The Smells of Christmas

I should be sewing but I am not feeling 100%.  Trying to fight off a cold and this afternoon the cold is winning.  I did spend the morning helping my mother make the Christmas Pudding and the Christmas Cake.  These are old family recipes that are only made at Christmas time (hence the names) and when missing at this time of the year it is not the same.  The Christmas pudding is a steamed pudding (both recipes are very English) and is an acquired taste that if you did not grow up with you may not appreciate.  It is steamed and then brandy is poured on it and it is lit before serving.  You eat is warm with vanilla ice cream, I love it.  Then we made the Christmas Cake which is a fruit cake, but not like the ones that are always made fun of at this time of the year.  It is really great, especially with a cup of tea.  Here are some pictures of us making these treats.  Check out the mixer in the background, it is from Africa, it was my grandmothers and does not run on 110v it requires the use of a transformer (also in the background).  My mom figured out that she gave that mixer to my grandmother in 1959 as a gift.  My grandmother was probably smiling down from heaven as she watched us today.  Thanks Granny, Merry Christmas!

Pudding steaming away!

My mom starting the cake.

Yummy!

Check out the transformer!

Cake going into the oven! It smells so great as it bakes! Well it bakes for a couple of hours, so I will have to show the finished product in another post. Let me see if I can get back to sewing!