Curious if you mention the difference in theatre culture engendered by Panto between the UK and the US? There was a study done that found that UK theatre goers are generally quieter and better behaved than American theatre goers, especially when children are involved, and this was attributed to the 'innoculation' of pantomime. Because there are times in a Panto where the audience is encouraged to be loud and participate, it leads to audiences who are generally better behaved because they know not to make noise unless it is called for.
Sorry but America does not Celebrate Christmas (Christ's Day). It's just another Thanksgiving. The REAL reason for that is because your Government are the Puppets of the People who really run America. The Super Rich and Multinational Companies (Devil Worshippers). No! that is not my opinion. The People I work with have been Secretly Watching America for over 200 years. We know things NONE of the American People know. If they found out it would be the biggest Civil War in History. The People vs The Enemy. By the way, you neglected to mention you can make your own Christmas Pudding which is 100 times better than you can by in a Supermarket. That's if you can cook.
My father was born in 1899 and his mother's family came from Liverpool. She apparently prepared what we called plum pudding. When my sister tried to make it my father was able to give her some suggestions that the printed recipe didn't have. I am not a big fan of it, but I have had it a few times in my life.
The thing about the hats is the hilarious way they fit each different sized head.. yes, when we were kids this was the true highlight of Christmas Dinner!
"The world's tiniest ruler and a really bad joke" sums up the inevitable disappointment of a Christmas Cracker perfectly for me. Yet somehow it isn't Christmas without them. 😆
It gets worse: I attended a Christmas lunch this week where the brown paper crackers did not crack, but contained a piece of paper announcing that the cracker strip had been removed to render the whole thing recyclable so we could have an "environmentally responsible Christmas". Ugh!!!
Yeah, the *point* of Christmas crackers is that they are kinda disappointing, and we all collectively bond over the terrible festive dad jokes we have inevitably heard 1000 times before :P
The trouble is, these days the 'big tins' of Roses, Quality Street etc are just a shadow of their former selves. Time was, if you had a house full, you could pass the sweets around several times and there'd be loads left. Nowadays when you pass them around the throng, they only make three circuits and you're staring at areas of bare tin (plastic???) at the bottom. People buy them these days because it's traditional, not because they represent good value.
Mulled wine, mince pies, cheese and port, scrambled eggs and smoke salmon, sherry, nuts, dates, chocolate, satsumas, to mention a few others. Honestly food and drink is the best bit of Christmas.
I'm a Brit stuck in the USA, and I really miss a British Christmas, especially my late Mum's Christmas CAKE! (We have ham on thanksgiving, Turkey at Christmas)
My grandparents many years ago when I was a kid in the 80's and 90's used to make their own Christmas Pudding, and it was lovely. They used to put old genuine Silver coins in the pudding mix and when you found a coin my Grandpa would exchange the old silver coin for new money. I miss those puddings and I miss my grandparents 🙂
Where I live (south of England by the Sea) there's a local tradition of people running into the sea on boxing day and running back out again. I do not partake.
You missed out the afternoon walk in the park, because it will be quiet, and find out the car park is full and most of the population had the same thought.😂
Sitting at the panto for the very first time must have been mind blowing! It is very difficult to describe, but once you've seen one or two you know EXACTLY what to expect! I still have very vivid memories of some of the pantos I went to as a kid.
The best way I found to explain it to my yank friend was "Panto is a low-brow comedic theatrical play, where the acting is mostly bad, the writing is mostly stupid, it's full of british cultural references, has a lot of audience participation, it has slapstick humour for the kids and more risque implication and innuendo that the kids wont understand, and it's one of the very few things that crosses the class divide here. Everybody involved knows it's "bad", but we all go along with it and join in anyway, because it's great fun." I took her to the Cinderella panto at my local rep, and to say she was confused and dumbfounded by the whole experience would be an understatement. 😂
The thing is with Christmas puddings and mince pies is a massive difference between good ones and bad ones. A good age aged soaked repeatedly in alcohol is the best sort of Christmas puddings.
From UK live in Cincinnati. They played the snowman last year in a large Theater. With the Cincinatti pops live sold out. Audience could all be British but agree not so well known.
Having made Christmas Pudding for my wife's American family, yes it's culture shock. And Mince Pies. You mentioned Turkey for Christmas, but didn't bring up Bread Sauce to go with it.
Unlike the US, the UK does not have the tradition of Homecoming. Although alluded to in a few American movies or TV shows, until you have seen it up close and personal, it’s difficult to believe what a huge event it can be. In large cities it may be somewhat obscured by the scenery, but in many American towns and cities, Homecoming is the event of the year. You cannot get a hotel room for a week before or until the week following. Every business has signs up welcoming people, diners and restaurants are packed, billboards have signs up, it’s a week long party, and generally a big parade on the weekend. It’s a little bit weird and a little fascinating.
I'm with you. I have never understood why people actually hate, Brussel Sprouts. Even when younger, I loved them. Especially slathered in butter, with a sprinkling of pepper. 😋 Mmmmmmmmmm.........
While this is the English version, it isn’t unique, a friends Dad had been a professional in the Canadian Football League, who after his career had chosen to stay in Canada. There was actually a group of them who had done the same, all of them originating from the 'southern states'. It wasn't brussel sprouts though, it was fiddlehead greens. Which are possibly even less lovely than Brussel sprouts. But they couldn’t imagine thanksgiving without them, so every year they had a box of them flown in by courier
My Guyanese MiL used to bake a Christmas cake during the summer before Christmas that was a typical dense fruit cake. However, from the moment it came out of the oven it had good Demerara Rum drizzled over it all the way through to December, by which time it had consumed about 1ltr of the drink. This cake was then warmed up at the end of the Christmas lunch and eaten as us Brits eat Christmas pud. The point was that the intensity of the rum turned the cake into something special, which you can't get by pouring alcohol over it on the day.
I do that !! I baked my cakes in the beginning of September and I have been feeding them rum and brandy since ! They will be beautifully boozy when I give them for gifts at Christmas.
Christmas pudding - my mother used to make these, and we had silver sixpences hidden in it which was considered huge luck if you had one in your piece. Of course my mother made sure we all got one, and the excitement of finding one meant we picked up on the pudding thing as well. I hated it though, and I hated the brandy butter that was served with it. Roll on to when I moved to Australia and went to a Christmas meal where a pudding was served. This time with icecream and a splash of Masarla wine. and that is how we ate it until my children were young and turning up their noses, even when the pudding was flaming or decorated with lit sparklers. Then my sister turned up with her special icecream made by mixing a cold cooked pudding with clotted cream icecream whipped double cream and a splash of Cointreau, frozen into a bombe in a lined round bowl. The children loved it and we have it every year now but also with a normal cooked one on hand as their tastes have matured.
I alwYs found thst pantomime suits 9:55 all ages as the naughty jokes and political jokes go right over the heads of the chily who absolutely adore the screaming ' He's behind you!'
