar and brandy with
a little orange rind on top. For Christmas the supermarkets now have
lots of lovely ready made sauces - cream combined with liqueurs, etc.
- all guaranteed fattening! - I like them on mincepies too.

I also make my own mincemeat for mince pies. My recipe says 'rum or
brandy to mix - but doesn't say how much, so my pies always dance
round the kitchen! The mincemeat is mixed and then left for 3 days
before being put into jars. This allows everyone time to have a stir
and make a Christmas wish. I've got 12 jars - hope its enough!

Its no wonder I always but 8oz on at Christmas!
--
Sally at the Seaside~~~~~~~
http://community.webshots.com/user/sallyswin

On Mon, 21 Nov 2005 09:52:06 +1100, "Cheryl in Oz"
cawaitesATnetconnectDOTcomDOTau wrote:

Cheryl
http://community.webshots.com/user/witchofthewest
cawaitesATnetconnectDOTcomDOTau


"Pat in Virginia" wrote in message
news:TY3gf.12546$ih5.8138@dukeread11...
Cheryl:
Thank you. I enjoyed this post and subsequent posts about Christmas in
Australia.

Now you need to explain to the kidlets in Judy's school what you mean by
Pudding!! Over here it is a creamy dish, with consistency of plain
yogurt.
Unless one has tapioca pudding, which is like lumpy yogurt, or rice
pudding, which is even lumpier yogurt, or bread pudding, which is like
mushy bread. (LOL) But the kids today will think of the creamy type, and
wonder why and how you slice it! So, it is like a fruit cake, yes?

Well, traditional Xmas Pudding is a very heavy rich mix of fruit and eggs
and flour and suet (animal fat!) and all sorts of things, and yes -
uncooked
it looks a lot like a heavy fruit cake mix. The mix is poured into a
cotton
cloth square and the corners are all pulled up and tied together so you
get
a big ball shaped lump. You tie a string around all the ends and lower
the
pudding into a VERY big boiler and simmer it for hours. The water has to
be
topped up many times (my job as a child). Then the cooked pudding is
taken
out and cooled and then hung by the string in a cool dark place (we used a
corner shelf of the kitchen). I don't know what the "tradition" is but we
had ours for about a month before Christmas. On Christmas Day the pudding
is reheated in the big boiler again and served with flaming brandy or
brandy
sauce or - in our house - with hot custard and cream.

Recipes for "good puds" were - and still are - highly prized, and pass
between friends and family. I still have my mother's recipe. But I don't
know many people who still make their own puddings the traditional way.
Most just buy a steamed fruit pudding in the supermarket or from one of
our
volunteer organisations (like Lions) who make a very nice line of cakes
and
puddings every year as a fund raiser.



We have a wonderful series of Australian childrens' stories called "The
Magic Pudding Books" by Norman Lindsay about a type of pudding.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/159...books&v=glance
"The Magic Pudding is a pie, except when it's something else, like a
steak,
or a jam donut, or an apple dumpling, or whatever its owner wants it to
be.
And it never runs out. No matter how many slices you cut, there's always
something left over."

Lindsay was one of our best known artists a century ago, and the book is
eighty years old but still a classic and very funny. The illustrations
are
beautiful drawings.




There are a lot of food terms that are different between our countries.
You
talk about "peanut butter and jelly" - but to us jelly is a clear dessert
mould like Jello. We have a fruit spread called "jam" but it is usually a
bit chunkier than your "jelly". I don't actually know anyone out here who
has ever tried a PB&J sandwich. But we eat a weird spread called
Vegemite.
It is black and very salty and we love it.




Question: why do you have to use 'approved' coins in your Pudding? Can't
you just use what you want in the privacy of your own kitchen?!


You can use them but the new currency (new as in since decimal currency
was
introduced nearly 40 years ago lol) have a different metal composition
and they can contaminate the food, so it's not a good idea! The old
coinage
is safe in food.

We now have small sets of silver charms that are made specifically to put
in
Christmas puddings. I kept some old threepenny pieces (pronounced
"thrippenny") coins that I can still use. But since I don't like fruit
cake
or Christmas pudding much I don't make it anymore.

Because it is so hot at that time of the year I have got used to making
the
icecream puddings I talked about. The big round bowl is a bit like the
shape of a traditional pudding, and the chocolate icecream is at least a
brown colour lol I still put the coins in though.

