UK Christmas traditions...

tcufrog

DIS Veteran
Joined
Jul 18, 2012
A few years ago I was recovering from major knee surgery and wasn't up to cooking a full traditional Christmas dinner so we decided to do something completely different, a Mexican inspired Christmas. I ordered Mexican-style decorations and a Christmas pinata and we had tamales on Christmas Day instead of Christmas Eve. A tradition where I live (Texas) is to have tamales on Christmas Eve even if you're not Mexican.

We had a traditional Christmas last year but the kids have such fond memories of that Mexican Christmas that they want to explore other country's Christmas traditions every few years. My family decided to explore UK traditions this year because we had a blast visiting England and Scotland a few summers ago.

Here's our plan so far:
  • Christmas crackers
  • a Yule log in our outdoor fireplace
  • a dessert that's lit on fire. DS8 still remembers when some of our British friends bought a Christmas pudding to our Thanksgiving dinner and lit it on fire.
  • watch a Dr. Who Christmas episode.
What else should we do? I'm looking for fun suggestions.
 
Tins (or as they most likely are now, tubs) of Quality Street with the coloured wrappers, lots of tinsel, mince pies, sitting down to the Christmas dinner with crackers and paper hats, eating Christmas pudding, watching (or sleeping through) the Queen's Speech at 3pm, having a massive argument at one point, seeing what misery awaits the unfortunate residents of Albert Square on Eastenders...
 
Brussels sprouts and roast parsnips with your roast turkey. Hardly anyone likes sprouts or has them any other time of year but EVERYONE will be eating them for Christmas Dinner!!!
And piccalilli for the cold turkey - I think you call it mustard pickle / relish.
 


A Yule Log is a chocolate log cake, not something you put in the fire.

Mince pies, which are not meat pies but individual sweet dried fruit pies

Birds Custard , which is made from Custard powder.

Sherry Trifle

Yorkshire Pudding, which is a not a dessert but baked pancake batter and eaten with the main dinner

Brown meat gravy

Bread sauce
 


Pigs in blankets (small sausages wrapped in bacon), Stilton, champagne and port, putting sixpence in the Christmas/plum pudding which is doused in brandy before being set alight, listening to a Service from St Paul’s Cathedral and the beautiful choral singing of the boy choristers, watching a Child’s Christmas in Wales ......
 
ok, you have got lots of suggestions so lets organise make it a bit more together and give you a better idea.

I'm from Ireland but mostly Irish Christmas and UK Christmas is basically the same. I've spent a good few Christmases in England with my sister and her husbands family, so at this stage there's really no difference between an Irish Christmas and UK Christmas to me.

I was at the grocery store this evening after work and while I was shopping I took photos. I'm also going to put a link to each item on the grocery store website, so you can get the proper product info.

Christmas Eve
Christmas starts at about 3pm with food preparations. Vegetables and anything else that can be made ahead of time will be prepare. The ham https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=271809211 will be cooked and Christmas presents wrapped and placed under the tree.

By 6pm everyone is home from work and school and anyone who is travelling has arrived. Family dinner time is usually a quick and simple meal, like spaghetti bolognaise or stew.

9pm
Depending on the weather and the mood in the house and whether there are little people in the house, its Church time. My family is Catholic, my sisters husband is Church of England, and neither family is particularly religious, but the Christmas services are just something a bit special. If we decide to go to Church, its pot luck which one we go to, depends on parking and how crowded the Church is.

Christmas Morning
Depending on how late we stayed up on Christmas Eve and whether there are little people in the house, but we usually get up about 8am or 9am. With everyone in Christmas PJ's (not matching) Christmas music goes on, breakfast is made and with Bucks Fizz (Mimosas) in hand we go into the living room to see what Santa brought. Santa usually brings a selection box to everyone.

selection box.jpg

Opening presents takes us to about 11am, when people start to make a move. The turkey will be put into the oven, the living room tidied up, and everyone goes to get dressed.

Christmas Afternoon
We have our starter at about 1pm, and its more like lunch than the formal start to the meal. Most families don;t do this, they would have their meal structured more like in a restaurant. My family usually have seafood salad, smoked salmon, shrimp etc. Other families have soup, or vol u vonts or another type of starter.

