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Ho, ho, ho!
Jun. 3rd, 2006 03:44 pmSigh. I saw an poster advertising a "Christmas in July" function today. Even for fake Christmas, that's way too early.*
Then again, I'm about to do a Christmas-related post, so I can't really complain.
I mentioned recently that I'm reading booksto get a certificate for charity. I'm reading off the adult list (status: two down, about to start Jonathan Franzen's The Corrections), but I was perusing the lists for children and teens when I saw a book called At the Sign of the Sugared Plum by Mary Hooper. Now, I happily judge books not only by their covers but by their titles as well, and I liked that title, so I betook myself to the library to find out more.
It turned out to be a story set in 1665, about two sisters who run a confectionery shop in London during the Plague. One of them has a light romance with Tom the apprentice apothecary, but it's really educational fiction complete with a glossary and a brief history lesson at the back. On the whole, if you were aged between ten and twelve and had to learn about the Plague, this is where you'd go. (I wouldn't be surprised if there was a companion volume from Tom's point of view, or a 1666 sequel about the Great Fire.) The part that really interested me was the recipe provided for the girls' signature dish, sugared plums.
( Sugared plums )
I make sugarplums each Christmas using this recipe, which came from my grandmother's recipe book and is bolstered by an item I found in a newspaper's food supplement. The article swore that this recipe is what the famous "visions of sugarplums" were of in Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem "The Night Before Christmas". And yet... now I'm confused. They're so different. The recipe for sugared plums is certainly more in line with what I imagined sugarplums were. Would the concept really change that much in 150-odd years? I suppose it might.
* The idea behind "Christmas in July" being to allow antipodeans the experience of festive, snow-capped (or, here in the City by the Sea, wind-whipped) trimmings in the right season, rather than in summery December. It's not my cup of tea, but I see where they're coming from and fortunately it seems to be more about eating Christmas food than presents. However, it hurts my delicate sensibilities that "Christmas in July" is not called "Christmas in June" and celebrated on 25 June each year. That would make so much more sense, wouldn't it?
Then again, I'm about to do a Christmas-related post, so I can't really complain.
I mentioned recently that I'm reading books
It turned out to be a story set in 1665, about two sisters who run a confectionery shop in London during the Plague. One of them has a light romance with Tom the apprentice apothecary, but it's really educational fiction complete with a glossary and a brief history lesson at the back. On the whole, if you were aged between ten and twelve and had to learn about the Plague, this is where you'd go. (I wouldn't be surprised if there was a companion volume from Tom's point of view, or a 1666 sequel about the Great Fire.) The part that really interested me was the recipe provided for the girls' signature dish, sugared plums.
( Sugared plums )
I make sugarplums each Christmas using this recipe, which came from my grandmother's recipe book and is bolstered by an item I found in a newspaper's food supplement. The article swore that this recipe is what the famous "visions of sugarplums" were of in Clement Clark Moore's 1822 poem "The Night Before Christmas". And yet... now I'm confused. They're so different. The recipe for sugared plums is certainly more in line with what I imagined sugarplums were. Would the concept really change that much in 150-odd years? I suppose it might.
* The idea behind "Christmas in July" being to allow antipodeans the experience of festive, snow-capped (or, here in the City by the Sea, wind-whipped) trimmings in the right season, rather than in summery December. It's not my cup of tea, but I see where they're coming from and fortunately it seems to be more about eating Christmas food than presents. However, it hurts my delicate sensibilities that "Christmas in July" is not called "Christmas in June" and celebrated on 25 June each year. That would make so much more sense, wouldn't it?