((And in case you were wondering - yes, sometimes youngsters did swallow a
coin. But a threepence is quite small so they don't hurt you. I don't
think I would go into how they were recovered - IF they were recovered!
ROFL))






Pat - the puddings are a British tradition that we "inherited". Ask some
of
our Brits about Christmas traditions and they could be similar.

If the kids at the school are interested in trying our vile national
spread - Vegemite - let me know and I'll see what I can organise LOL


TTFN, PAT

Cheryl in Oz wrote:

Since you asked I don't mind sharing - but I don't think much is
different here except the weather LOL and please bear in
mind
I had assumed this was for youngsters!

Judy (and I assume - students)

...cut...
And Christmas puddings made of icecream have always been big where I
live. You mix dried and glace fruit into dark choc icecream with some
extra cream (and maybe some liqueur) and freeze it in a big round
pudding
bowl to be cut into slices - just like a pudding. Yummy!!

Cheryl in Oz cawaitesATnetconnectDOTcomDOTau wrote:
Oh Sally - I remember my mum doing mincemeat and liqueured fruits for
Christmas. The had to be bottled up in winter months here. I always
thought the Brandied Apricots were best.

My version of this is -
Pack the jar with apricots, cover with brand, seal, leave for six months,
take out apricots and give away, and drink the brandy!! ROFL

But I remember stirring the pudding for luck, and helping dip the liq
cherries in chocolate. Oh, they always tasted so much better that bought
ones!!!!!

Mum soaks her dried fruit for her Xmas cake for a minimum of 6 months,
lately it's been more like 18 months! This years should be really
good! :-) Dad soaks crystalized ginger in rum, he eats the ginger
and drinks what's left! Sometimes he just re-uses the juice for the
next batch of ginger.

--
Melinda
http://cust.idl.com.au/athol

mmmmmm ....Santa.....

--
Sharon from Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/craft.html (takes a while to load)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shazrules/my_photos (same as website but
quicker)

"Cheryl in Oz" cawaitesATnetconnectDOTcomDOTau wrote in message
...
We have Santas in Speedos too LOL


--

Cheryl
http://community.webshots.com/user/witchofthewest
cawaitesATnetconnectDOTcomDOTau


"Bob & Kathleen" wrote in message
...
I'm glad you clarified "Thongs" as flip flops, the mental image of Santa
in a Speedo is the stuff nightmares are made of!

Kathleen in TX

ROFLOL - I remember this!

--
Sharon from Melbourne Australia (Queen of Down Under)
http://www.geocities.com/shazrules/craft.html (takes a while to load)
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/shazrules/my_photos (same as website but
quicker)

"Anne in CA" wrote in message
...
quoting from an archived posting dated 1 Dec 1999 from someone called
Jeanne --

on the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
a Pukeko in a Ponga Tree.
On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
2 kumara and a Pukeko in a Ponga Tree.
On the third day of Christmas me true love gave to me,
3 flax kits, 2 kumara and a Pukeko in a Ponga Tree.
On the 4th day of Christmas my true love gave to me,
4 huhu grubs, 3 flax kits, 2 kumara and a Pukeko in a Ponga Tree.
...5th day
5 biiiiigggggg, fat piggggggggs,
4 huhu grubs, 3 flax kits, 2 kumara and a Pukeko in a Ponga Tree.
...6th day
6 poi a-swinging, 5 big fat pigs, 4 huhu grubs, 3 flax kits, 2 kumara and
a
Pukeko in a Ponga Tree.

7 eels a-swimming,
8 plants of puha
9 sacks of pipi's
10 juicy fish heads
11 haka lessons
12 pui pui's swinging

Anne in CA -- not a kiwi, but my sister attended Uni in Auckland for two
years ...
annerudolph AT comcast DOT net
"It's not having what you want; it's wanting what you've got." -- Sheryl
Crow
http://community.webshots.com/user/annerudolph3
http://www.frappr.com/rctq



