A very simple Christmas Pudding

A proper Christmas isn't complete without a Christmas Pudding and a bottle of Sherry. This is a simple recipe adapted for use by Americans who may not have access to one of the key ingredients in a traditional English Christmas Pudding… Suet. Instead this recipe uses slightly stale pound cake as the main ingredient which creates the distinct dense spongy texture of a Christmas Pudding.

Incredients:

4 cups of crumbled stale pound cake

2 cups of raisins and dates soaked in rum

3 eggs

Lemon extract

Orange extract

Fruit syrup (I use Vimto syrup)

3 Tbsp of flour

Butter and flour to grease and flour the bowl

Strain the raisins and dates, reserving the rum for later. Put the crumbled pound cake in a mixing bowl and add the raisins and dates. Mix them together so that the raisins and dates are well covered with the crumbled pound cake. Whisk the eggs and mix them into the crumbled pound cake and fruit. Add a few drops of lemon and orange extract and a tablespoon of fruit syrup. Mix the extract and syrup into the mixture very well. Add approximately 3 Tbsp of flour, gradually, to create a thick sticky mix.

Butter and flour a baking bowl to prevent the pudding from sticking.

Pour the pudding mixture into the prepared baking bowl and smooth the top with a spatula.

Wrap a sheet of cooking parchment over the top of the bowl to seal in the moisture. Wrap aluminium foil around the bowl and parchment.

Place the baking bowl into a 380*F oven for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes turn the oven off, leaving the pudding in for an additional half hour or so.

Remove the pudding from the oven and sit it on the counter to cool. Once it cools remove the wrapping and pour the rum from the raisins and dates over the pudding, making sure to soak the pudding quite well. Wrap the pudding in parchment and aluminium foil. The pudding should stand for at least 2 or 3 days and up to a month.

It is traditional to make the pudding on the Sunday before Advent begins, referred to as “Stir-Up Sunday.”

Heat the pudding again before serving. Once warmed you can flip the pudding onto a plate and decorate it with powdered sugar and a sprig of holly or you can also soak the pudding in plenty of alcohol and light it on fire as you bring it to the table. This makes for an exciting presentation!

The Body and Blood of Christ

At Holy Communion the elements do not cease to be one thing simply because they become something else any more than we, as humans, cease to be sinners once we become part of Christ's Body in Baptism. They are changed. We cannot deny or ignore that fact. Christ said very plainly, "This is my Body" and "my Blood." The Bread and Wine at the Eucharist become Christ's Body and Blood. They take on a different character, just as we take on a different character in our Baptism. They are different, they are changed but they do not cease to be what they have always been.

Simply Delicious Beef and Ale Pie

1 pound ground beef

1 diced carrot
1/2 cup diced potatoes
1 pint Brown ale (1/2 a cup for the pie and the rest for the waiting)
1 tspn Kitchen Pepper
1 tspn Worcestershire sauce
3 bullion cubes
1 tspn flour
top and bottom crusts

Blend all of the ingredients evenly and simmer in a frying pan until the meat is thoroughly browned and the grease/beer has blended into a thick gravy. Place the crust into a pie dish and place the filling into the crust. Cover with the 2nd crust and bake at 350°f for 20 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes and serve with a generous slather of HP Brown Sauce. If there is any ale left after the wait in the oven, drink it as you enjoy.

It is lovely to serve alongside a plate of mash and peas.

10 Hobbies That People Actually Do For Fun

So here I am looking a new hobby. I've done lots of things for fun over the years but I am looking for something that I can do on the weekends that will be A) fun and B) not prohibitively expensive. In the process of searching for a new hobby (which thus far has been unsuccessful) I have come across some interesting things that some people apparently do for fun. I thought it might be interesting to go through and create a short list of 10 interesting hobbies that people actually do for fun. Now I am going to include a few things that I do but not quite so extensively (or in some cases casually) as to call them hobbies. So here goes.

