Plum Pudding and another Birthday Pressie for Mitchy

Mom and I are making plum pudding today. This is my gram's recipe. She used to make it all the time but hasn't in awhile so mom and I decided to make it again this year! The last time she made it was in 1994 so it has been awhile - and I wasn't even born yet and neither was my furmother!

See that jar of currants and raisins. They've been soaked in gluehwein overnight. The recipe calls for apricot brandy but mom and dad's German friends, Phil and Amy made this delicious German spiced wine for mom and dad to enjoy and mom thought it would be awesome to soak the currants and raisins in this liquid. Check out our plum pudding steamer. It looks like a miniature trash can!

The recipe starts off mixing all of the dry ingredients together - sugar, flour, soda and lots of spices - ginger, cloves, nutmeg and cinnamon. Next you add chopped nuts. This is one thing that I COULD taste in the recipe. There are lots of raisins and currants that I can't have! booooooooooo

Fruitcake mix goes in there too and mom did give me a tiny sample. It was good!

The recipe also calls for 1 cup of suet! SUET???? Isn't this the stuff you feed the woodpeckers, mom? Why would you want to put bird food in our plum pudding?

Well, instead of using shortening or butter, the recipe calls for suet, Maggie! Wait till you taste how good it is!

It is very tasty, mom - even as just batter! I can't wait to try a smidge of the finished product!

Here it is in the greased mold and ready to be steamed for 3 hours in a kettle of boiling water! Don't forget the lid, mom!

And here we are 4 hours later - mom called gram and gram said that 4 hours would be better! Tada~~~~~~

Now all we have to do is to make the hard sauce, which consists of LOTS of butter and some confectionary sugar and some apricot brandy! Our mouths are watering! We can't wait to have a slice of this awesome smelling delight!

I know turn the blog over to Mitchyman!

Dad was at the post office today picking up packages and he brought one home that had our names on it but mine was the FIRST one mentioned! The package was from our buddies Stanley and Stella!

We opened the card first! Maggie says the animal on the front looks just like me! DOES NOT, MAGGIE! The inside says that this is a HUGE birthday so that's why Stanley and Stella chose a hippo! Seeeeeeeeee - Miss Dummy! They said that a first birthday is one of the biggest events of life and it only comes around once! I'll never stop celebrating, Stanley and Stella! Thank you so much!

I got this cool blue octopus stuffy and this AWESOME Gooberboy bandana! Maggie is very jealous - I can tell! She kept on sniffing it and getting all huffy and she actually tried to rip it off me a couple of times! Maggie is not usually this pushy so I KNOW she wants my bandana very badly! You're not a boy - you can't have it, Maggie!

They also sent us a new Kong ring and this one squeaks! Our other one died awhile back!

And we both got a snoozle to keep us both busy on those cold days in the workshop when it's just sooooooooooooooo B-O-R-I-N-G! yummmmmmmmm - thank you!

And Maggie even scored! She got a plush Mr. Carrot or is it a Mrs. Carrot?! Mom says Maggie can take this upstairs with her to her bed so I don't rip off the leaves! I would never do that! *wink wink*

And mom even scored! Stanley and Stella's girl sent mom the most beautiful necklace ever with an Airedale charm! Mom says she has to choose just the right outfit and she's going to wear it tomorrow for Christmas! Mom wants to know if you made this, Lisa? It's just gorgeous!

Thank you so very, very much Stanley and Stella and Lisa for all of the beautiful and fun and tasty gifts! We really appreciate it! You guys are way too generous!

Hey guess what, guys? I'm officially 13 months old today! So the celebration continues.......

Have a Merry Christmas everyone!

Love ya lots,

Maggie and Mitch