I didn't read ALL the comments, but nobody seems to have mentioned that the Christmas pudding is brought to the table ON FIRE, with brandy being ladled over it to keep it going until it is set down to be cut up. There should be a small coin (carefully washed and traditionally a silver sixpence) in the pudding and giving luck to the person in whose portion it is found. The pudding is usually served with brandy butter and a sweet white sauce. The portion should be small as it is very rich and comes at the end of a huge meal... Personally, I prefer Christmas cake.
We have a Christmas tradition with our Christmas pudding I always buy two and keep them for next year so they’re a year old when we have them they mature beautifully 😂
We used to have one that was passed around the family every year, (when it came to Christmas Dinner we had always eaten too much and couldn’t face the pudding) it was passed around year after year, until last year when we ate it! (I think we had passed it around for about seven yearsLOL😅)
You need to pour brandy up its bottom in the few weeks leading up to Christmas and then an extra dose of brandy all over it on Christmas dinner and set fire to it - take care and have a damp tea towel to hand in case of emergencies.
I just want to thank you kalyn for another year of great original content and wish you and your family a great christmas and the best new year! keep up the great work Lass lol!
By-and-large, christmas pudding settles on the stomach like a lead bowling ball. That said, there are lighter variants like pannatone-based ones which are easier to eat (particularly with brandy sauce).
I will be in an orchestra playing the Snowman soundtrack live 6 times this year, with a chorister singing walking in the air and the film projected behind us.
When she said snowman I thought she actually meant that Americans don't build snowmen lol I built one in June once. Was a really weird summer's day I guess!
In Norway, what the British call "christmas crackers" are not really used that much during yule, but on new years eve and the 17th of May (national day). They are common but not ubiquitous. Also seen on birthdays (especially kids birthdays). There is not a toy inside ours though, just the joke. Some will have a super thin paper crown you can unfold and wear, this variant is more popular in kids birthday parties but also occasionally show up on new years eve. We call it a "smellbonbon", "smell" meaning "bang" or "boom".
You forgot mince pies. My niece is married to an American and while living here just before Christmas she asked to and do some shopping as she was working and he was not, she wrote a list and on the list was mince meat meaning fruit mince for making mince pies. She came home and made the pastry and looked for the mince meat and could not find it ……. where is the mince in the fridge he said why is it in the fridge she said that’s where you put meat he said, he had bought mince beef, of course he didn’t now about fruit mince meat. One of the many mixups.
We make our own crackers from cardboard tubes (finished toilet rolls or kitchen rolls) wrapped in left over Christmas wrapping paper. The snaps are available from Amazon and the tubes are just the right size for a miniature of gin or whisky for the adults or a small toy and a chocolate for the kids. Everyone pitches in to make one for someone else in the family and the kids cut Christmas hats from leftover wrapping paper. So much more fun than shop bought.
"On Christmas" makes it sound like it's a single day (which in the US, it is) - mind you, Americans also say "on weekends" whereas Brits are more likely to say "at weekends" (but I've noticed "on" creeping into British usage).
Honestly (and I feel like I should disown myself for saying this), Tesco Finest range Christmas pudding is one of the best I've had. It's rich (just rich enough to be good when boozy if you give it a drink), but not too much, stodgy but not too heavy, full of fruit and nuts and honestly, it's our family default now. I'm looking forward to a little bit of that and their brandy sauce, (or cream if that's what you prefer, I like both).
My Christmas growing up was magical. In the morning we would find our filled stockings at the end of our beds. Who doesn't love presents? Then after Christmas dinner we would open the presents from each other that we had put under the Christmas Tree. Who doesn't love more presents? Then for our evening meal, we would go to my great-grandmothers house, all the extended family would come, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. The meal would all be homemade, scones, jam, sausage rolls, sandwiches (even the bread and butter were homemade) Then we would all crowd into the other room where a Christmas Tree was in the centre of the room. We would all hold hands, walking around the tree singing Christmas Carols. When I was very little, the tree had real candles on it instead of fairy lights. The rule was, we had to keep singing till the candles went out. Later on we had electric lights Then, we would all hand out presents to our extended family members. Who doesn't love even more presents? Then, it was supper time. More sausage rolls, warm mince pies and hot chocolate/ovaltine/horlicks or tea/coffee. Then home to bed. A truly amazing Christmas Day. We continued this tradition until my great grandmother passed away in 1982
Christmas pudding is one of the best things about Christmas: hot on Christmas Day then cold on Boxing Day and for as many days after as you can keep others from eating it. I do remember Christmas before The Snowman so it may be an age thing.
Yeah, I like it, especially with brandy butter, but what I can't stand is Christmas cake... Horrible hard, overly sweet icing and too much thick, yellow marzipan - bleugh!
A lot of British companies have a 'Christmas shutdown' period, too. Me, my fiancé, and most of my friends have time off work from the 20th December to the 2nd January this year! So often we plan to visit different family members over a 5-6 day period, and spend Christmas with 1 family or by ourselves
I'm Scottish. I once went to stay with relatives in the US Virgin Islands for Christmas. It felt very odd to see a garden (not theirs) full of snowmen and reindeer in the heat of what to me was summer weather.
Not just Boxing day: most companies (except retail) close down around midday on Dec 24th, and don't re-open until Jan 2nd. Not a lot of work ever gets done on Christmas eve, either! Many companies have an official (or unofficial) Christmas party on Christmas Eve, with food, alcohol, and maybe party games.
Lots of companies put their Christmas party on a Thursday as in theory it makes people behave. I had mine at the beginning of December and had to lie down the morning after. There as one of my (more foolish) colleagues went into the office and spent the whole day shaking.
I acquired the taste of Christmas pudding as a child and love it, especially with crème fraiche to counteract the sweetness. We don't call it 'the holidays' but Christmastime which covers several days or even weeks!
About not visiting family on Christmas Day - not every family owns a car and public transport (in London at least) closes down on Christmas Day both to give workers the day off, or to carry out track works, so if you want to visit family it often involves an overnight stay. This can also involve matching pyjamas, and staying in your pyjamas all day.
I love Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. My wife not so much so I usually end up eating half of hers as well. Actually, we buy two, one for Christmas Day and one for Easter Monday. There are so many traditions around Christmas pudding such as everyone taking a turn to stir the mixture prior to cooking and having to stir in a particular direction to honour the three wise men.
I remember the stiring .. it physically hurt my arms and hand to stir ... hated that slightly less than being expected to eat it and say how lovely it was
Shop bought Christmas puddings do tend to be a bit rough. Even the good shop bought puds are a shadow of a homemade one. Same deal with Christmas cake, got to be homemade to get a proper one.
Regarding the Christmas turkey/ham: I'm in the UK and my family will have turkey on Christmas Day and then a glazed ham on Boxing Day, along with leftovers from the Christmas dinner the night before, which are often mixed up together into bubble and squeak.
1) It's called 'boxing day' because it used to be the day public workers -- street sweepers etc. -- came round with a box and get 'tipped' for the work they did throughout the year. 2) Christmas pudding -- you need to have it with brandy butter, cream, ice cream. On its own it's waaay too rich and dry. Before decimilization we used to put a sixpence inside it, and the lucky child who bit into it would keep the sixpence. 3) British people never pull crackers on their own. That defeats the purpose. The idea of the cracker is that you get to pull it with another family member round the table. The jokes are deliberately corny because the table isn't divided into those who think it's funny and those who don't -- everyone groans.
