[Closed] Family Christmas traditions

One of ours is hanging around waiting for my son and his family to arrive for breakfast and presents. Currently 11:40 and 2nd bottle of champagne being opened.
Come on Tom. 😠

They changed subtly over years but the late 70’s typified it for me.

Christmas Eve we British Leyland worker’s kids all went to a Xmas Party in Longbridge. We all waited in turn and were each given a present by Santa. I remember it was in an unfeasibly gigantic room in the factory. The presents were seemingly always from Chad Valley. I kept one of them (a tin Chinese Checkers board with cool dragon designs) for many decades.

Being a kid (for us) was about getting up stupid early, hovering incessantly until parents arose to cook us a bacon (for dad)/bacon-fat (for us kids) sarnie, then kids fishing around in pillow case for presents which were wrapped in those easily-torn holly-print/drummer boy/winter scenes 1970s Xmas wrapping papers.

Then we’d play with our present, usually with Valley Of The Gwangi etc on TV, until Xmas Lunch/Dinner at either home or at grandparent’s house a couple of miles away.

Pretty standard fare in 1970s UK? Brazil nuts and satsumas featured regularly in the present pillowcase, along with pants, socks, pyjamas etc and a ‘big present’.

‘Big present’ circa 1978 was something like this:

These last 15 years we usually spent it with friend’s family (who are like family). Not this year tho.

Stockings in the morning.
Church visit.
Food about 3pm.
Presents about 7pm.

All a hangover from my grandmother who always did it in that order. Actually rather like it as it makes the whole day special and doesn't make it rushed.

Only doing the food and presents bit this year. Thankfully as it's just me and the parents we're foregoing the usual arguements with my uncle who's a proper gammon so would have been insufferable this year.

I've always found the pillow case thing a bit odd. We had stockings with the usual bits and pieces - an orange, apple, some nuts, chocolate, that sort of thing. Big presents were downstairs under the tree. How do you get a bike in a pillowcase?

Eat loads, drink more, there are no rules.

Watch The Snowman on Chrismas Eve. Realised this year my 3 year old is the same age I was when it came out.

My parents used to change around what they had for Christmas dinner but beef Wellington stuck eventually. We’re veg now but it still has to be wellington - just with squash, chestnuts, mushrooms and lots of other good stuff. And I have to make a chocolate log (Delia recipe) every single year.

Mrs Sandwich puts lots of effort into stockings for the 'children'. The one year she tried to stop and initiated the conversation the chorus of disapproval put a halt to that idea. There are always table presents.

Edit The 'children' are 30 and 28.

I bake a lopsided cake with loads of marzipan and make the pudding. (This year's was a couple of years old and was fabulous).

Afternoon dog walking followed by a bit of a nap before eating (or not) what you want for the rest of the day.

Loving these!

Apron is on, by the way.

We go swimming in the sea before presents. Was in today and my crown jewels became earings.

Oh and of course we’re now watching Home Alone

Deleted, that was a depressing post and this was clearly meant to be more fun than that.

simon_g
Full Member

Watch The Snowman on Chrismas Eve. Realised this year my 3 year old is the same age I was when it came out.

Just born in the 70's then.

Always have a toast to those that have left us in the last year before christmas dinner. Sadly it seems more and more each year 🙁

garage-dweller
Full Member

Deleted, that was a depressing post and this was clearly meant to be more fun than that.

Sorry garage-dweller I might have done it now

I love cake and marzipan. Recipe please.

 

Apron is on, by the way.

Trouser leg rolled up? Goat shagged?

@slowoldman I use the Delia recipe from her Christmas Book, one addition is some baking powder (1 or 2 tsp) to ensure that it stands up straight.

Marzipan recipe is a Danish/German hybrid as follows:

300 grams of ground almonds

1ml bitter almond extract (up to 1/2 a Dr Oetker ampoule) (From German deli on-line).

75 ml of water

225 grams of icing sugar

0.7ml (1/8 tsp) Rosewater

5ml Almond essence

15ml (1tbs) brandy

1. Heat the water and icing sugar until the sugar has all dissolved
2. Allow syrup to cool to lukewarm
3. Mix the ground almonds, rosewater, bitter almond extract and brandy together.
4. Add enough syrup to make the mixture bind into a soft paste but not too sticky that it will not model correctly. (Add extra ground almonds to the mix if this happens).

I make this in a treble batch as I've taken on cake duties for my sister now that her Mother-in-Law is no longer able to do the job, this gives around 1kg of marzipan per cake. If you double up you may need around 700g of almonds to make the paste stiff enough.

Back on topic, herself always has cheese with fruit in it (this year the rhubarb and ginger Wensleydale is particularly foul, no crumble to it and a bit mushy. 1 star, would not recommend).

There's always port and plain cheese for the rest of us (we learned long ago that the fruit and cheese thing should not really happen.

Threats to kill which aren't acted upon.

herself always has cheese with fruit in it

Thanks @Sandwich My Mum was from Lubeck, the marzipan capital of German. This evening I've been nibbling on some fine Niederegger marzipan as I do at this time of year. When we were little my sister and I used to get some some wonderful treats sent over at Christmas.

Oh and I'm with you on adulterating cheese. it's an abomination.