nzlstar* wrote:
the pudding is steamed for a long time, never made one cuz mil always
made
them, last yr was the first time she wasnt there for xmas day but last
yr we
barely made it thru the day with all we'd got thru that yr, argh.
yes it is a fruit pudding, much like fruit cake. more fruit than
anything
else.
its traditionally served with brandy sauce tho we like it with hot
custard
here and a dollop of whipped cream.
oh i must find the kiwi 12 days of xmas book.
on the first day of christmas my true love gave to me, a pukeko in a
ponga
tree.
two kumaras
three flax kits
four huhu grubs
five big fat piiiiiiiiiiiiiiiigs
six
seven
eight
nine
ten
eleven
twelve
and a pukeko in a ponga treeeeeeee.
ratz, ok, what little brat hid my book where?
hmmmmm.
just found this for someones version of the aussie 12 days.
www.able2know.com/forums/about2187.html&e=912
wooooohoooooo, i found it.
http://folksong.org.nz/nzchristmas/pukeko.html
jeanne
not amused at all i cant be sure what the rest are off the top of my
head
but i will find out

Thank you Cheryl! I really wasn't meaning to be nosey - I just love
learning what "other" people do, what are our differences, what really
isn't different about us at all, etc.

And as for the info. being for kids - in case you haven't figured out
yet - I AM still a kid, in my own heart! LOL

Thanks for sharing! And no, doesn't sound all that different. Of
course, there have been Christmases here, where I have been in shorts
and a tank top on Christmas day! But I would never run around in
"thongs" on Christmas Day (or any day for that matter, ;-)

Tina

Ok Sally, I'm not a big fan of "fruit cake (our Christmas tradition
here) but your post sounds scrumptious! (My husband and his mother are
HUGE fruitcake fans)

(And I've decided reading posts here on the group - that Leslie must be
the founder of the famous "Collins Street Bakery" fruitcakes! LOL
These are prized possessions here in Texas at Christmas time!)

I may have to get a recipe for this out of you! I'm especially
tantalized by the idea of the Brandy Butter! Sounds delicious!

Hugs,
Tina

On 21 Nov 2005 05:50:27 -0800, "Tina" wrote:

Ok Sally, I'm not a big fan of "fruit cake (our Christmas tradition
here) but your post sounds scrumptious! (My husband and his mother are
HUGE fruitcake fans)

(And I've decided reading posts here on the group - that Leslie must be
the founder of the famous "Collins Street Bakery" fruitcakes! LOL
These are prized possessions here in Texas at Christmas time!)

I may have to get a recipe for this out of you! I'm especially
tantalized by the idea of the Brandy Butter! Sounds delicious!

Hugs,
Tina

Try here
http://www.deliaonline.com/search/?qx=christmas

I think most of Britain use Delia's recipes, she's a national
institution. Just had a look and was reminded that I must do Cinnamon
Ice Cream again. Ice cream is good for Christmas because it sits in
the freezer and if not actually required can be eaten secretly after
Christmas! I've got most of her books, but the website has some that
aren't in the books.

--
Sally at the Seaside~~~~~~~with a watering mouth!
http://community.webshots.com/user/sallyswin

Dashing through the bush
In a rusty Holden Ute
Kicking up the dust
Esky in the boot
Kelpie by my side
Singing Christmas songs
It' summer time and I am in
My singlet, shorts and thongs.Chorus
Oh Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
Christmas in Australia
On a scorching summer's day
Jingle Bells Jingle Bells
Christmas time is beaut
Oh what fun it is to ride In a rusty Holden Ute.

There are two more verses but it's a bit long.
Thanks to Bucko and Champs Aussie Christmas CD.
Cheers,
Ruth
http://groups.msn.com/MyStitchedPictures

Thanks Ruth - I will go hunt for the CD!
--

Cheryl
http://community.webshots.com/user/witchofthewest
cawaitesATnetconnectDOTcomDOTau


"recarlos" wrote in message
...
Dashing through the bush
In a rusty Holden Ute
Kicking up the dust
Esky in the boot
Kelpie by my side
Singing Christmas songs
It' summer time and I am in
My singlet, shorts and thongs.Chorus
Oh Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells
Jingle all the way
Christmas in Australia
On a scorching summer's day
Jingle Bells Jingle Bells
Christmas time is beaut
Oh what fun it is to ride In a rusty Holden Ute.

There are two more verses but it's a bit long.
Thanks to Bucko and Champs Aussie Christmas CD.
Cheers,
Ruth
http://groups.msn.com/MyStitchedPictures

recarlos wrote:
Dashing through the bush
In a rusty Holden Ute

OK, so what's a Holden Ute?

liz young in sunny california