1. Historical Reenacting

Have you ever been to a historic park and seen those strange people who wear old timey clothes and pretend to be from a different time? That is reenacting. Contrary to what a lot of people might think the vast majority of people who do that are not getting paid. It is a hobby, and rather an intense one at that. The people who reenact often (but not always) spend extensive time and effort to research their "impression" or what they are trying to portray. Reenacting is done for various time periods from the Neolithic well into the 20th century. 

2. Writing Letters to Royals 

Yes. There are people who spend considerable time writing letters to royals around the world. Personally I write an occasional letter to HM Queen Elizabeth II and her family but I wouldn't go so far as to call it a hobby. I did have the privilege of receiving a personally signed correspondence from HRH The Duchess of Cornwall last month. That was rather exciting. Some people go all out though, spending time and money taking letters to professional translators in order to send them to royals who don't speak your native language. Or you could...

3. Learn a New Language 

If you're ever bored you could just learn another language. With advancements in technology and economic and social globalization happening at the rate it is learning another language or 3 is a great way to spend your time. And these days programs like DuoLingo make it exceptionally simple.

4. Take up Cricket

I was quite surprised to find out that here in North Carolina there is not one, but there are 3 cricket LEAGUES. That's right. Not teams... Leagues, each consisting of at least 14 clubs. Once I eraser he'd a little bit more it made sense though. The Medical and Technology markets expanding here there have been numerous professionals moving to our state from India, where Cricket is considered a national pastime. 

5. Learn to Play an Instrument 

Go to a music store and buy a recorder, or if you fancy it buy a saxophone. Get a book or go onto YouTube and find a "learn to play" tutorial. A few minutes a day and you'll be Yoyo Ma in no time... Well... Maybe not but if you stick with it you can always impress your friends by serenading them with Jingle Bells at the office Christmas party.

6. Learn Needlepoint 

Samplers, monograms, doll faces, seat cushions... The things that you can do with needlepoint are endless. And you'll never have to buy useless Christmas gifts again. You can make them yourself!

7. Amateur Paleontology 

If you're looking for something to do outside and you want to get dirty then taking up amateur paleontology could be the thing for you. It isn't difficult. You don't have to join a special club, although you can if you want to. All you really need is a bucket and a spade but I would encourage sun cream. There are loads of Internet databases that you can look through to find local fossil deposits near you. If you live in East NC then driving to Aroura is always an easy way to guarantee your first find.

8. Go back to School 

It might not exactly sound like a hobby but with advancements in technology and accessibility of knowledge these days it is absolutely possible to go back to college and finish that degree that you always wanted. Online or one night a week programs make it easy and affordable to go back and start making your life better.

9. Become a Substitute Teacher 

Work when you feel like it. Make some extra money. Interact with kids and impact their lives. Believe it or not they might change your life too. In most counties it isn't hard. In North Carolina you have to have 48 transferable University credits or take a class called "Effective Teacher Training." It is usually a three day class at a city or community college. If you can do that and pass a background check then you're probably good to go. Most substitute teachers make around $70 or $80 dollars each day they work. Not bad for a hobby. 

Last but not least

10. Start a Blog

Be a food critic, an experimental chef, religion blogger, fashion blogger... The options are endless. Pick up one hobby and start a blog about it. You can do or be whatever you want online. Blog about food, politics, tabloids, whale ecology, Princess Kate and her shoes, whatever you want. 

Anyway, these are just a few of the thousands of hobbies out there. Look around. Find a hobby that fits you. Kill some time and have some fun.

The Vicar's Life

Through the portal and down the Nave,

he march’d with Holy Writ in hand,

to kneel and pray

at break of day

and lean upon the reading stand.

Of first order is morning prayer

so on is thrown a surplice.

Then follow he

with the Litany

and say the Lord’s Prayer twice.

Then the rite all love the best

to say, Holy Communion.

The words of Christ

they’ve now prayed thrice

with Christendom in union.

Into the vestry and off is put

And hung upon the door;

the surplice there.

Now gown to wear

to go into the church once more.

