Holiday Plum Pudding recipe that I made in 2022

 So I did what I do when I want to make something new.  I got out a load of books from my library, the old family recipes, and my historical cookbooks.  This is the recipe I came up with.  It's a lot more flexible than most, but I've made it a few times and it is amazing!  Someone asked for it on reddit, but the post ended up being too long so I decided to share it here.  

Variations of the pudding go back a few thousand years so the recipes are more of a guide.  If you want the full Dickens pudding, go with brandy and suet as they would be staple ingredients this time of year.  If you can, get the shredded suet from one of the small butchers rather than the commercial stuff as that has a few extra ingredients in it and often doesn't taste as fresh.

This is close to the Victorian Pudding.  The recipe is heavily influenced by the family recipe which comes to us from the late Victorian period, but with more flexibility because dry fruit is expensive.  Apricots, raisins, and plums are my favourite mix.  Dates go well in it too.  But traditionally, people would use what they had to hand.  

It's usually made a month in advance, kept at room temp to cure, and boiled for one hour before serving.  I've read suggestions that this will keep 13 months at room temp, but I always eat it way before that.

The day before the big boil

- >500g dry fruit

- <100g candy peal (if you can't get it, chop up the peal of an organic orange or blood orange or leave it out)

- <100g candy cherries

- 150-200ml brandy

Mix together, cover with a cloth, and leave 12-48 hours, stirring at least once every 12 hours.

On the day

- 1 cup flour

- 2 tsp baking powder

- >100g bread crumbs

- 150g ground or shredded suet

- 1 tsp each spices of your choice (the more the better - chinamon, cloves, ginger, etc... adjust to your taste)

- pinch salt

- <150g brown sugar

- 1 apple or quince cored, peeled and grated

- 3-5 eggs

- zest and juice of an orange (optional - organic if possible)

Mix dry together.  Mix wet into dry.  Add soaked fruit.  Hold back the liquor and add as needed for texture.  It should be a very thick batter.

Now, this is very important if you are going for the Victorian traditions - everyone in the household has to have a good old stir.  Wishing is traditional.  

Wrap in pudding cloth (tightly woven cotton that has been recently boiled and rubbed with oil and flour on the inside) or into a pudding mould.   I don't put trinkets in my pudding as I don't want anyone to break a tooth, but now's the time to do it.  Be sure to boil the trinkets well to clean them first.  

Now to steam or boil the pudding.   Either is fine for this one, but if you are steaming maybe add another hour or two.  If you want to go full traditional, we'll boil it in a cloth.

Lightly boil a large square (about 2' per side) of tightly woven cotton or linen.  While wet and hot, place it wrong-side-up on a clean counter and rub some oil into the cloth (concentrate on the centre) then sprinkle some flour on top of the oiled cloth.  Turn the batter onto the cloth and tie it up with some string.  Place gently into a large pot of boiling water and boil for 6-8 hours (you can't over boil) being sure to check the water frequently if it needs topping up.

Alternatively, if you have a pressure cooker, it takes about an hour and a half at high pressure, slow release.  

When cooked, remove from the water and allow to cool.  Hang in a dark place until the feast day.  Then boil for one hour before serving.  

Do you have a favourite holiday dessert recipe you love?  Want to share?

Further adventures of the Duffle Coat - pattern problems

 It's been difficult to work on my Albion Coat when the weather has been so warm.  But the rains are trying to break through and it's now cool enough in the mornings to light the woodstove until the sun is high enough to heat the house.  

So I'm spending that half an hour of coolness between the time I light the fire and my coffee is finished brewing and ... what's a good way to say "getting drunk" without it sounding like my coffee is boozing it up at 6am?  Anyway, I'm spending that time working on my Duffle Coat.

The worst part so far was cutting up the paper for the PDF pattern.  There is so much wasted paper in this pattern (and yes, I checked the measurement to make sure it was printing the right size).   It's especially noticeable after working on that free PDF pattern for my cloak where I didn't have to cut up any pieces of paper.  Here, I'll show the difference.