Thank you clarifying the whole turkey thing. I always used to wonder how Americans can eat turkey again less than a month later. Your experience with panto sounds so cute and funny. My sister-in-law (not American but grew up different) was equally flabbergasted the first time we took her.
I've seen people go to London Christmas Market to make a program. There is a place there selling Christmas pudding that 1 woman makes and are sold in Harrods. The camera crew and the presenters didn't like Christmas pud. They tried it, and every single one LOVED it. Insisting that it tasted absolutely nothing like the Christmas pud they hate. Home made ones take months, and will be as good if done right. ❤ from Northeast England ❤️
My Nanna (maternal grandmother) used to make xmas puddings and put old silver six pences (wrapped in greaseproof paper) in to it. Us kids use to obviously hope we'd get one. This was in the 1960s and they were still able to be spent.
I shall be eating goose this Christmas day, which is much more a traditional roast than turkey. The latter gained popularity because it was much cheaper. However, I should add that because goose was expensive, then before the popularity of turkey a chicken was common. In addition, a ham was common in addition to the turkey, goose or chicken.
And goose is much nicer than turkey :) We're having beef this year, but we often have venison. Some years we have goose but never turkey because nobody likes it.
Christmas pudding smells amazing and has such reverence but I hate it! I don’t like the texture of raisins or sultanas but man it smells so quintessentially Christmassy it’s lovely 😊😂
I found the wound up emotions of my children on Christmas Eve too much to cope with ,especially when they were young enough for Christmas stocking presents but old enough to stay excitedly awake past midnight . I instituted a family custom which worked well on Christmas eve ,which was that that once washed and in their pyjamas they could open either one of the big presents or have their Christmas stocking. Invariably it was the latter ,which gave the parents a chance to appreciate the pleasure the boys showed from seeing what they had and ( thank goodness) not at 4 a.m. Christmas morning !
Christmas day has always been a little different for me as it's my birthday. Growing up, my parents always made sure Christmas presents were wrapped in Christmas paper and birthday presents always wrapped in birthday paper, we would have a traditional Christmas dinner and at teatime the birthday cake would come out. Obviously I couldn't have a birthday party with friends so my parents would hold a big bonfire party and all my friends would come to that, bringing there own fireworks and homemade food. We had quite a big extended family and they would all drop by on Christmas day so I never felt like I was missing out on anything.
WHAT?! My kids and I all know The Snowman very well and have seen it many, many times! We live in the United States. I think that one depends on the family. It's based on a book, so I think if you're a family that frequents the public library, like ours does, you'll probably be familiar with it no matter where you live.
A former neighbour of mine when I lived in London incidentally 15 mins walk from Harrods used to go to their sales and buy one of the reduced surplus Christmas Puddings and put it aside for the following Christmas
2:08 A proper Christmas Pudding is not spongey as the recipe should contain hardly any flour. If you have tried Christmas Puddings that seem spongey then they were probably bought in a shop rather than home made. I make my Christmas Puddings from scratch every year on Stir Up Sunday (the last Sunday before Advent)
Oh young lady it’s so good to see you exploring the UK Christmas rituals, I know it’s different from the things you grew up with but you have slotted in here beautifully and we are better for having a dual citizen here. Hopefully it just gives you more things to look forward to over this time. Merry Christmas oh and watch out for gentlemen bearing mistletoe….
Try the London Gateway motorway services on the M1 for a really Great British Xmas ! The warm welcome, the great food, the delicate lighting/decorations, the music, the Xmas spirit of friendliness, the lovely fellow travellers and their noisy badly behave children, the price of petrol, the ambient sound of passing traffic, the smell of unburnt and burnt fossil fuel, and yes there will be at least a model Santa and the opportunity to purchase one ! And to top it all the opportunity to go south and enter London, or to go north into that great north of Watford wilderness !
The best Christmas puddings are the ones I made 10 years ago, without the nuts and with plenty of fruit and some alcohol to bring out the fruitiness. Sadly I haven't had the time and energy to pull it off well recently. Also the best trifles were from back then. These desserts definitely beat Christmas cake, which is much drier and has the added horror of marzipan (something which I never understood why I didn't like until after many years I discovered it was made of Almonds, which suddenly explained everything!).
Church wise there are special services in the run up to Christmas. The Christingle service is aimed at children where they receive an orange with a candle in it. Around it is a red band and there are four cocktail sticks with sweets on them. 9 lessons and carols is a must for many either in person or watching the broadcast from \king's College Cambridge. This is often done in candle light and is a magical atmosphere. On Christmas eve there is often a crib service which again is aimed at children and is pretty informal. At my church everyone has a cup of hot chocolate to sip during the service. Then there is midnight mass which is probably a shared tradition which many non church goers like to attend. Christmas morning is more informal often with a challenge the vicar to see if presents can be mentioned in the sermon. Not so easy when it is a T- Rex.
Hello, Brit here who has just stumbled upon your channel. I know this is going to sound really weird, but leftover Christmas pudding fried in butter, and served with bacon, for breakfast on Boxing Day is delicious.
Most people in UK have Turkey because its pound for pound cheapest for feeding a large family, traditionally it was chicken or if you were well off a goose and more affluent families will today still often have Goose rather than Turkey. Turduckets have become an imported thing in recent years, I dont think I've ever known anyone having Ham, Nut Roast is the traditional vegetarian alternate.
Every Christmas time here in the UK I enjoy having Christmas Pudding it's delicious & I think once you try it every year you'll love it! Happy Holidays Kalyn! 🎅🎄❤💚
Christmas pudding verses Cootie pudding ............. Now that is a tough one. Also if you are doing the Snowman you have to see all the Snowman Scottish Irn-bru drink ads. Traditionally the christmas dinner was Goose or Capon, then a lot later Turkey was introduced from the USA (circa 16th century) and being bigger caught on, mostly after 400+ years!
Mince pies , Christmas Puddings are definitely an acquired taste ,both are improved by adding custard , brandy etc , setting fire to the brandy is always good fun ,good vlog kicking off Christmas Season Kaylyn ,complete with the obligatory xmas jumper too ,very festive ,❤❤.
I believe goose fell out of favour after Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' where he implied that goose was the food of the poorer families such as Bob Cratchit.
@@tonygreenfield7820 I do prefer goose, much more flavour and juicer. If you're just feeding a family of 3 or 4, a goose is a better size compared to a massive turkey. Goose is much more expensive per kilo and often difficult to get hold of.
Also in the subject of panto, it’s common for a Z-list celebrity or someone who used to be famous to have a part. Bonus points if the posters say where you might recognise that person from. For instance, if you went to see Cinderella at the Swindon Wyvern, it’d say “and introducing TV’s Richard Hammond as Buttons”.
Even better than 'The Snowman' is Raymond Briggs other Christmas classic, 'Father Christmas' (Santa) - where we follow a grumpy old Father Christmas through his usual, yuletide routine and his regular refrain 'Bloomin' Christmas!!!'
tbh i love xmas eve more than xmas day, we spend the day at my dad's old rugby club doing pub quizzes and then we get takeout for dinner, usually pizza or chinese - nobody wants to cook on xmas eve!
