How to Have a British Christmas

[SysError]

I thought that this was interesting.   

Was it Churchill who said that the British and Americans are a people separated by a common language? Well here is something else.

http://www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2014/12/watch-british-christmas/?utm_source=bbc.com&utm_medium=promo%20module&utm_campaign=Channel%20Module

[oldskool65]

I watched a couple of the vids most amusing old chap. Try this 1 http://youtu.be/eeF31YrVGHM
It has since been found that Texas is the source of the virus . The algae are upset at finding out that 1 or 2  Texans had attained some degree of cognitive ability and decided to fight back

[zack1234]

At Christmas I be mostly eating acorns

That bird look mucky by the way

[cpxxx]

Interesting, most of those traditions are familiar to us Irish just across the water from the British. But I have to say I never heard of the burning of Santa letters. In any case it could be difficult in many homes because many people don't have open fires anymore.

I didn't realise that the USA doesn't have Christmas Crackers. No doubt if you did they would be bigger, contain more gifts and make a much bigger bang!

As for the Christmas hat I am that grumpy relative who won't wear one.

We hang our stockings over the fire now but I remember we used to hang them on the bed. I suspect many British do too. We do like to copy American Christmas movies.

We like our Turkey but the real tradition was Christmas goose. We have Brussels sprouts too. Once they were horrible to taste but now they grow specially tasty varieties and we always cook them with bacon and some kind of sauce.

I hate Christmas pudding but I do like setting fire to it. Setting fire to something that looks like a bomb is always fun.

We Irish naturally never admit to watching the Queen's speech at Christmas. But ever since she came on a visit a couple of years ago we've grown to like her.

We don't have Boxing day. We call it St Stephen's day like some European countries. More importantly it's public holiday unlike in the USA. A great day for sleeping off the hangover. But for many people it's the day to get out your gun and go shooting furry animals and birds or putting on your red riding jacket and getting on your horse, gathering the hounds and hunting for foxes. Going to a horse racing meeting and losing whatever money you have left after Christmas is another popular tradition. You can go shopping of course, exactly why I never understood. Surely you'd have bought everything you need before Christmas.

[Curval]

We always have crackers!!

I am the grumpy relative that doesn't wear the hats too.

My step mother used to wrap coins in tin foil and put them in the Christmas pudding.  We'd all have a piece just to try and find the coins.  If I had enough custard to wash it down I could shove a few mouthfuls of the pudding into the belly.

Just Turkey AND a ham at Christmas....no goose at our house.

Boxing day is just another day off.

[mechanic]

Christmas for me is about sleeping in as late as possible then avoiding any responsibility for at least two days

[mbailey]

My grandparents (Moms side....maiden name Holliday) movedto the US from England in the 60s... my mom and uncles were all  born there...... we always had Xmas pudding and crackers. Loved watching the pudding burn, hated the pudding....... My grandma would also make roast beef and yorkshire pudding along with the Turkey  ( just for me of course   )  

[BaldEagl]

But I have to say I never heard of the burning of Santa letters.

I grew up in Minnesota of Finnish descent and that's the way I learned to my letters to the north pole; by burning them.

[SysError]

I hate Christmas pudding but I do like setting fire to it. Setting fire to something that looks like a bomb is always fun.

We can get Christmas puddings (as well as crackers) here in the States.  What always makes the pudding a hit with us is a nice big helping of heavily soaked brandy butter.   



 

[Flossy]

I never heard of the burning of Santa letters. In any case it could be difficult in many homes because many people don't have open fires anymore.

I hadn't heard of that either.  I do remember 'posting' our letters up the chimney though! 

We hang our stockings over the fire now but I remember we used to hang them on the bed. I suspect many British do too.

We always placed our stockings by our bed - along with a pillow-case (often magically replaced by a nice sack) for the bigger presents.    Other presents from relatives were found under the Christmas tree we always had.  These days we don't often have a tree, or if we do it is an artificial one, and all the gifts are arranged in a pile somewhere.  One year I put a small, artificial tree on top of the pile. 

We like our Turkey but the real tradition was Christmas goose.

We had either turkey or chicken as far as I remember....  these days, we tend to eat turkey all year round so like to have something different at Christmas, often a 3-5 bird roast that's getting popular here now.

I hate Christmas pudding but I do like setting fire to it. Setting fire to something that looks like a bomb is always fun.

I always loved Christmas pudding and my mum used to put sixpences in ours - no foil wrappings, just straight into the mixture when she was making it!  We always had a white sauce with our pudding - after it had been dowsed with rum and set alight of course!

We don't have Boxing day. 

Boxing day was usually a repeat of Christmas Day but without the presents - or sometimes more presents if relatives came visiting, or we went visiting them.  These days the sales tend to start so we may go shopping if we feel like it; it's a good time to get some bargains for presents for people we don't get to see until a few days after Christmas when we make the 2-hour journey to visit and means they end up with much better presents than they would have got otherwise. 

The best part was always the fact I got a few days off work, but now I'm retired so get every day off.     

[Curval]

I grew up in Minnesota of Finnish descent and that's the way I learned to my letters to the north pole; by burning them.

Very practical actually. 

This year is the first year that all my kids no longer believe in Santa.  Last year the youngest had so many difficult questions about it that her older brother took her aside and told her.  She took it reasonably well, she's a pragmatic little thing.