The pattern on the left is from the cloak, the one on the right is from the Albion Duffle Coat.  Both are formatted to print on North American or Metric paper, and yet here we are.  So much wasted space on the right one.  I feel like they could have reduced the paper by almost a quarter by doing better with the margins.

Sewing a homegrown cloak - Mood winterberry cloak pattern

Wow, I may have just jumped the shark here, but I did it.  I made a cloak, entirely by hand, using traditional methods, from sheep to finished clothing!

For those of you new to the adventure, you can catch the full playlist here.

Basically, I gave in to peer pressure and put my life on hold to make this cloak.  It turned out amazing, but I still have a lot of work to do to finish it up.  Something to keep me busy this winter.

I want to talk about the pattern because the video was long and I edited that bit out.  Also I don't really feel qualified to assess a sewing pattern as a complete N00b!

Learning a new craft - and a teaser

 I get obsessed when learning a new craft.  I take great pleasure in learning everything and to find out what the limits of the craft are, what my limits doing that craft are, and what happens when I push past those limits.

Last month, I experimented with pushing past those limits - twice.

First, I finally took the dive into making a fully (ish) homegrown garment from sheep to wearable clothing.  To keep me focused, I gave myself a timeframe - one month - to get it done.  

I choose the wrong month because September is pretty much the busiest time on the farm and the only month of the year the weather is friendly, so I'm regretting this.

But the yarn community is lovely and supportive.  Sure there are opinions, but so long as we remember when someone says "the best way" or "the right way" what they really mean is "this worked well for me", it's much easier to deal with absolutes.

The second limit was to see if I could make videos about this adventure on a time budget.  (time budget?  deadline).  

I did better than I expected.  

And worse.

The thing I'm learning about making videos is that it is a craft - like knitting, spinning, weaving...

I talked about how the craft of weaving has its own personality (ISTP on the Myers-Briggs scale).  I suspect we could do that for any craft.  Video editing and youtube creation is no exception.  Actually, I think it might be entirely off the scale.  

But first, proof that I did finish the cloak in time - even if I'm still struggling to finish the video.

Edititus Troglodytus (and a cloak update)

 Edititus Troglodytus: a subspecies of the Homo sapiens who dwells in dark grey caverns and worships glowing screens while moving around little boxes that look thus

The Cloak is done ... well...

Weaving a homegrown cape - #CAPEtember2022

Woot!  I made cloth!

It's yardage now and it is more beautiful than I could have expected.  The weaving took longer than I had hoped.  I think that's because I rushed through the spinning so quickly that I didn't get as consistent a yarn as I prefer.  

I'm a fairly good weaver but I do have my comfort zone and this wasn't in it.  

Because... does one have to have a reason?

 

Actually, there is a pretty good reason.  I wanted to understand how circle cloaks work so I made some tiny mockups.  And since the only thing I have that resembles a doll are these chickens... 

So what did I learn?  

Spinning a homegrown cape - #CAPEtember2022

 

Well, it has begun.

I'm actually doing this.  I'm going to attempt to make a cloak, from raw wool, in one month.  That's spinning, weaving, and sewing.

And on top of that, I'm making videos about each step - which more than doubles the time everything takes.

This might not be the smartest decision I ever made, but it's going to be a fun adventure.

So, without more preamble (because my spellcheck won't let me put 'preramble' as in the rambling on of words before the thing), I bring you SPINNING!

Cancel Everything - I'm doing CAPETember!

#CAPEtember #CAPEtember2022

Don't ask me why... Okay, you can ask me why but I'll probably mumble "I don-no" and change the subject to "isn't that pretty yarn?"

For some reason, I am filled with the belief that my life will be infinitely better if I own a cloak.

(or possibly cape, I haven't figured this part out yet - I figure cloaks are longer but this might just be something I made up in my head)

So I'm going to drop all my other projects and make a cloak.  By "make" I mean I'm going to go outside and ask my sheep for some wool then spin, weave, and sew a cloak.

But to make things even more challenging, I'm going to do it in a month.  This month.  The month of September, in this year, 2022.  

Um... this sleep thing they keep talking about.  That's optional, right?

I have no idea if I can do this.  It's a lot more than I've ever attempted before.  On top of that, I'm still on the mend from my surgery.  This might not go well.  

