Christmas traditions … Stir Up Sunday
Undoubtedly Christmas is a special time filled with rituals and traditions, whether they be religious or something that is unique to your family. One of the enduring Christmas traditions revolves around making the Christmas pudding. Historically, Christmas pudding as we know it today, was introduced to England by Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria. The making of a Christmas pudding traditionally occurs on the last Sunday before Advent (about five weeks before Christmas). This day is called Stir Up Sunday.
Customarily the Christmas pudding contains 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his disciples. The pudding is stirred by each member of the family from east to west (to represent the Wise Men from the east that visited baby Jesus), and each person makes a wish while stirring. If you’re old enough you will remember Christmas puddings containing coins that were said to bring the finder good luck. Before coins, charms were put inside Christmas puddings including a silver coin for wealth, a wishbone for luck, a thimble for thrift, a ring for marriage and an anchor for safe harbour. In Australia the tradition of putting coins in Christmas pudding declined with the introduction of decimal currency in 1966. The new copper coins that were introduced would turn green and give the pudding a metallic flavour, warned the Copper and Brass Information Centre.
This year Stir Up Sunday falls on Sunday 20 November and it is a great excuse to get the family together, put on some Christmas music, take turns to stir the pudding and make a wish. If you’ve never made a Christmas pudding before, then why not give it a try this year and start a new tradition in your family?