After the starter, someone who is not involved with the main cooking will set the table. The Christmas Crackers will be placed on the table, one at each place setting.
christmas crackers.jpg

When the turkey is cooked, thats when we eat. For my family there is no set time we have to eat by.

The Queens Speech is at 3pm. If someone remembers we will turn on the TV to watch, but if we happen to be eating at 3pm, then oopps, food is more important.

Christmas Dinner
Turkey
Ham

Pigs in Blankets https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=297167031
Pork cocktail sausages wrapped in bacon. Some people make their own, some use store bought
pigs in blankets.jpg
Mash Potatoes
Roast Potatoes
Brussels Sprouts
https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=253556507
Prepared the day before by peeling and cutting a cross in the stems. Cooked on the day by boiling /steaming until soft. Some people have their own variations, and add other ingredients to make a more elaborate dish
sprouts.jpg

Roast Vegetables https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=277902557
The base is carrot and parsnip, and then various other vegetables such as onion, celery, bell peppers etc are added. People have their own recipes and mixes of vegetables.

carrots and parsnips.jpg

Other vegetables can include boiled / steamed broccoli or cauliflower. My sisters husband likes to make a cheese sauce for the cauliflower.

Yorkshire Pudding https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=253214849
Despite the name, these are a savoury item eaten with the main meal. They are an unsweetened pancake batter which is baked in cupcake tins in the oven. Some families make their own, some families prefer the frozen store bought ones. It really depends on your family tradition.
yorkshire pudding.jpg

Stuffing https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=299667778
This used to go into the turkey but modern food standards have done away with that practice. Everyone now just has the stuffing on the side. Again some families make their own, some families use store bought. The base is usually breadcrumbs and then people add different ingredients.
stuffing.jpg

Brown Meat Gravy https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=299610990
Some families make their own gravy using the turkey roasting pan, some people use gravy powder.
gravy.jpg

About halfway through the meal, someone will start the Christmas Crackers. You usually share the pulling and fun is to see which person gets the prize and who gets nothing. There are all sorts of types of crackers from family friendly ones posted above to very expensive deluxe versions from the high end shops. Whatever the price , they always contain a gift, a funny joke and a prize. They have a snapper which cracks when pulled. Whoever gets the prize, must wear the paper hat and read out the silly joke.

Alcohol
With my family its usually wine, but it depends on the person. Some people drink red wine, some people drink white wine, some people don't drink alcohol.


The dessert and the rest of Christmas Day will be continued in the next post
 
Christmas Evening

Once dinner is eaten, those who were involved in the main cooking relax and everyone else tidies up and cleans the kitchen.

We usually then head to the living room, to watch some TV, usually the family film on BBC 1

Alcohol helps with the TV program choices, people either stick with what they were drinking during the meal or switch to their preferred alcohol. I must add, that we are all adults, all over 40 , no teens, and just one 4 pre school child. Obviously the pre schooler is not having alcohol!

Once the big meal has settled, its dessert time. This again for my family is not that formal. Its really a help yourself to whatever you like.

We always have a bowl of fresh dairy cream https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=255674652 which has been hand whipped in the fridge to accompany the desserts.

IDShot_225x225.jpg

The selection on offer would be

Mince Pies
Despite the name, these are a individual sweet dried fruit pies. There are various types and brands, from these ones which are the basic ones to deluxe high end ones. Some people make their own, some people have store bought.
mince pies.jpg

Mince pies can be eaten cold or can be warmed in the oven or microwave. Using a microwave to warm them takes years of practice, as the filling contains sugar which heats at a higher temperature than the pastry case. Over the years, many a mince pie has been over heated and exploded!

