I THOUGHT I was well-educated. Informed. Versed in other cultures and religions. *grin* There is more in heaven and earth than is dreamt of in MY philosophy, apparently. Christmas Pudding. Oh, sure, I’ve READ books and stories that had Christmas pudding mentioned. I got the fact that it was a traditional food and I moved on. That had seemed sufficient for my needs.
Until today. Many of you scorn Twitter and Plurk. I certainly did. But my attitude about Plurk did a 180 when my sister’s RV, um, “broke down”. (Let’s just leave it at that, shall we??) I Plurked and all my friends in that geographic vicinity responded. I didn’t need to take them up on their offers of hospitality and assistance but they lightened my heart by knowing that they were there.
Now, Plurk has taught me about Christmas pudding. To protect the guilty, I shall not name names. A friend Plurk’d about the inability to find the requisite Christmas pudding at the local store. I guess I had too much time on my hands today, because I decided to ASK about Christmas pudding. LOL. Here is the description I received: It is a nasty disgusting British cake-like substance, a bit similar to a fruit cake but with more alcohol. Wow. Makes you want to rush right out and BUY one, doesn’t it??? I made that comment and heard back: Yeah, it’s disgusting stuff. The best part is dousing it with rum and setting it on fire. No one eats it but you must have it. To which there is nothing I can say but “Tradition!!!” and I jump on the roof with my fiddle and begin to play.
At this point another friend chimed in, although I must say, with no more luck in selling this item than the first friend: Now now.. The better ones are kind of charming. In a “Wow, they do odd things with suet, fruit and flour” sort of way. And to that all I could say was that I have always found the word “suet” disturbing. *grin*
Back to first friend: I have had them imported…, sent from Harrods, made by English grannies. They all suck. There are no “better ones”. Rofl. Okay, tradition, tradition, tradition. You buy it, set it on fire and toss it. I’m sure I have some tradition that is equally weird. Yeah – “dip the apple in the honey”. I HATE honey. What a waste of a good apple. *grin* I suppose I could discuss the pitom on the etrog also.
But my good friends do NOT want me to miss out on the joys of Christmas. I may be late arriving to this holiday, but my SL friends are making sure I get it “right”. Tonight a Christmas Pudding was delivered to my home. LOL. I rezzed it and wow!! It burns!!! But I KNOW not to eat it!!!
*hugs* to my good friends. You know who you are. I love you both.
Ahuva's Blog 
I am so going to send you one in RL and you will see that I am not making a word of it up. Just ask your friends in the UK. They will back me on this. I think.
I grew up with my Grandmother’s suet pudding at christmas and love it – I make it every now and then for the family (it takes time to do it right). Unfortunately I didn’t do it this year and thanks to you I’m craving it!
LOL. @Honour – maybe you should send your pudding to Chestnut to convince her that it can be tasty. And she will send hers to YOU. I think I am perfectly happy with my virtual Christmas pudding. *grin*
Great story. 🙂 I’m not sure I’d want to eat anything containing suet, that had undergone transoceanic shipping…
WTF? Christmas pudding is delish! I bemoan the fact you can’t get it in the US. I don’t know what all these English people are on about but in Ireland I was something to look forward to.
It’s not particularly easy to make. And really is just a mixup of the same old seasonal ingredients (raisins, currents, sultanas, lemon peel, and orange peel, just like mincemeat or Christmas Cake). But it was my second favorite Christmas food while I lived in Ireland. (My 1st was Spiced Beef, which you also can’t get in the US and is even harder to make.)