A Thought for New Years!

Well, here we are at year end! 2013 has passed so very fast, and I have enjoyed researching and bringing "new" 18th Century finds to you. As the year comes to a close, I remember Scottish poet Robert Burns' Auld Lang Syne. The song literally means "old long ago", and speaks of love and kindness of days gone by, and yet it also gives us a sense of fellowship to bring into the new year.
I leave you with a video that I think says it all as we celebrate 2014!
With love and happiness!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VhiF-PD4E_c

Merry Christmas to You!

I can hardly believe it, but tomorrow is Christmas Eve. I am looking forward to having a couple days away from the desk, to share the holiday with family and friends, who are my best and greatest gift. But, I leave you with a lovely excerpt from a poem by Sir Walter Scott, written in 1808, that I used for my Christmas card this year. It says a lot. The best part of Christmas is not the gifts, though we all like to have something under the tree with our name on it. The best of Christmas is Christ, and His coming to redeem us all. I send best wishes to you for Peace and Joy and the Love of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

And well our Christian sires of old
Loved when the year its course had roll'd,
And brought blithe Christmas back again,
With all its hospitable train.
Domestic and religious rite
Gave honour to the holy night.
On Christmas eve the bells were rung,
On Christmas-eve the mass was sung;
That only night in all the year
Saw the stoled priest the chalice rear.
The damsel donn'd her Kirtle sheen;
The hall was dress'd with holly green;
Then open'd wide the baron's hall,
To vassal -- tenant -- serf and all:
Power laid his rod of rule aside,
And ceremony doff'd his pride.
All hail'd with uncontroll'd delight,
And general voice, the happy night,
That to the cottage, as the crown,
Brought tidings of salvation down.

Christmas Pudding: A Good Thing

I really love Christmas steamed pudding. It screams the holidays! In fact, I was recently gifted one by a friend, and I am looking forward to using it, perhaps for Christmas Eve along with a good glass of scotch whiskey or a nice port, when midnight rolls around, and I open Christmas gifts. Yumm, and Yay!

I mean, I don't like it enough to paint my nails in tribute (though the nails at right are kind of cute, right?), or get out the knitting needles and make ornaments (though these look tempting), but it is a wonderful thing to have for Christmastime.



I found an interesting recipe for you here, Plum Pudding, from the Cookbook of Unknown Ladies, an 18th Century London publication. I like the spelling! Of course, nowadays, all the ingredients are measured out, but this is kind of fun. It's up to the individual cook to play with the recipe, and make it ones very own! Good luck!

Stone one pound of raisons. Add one pound of fresh suet, the yolks and whits of twelve eggs. Beat up very well. When that is don, put in the suet and one naggin of brandy and a nutmeg. Their must be a bout tow spoonfulls of fower mixed with the raisins and the must be put in the last. It well take at least four hours boyling. Their must be too spoonfull of brown sugar.

Major Merchandising v. Tiny Traditions

Christmas is fast approaching. Actually one week away. I was reading a bit about Christmas in the 18th Century in Colonial Williamsburg. It was truly quite a different holiday. Not much of a children's holiday even, (not until Victorian times and Queen Victoria).

In the 1700's, sometimes kids got a small gift, like a few coins, a special comb made of ivory or shell, a pair of gloves, maybe knit, maybe leather. Maybe a special candy or fruit. Oranges were very big back in the day, as they were expensive and not easily had. But small things that were useful or sweet or special were the order of the day.
Of course the colonists attended church, as first and foremost, it was a religious holiday. All the decorations were handmade of fruits and pinecones, and there was candlelight. Williamsburg still creates this ambience. Virginians did like a party though, they liked to dance and partake of a Christmas punch bowl. Ahhh! The focus was on Jesus, family and friends.

How different than the merchandising fest that our Lord's Nativity has become. I was in my local Target the other day to browse and get some wrapping supplies. I had the feeling that they are winding down Christmas. Things were on sale, or already being shoved off to the side. I can see Hearts and pink and red things looming any minute now. It's so disheartening...by the time December 25th comes, merchandisers are setting their caps on Valentine's Day.

I like tradition, and when Christmastime rolls around, I like to do all the things that remind me of Christmases past. Making fruitcake like my Mom and I used to do, bringing out my favorite ornaments for the tree (some gifts, some made when I was a kid). I like to put up my outdoor lights like my Dad and I used to do. I like to eat breakfast in the dark, with only the light from the decorated tree and mantle, and a couple candles here and there. I open my daily advent calendar. I've seen the pictures before, but I like to see them again.