Some people eat the mince pies on their own, some people accompany them with a dollop of whipped cream, and some people accompany them with custard. The custard is traditionally Birds custard, either made from powder or bought ready made. This custard is thick and deep yellow, and is not the same as French Creme Anglais. Other brands of custard are available ,including store own brands and again there are various price ranges, depending on the grocery store.
https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=258869377
custard powder.jpg

https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=289418006https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=256525603
made custard.jpg

Christmas Cake https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=259193229This used to be a big tradition to make your own cake, but now a days its not as popular. Its a rich , heavy fruit cake and each family would have their own recipe, handed down through generations. My grandmothers and my mum when I was a child would make this around Halloween time and then soak it weekly with alcohol to mature until Christmas. They would first cover it in a layer of marzipan / almond paste and then cover the marzipan with Royal Icing. Most families now just buy a small version of Christmas cake just to have in the house.

christmas cake.jpg

Christmas Pudding https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=255886418
This is another traditional cake that my mum and grandmothers would make, again around Halloween time. It has similar ingredients to Christmas Cake, dried fruit etc but it is boiled not baked. I remember my mum (1970's housewife) would use the pressure cooker to cook these and there was a big effort made of preparing the cooking bowls. They needed layers of greaseproof paper and tinfoil, folded in a certain way and tied with string, which included making a handle. My mum used plastic bowls but the traditional way was ceramic bowls. Again, once cooked, they were soaked with alcohol and matured until Christmas.

At Christmas, they would be unmoulded from the bowl, sprinkled with brandy and set on fire and then brought to the table.

Nowadays, most people just have store bought
christmas pudding.jpg

Sherry Trifle https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=258870038
Some families make their own, some use the Bird Trifle Kit, some people have store bought. Traditionally it is strawberry jelly (gello) tinned peaches, pears and pineapple, sponge cake (pound cake) custard - see above and whipped fresh dairy cream. During the preparation the sponge cake (pound cake) is usually soaked with Sherry - Red Spanish Wine https://www.tesco.ie/groceries/Product/Details/?id=257467883
trifle.jpg


After the family film is over, its usually time for the "soaps" Eastenders and Coronation Street.
These are long running programs, Eastenders is set in a working class area East End of London. Coronation Street is set in a working class area of the North of England city of Manchester. Eastenders started in 1985 and Coronation Street started in 1960. The Christmas Day Evening is prime time TV , so both of these programs usually have a dramatic or emotional story line which climaxes in the Christmas Day episodes.

When Downtown Abbey was being broadcast, this would also have a special Christmas Day episode, which again was prime time viewing.

During the soaps, the tins of sweets will be passed around and if you want it, more alcohol. There is usually a selection of Roses, Celebrations, Quality Street and Heros. All usually the same size tins / tubs as this photo. We also have crisps (chips)
celebrations tub.jpg
sweets.JPG
hereos.jpg



By about 10pm, people will be starting to "nap" on the sofa's and eventually start heading to bed.

Day After Christmas Day
In Ireland its called St Stephens Day, in The UK they call it Boxing Day


In Ireland St Stephens Day is traditionally a day to celebrate the life of St Stephen a Christian / Catholic Saint with connections to Ireland. Some parts of Ireland, people dress like beggers / poor people and sing a traditional song and collect money for charity.

In The UK, it was traditionally a day when the wealthy people would give "boxes of money or presents" to their servants, trades people or charities.

In both countries it is a public holiday, with banks and most businesses and transport closed. It is a day to spend with family or to do charity events. Depending on where you live some families go for a walk, go to a pantomime theatre show, visit family and friends, etc etc.

Or you can just spend it on the sofa, watching Christmas TV, vegging out.

Food on this day in my family is called stretch or starve day. Basically there is enough food left over from Christmas Day and everyone just helps themselves, and grazes before passing out while watching more Christmas TV.
 
How was your christmas? Would love to know how it went x

basically around the same as I posted above :)

My mom and I flew from Ireland to the west of England and got the train to where my sister lives on Monday 23 December. It was evening time when we arrived so we just had our evening meal and settled in.

Christmas Eve
We just chilled, stayed in the house and did some food preparations. We decided not to go to Church, as my niece is 5 and Santa had to visit. There was a big ceremony about leaving mince pies for Santa and Reindeer food :) Once my niece was in bed, we wrapped presents and had an early night.