As a Brit I can totally understand that Christmas pudding or cake is definitely an acquired taste. I happen to like it, but on the other hand, I found the US pumpkin pie to be bland. Also, as someone of the older generation I did not grow up with turkey for Christmas dinner. We always had chicken, with roast pork on Boxing Day.
Buy the better grade Christmas puddings when they are reduced to clear after the big day, then keep them in the back of a cupboard. Ignore the dates, they can keep for years.
It does seem like any kind of cake or dessert where dried fruit is a main ingredient is unknown, and not particularly appreciated, by Americans, whereas it is very common in the UK and also other parts of Europe. I can understand it could be an acquired taste if that whole genre is something you have never been introduced to before, I know a few Brits who don't like it but only a few. Also, if you've only had a shop-bought one then it's generally nowhere near as good as a home-made one. Best eaten hot, with piping hot custard poured over it.
Growing up we always had fresh cream and castor sugar with Christmas Pudding, still to this day my preferred accompaniments after more than 60 years, they also don't get Christmas Cake and of course mince pies.
It’s a historic /geographical/climate thing. The British have been there for millennia. There is very lotto naturally occurring fruit in the uk that preserves well. Especially with the technology there was back then - which was about none. The idea of fruit in the winter wasn’t really a thing. When Britain went off and invaded everywhere, it found all sorts of fruits, growing in places at all times of year. The transportation of the day did it allow it to be brought back fresh, so it would be shipped to the UK dried. Raisins, sultanas, figs etc. there is made a welcome change from the winter diet. Early explorers of the US, and fur trappers across Canada survived through winter on things like pemmican. A traditional indigenous winter food made from dried and powdered meat, pressed into bricks usually using bear fat to hold it together. Dried fruits like berries would be incorporated for flavour and more importantly vitamins. I think in a UK winter, people would scrape by on things like rosehips, which can last well into the winter, so when dried fruit appeared, British people went wild for it
Xmas TV ads are fun and it’s kind of similar to the ads you get during the superbowl in that they are something a bit more special) You have the M&S ads , the epic Sainsbury’s First World War ad that was about 3 mins long with a cast of hundred Kevin the carrot can do one though !
Having spent Christmas in New York a few years ago at an air b&b, getting what we Brits consider to be Christmas Day dinner was really difficult. We did have to swap a few things out that we just could not get and the cost of the items there was really frightening.
I came to Canada as a child. Before we came one of our English neighbours told me that in Canada they decorated their Christmas trees outside. I didn’t believe her. 😉. I loved pantos as a kid in England and was happy to know they do have them in Canada.
Before we started having turkey on Christmas Day in the UK it used to be geese. There was a rhyme: "Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man's hat. If not a penny a ha'penny will do. If not a ha'penny then God bless you." The God bless you was the official version, but it was often substituted with a raspberry (a fart noise) "to you". These days a lot of people are turning their backs on turkey because turkey meat is boring. I'm all for going back to goose, but all sorts of roasts are used. It's been years since I had turkey.
A decent expensive Christmas pudding tastes 1000 times better than a cheap one. Sainsbury's Taste The Difference puddings are pretty top tier in my opinion.
![[SFM] Risky Recital](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/RzNkY1_Nk3o/mqdefault.jpg)
You can find the additional Panto video and other exclusive content on More Girl Gone London, link here: www.patreon.com/c/girlgonelondon
Curious if you mention the difference in theatre culture engendered by Panto between the UK and the US? There was a study done that found that UK theatre goers are generally quieter and better behaved than American theatre goers, especially when children are involved, and this was attributed to the 'innoculation' of pantomime. Because there are times in a Panto where the audience is encouraged to be loud and participate, it leads to audiences who are generally better behaved because they know not to make noise unless it is called for.
Oh no you can't
Sorry but America does not Celebrate Christmas (Christ's Day). It's just another Thanksgiving. The REAL reason for that is because your Government are the Puppets of the People who really run America. The Super Rich and Multinational Companies (Devil Worshippers). No! that is not my opinion. The People I work with have been Secretly Watching America for over 200 years. We know things NONE of the American People know. If they found out it would be the biggest Civil War in History. The People vs The Enemy. By the way, you neglected to mention you can make your own Christmas Pudding which is 100 times better than you can by in a Supermarket. That's if you can cook.
Oh yes you can
My father was born in 1899 and his mother's family came from Liverpool. She apparently prepared what we called plum pudding. When my sister tried to make it my father was able to give her some suggestions that the printed recipe didn't have. I am not a big fan of it, but I have had it a few times in my life.
The hats you forgot the hats
The hats! Yes, gotta have a hat!
The hats are the most important bit !
they are not hats they are crowns
The thing about the hats is the hilarious way they fit each different sized head.. yes, when we were kids this was the true highlight of Christmas Dinner!
We use the hats/crowns here in Norway too! But not for yule, they are most common in kids birthday parties and occasionally appear on new years eve.
"The world's tiniest ruler and a really bad joke" sums up the inevitable disappointment of a Christmas Cracker perfectly for me. Yet somehow it isn't Christmas without them. 😆
Napoleon? ;D
It gets worse: I attended a Christmas lunch this week where the brown paper crackers did not crack, but contained a piece of paper announcing that the cracker strip had been removed to render the whole thing recyclable so we could have an "environmentally responsible Christmas". Ugh!!!
Yeah, the *point* of Christmas crackers is that they are kinda disappointing, and we all collectively bond over the terrible festive dad jokes we have inevitably heard 1000 times before :P
You didn't mention the paper hats! Everyone has ro wear the paper hats for Christmas dinner
In Denmark crackers are used on New years Eve, not for Christmas
If you're religious, you should experience your local Midnight Mass. Christmas eve-to-christmas day church service at midnight.
and if you're not, still go, for the choir are amazing.
Never mentioned the big tins of roses , Quality street and other makes that are always present after the meal.
The trouble is, these days the 'big tins' of Roses, Quality Street etc are just a shadow of their former selves. Time was, if you had a house full, you could pass the sweets around several times and there'd be loads left. Nowadays when you pass them around the throng, they only make three circuits and you're staring at areas of bare tin (plastic???) at the bottom. People buy them these days because it's traditional, not because they represent good value.
Celebrations and after 8s were also a thing lol
Mulled wine, mince pies, cheese and port, scrambled eggs and smoke salmon, sherry, nuts, dates, chocolate, satsumas, to mention a few others. Honestly food and drink is the best bit of Christmas.
And walnuts it was not Christmas without shoe and walnuts!
I'm a Brit stuck in the USA, and I really miss a British Christmas, especially my late Mum's Christmas CAKE! (We have ham on thanksgiving, Turkey at Christmas)
My grandparents many years ago when I was a kid in the 80's and 90's used to make their own Christmas Pudding, and it was lovely.
They used to put old genuine Silver coins in the pudding mix and when you found a coin my Grandpa would exchange the old silver coin for new money. I miss those puddings and I miss my grandparents 🙂
You forgot the traditional Boxing day walk! Get wrapped-up warm and walk off all the over-indulging you did on Christmas day.
