How to Celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas

Also known as Christmastide, the Twelve Days of Christmas begin on the evening of Christmas (Dec. 25) and continues through the morning of Jan. 6, which is known as the Epiphany or Three Kings Day.
There are many traditions associated with the Twelve Days of Christmas, though none involve a partridge in a pear tree! In the Middle Ages, folks lit a huge tree trunk on fire and called it the Yule Log. They kept the fire burning for 12 days. In Colonial America the Christmas wreath tradition was born. Folks would make a wreath from fresh greens and incorporate fruit. The wreath would hang from Christmas night until the Epiphany, when they would eat what was left of the fruit.

In some cultures, the time between Christmas and the Epiphany is family time, with small gifts being given each day and time set aside for enjoying one another's company. This is a good time to visit relative who did not make it to the December 25 celebrations.

Boxing Day is an old English holiday celebrated on Dec. 26. It is now a fully modern holiday in England, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The holiday has its roots in the old English custom of boxing up food and clothing for the needy, but now the day is full of shopping and sports. In Canada, Boxing Day is as big a shopping day as Black Friday is in the United States and in England some stores even extend it to "Boxing Week".

Boxing Day is also a time to tip the service workers that keep things running all through the year, such as postal workers and newspaper delivery folks. This tradition probably comes from the Middle Ages, when the lord and ladies gave Christmas presents to their servants on Dec. 26.

Many traditions include food, such as the traditional English plum pudding. This can be a tedious dish to make, and hundreds of years ago it was standard to make it a year in advance, with everyone in the family getting good luck if they took a turn stirring the mix. I've found a recipe for a less time-consuming pudding, and no there are no plums in it. Back in the merry old days of Dicken's England, raisins were also called plums.


INGREDIENTS


1/4 cup butter


1/3 cup brown sugar

1 cup milk


12 dates, pitted and chopped


1/2 cup raisins


1/4 cup dried currants


1/4 cup candied mixed fruit peel, chopped


1 orange, zested


1 teaspoon baking soda


1 cup self-rising flour


2 teaspoons ground cinnamon


1 pinch salt

Directions

Grease a pudding mold. 
In a large saucepan combine butter, sugar, milk, dates, raisins, currants, mixed fruit peel and zest of the orange; bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in baking soda. Sift in the flour, cinnamon and salt; mix gently until blended. Pour into prepared pudding mold.
Cover with a double layer of greased wax paper and steam for 2 hours.

Taking time during the Twelve Days of Christmas to relax and enjoy all the hard you've put into the holiday is a much needed reward. By now all the Christmas parties should be over, the Christmas shopping completed and the holiday baking finished. Go ahead, sit back with that new book or movie you received as a present and have a cookie or two or three. You earned it!