Basically, the best joy comes in the little things! And so, I offer a planter's punch colonial recipe for you to try with family or friends or both. A toast of good cheer is a lovely small gift!

½ bottle (12 ounces) fresh lime or lemon juice
1 bottle sugar syrup (or 1¼ pounds of sugar)
1 ½ bottles rum
3 lbs ice and water
Mix all ingredients well. 
Decorate with fresh sliced fruit as desired.
Makes about 30  4-ounce glasses.    (Woah! that's a lot of lunch! But, you can adjust the amounts and get a reasonable bowl!)
                                                               Cheers!

In Praise of the Animals

Today I take the liberty of talking about St. Modestos, the patron saint of domestic animals. His feast day is today, and it's a chance to be kind to our furry friends that give us such joy, and ask so little of us but to be kind and gentle to them.

In the Orthodox Church, this is a day that holy water is prepared and there then ensues the blessing of the animals. Some churches mix the water into the feed of the cattle; most sprinkle the animals with the blessed water.  Special prayers are said, and the animals are given a day of rest.

St. Modestos is a third century saint, and viewed animals as sublime and mysterious, and a special gift from God. The special prayer states, "Blessed are you, O Lord, who for the sake of comfort give us domestic animals as companions," he said. "Let us bless the name of the Lord." The priest also says a selection from Genesis:

"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. And God said: Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens. So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good."

I wholeheartedly agree. It is a very good thing to have our dear pets around us. An abandoned kitty came my way a few years ago. I had an indoor kitty already, and so I had to keep this one outside. My apartment only allows one pet :(  Anyway, after my indoor cat suddenly passed away, in due course, Kitty came in .  I just love her! When I get up in the morning she is there, vocal, ready to greet. When I return home in the evening, she seems to say Welcome Home.
We have come to understand each other. She is grateful to be inside, making the most of it. I understand her subtle signals. She knows me too! She doesn't particularly like when I'm on the phone! She looks forward to "quality time" on the couch, in my lap, taking in a film or tv program.
It's a joy to have her there. In honor of her special day, I brushed her this morning, and I have a special gift for her when I get home this eve. Shreds of real chicken, and a fancy holiday collar!

Here's to Bourbon!

When Christmas rolls around, it's time for a Manhattan cocktail! There's just something about bourbon whiskey that reminds me of the holidays. It might be the smell; it might be the taste. Bourbon is always used to "embellish" fruitcake, which I love...not the kind described as a door stop, or brick, but the beautiful cake I know from my Mom's kitchen. No colored fruit here, but the wonderful assortment of raisins, dates, figs, orange and lemon peel, pecans or walnuts. Then aged to perfection! Yumm!

But the taste of a Manhattan conjures up holiday parties, presents glittering under the tree, friends gathered around a fireplace or at a festive table, the icy cold on one's face as one ventures out to shop!

So I looked up "bourbon" and found that, as a whiskey, it is a type of American whiskey, aged in barrels, made from primarily corn. Deriving its name from the French Bourbon dynasty, it has been produced since the 18th Century. This particular whiskey was not truly called "bourbon" until the 1870's in American, and interestingly enough, it was in 1964 that a resolution of the US Congress declared bourbon to be a "distinctive product of the US."

At left a painting of the French Bourbons! Can't you just picture them with low-ball glass in hand, enjoying their Manhattan, and if that little kid behaves herself, she just might be the recipient of the tasty, coveted Maraschino cherry! Ha Ha

Knit One, Purl One

Knitting has become my new thing. It all started with purchasing some beautiful merino wool yarn on my trip to Edinburgh, but it was become a minor obsession lately. Oho! Watch out for those holiday gifts! Ha Ha

Anyway, I was looking up some info on 18th Century knitting, and found of course, that people knit everyday things, basics that everyone needs, every day. Like socks and stockings. From the mundane like the creamy-white ones shown here at left, in wool, or the ones below, quite lovely, in silk.


 
 
 
It wasn't like you went to the store and grabbed a pair. Same with hats, especially for sailors. They generally knit them for themselves. One interesting one is the little Monmouth cap, worn by sailors in the 16th, 17th and 18th Centuries. It gets its name from the town of Monmouth in South East Wales. Its shape is basic, kind of bell-shaped, and mostly made of red yarn. Sometimes they turn up at the back. They were felted to produce a water-proofing effect. Sometimes a little loop is included which can be used to hang.
I guess the Monmouth will be nest on my knitting agenda!                               Go, Madame DeFarge!