And or boxing day pub trip
Americans are probably all back in work by then, poor sods.
@@chrysalis4126
😂
It's also a big day of sport, often with a full set of football league fixtures. As you say, to burn of all those calories!
Where I live (south of England by the Sea) there's a local tradition of people running into the sea on boxing day and running back out again.
I do not partake.
You missed out the afternoon walk in the park, because it will be quiet, and find out the car park is full and most of the population had the same thought.😂
Sitting at the panto for the very first time must have been mind blowing! It is very difficult to describe, but once you've seen one or two you know EXACTLY what to expect! I still have very vivid memories of some of the pantos I went to as a kid.
The best way I found to explain it to my yank friend was "Panto is a low-brow comedic theatrical play, where the acting is mostly bad, the writing is mostly stupid, it's full of british cultural references, has a lot of audience participation, it has slapstick humour for the kids and more risque implication and innuendo that the kids wont understand, and it's one of the very few things that crosses the class divide here. Everybody involved knows it's "bad", but we all go along with it and join in anyway, because it's great fun."
I took her to the Cinderella panto at my local rep, and to say she was confused and dumbfounded by the whole experience would be an understatement. 😂
The thing is with Christmas puddings and mince pies is a massive difference between good ones and bad ones. A good age aged soaked repeatedly in alcohol is the best sort of Christmas puddings.
4:06 "You might have it off." This has a totally different meaning in the UK English ...
😂😂😂 "Diiirrrtttyyy..."
A bit of “Panto” double entendre creeping in. 😉
But likely would explain a baby boom around September.
From UK live in Cincinnati. They played the snowman last year in a large Theater. With the Cincinatti pops live sold out. Audience could all be British but agree not so well known.
Having made Christmas Pudding for my wife's American family, yes it's culture shock. And Mince Pies.
You mentioned Turkey for Christmas, but didn't bring up Bread Sauce to go with it.
Christmas pudding is delightful hot with ice cream. But it's an ancient dish passed down. A part of our history to be continued.
Oh not it isn't
@@GBPhilip Oh yes it is!
@@Spiklething It's behind you!
Hot or cold with custard and cream and ice-cream 😂
Brandy sauce on Christmas Day, ice cream or custard on Boxing Day.
O no you didn’t. He’s behind you!!
Oh yes I did!
We go to midnight mass at church on Christmas eve
Christmas Eve, you can go out and get drunk with the friends you haven't seen for a while, because none of you are working tomorrow.
Blackout wednesday is same thing in the us.
Unlike the US, the UK does not have the tradition of Homecoming. Although alluded to in a few American movies or TV shows, until you have seen it up close and personal, it’s difficult to believe what a huge event it can be. In large cities it may be somewhat obscured by the scenery, but in many American towns and cities, Homecoming is the event of the year. You cannot get a hotel room for a week before or until the week following. Every business has signs up welcoming people, diners and restaurants are packed, billboards have signs up, it’s a week long party, and generally a big parade on the weekend.
It’s a little bit weird and a little fascinating.
Brussels sprouts! People who hate them will still insist on having them with their Christmas dinner (I actually love 'em).
I'm with you. I have never understood why people actually hate, Brussel Sprouts.
Even when younger, I loved them. Especially slathered in butter, with a sprinkling of pepper. 😋 Mmmmmmmmmm.........
@@dougwilson4537 NOM!
you can't beat a good sprout.!
I hope you have them simmering!
While this is the English version, it isn’t unique, a friends Dad had been a professional in the Canadian Football League, who after his career had chosen to stay in Canada. There was actually a group of them who had done the same, all of them originating from the 'southern states'.
It wasn't brussel sprouts though, it was fiddlehead greens. Which are possibly even less lovely than Brussel sprouts. But they couldn’t imagine thanksgiving without them, so every year they had a box of them flown in by courier
My Guyanese MiL used to bake a Christmas cake during the summer before Christmas that was a typical dense fruit cake. However, from the moment it came out of the oven it had good Demerara Rum drizzled over it all the way through to December, by which time it had consumed about 1ltr of the drink. This cake was then warmed up at the end of the Christmas lunch and eaten as us Brits eat Christmas pud. The point was that the intensity of the rum turned the cake into something special, which you can't get by pouring alcohol over it on the day.
I do that !! I baked my cakes in the beginning of September and I have been feeding them rum and brandy since ! They will be beautifully boozy when I give them for gifts at Christmas.
Interesting, I've just been watching a video about Guyana, the only English speaking country in South America. They still drive on the left!
I do love a nice moist rich dark fruit cake (hate xmas pud tho) so I'd be down for some of that cake!!
@Psylaine64 😂 Merry Christmas
@@Phiyedough And they have some of the best cricketer in West Indies.
Christmas pudding - my mother used to make these, and we had silver sixpences hidden in it which was considered huge luck if you had one in your piece. Of course my mother made sure we all got one, and the excitement of finding one meant we picked up on the pudding thing as well. I hated it though, and I hated the brandy butter that was served with it. Roll on to when I moved to Australia and went to a Christmas meal where a pudding was served. This time with icecream and a splash of Masarla wine.
and that is how we ate it until my children were young and turning up their noses, even when the pudding was flaming or decorated with lit sparklers. Then my sister turned up with her special icecream made by mixing a cold cooked pudding with clotted cream icecream whipped double cream and a splash of Cointreau, frozen into a bombe in a lined round bowl.
The children loved it and we have it every year now but also with a normal cooked one on hand as their tastes have matured.
You missed families that eat the Christmas meal before the Kings speech or after never during.
I alwYs found thst pantomime suits 9:55 all ages as the naughty jokes and political jokes go right over the heads of the chily who absolutely adore the screaming ' He's behind you!'
I didn't read ALL the comments, but nobody seems to have mentioned that the Christmas pudding is brought to the table ON FIRE, with brandy being ladled over it to keep it going until it is set down to be cut up. There should be a small coin (carefully washed and traditionally a silver sixpence) in the pudding and giving luck to the person in whose portion it is found. The pudding is usually served with brandy butter and a sweet white sauce. The portion should be small as it is very rich and comes at the end of a huge meal...
Personally, I prefer Christmas cake.
We have a Christmas tradition with our Christmas pudding I always buy two and keep them for next year so they’re a year old when we have them they mature beautifully 😂
We used to have one that was passed around the family every year, (when it came to Christmas Dinner we had always eaten too much and couldn’t face the pudding) it was passed around year after year, until last year when we ate it! (I think we had passed it around for about seven yearsLOL😅)
You need to pour brandy up its bottom in the few weeks leading up to Christmas and then an extra dose of brandy all over it on Christmas dinner and set fire to it - take care and have a damp tea towel to hand in case of emergencies.
I WANT THAT CHRISTMAS PUDDING JUG!!!! Seriously, I need it
I have it. I have matching set 😅
@@catherineball5071 There's a set?! Where did you get them?
I just want to thank you kalyn for another year of great original content and wish you and your family a great christmas and the best new year! keep up the great work Lass lol!