Full disclosure, I have some of the yarn spun already.  Probably not enough to make much difference.

So it's going to be a challenge.  Especially because I hope to also make some videos about this journey which makes everything take twice as long.  

Wish me luck!

Blooming after a fallow state - the Victoria Flax to Linen Group

“The theory was that while in a Fallow state you were gathering and conserving strength, nourishing yourself through meditation, sending invisible rootlets out into the universe.”

― Margaret Atwood, MaddAddam

Got to hang out with the Victoria Flax to Linen group last weekend.  It was really special to connect after so many years in hibernation.  

Button, button, who's got the button? Also WOW! that's a lot of paper!

 The duffle coat project advances.  A decision has been made and after much humming and hawing, I decided to go with the Albion Coat sewing pattern.  I chose this pattern because they gave away some great resources for free and it gave me confidence that I would be able to make a beautiful coat with their instructions.  

Because I can never be easy on myself, I am going to sew a version of the longer coat, but unlined in keeping with the duffle coat of my past.  

I've got a few other changes up my sleeve, but that's going to have to wait because this: 

Combining calm

They say lavender is a calming herb, and I will concede it smells nice.  

What I find even more healing is hanging out in the garden doing small, repetitive tasks.  

Let's combine the two.

The lore around these magic wands is that the smell of the lavender hides the smell of wool clothing when we put them in storage for the summer.  I think that's a lovely idea.  Even if it doesn't work, stashing a few of these with my handknits and handwovens until next winter makes me happy.  

And if I'm going to start having more clothes, I will either need to get more room to stash them, or put the off-season clothes into storage.  The latter seems like less bother.  

My PO box project

 This arrived in my PO box this week.  

This cloth is a gift from an online friend and I'm so honoured they thought of me.  

Winter coat - fabric choice for a duffle coat

It's complicated, but basically last year, I didn't have a winter coat.  Given that we had some record-breaking rainfall and cold, looking back... it might have been a mistake to try to deal with winter without a coat.  I figure the rest of my clothing can last me well enough but for my health and wellbeing, I need a coat before winter gets here which means, I had best start sewing now.

Thinking back on all the coats I've owned in my life, one coat stands out in my memory more than all the others.  I remember it with great fondness.  It was a real duffle coat.  Fawn coloured, I bought it used for a steal because of the cigarette burns (which I patched with strawberry patches so it looked cute and I could always tell my coat from the others).  What I thought was really neat was the way the fabric was double-sided, but all one fabric.  There was plaid on the inside but fulled fawn twill on the outside.  Very thick cloth - almost too thick.  No lining (so sometimes arms would be difficult to get in and out).  Just a single layer of double-sided cloth.  

It could almost be worn inside out coat if the buttons and pockets were in the right place.  But alas, no. 

I finally wore it out after over a decade of constant use.

Looking at my wardrobe goals, a Duffle Coat would fit with the Farmwear (good elemental protection, vintage look) and with the Scholarly Functional look.  I love that it can do double duty. 

I couldn't find the fawn fabric that I wanted, but I did find some pretty amazing fabric on sale at the local fabric shop.  It's a wool nylon blend.  Knowing this shop, it's probably vintage as they bought a huge amount of overstock of wool and wool blends over the decades and this has that vintage mothball smell.  It would be fun to find out more about the history of this cloth.

momentum - where did it go?

 

The most frustrating thing about recovering is trying to find momentum.  But I'm working on it, building a bit more each day.  Finally got into a routine with making coffee and having an hour of craft time while listening to an audiobook or lo-fi girl each morning. 

Mostly I'm working on my sewing, trying to make a block pattern.  This is a map of my body that I can use to make my own sewing patterns.  I need this because my body is now a massively different shape and it could open a huge world of possibilities to me - and save loads of money in that I don't need to buy new patterns each time I want to make something new.

All wool has value

It began as a compost pile and a birthday present.  

When I asked what he wanted for his Birthday, he said something like, you know that yarn you have stashed away as a treasure?  You know how you promised me a rug?  That's what I want.  

