Christmas with Jo!

6:00 AM Elizabeth Seckman 13 Comments



Today, it's Jo Wake's turn to come visit. Jo is a lady with the heart the size of a dragon and the wisdom of the best of grandmother's...and she can cook!

When Jo sent me her post, I thought, being an American who has never tried Christmas pudding, I thought I'd make this treat and feel a bit international this season.

The first ingredient was suet. The only suet I'd ever heard of was mixed with bird seed. I looked on the internet, and I could order suet (beef lard) from Amazon, but it would get here too late for Christmas. So, I emailed Jo for a proper replacement, and she suggested butter.

International Christmas dinner is back on! I'm also adopting the 12th night of Christmas. I like it!


Favorite Christmas movie? 
I have lots of favourite Christmas movies, The Santa Clause being one of them, but I think the most favourite of all is Miracle on 34th St. I am not sure which version I like best, there are slight versions  between the original and the second one, but I enjoy both. I have a tape of the second one. It wasn’t/isn’t available on DVD.

Favorite Christmas song?
I love real Christmas Carols when properly sung. I hate it when they change the words or mess about with how the carol is sung. However, for Christmas songs I think my favourite would be John Lennon’s So This is Christmas.

Favorite Christmas tradition? 
Not sure I have a favourite Christmas tradition. When I was younger, we put up the decorations a lot later in the year and never took them down til Twelfth Night which is Epiphany or January 6. I still leave my decorations up til then even though I am a tad fed up with them by that  time.

 Favorite Christmas memory?
Not sure about a favourite Christmas memory, but one that comes to mind from when I was a kid, that was a loooong time ago, I had mislaid my favourite doll – not perfectly sure how or for how long, but Christmas morning there she was all dressed up in new finery sitting in a brand new doll’s pram (baby buggy).

 Favorite Christmas cookie recipe?
Christmas Recipe for me would have to be a good old British Christmas Pudding which I used to make every year. Now I don’t do so because there are only two of us and it is so rich one only eats a very little bit at a time so it lasts forever. I used to freeze the leftovers and use them again the following year. Mrs. Beeton was a Victorian journalist (didn’t know there were such things) who wrote cookbooks. The one I have was published in 1935. It was, of course, my mother’s cookbook. It doesn’t explain it, but we used to put the pudding in a basin, then tie a cloth over the top. The ends of the cloth would be brought up from the sides and tied in order to make a handle to lift the pot out of the pan – NOT by hand. I imagine these days one could achieve the same results in the Microwave, but you would have to look that up.

Christmas Pudding - Mrs. Beeton
                                                                                    1/2 lb suet

2 oz flour
1/2 lb raisins
1/4 lb mixed peel
1/2 a grated nutmeg
1/2 oz mixed spice
1/2 oz ground cinnamon
10 oz milk
1 wineglass brandy or rum
1/2 lb breadcrumbs
1/2 lb sultanas
1/2 lb currants
1 lemon
2 oz shredded almonds
4 eggs
1 pinch salt

1. Put all the dry ingredients in a basin and mix well. Add the milk, stir in the eggs one at a time, add the liquor and the strained juice of the lemon. Work the whole thoroughly for some minutes, so that the ingredients are well blended. Put the mixture in a well greased basin. Cover. Boil for about 4 hours or steam for at least 5 hours.

Servings: 8


Jo is a bowling blogger, a strong advocate of asparagus, and the best friend a writer can have. She's mean with an edit, though sweet in the delivery.


You can find Jo's blog Here


13 comments:

  1. I'd rather use butter than beef suet.
    My parents do the Twelve Days of Christmas as well and don't take down the decorations until January 6.

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  2. no comment...just hadn't told you hi in a while :)

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  3. I love Christmas pudding!! Especially topped with Brandy cream. Yummy! Wishing you a fantastic festive season.

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  4. I didn't mention Liz, but I always use rum butter on the pudding when serving. My mother always preferred cream. Thanks for featuring my ponderings - mean with an edit, surely not? Talking of which there's an edit or typo, yours or mine I don't know. Versions instead of variations.

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  5. We always left the decorations up until into the new year as well.

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  6. Haha, I really like Jo's bio! I love asparagus too, though I don't get too creative w/fixing it. It was nice to meet Jo!

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    1. Thanks for letting us know more about Jo. The pudding looks delicious. Thanks for the recipe.

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  7. Wow, a traditional Christmas pudding. I'm not sure I have the courage to make one.

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  8. 'Miracle on 42nd Street" will always be my favorite Christmas movie!

    Enjoy your each holiday with it's special celebration! (smile). Dixie

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    1. Oops, 42nd St. Never was good at directions Dixie.

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  9. Hi Jo,

    Ah yes, Traditional British Christmas pudding! Nice to see the delightful Jo featured on your site, Elizabeth.

    Gary :)

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  10. I'm not keen on Christmas Pudding, but I love Christmas Cake - even though most people consider them to be very similar! One year though, I found a fantastic chocolate version - I obviously had to try that :-)

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  11. I made an English trifle for Christmas one year (my stepdad is British) and I couldn't find ladyfingers! You can find some British things at World Market, but that wasn't one of them. Not sure if they have suet. Hope it turns out yummy.

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