Boxing Day
The day after Christmas is Boxing Day, a national holiday. It is spent with family and friends, eating up leftovers, and maybe watching sports on t.v. It also works nicely when you have two sets of Grandparents. You can spend Christmas with one family and Boxing Day with the other.
Boxing Day History:
There are several ideas about the history of Boxing Day. But the most popular is that the servants who worked through Christmas, had the day after Christmas off for their holiday. They received a Christmas box from their employer.
Mince Pies
The holiday season in the UK involves mince pies both for Christmas and for Boxing Day.
Mince pies are tiny little pies filled with raisins, sultanas, currants, candied peels, apple, cherries, and spices. The ingredients vary a bit, but of course the mincemeat is always required.
One of the popular toppings for your mince pie is a boozy cream. I was surprised to see the variety of creams in the grocery.
We sampled some mince pies that were too rich for us. But we found some that are lighter and now it seems that we have developed an affinity for mince pies.
River Alde
We went out for a walk along the River Alde, to enjoy the beautiful day.
Being this far north, the sunsets last longer because the sun never get very high in the sky.
The trail was a bit muddy, but we were enjoying the walk so much, that we didn’t let it stop us.
Across the river you can see a church out on a peninsula. That was our goal.
We enjoyed our first Boxing day. What did you do for the day after Christmas?
We wished for a boxing day here! This is the first year I have really been aware that it is a public holiday in England, although I’d heard of it before in books. Myrtle’s husband Henry was crazy about mince pies and requested one every Thanksgiving and Christmas. He would have loved this! Strangely enough there were two comics today about Boxing Day in England. It seems that the U.S. is envious. I love when you post what is in the grocery store with pictures. It really makes me feel like I am there. I was amazed that they have green grass! Expected snow.
Susan, thanks for mentioning about the grocery store pictures. Sometimes I wonder if others think it is silly. Boxing Day is such a great idea. I think it would be great if the US would adopt that tradition.
Did all of you get Wellies for trekking around England? Enjoyed the Christmas pudding video. Dave, trendy new haircut. Smashing!
Luie is the only one who has Wellies. But every time we go out in the rain or mud, we all wish that we had them too.