Christmas Day
Bright and early, excited knock on my bedroom door, are you awake, auntie, Santa left presents. After present opening, my sister put the turkey in the oven and gave the adults their food preparation jobs. Mine was peeling, and cooking and then mashing the potatoes, making the bread sauce and general stirring and looking after things while she got dressed.

Christmas dinner was about 2pm, I think, almost exactly like I posted above.
Starter was crab and avocado store bought mouse.

Christmas evening we just watched TV.

Boxing Day
Another day of just chilling in the house, Meals were self service, left overs and sandwiches.

Friday 27 December
We finally left the house, and went to the cinema. My family went to see Cats, I went to see Star Wars.

Saturday 28 December

My mom flew back to Ireland and I took the train to London to visit friends. I flew back to Ireland on Tuesday 31 December
 
REALLY late to this, but, the best way to set your Christmas pudding on fire is to have a table spoon full of brandy, warm it over a flame (candle) then move it so the flame lights the alcohol, THEN tip the flaming alcohol onto the pudding. Otherwise it is very unlikely that your pudding will flame without causing problems.
This way, the flames will go out as soon as the alcohol is burned off.
 
Thanks for asking y'all. I've had someone sick at home for most of the month of January and am just now almost totally over the flu so I haven't been up to posting much.

Christmas was a lot of fun. The whole family enjoyed the Christmas crackers although DS12 refused to put on his crown. :rolleyes2 The meal itself wasn't a big hit but I think that was because they were dishes we hadn't cooked before. My DH thinks he didn't get the oven hot enough for the Yorkshire puddings. I thought the Christmas pudding I bought and the Rum cake were delicious but the boys refused to try both of them. :rolleyes2 We enjoyed the Yule Log outside and the kids made s'mores which isn't very British but it's hard to say no when you're lighting an outdoor fire. :) I read about the history of the Yule Log and everyone wrote on a piece of paper something they wished to leave behind in 2019. DS8 wrote that he wanted to leave behind tantrums. His tantrum has gone way down so it must have worked. I think we will do that again.
 
Sorry to hear that you have been poorly. Almost Teenager refusing to wear the paper crown and youngsters refusing to try Christmas pudding.... sounds like a very typical British Christmas to me!😂 Yorkshire puddings near time be poured into very hot oil, so it sizzles and cooked in a hot oven. If you are willing to have another go try something called ‘toad in the hole’, which is basically Yorkshire pudding with sausages.
https://www.deliaonline.com/recipes...ges/toad-in-the-hole-with-roasted-onion-gravy
 
Sounds yummy. We have a dish called toad in a hole but it's quite different. You cut a hole in the middle of a slice of bread and cook an egg in the middle of it.
 
Does anybody do “first foot”for New Years Morn?
Traditionally the first visitor of the New Year to arrive at your doorstep must bring a silver coin for wealth, a piece of coal for warmth, and a loaf of bread for food. And best wishes for a healthy happy new year to all with a bottle of whiskey perhaps?
 
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So very late to the party but I have to say that I really enjoyed reading about these traditions. A few years ago, me and my sister being complete Anglophiles added a little English tradition to our Christmas as well. I found a Christmas pudding with a jar of brandy butter sauce to go on top, a Stolen and some kind of Winter wine for my German brother in law, and a box of Christmas crackers at World Market for astronomical prices and we pretended like we had some sort of culture instead of being boring Americans lol. Last year, my sister and I were lucky enough to finally get to visit London and we were on Regent Street when they turned on the lights! Probably the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life! I have to tell ya, London really knows how to light up Christmas! The lights there were better than anything I've ever seen here in the states. They really know how to decorate for the holidays in England. Funny story: While we were in London, we stayed in Russell Square and went to one of those Little Green Huts for breakfast each morning. On the first day, my sister was so excited, and the lady in the hut asked my sister if she wanted mayo or mustard or something like that on her sandwich...or brown sauce and my goofy sister started crying and said, "Brooown saaauce". She was so excited to be in England that brown sauce made her emotional lol. The lady in the hut started giggling. She probably still tells the story of the dumb yank that cried about the hp sauce. hahaha! I told my sister that it was the equivalent of someone coming here and crying over some A1. :joker:
 

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