Christmas Countdown Day 18

Christmas Countdown Day 18

Oh, Christmas tree!

One thing that Charles Dickens does not mention at all in his book A Christmas Carol, but is now a big part of our Christmas celebration, is the Christmas tree. At no point throughout Scrooge's journey with the Spirits is there even a trace of a tree. You may remember that A Christmas Carol was first published in 1843, the same year that the first commercial Christmas card was produced (also free of Christmas trees!). In 1850 Dickens published a short Christmas story called A Christmas Tree. Had something happened with in the space of these two stories that had brought the Christmas tree well into the public imagination? Actually, the answer is yes!

Christmas trees were not part of the British Christmas tradition until the mid nineteenth century. That isn't to say that no household in Britain ever had a Christmas tree in the house before the 1840's, perhaps immigrants from northern Europe brought the custom with them when they settled here, but certainly, the custom was not common, and Christmas trees almost completely unheard of in this country.

In 1848 a picture was published in The Illustrated London News of a family gathered around a fir tree, set upon a table. The tree was decorated with small trinkets and lighted by candles. The family celebrating around the tree was no ordinary family; it was Queen Victoria and her husband Prince Albert, with their children. 

Prince Albert had grown up in Germany, where the Christmas tree had been part of his childhood. It seems almost natural that he would bring the custom with him and pass it to his own young family. The Royal Family were greatly admired in Britain, and what was fashionable to the Queen and the Royal Household, soon became the fashion of the nation.

The custom was quickly adopted and soon household across the country were decoration fir trees in their homes.

The Royal Christmas trees were set on tables with fine gifts underneath and around the tree. It has also been recorded that at Windsor Castle Christmas trees, lighted with candles, were hung from the ceiling, in place of chandeliers! Queen Victoria recorded in her diary of 1850 The children were taken to their tree, jumping and shouting with joy over their toys and other presents; the boys could think of nothing but the sword we had given them and Bertie some of the armour...'.

Along with candles, Victorian trees would also be decorated with small baskets and trays of sweets, fruits, fancy cakes and biscuits, small toys and coloured ribbons. As the popularity of the Christmas tree spread, more and more commercial decorations were produced. The presents also got larger, and were soon being set around or under the tree. 

Christmas Countdown Day 17

Christmas Countdown Day 17

Festive Music!!

Hello everyone, I am late yet again in doing my Christmas posts! Sorry, real life has been quite hectic, I hope you enjoy the Christmas Pudding post below which should have been posted yesterday! I will try and resume normal service tomorrow, and thank you for your patience! 

Thanks also for all your lovely comments, I have read all of them, sorry not to have replied, but there just doesn't seem to be time to get things done! I will also need to spend a day soon looking at all your latest posts! 

In the mean time, I thought I would post some festive music to get you all into the Christmas groove!! ;o)

Christmas Countdown Day 16

A Christmas pudding from Mrs Beeton

Christmas Countdown Day 16

Christmas Pudding

Christmas pudding has been part of British Christmas tradition for centuries. It contains dried fruits, nuts and spices along with suet and brandy of other liqueurs. The Christmas pudding is sometimes called a plum pudding or plum duff and it's probably what the 'Figgy Pudding' was in the well known carol We Wish You a Merry Christmas. The puddings dark colour is largely thanks to the black treacle and dark brown sugars used to make it.

The puddings were traditionally made at home and boiled for hours. In the past the pudding would be cooked in the copper, a large copper drum set into a brick structure with a fire box below, usually used for doing the laundry. The shape of the pudding was determined by the way it was cooked. If boiled in a pudding cloth, it would be quite rounded, like a cannon ball; if boiled in a pudding basin, it would be dome shaped. 

A dolls' house Christmas pudding by Delph Miniatures!

It was also traditional to include some small charms, or a silver sixpence into the mixture. this was sometimes referred to as The Year's Luck, and whoever got the charms or sixpence was in for wealth and happiness in the coming year. These days, most people buy a ready-made pudding, and health and safety rules won't allow such small tokens to be included in the mixture!

Another tradition is to have the pudding set alight, which is really the brandy ignited, which gives a lovely blue flame, and of course a little sprig of holly for Christmas!