By-and-large, christmas pudding settles on the stomach like a lead bowling ball. That said, there are lighter variants like pannatone-based ones which are easier to eat (particularly with brandy sauce).
Excuse me… why do our paper hats at Christmas dinner not make the list?
Should have been mentioned with the crackers ,wearing the hat is almost more important than reading the crummy `jokes'.
@@Jill-mh2wn Crummy jokes? That's we're I get most of my material from for my stand up tours.🤪
@@anthonyholdford4041 So it`s going to be a cracker of a tour this Christmas? 🤣
@@Jill-mh2wn That one's going in !
I will be in an orchestra playing the Snowman soundtrack live 6 times this year, with a chorister singing walking in the air and the film projected behind us.
Lovely - what instrument do you play ?
@cathrynbagley8005 (French) Horn
When she said snowman I thought she actually meant that Americans don't build snowmen lol
I built one in June once. Was a really weird summer's day I guess!
Watching "The Great Escape"😊
In Norway, what the British call "christmas crackers" are not really used that much during yule, but on new years eve and the 17th of May (national day). They are common but not ubiquitous. Also seen on birthdays (especially kids birthdays).
There is not a toy inside ours though, just the joke. Some will have a super thin paper crown you can unfold and wear, this variant is more popular in kids birthday parties but also occasionally show up on new years eve.
We call it a "smellbonbon", "smell" meaning "bang" or "boom".
You forgot mince pies. My niece is married to an American and while living here just before Christmas she asked to and do some shopping as she was working and he was not, she wrote a list and on the list was mince meat meaning fruit mince for making mince pies. She came home and made the pastry and looked for the mince meat and could not find it ……. where is the mince in the fridge he said why is it in the fridge she said that’s where you put meat he said, he had bought mince beef, of course he didn’t now about fruit mince meat. One of the many mixups.
We make our own crackers from cardboard tubes (finished toilet rolls or kitchen rolls) wrapped in left over Christmas wrapping paper. The snaps are available from Amazon and the tubes are just the right size for a miniature of gin or whisky for the adults or a small toy and a chocolate for the kids. Everyone pitches in to make one for someone else in the family and the kids cut Christmas hats from leftover wrapping paper. So much more fun than shop bought.
Yeh Christmas Eve is like a little Christmas Day for you and your mates you’ll be with your family the next two days.
A difference I always notice is Americans say “on Christmas”, British say “at Christmas”. I love all the little differences. 🇬🇧🇺🇸
"On Christmas" makes it sound like it's a single day (which in the US, it is) - mind you, Americans also say "on weekends" whereas Brits are more likely to say "at weekends" (but I've noticed "on" creeping into British usage).
'on X' is very American - she even said 'on accident' at the end there, instead of 'by accident.'
Honestly (and I feel like I should disown myself for saying this), Tesco Finest range Christmas pudding is one of the best I've had. It's rich (just rich enough to be good when boozy if you give it a drink), but not too much, stodgy but not too heavy, full of fruit and nuts and honestly, it's our family default now. I'm looking forward to a little bit of that and their brandy sauce, (or cream if that's what you prefer, I like both).
My Christmas growing up was magical. In the morning we would find our filled stockings at the end of our beds. Who doesn't love presents?
Then after Christmas dinner we would open the presents from each other that we had put under the Christmas Tree. Who doesn't love more presents?
Then for our evening meal, we would go to my great-grandmothers house, all the extended family would come, aunts, uncles, cousins etc. The meal would all be homemade, scones, jam, sausage rolls, sandwiches (even the bread and butter were homemade)
Then we would all crowd into the other room where a Christmas Tree was in the centre of the room. We would all hold hands, walking around the tree singing Christmas Carols. When I was very little, the tree had real candles on it instead of fairy lights. The rule was, we had to keep singing till the candles went out. Later on we had electric lights
Then, we would all hand out presents to our extended family members. Who doesn't love even more presents?
Then, it was supper time. More sausage rolls, warm mince pies and hot chocolate/ovaltine/horlicks or tea/coffee.
Then home to bed. A truly amazing Christmas Day. We continued this tradition until my great grandmother passed away in 1982
Presents AFTER lunch! Blimey.
@@Casual_Gamer_Channel no no thats for the tree presents .. tiny gifts hidden as decorations ON the tree, secret santa style
@@Psylaine64 got you 👍🏻 that makes more sense!
Christmas pudding is one of the best things about Christmas: hot on Christmas Day then cold on Boxing Day and for as many days after as you can keep others from eating it. I do remember Christmas before The Snowman so it may be an age thing.
And the brandy sauce is essential
you can fry a slice of it in butter to warm it up and bring out other flavours (personally I hate it always have) ......
I could eat Christmas Pudding every day of the year!
I usually stock up and have it maybe 10 times a year. Too good to restrict to just Christmas.
Yeah, I like it, especially with brandy butter, but what I can't stand is Christmas cake... Horrible hard, overly sweet icing and too much thick, yellow marzipan - bleugh!
Yep, same with mince pies.
When my mum was alive, she used to make an extra christmas pudding every year to save for me to have on my birthday in July.
great you can have mine!
A lot of British companies have a 'Christmas shutdown' period, too. Me, my fiancé, and most of my friends have time off work from the 20th December to the 2nd January this year! So often we plan to visit different family members over a 5-6 day period, and spend Christmas with 1 family or by ourselves
Really good description of a British Christmas..
I'm Scottish. I once went to stay with relatives in the US Virgin Islands for Christmas. It felt very odd to see a garden (not theirs) full of snowmen and reindeer in the heat of what to me was summer weather.
You should try Australia 🇦🇺 when it’s 42degree C on the day. NSW in Oz
I remember coconut palms in Grenada with stars on top, in mid-December.
Not just Boxing day: most companies (except retail) close down around midday on Dec 24th, and don't re-open until Jan 2nd. Not a lot of work ever gets done on Christmas eve, either! Many companies have an official (or unofficial) Christmas party on Christmas Eve, with food, alcohol, and maybe party games.
Lots of companies put their Christmas party on a Thursday as in theory it makes people behave.
I had mine at the beginning of December and had to lie down the morning after. There as one of my (more foolish) colleagues went into the office and spent the whole day shaking.
Most supermarkets where I am just close a bit earlier on Xmas eve. And get loads of people ringing in sick on Boxing Day lol
Christmas pudding, bonus questions: (a) alight or not, and (b) with custard (hot or cold), brandy butter, cream, ice cream, all of the above?
I acquired the taste of Christmas pudding as a child and love it, especially with crème fraiche to counteract the sweetness. We don't call it 'the holidays' but Christmastime which covers several days or even weeks!
About not visiting family on Christmas Day - not every family owns a car and public transport (in London at least) closes down on Christmas Day both to give workers the day off, or to carry out track works, so if you want to visit family it often involves an overnight stay. This can also involve matching pyjamas, and staying in your pyjamas all day.
A lot of relatives also live a long way away too, so even if you were driving it would be impossible to see more than one set of relatives in a day.
I love Christmas pudding with brandy sauce. My wife not so much so I usually end up eating half of hers as well. Actually, we buy two, one for Christmas Day and one for Easter Monday. There are so many traditions around Christmas pudding such as everyone taking a turn to stir the mixture prior to cooking and having to stir in a particular direction to honour the three wise men.