Now to expound the words of Christ

for all who stay’d to hear it

that all who hear

should come draw near

to take up the cross and bear it.

A sermon preached like none other wrote

or ever read before.

Take off the gown

and throw it down

to don the surplice from the door.

“Draw near with faith,” he tells them all

to make contrite confession

and hope and pray

what he had to say

was not lost in the lesson.

Then to the Table of the Lord,

by the north most side to stand,

to pray the line,

of words divine

while taking loaf and cup in hand.

They pray again, this comes to four,

“Our Father which art in heav’n”

All did meet

His meal to eat

and all before eleven!

The Curate’s work is never done.

He’s earned a drink of liquor!

So on Sunday

please take time to say,

“Dear Lord God, bless the Vicar!”

A Refreshing Orange Barley Water Squash

1/2 pound pearled barley

2 quarts of water
3 whole oranges
Sugar

Boil the barley and water until the barley is tender. While it is boiling juice and mash the 3 oranges. Strain the barley from the water. The water should be milky white. Pour the water over the oranges and juice and return to boil for about 5 minutes. This allows the barley water to absorb as much of the Orange essence as possible. Strain well and return to medium heat once more. Add sugar and sweeten to your own taste. Cool the squash and keep it in the refrigerator. It should keep for 6-7 days. To make it last longer you can put it in a sealed container and freeze it.

I serve it over ice mixed about half and half with Ginger Ale.

You can use the same recipe using lemons (or any citrus fruit really) instead of oranges if you like.

Port and Crackers? Why not Grape Juice and Wonder Bread?

A handful of people have asked about the name of my blog. Why do I call it Port and Crackers? Why not something else? Of course the obvious answer is because it is my blog and  I can call it whatever I bloody well please. The more rational answer, and slightly less inflammatory, would be that I am an Anglican. Port and Crackers is, as you might guess, a reference to the elements of Holy Communion. I am a priest and I celebrate the Holy Communion at least twice each month and generally more than that.

Most Christians (all Christians for the vast majority of Christian History) use wine for Holy Communion. The rationale for this is simply that Jesus used Wine at the Last Supper/First Communion. There are of course some modernist American Protestants that argue that Jesus didn't use wine but rather the term "wine" in scripture actually just means "fruit of the vine" or grape juice. I simply invite those people to keep grape juice from autumn until Passover using 1st century technology without letting it become wine.

Anyway, as an Anglican it is our tradition to use Portwine. For many centuries the English pretty well stayed in a perpetual state of war with Spain and France. The English have always been good at making beer but Wine making was left to the continent, and rightly so. If you're at war with France and Spain where would you expect to get your wine from? Portugal of course! What sort of wine is made in Portugal, you ask? Portwine! The only sort of wine that could be readily obtained in England for many years was Port so naturally it was Port which came to be used in English churches.

Port has a litany of other benefits for use as a Communion wine though. (It is certainly a better idea than Sherry!) Port wine is almost exclusively red, and as you might imaging red wine has always been favored for Holy Communion. Who knows why? Perhaps it is something to do with the fact that blood is red. (Yes. That is sarcasm, thanks.) Port is also a fortified wine, which has distilled grape spirits added to it for flavor, preservation, and to increase the alcohol content (usually to between 18-21% Abv). Now I do not believe that there is a single documented case of anyone ever getting sick from the Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, in fact I personally consider it heterodox at best for someone to believe that you can but... The simple fact remains that we live in a world full of paranoid people who are terrified of germs and disease. As Anglicans we practice communion by letting everyone drink from the chalice. Using a wine of 18%+ ABV makes it pretty certain that no germs an be passed around. Some Anglicans even allow people to dip their host or bread in the wine rather than drinking it (though this is a far less sanitary practice than drinking from the chalice). I promise that most people have dirtier fingers than mouths.

Either way, Anglicans generally use Port. I am an Anglican. This is my blog. I decided to call it Port and Crackers.

I'll explain the "crackers" bit later. :-)