Charles Dickens talks of Christmas puddings in A Christmas Carol in a scene where the Ghost of Christmas Present takes Scrooge to see Christmas at the Cratchit's house...

...Mrs Cratchit left the room alone - too nervous to bear witnesses - to take the pudding up and bring it in. Suppose it should not be done enough! Suppose it should break in turning out!... All sorts of horrors were supposed.

Hallo! A great deal of steam! The pudding was out of the copper. A smell like a washing-day! That was the cloth. A smell like an eating-house and a pastrycook's next door to each other, with a laundress's next door to that! That was the pudding! In half a minute Mrs Cratchit entered - flushed, but smiling proudly - with the pudding, like a speckled cannon ball, so hard and firm, blazing in hlaf of half a quartern of ignited brandy, and bedight with Christmas holly stuck into the top.

Oh, a wonderful pudding!...

Christmas Countdown Day 15

Christmas Countdown Day 15

Mince Pies

Mince Pies are a great part of British Christmas fare. We eat millions of these sweet, tiny pies every year! The pies contain mincemeat. The name is slightly misleading; there isn't any meat in the pies these days, though originally they did contain some minced meat, and were often called Christmas pies or minced pies. These days the only trace of meat in the pies is the suet, which is actually usually of vegetable rather than bovine origin, but some mincemeats still contain the traditional beef suet. The other ingredients in mincemeat include, apples, dried fruits, sugar and spices, they may have some booze in them, brandy being traditional, but anything would probably work!

It seems likely that the original pies strange mix of meat, spices, sugar and fruit comes form Tudor England, where savoury food was often mixed with sugar and spices in wealthy households, these were expensive luxuries, and a sweet spicy pie was an excellent way of showing off to your guests how rich you were! I can imagine Elizabeth I tucking into a Christmas Minced Pie!

The Victorians (yes, them again!) were the ones who reduced the meat content and increased the sugar and fruit content to evolve into the mince pies we munch over the festive period today.

People used to say that eating one mince pie on each day from Christmas to Twelth Night would bring good luck for the following year, but not if you intend to go on a diet for your New Year's Resolution!! ;o)

The supermarkets in the UK are filled with mincemeat at Christmas, I am not sure if it sells well abroad. The quality and sweetness vary, but even a basic mince meat can be enlivened with some sharp apples, lemon and orange zest and a drop of your favourite tipple!

Here is a recipe I copied from BBC Good Food online for mince pies.

Ingredients

• 350g/12oz high quality mincemeat, preferably homemade
• 200g/7oz plain flour, sifted
• 40g/1½oz golden caster sugar
• 75g/2¾oz ground almonds
• 125g/4½oz unsalted butter, diced
• 1 large free-range egg, beaten
• milk, to glaze

Preparation method

1. Lightly butter a 12-hole pie or patty tin. Tip the mincemeat into a bowl and stir so that the liquid is evenly distributed.
2. Place the flour, sugar, almonds and butter in a food processor and process briefly until resembling breadcrumbs, then slowly add the egg through the feeder tube. (Or rub the butter into the dry ingredients by hand and stir in the egg.)
3. Bring the mixture together with your hands, wrap in clingfilm and chill for an hour or so. Thinly roll out the pastry on a floured surface. Cut out 12 circles with a fluted pastry cutter, large enough to fill the base of the prepared tin. Press gently into each hole, then fill with the mincemeat.
4. Cut out another 12 slightly smaller discs and use to cover the mincemeat. Press the edges together to seal. Make a small slit in the top of each, then brush lightly with milk. Chill for about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
5. Bake the pies for 20 minutes until golden brown. Remove to a wire rack and serve warm.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   If you want to make your own mincemeat, see this link for a great recipe!
   
   
   http://www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/1157/boozy-mincemeat
   
   
   
   

Of course, The Swan Inn has to have some mince pies for Christmas! I bought this pretty little plateful made by Delph Miniatures. (delphminiatures.co.uk)

Perhaps your dolls' house residents would prefer to make their own? This miniature mince pie prep board is available from littlehouseatthepriory.co.uk

Christmas Countdown Day 14

Christmas Countdown Day 14

Trimming the Christmas Tree

Just a very quick post today, as I am working until late today. I have been searching for some traditional decorations for a miniature Christmas tree (can't think why!! ;oD). I had intended to make some baubles from shiny coloured beads, but my search for anything suitable proved fruitless. In desperation I went to my nearest dolls house shop, a two hour round trip if the traffic is good! I looked at the cabinet they had filled with little Christmas miniatures, but there weren't any decorations (I did buy a few other little bits for the pub which will be revealed soon!). 