I like the idea of saving a Christmas pudding for Easter Monday. I might steal it off you.
My mum use to make two as well for us but she made at least 7/8 as she use to give one here and one there to friends that she said they needed them.
I remember the stiring .. it physically hurt my arms and hand to stir ... hated that slightly less than being expected to eat it and say how lovely it was
Shop bought Christmas puddings do tend to be a bit rough. Even the good shop bought puds are a shadow of a homemade one. Same deal with Christmas cake, got to be homemade to get a proper one.
Regarding the Christmas turkey/ham:
I'm in the UK and my family will have turkey on Christmas Day and then a glazed ham on Boxing Day, along with leftovers from the Christmas dinner the night before, which are often mixed up together into bubble and squeak.
Or Turkey curry, hotpot, goulash, burgers, soup or Turkey surprise .... 🙂
1) It's called 'boxing day' because it used to be the day public workers -- street sweepers etc. -- came round with a box and get 'tipped' for the work they did throughout the year.
2) Christmas pudding -- you need to have it with brandy butter, cream, ice cream. On its own it's waaay too rich and dry. Before decimilization we used to put a sixpence inside it, and the lucky child who bit into it would keep the sixpence.
3) British people never pull crackers on their own. That defeats the purpose. The idea of the cracker is that you get to pull it with another family member round the table. The jokes are deliberately corny because the table isn't divided into those who think it's funny and those who don't -- everyone groans.
Christmas pudding taste varies a lot depending on ingredients, particularly in alcohol content.
Thank you clarifying the whole turkey thing. I always used to wonder how Americans can eat turkey again less than a month later. Your experience with panto sounds so cute and funny. My sister-in-law (not American but grew up different) was equally flabbergasted the first time we took her.
I've seen people go to London Christmas Market to make a program.
There is a place there selling Christmas pudding that 1 woman makes and are sold in Harrods. The camera crew and the presenters didn't like Christmas pud. They tried it, and every single one LOVED it. Insisting that it tasted absolutely nothing like the Christmas pud they hate.
Home made ones take months, and will be as good if done right.
❤ from Northeast England ❤️
You forgot to mention the drunk sister falling into the Christmas tree and throwing up on the cat.
Massive improvement over the last one! Merry Christmas
If you don't like Christmas Pudding you're not right.
My Nanna (maternal grandmother) used to make xmas puddings and put old silver six pences (wrapped in greaseproof paper) in to it. Us kids use to obviously hope we'd get one. This was in the 1960s and they were still able to be spent.
OMG putting on a school panto was the highlight of the school year.
I shall be eating goose this Christmas day, which is much more a traditional roast than turkey. The latter gained popularity because it was much cheaper. However, I should add that because goose was expensive, then before the popularity of turkey a chicken was common. In addition, a ham was common in addition to the turkey, goose or chicken.
And goose is much nicer than turkey :) We're having beef this year, but we often have venison. Some years we have goose but never turkey because nobody likes it.
Christmas pudding smells amazing and has such reverence but I hate it! I don’t like the texture of raisins or sultanas but man it smells so quintessentially Christmassy it’s lovely 😊😂
I found the wound up emotions of my children on Christmas Eve too much to cope with ,especially when they were young enough for Christmas stocking presents but old enough to stay excitedly awake past midnight .
I instituted a family custom which worked well on Christmas eve ,which was that that once washed and in their pyjamas they could open either one of the big presents or have their Christmas stocking.
Invariably it was the latter ,which gave the parents a chance to appreciate the pleasure the boys showed from seeing what they had and ( thank goodness) not at 4 a.m. Christmas morning !
Christmas day has always been a little different for me as it's my birthday. Growing up, my parents always made sure Christmas presents were wrapped in Christmas paper and birthday presents always wrapped in birthday paper, we would have a traditional Christmas dinner and at teatime the birthday cake would come out. Obviously I couldn't have a birthday party with friends so my parents would hold a big bonfire party and all my friends would come to that, bringing there own fireworks and homemade food. We had quite a big extended family and they would all drop by on Christmas day so I never felt like I was missing out on anything.
WHAT?! My kids and I all know The Snowman very well and have seen it many, many times! We live in the United States. I think that one depends on the family. It's based on a book, so I think if you're a family that frequents the public library, like ours does, you'll probably be familiar with it no matter where you live.
Hurrah! After your last video it is great to have the real GGL back.
A former neighbour of mine when I lived in London incidentally 15 mins walk from Harrods used to go to their sales and buy one of the reduced surplus Christmas Puddings and put it aside for the following Christmas
2:08 A proper Christmas Pudding is not spongey as the recipe should contain hardly any flour. If you have tried Christmas Puddings that seem spongey then they were probably bought in a shop rather than home made.
I make my Christmas Puddings from scratch every year on Stir Up Sunday (the last Sunday before Advent)
Oh young lady it’s so good to see you exploring the UK Christmas rituals, I know it’s different from the things you grew up with but you have slotted in here beautifully and we are better for having a dual citizen here. Hopefully it just gives you more things to look forward to over this time. Merry Christmas oh and watch out for gentlemen bearing mistletoe….
Try the London Gateway motorway services on the M1 for a really Great British Xmas ! The warm welcome, the great food, the delicate lighting/decorations, the music, the Xmas spirit of friendliness, the lovely fellow travellers and their noisy badly behave children, the price of petrol, the ambient sound of passing traffic, the smell of unburnt and burnt fossil fuel, and yes there will be at least a model Santa and the opportunity to purchase one ! And to top it all the opportunity to go south and enter London, or to go north into that great north of Watford wilderness !
The best Christmas puddings are the ones I made 10 years ago, without the nuts and with plenty of fruit and some alcohol to bring out the fruitiness. Sadly I haven't had the time and energy to pull it off well recently. Also the best trifles were from back then. These desserts definitely beat Christmas cake, which is much drier and has the added horror of marzipan (something which I never understood why I didn't like until after many years I discovered it was made of Almonds, which suddenly explained everything!).
Fried christmas pudding on boxing day. With turkey and chips for tea. Boxing day food is amazing
Church wise there are special services in the run up to Christmas. The Christingle service is aimed at children where they receive an orange with a candle in it. Around it is a red band and there are four cocktail sticks with sweets on them. 9 lessons and carols is a must for many either in person or watching the broadcast from \king's College Cambridge. This is often done in candle light and is a magical atmosphere. On Christmas eve there is often a crib service which again is aimed at children and is pretty informal. At my church everyone has a cup of hot chocolate to sip during the service. Then there is midnight mass which is probably a shared tradition which many non church goers like to attend. Christmas morning is more informal often with a challenge the vicar to see if presents can be mentioned in the sermon. Not so easy when it is a T- Rex.
Quite a few brits have chicken, or more meats because quite a few people find Turkey too dry (or badly cooked to be too dry)
Hello, Brit here who has just stumbled upon your channel. I know this is going to sound really weird, but leftover Christmas pudding fried in butter, and served with bacon, for breakfast on Boxing Day is delicious.