The yarn has a story.  It's spun at the (former) local fibre mill from a mixture of fibre from the farm.  Some of the animals like the rich deep black alpaca, are no longer with us.  This is sad, but also happy because the rug helps us remember the good times we had.

But it's not just any old fibre, this fibre was destined for the compost heap, to get smothered with squash plants as it slowly transforms into soil.  The fibre was too fragile, too dirty, too... whatever to spin into a sensible yarn.  But the mill had this machine that could use inferior fibre to twist around a core and make it soft and strong and valuable.  

The results are gorgeous!  

 

Redefining or finding my style?

 Life is messy and stuff.  Today is the first day I've turned my computer on after coming out of the hospital and very soon, I'll be heading back to bed for my second nap of the morning.  Like I said, life is messy.

But it has given me lots of thinking and I want to leave my future self a note.  Because THIS is an awesome opportunity to deliberately choose my new wardrobe.  My shape has changed and I will need to buy or make new clothing, so why not see if I can find clothes I like.  

What do I like?  What is my style?

I have no idea.

How do I find out?

Internet detox

 It used to be that once a year I would take an internet vacation.  A month without internet, usually in February (because it's a short month).  I would try to get my work holiday to match and I would worry away at projects that need finishing or something I want to get started and done.

The last time I did that, I wrote a book.  

It's been a few years since I took my internet vacation and it's a bit like cookies on the browser, too much internet and I start to slow down and life clogs up.  It's hard to get away and spend time doing real-world things.

This year I can't do a proper internet detox, so I'm doing a longer one.  Max 1 hour per day on the internet (but more time for video editing).  Trying very hard to get the farm ready for spring, grow extra food in the garden, and film more projects for youtube.  

Sheep are very helpful... or enthusiastic.  

It means the same thing when you are a sheep.

But this internet vacation means I haven't had much time for blogging lately.  It also makes me realize how much I enjoy blogging again.  So I'll be back.

Just as soon as I can get a few more things done around the farm.  

Laying the flax out to dew ret - for more on that, here's a video:

Could Craft With Me become a thing? I think so.

 My attention span isn't always what I would like.  I admit, I find it difficult to stick to one task for long enough to get anything done.  So I look around for tricks to hack my brain into getting stuff done.

One of those tricks is watching youtube videos in the background.  It's a lot like when I used to watch TV, I knew the show was a set amount of time, and used that to guide my action.  I would work until the show was over and it really helped to have the background noise to distract the part of my brain that want's to get up and do something else.  Music helps too.

This last few years, I've been using Study With Me and LoFi Girl videos to help my crafting.  But to be honest, studying isn't a good friend for crafting.  It's so serious, the music is designed to cause deep focus and my crafting is more light brain work and repetitive tasks.  I'm not engaging the same part of the brain.

I really needed something more craft specific.  Preferably something with yarn, good music, and no talking.   

But alas, the internet seems to be lacking in this.

So I made a thing.

I really enjoyed making this!  

I want to make more.

I worry it's going to flop pretty badly by youtube standards.  There's very little out there like this and even if I'm not the only one who needs something like this in their life to help make things, people don't know to search for it because it's too new.

Maybe I can make one a month, if I can stick to a schedule that much, if only to use up the extra footage that didn't make it into my main videos.  

And maybe it will become a thing.  I hope so.  I imagine having a whole bunch of people making Craft With Me videos about many different crafts, so I can choose today I want to spin yarn, so I watch a spin with me video.  Tomorrow maybe I'm in the mood for a woodworking with me video.  I don't know.  

If you think it's a good idea, please share with your friends who need a little motivation to get crafty. 

Knit a sweater in a day, they said! It would be easy, they said! yeh right.

 I think the title says it all really.  

This wonderful machine fell in my lap and in my hubris I thought I knew plenty of knitting and this would be easier than the two pointy sticks.

yah right.

At the end of the sweater, I am overwhelmed by how much love and respect I now have for machine knitting and machine knitters.

It really is true that it doesn't matter what tools we use.  It's what the knitter brings to the yarn that makes all the difference.  

I can't wait to find out how to use my ribber.  Any ideas?  There don't seem to be many tutorials on this that I can find.

(oh, and there is dyeing and sheep in there too because, well, sheep)