I was about to leave, when I remembered I wanted to look at a miniature light fitting, I went to the light display and there, tucked away were some little packs of real glass baubles! Perfect for the dolls' house, all shiny and colourful, they even had the little 'crowns' on the top to hang the baubles on the tree with.  absolutely love them and bought three packs!!

Now, I am a bit of a snob when it comes to tinsel. I just don't really like it. I remember when we were children we had the same decorations on our little 4 foot tree every year, including the tinsel, which grew more and more threadbare with each passing year!  I have to be honest, I think it looks a bit of a mess on a christmas tree, but that is my own personal aesthetic and realise it can look great on some peoples' trees! I did want some for the Swan, and found some glittery pipe cleaners on sale at John Lewis which were just right! They came in packets of assorted colours too, so you might find my miniature trees very gaudy when you see them!

Not long to go now!!!

xxx

Christmas Countdown Day 13

Christmas Countdown Day 13

Santa Baby: My Ultimate Miniature Christmas List!

Hello everyone, today I thought I would let any budding Santa's out there my ultimate Christmas wish list for miniatures. Actually the list is endless, but I picked a few ultimate gifts I have had my eye on all year, and as I have been AWFULLY GOOD this year, maybe Santa will slip some under the tree for me?!!

First on the list is a Mulvany and Rogers dolls house, naturally! This little gothick vicarage costs about £16,000. see www.mulvanyandrogers.com for more details.

I spotted these little gems whilst browsing online. A collection of blue and white dolls' house vases from Kang Xi Dynasty (1662-1722). They were valued at  between €1500- €2000 at an auction in Amsterdam last April, they were eventually sold for €4000!! Just one would be nice!! ;o)

I have been an admirer of the work of Jean-Claude Martin for several years. The Chandelier cones silvered or gilded prices start at €950.00 and go up to €1200.00. The clocks above are also beautiful and both priced at €650.00. See www.oncedart.com for more details

Tarbena Miniatures make exquisite furniture for the dolls' house. I would love to own some of their pieces, and if I saved very hard I might eventually get one, but for now they are on my wish list!

The chest of drawers costs £295.00; the linen press costs £495.00 and the corner washstand is £190.00. See www.tarbenaminiatures.co.uk for further details.

I'd love a pair of globes in my library, and would go wild if I found this lovely little pair from Small-Time in my Christmas stocking! The are £365.00 for the pair, but you can buy just one too. for further details see www.small-time.com

Mike Sparrow makes the most amazing pieces of silverware for the dolls' house. You can buy anything from a fountain pen with removable lid and tiny nib, to a knife and fork, to the Queen Anne  Sterling Silver tea kettle with spirit stove and tripod stand for £720.00. The little mustard pot with hinged opening lid and tiny spoon is also delightful and costs £82.00 See www.mikesparrowsilver.co.uk for more of his exquisite work!

Now, I can't be greedy and ask for too much can I!? ;o) The list doesn't end there, but I would love to know what miniatures you all would dearly like to find under the tree on Christmas Day?

Christmas Countdown Day 12

Christmas Countdown Day 12

Miniature Display of Cards

Today's post will be quite brief, as I have had a few technical problems this evening, and have only just got back online fully!

I wanted to display a few of my miniature cards in an interesting way, and remember how my mum always used to pin her Christmas cards to lengths of red ribbon. and hang them on the wall.

I've created a miniature version of this, complete with the little red bow. The cards were free cut outs from a miniatures magazine (last year's Christmas number!). I realised that the inside of the cards was visible, so I thought I would try writing in them.

You can see the result above. The pen was really too big, but at least the Merry Christmas is almost readable!

This little display is now safely pinned up in The Swan, and I promise that you will all be seeing it, and everything else very soon!