Left over Christmas pudding???? This is not a thing I know. I think if I suggested this, I'd be booted out and I make the puddings!
Most people in UK have Turkey because its pound for pound cheapest for feeding a large family, traditionally it was chicken or if you were well off a goose and more affluent families will today still often have Goose rather than Turkey. Turduckets have become an imported thing in recent years, I dont think I've ever known anyone having Ham, Nut Roast is the traditional vegetarian alternate.
Every Christmas time here in the UK I enjoy having Christmas Pudding it's delicious & I think once you try it every year you'll love it! Happy Holidays Kalyn! 🎅🎄❤💚
I'm 60 ... still hate it ....which means it may take a while Kayyn! hhahahahah
Christmas pudding verses Cootie pudding ............. Now that is a tough one.
Also if you are doing the Snowman you have to see all the Snowman Scottish Irn-bru drink ads.
Traditionally the christmas dinner was Goose or Capon, then a lot later Turkey was introduced from the USA (circa 16th century) and being bigger caught on, mostly after 400+ years!
Mince pies , Christmas Puddings are definitely an acquired taste ,both are improved by adding custard , brandy etc , setting fire to the brandy is always good fun ,good vlog kicking off Christmas Season Kaylyn ,complete with the obligatory xmas jumper too ,very festive ,❤❤.
I think goose used to be more popular than turkey a long time ago, ie. Victorian times, which it still is in places like Germany.
I believe goose fell out of favour after Charles Dickens 'A Christmas Carol' where he implied that goose was the food of the poorer families such as Bob Cratchit.
@@slytheringingerwitch I think nowadays goose would be more expensive than Turkey, especially if you wanted to feed an equivalent number of people.
@@rp1692 True, but not many of us would think of goose for Christmas, partly that was because of A Christmas Carol.
Prefer goose. A good free range turkey is ok but even a lower priced goose is better. A lot of turkey is as dry as cardboard.
@@tonygreenfield7820 I do prefer goose, much more flavour and juicer. If you're just feeding a family of 3 or 4, a goose is a better size compared to a massive turkey. Goose is much more expensive per kilo and often difficult to get hold of.
Also in the subject of panto, it’s common for a Z-list celebrity or someone who used to be famous to have a part. Bonus points if the posters say where you might recognise that person from. For instance, if you went to see Cinderella at the Swindon Wyvern, it’d say “and introducing TV’s Richard Hammond as Buttons”.
We done The Snowman as our Christmas play in school when I was in Y1. I played the cat that was freaked out by the snowman.
I got to play the dad... I only had 2 scenes :((
Even better than 'The Snowman' is Raymond Briggs other Christmas classic, 'Father Christmas' (Santa) - where we follow a grumpy old Father Christmas through his usual, yuletide routine and his regular refrain 'Bloomin' Christmas!!!'
tbh i love xmas eve more than xmas day, we spend the day at my dad's old rugby club doing pub quizzes and then we get takeout for dinner, usually pizza or chinese - nobody wants to cook on xmas eve!
As a Brit I can totally understand that Christmas pudding or cake is definitely an acquired taste. I happen to like it, but on the other hand, I found the US pumpkin pie to be bland. Also, as someone of the older generation I did not grow up with turkey for Christmas dinner. We always had chicken, with roast pork on Boxing Day.
Buy the better grade Christmas puddings when they are reduced to clear after the big day, then keep them in the back of a cupboard. Ignore the dates, they can keep for years.
Christmas pudding + brandy butter is the absolute biz.
It does seem like any kind of cake or dessert where dried fruit is a main ingredient is unknown, and not particularly appreciated, by Americans, whereas it is very common in the UK and also other parts of Europe. I can understand it could be an acquired taste if that whole genre is something you have never been introduced to before, I know a few Brits who don't like it but only a few. Also, if you've only had a shop-bought one then it's generally nowhere near as good as a home-made one. Best eaten hot, with piping hot custard poured over it.
Growing up we always had fresh cream and castor sugar with Christmas Pudding, still to this day my preferred accompaniments after more than 60 years, they also don't get Christmas Cake and of course mince pies.
It’s a historic /geographical/climate thing. The British have been there for millennia. There is very lotto naturally occurring fruit in the uk that preserves well. Especially with the technology there was back then - which was about none. The idea of fruit in the winter wasn’t really a thing. When Britain went off and invaded everywhere, it found all sorts of fruits, growing in places at all times of year. The transportation of the day did it allow it to be brought back fresh, so it would be shipped to the UK dried. Raisins, sultanas, figs etc. there is made a welcome change from the winter diet.
Early explorers of the US, and fur trappers across Canada survived through winter on things like pemmican. A traditional indigenous winter food made from dried and powdered meat, pressed into bricks usually using bear fat to hold it together. Dried fruits like berries would be incorporated for flavour and more importantly vitamins. I think in a UK winter, people would scrape by on things like rosehips, which can last well into the winter, so when dried fruit appeared, British people went wild for it
Christmas pudding with brandy butter, best thing ever! :)
My preference is warm pud with cream and custard, it is very rich so this calms it down.
Xmas TV ads are fun and it’s kind of similar to the ads you get during the superbowl in that they are something a bit more special)
You have the M&S ads , the epic Sainsbury’s First World War ad that was about 3 mins long with a cast of hundred
Kevin the carrot can do one though !
Hey, she's back! It's safe to come in again! 😁
Having spent Christmas in New York a few years ago at an air b&b, getting what we Brits consider to be Christmas Day dinner was really difficult. We did have to swap a few things out that we just could not get and the cost of the items there was really frightening.
I came to Canada as a child. Before we came one of our English neighbours told me that in Canada they decorated their Christmas trees outside. I didn’t believe her. 😉. I loved pantos as a kid in England and was happy to know they do have them in Canada.
Oh no they don't
@DanBeech-ht7sw Oh yes they do! 😄
(though not as much as in the 60's/70's)
I went to some in Ottawa in the 90’s and there are productions currently being advertised in Oakville, Burlington and Toronto.
We have a lot of sports on Boxing Day in the UK in a similar way to sports in the US on Thanksgiving.
The pantomime. One of the reason we call it the 'silly season'. 😉
I would add that Brits say Christmas instead of The Holidays.
True, the holidays could be any time of year. It might be a reference to summer holidays.
Also kind of funny they say "Holidays " (plural) when they only get one day off.
I think they do that to include the Jewish feast of Hannuka(sp?) which falls around the same time. @heneagedundas
Before we started having turkey on Christmas Day in the UK it used to be geese. There was a rhyme: "Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat, please put a penny in the old man's hat. If not a penny a ha'penny will do. If not a ha'penny then God bless you." The God bless you was the official version, but it was often substituted with a raspberry (a fart noise) "to you". These days a lot of people are turning their backs on turkey because turkey meat is boring. I'm all for going back to goose, but all sorts of roasts are used. It's been years since I had turkey.
Pantomime what a thing ‘he’s behind you…… oh no he’s not’ classic
A decent expensive Christmas pudding tastes 1000 times better than a cheap one. Sainsbury's Taste The Difference puddings are pretty top tier in my opinion.