Mixed Spice

1 tablespoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon ground nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon ground ginger

Stir it up good. Then put it in whatever you want spiced.

Christmas Pudding

Mix thoroughly together:
6 ounces butter
1 teaspoon mixed spice
6 ounces brown sugar

Add to that mixture:
2 ounces self-raising flour
4 ounces breadcrumbs

Thoroughly combine all of that with:
6 ounces raisins
6 ounces zante currants
6 ounces golden raisins
4 ounces dried cherries
2 ounces candied peel
2 ounces chopped pecans
2 ounces chopped almonds

Stir in:
1 peeled, cored, and diced apple
the zest of ½ an orange
the zest of ½ a lemon

In a separate container, beat:
3 eggs

Add to the eggs:
3 fluid ounces brandy
3 fluid ounces stout

Then add to the drunken eggs:
the juice of 1 orange
the juice of 1 lemon

Stir the egg mixture into the bread-fruit-nut mixture very thoroughly. Then let the whole thing sit for at least 8 hours in a cool spot.

When you come back to the mixture, put it into a greased metal bowl. Cover the bowl completely with aluminum foil. Now cover it again. Now cover it again. Maybe even cover it again. Once you've got it thoroughly covered (have you noticed a trend of thoroughness here?), steam it for 8 hours.

Then put the pudding back in a cool place for about 4½ weeks. To help guide you in choosing a good day to start in time for Christmas, I suggest making the pudding on Stir-up Sunday, which is the last Sunday before the first Sunday of Advent. In the U.S., that's the Sunday before Thanksgiving except when Thanksgiving falls on the 22nd or the 23rd.

Then, on the day you plan to serve it, take it from its cool place and steam it another 2 hours or so. If you're going to err, err on the side of oversteaming.

Take it out of the steamer; unwrap it as many times as you covered it before; slip a rubber spatula in along the sides of bowl to loosen the pudding. Then turn the pudding out onto a heated plate (make sure it's a plate that can handle plenty of heat).

Heat a ladle full of brandy over a flame and when it's warm, light it. Then pour the flaming brandy out all over the pudding as the final presentation when you serve it.

It can be nice to serve with brandy butter.

Merry Christmas!

Pumpkin Bread

3¼ cups all-purpose flour
3 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1½ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
2 cups puréed pumpkin
2/3 cup water
1 cup oil
4 eggs

Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Then add the pumpkin, water, oil, and eggs. Blend all that together well. Pour the batter into 2 greased and floured 4"x8" pans and bake for about 75 minutes at 350° F.

Brandy Butter

1 stick butter
1 cup powdered sugar
3 tablespoons brandy

Cream the butter and sugar together and then stir in the brandy. Chill it long enough to let it harden up before serving.

It's great as a spread atop Christmas pudding, but it's just about as great on any other bread-based goodies you want.