A guide to Britain's strange Christmas traditions (Expat Claptrap)

I've been a bit busy prepping for the Holidays, but I had time to throw together a new blog for Americans to learn about some of Britain's less-known Christmas traditions:

http://expatclaptrap.com/strange-christmas-traditions-britain/

Mince meat pies with actual meat in them?  Is this a regional delicacy?  Sorry, in all my 20+ years on this island I have never encountered these -- only the little mince pies which are a smaller version of our full-size mince pies (more or less).  Granted, they are usually made with suet (beef fat) so still not suitable for vegetarians.  Usually smothered in custard.

Cool blog entry ... brings back a lot of Christmas memories for me.

- You know, I've only actually seen the John Lewis and Sainsbury's Christmas adverts on TV one time so far! I had to look up the penguin one on YouTube the other day because my mum kept asking me if I'd seen it yet and I hadn't .

- The Christmas Number 1 songs used to be more about Christmas, but sadly the chart has been dominated by X Factor for the last 10 years, the sole purpose being for the winner to snag the Christmas number 1 slot . Between 1973 and 1990 though, 11 out of the 18 Christmas number ones were about Christmas and they are all still played every Christmas now .

- I'm assuming you're joking about the mince pies (it's hard to tell though as it's written as if you genuinely believe they contain meat). I hope no one reads it and starts thinking that they do in fact contain beef :S.

- You know, I've never been to a traditional 'office Christmas party' ... all my work dos for the last 15 years have been tame sit-down meals in restaurants. It's probably because I've always worked in shift jobs (either retail where we were open 7 days/week or on military bases with 24/7 offices) where a big party wasn't feasible.

- I can't actually stand Christmas Pudding... or Christmas Cake... or mince pies (well, I'm coming around to mince pies, but they aren't my favourite). It's Chocolate Yule Log all the way for me .

- The Snowman creeps me out... I can't even bear to listen to the music .

- Our family Christmas Dinner doesn't actually contain a whole lot of meat... we do have chicken, small sausage-meat squares and mini sausages wrapped in bacon, but that's it. We have white-wine gravy, our stuffing is meat-free and the potatoes are roasted in sunflower oil.

- Okay, so we don't get only one present to open, but we do (at least in my family) get just one present from each person. I spent Christmas with my cousins in the US a few years ago and I was astounded by the sheer number of presents they got just from their parents... there were so many that my aunt actually forgot about some of them and found them still wrapped up in the attic a few months later!

- I've never listened to the Queen's Speech... I find it boring. Does that make me a bad Brit?

- I miss when Christmas TV (especially on BBC1) was good - it used to be the highlight of the year with all the best comedy shows doing one-off specials, and my dad highlighting everything in the Radio Times weeks beforehand so he could set up a complicated VHS recording system for it all - but in recent years (last 10 years or so) Christmas telly has been pretty crappy.

- Considering there's no such thing as Kicking Day, I'm assuming you're not serious about Boxing Day either (your points really do read as genuinely serious though... it's very hard to tell whether you're being tongue-in-cheek or not) .

Haha, excellent!  It's interesting how holiday celebrations are similar and, yet, very different!  I actually didn't realize until I studied abroad here that Christmas Pudding wasn't a thing in America because my family always had Suet Pudding for Christmas.  I am always a bit phased by the huge TV culture on Christmas Day.  Perhaps because we don't celebrate Boxing Day, Americans (at least in my experience) tend to use Christmas evening to visit family nearby rather than sit in front of the TV.  Then again, some of the UK's biggest shows are shown on weekend evenings where those are the death slots in the US. 

It struck me when I first arrived how inward the Christmas celebrations were here -- which may explain the telly thing.  In those days decorations were all about the tree (with a fairy on top  ), Christmas cards stuck up everywhere and balloons  and paper hats like it was a kids birthday party (OK, so maybe it is  )  Back then there was very little out-of-doors decoration: no candles in windows, no Christmas wreaths on doors and (God forbid) no fake snowmen, Rudolphs, etc in front gardens and certainly no coloured lights, fake icicles, etc. along roof lines.  Ah yes, the good old days.

I thought I read somewhere that mince pies used to have meat in them but then slowly changed to a sweet pastry type dealie. Personally I just like eating the mince and discarding the bland shells. The shells are usually tasteless and contain the majority of the calories. DH bought a tray of 6 of them last year. I tore holes in the bottom of each pie and ate the mince out then put them back in the tray like nothing happened. Thankfully he is used to my hijinx.

Christmas pudding/cake - ewww. I think the brandy sauce is what really turns me off.

I've never seen the snowman but I will give it a watch this year. I remember watching some animated Santa cartoon from here and it was a bit odd. Santa just laid around, didn't want to work, hung out in the pub and cursed all the time. It seemed kind of a depressing watch. 

Also, I did not see your post and just created a Christmas traditions thread. This seems like a better thread to contribute to. I tried deleting my thread but apparently I cannot.   

I thought I read somewhere that mince pies used to have meat in them but then slowly changed to a sweet pastry type dealie.

Yeah, I think originally it did used to contain a mixture of meat and mince... but it hasn't been that way for quite a while (not really since the 1800s).

Personally I just like eating the mince and discarding the bland shells. The shells are usually tasteless and contain the majority of the calories. DH bought a tray of 6 of them last year. I tore holes in the bottom of each pie and ate the mince out then put them back in the tray like nothing happened. Thankfully he is used to my hijinx.

I'm the opposite way around - I'm not a fan of dried/candied fruit, so the pastry is the only thing that makes a mince pie bearable for me . I can just about ignore the taste of the mincemeat if there's a nice, warm buttery pastry surrounding it, maybe with cream on top too.

I've never seen the snowman but I will give it a watch this year.

I never found it a depressing movie, it was more just weird and boring - it used to weird me out that it has no dialogue at all and I just found the music creepy . No offence to Aled Jones, who sang the theme song, but I wouldn't mind if I never heard it again .

Mince meat pies with actual meat in them?  Is this a regional delicacy?  Sorry, in all my 20+ years on this island I have never encountered these -- only the little mince pies which are a smaller version of our full-size mince pies (more or less).  Granted, they are usually made with suet (beef fat) so still not suitable for vegetarians.  Usually smothered in custard.

My (English/Irish-American) grandma always made mincemeat with meat-- venison, usually.  She'd can a whole batch every fall, and make pies at Christmas.  I'm sure it was a traditional, family recipe.  I don't think any of us kids ever ate them, because it was just weird. 

I was very pleasantly surprised to find that mince pies here *don't* have meat, and I really enjoy them.

i;ve never eat mince pie, but to be honest it doesn't sound that appetizing. I've been tryign to explain thanksgiving to some friends over hear with a bit of difficulty. Thanksgiving is my idea of a good meal

With regard to carol services/concerts we went to one last night (Leeds Minster) and it got off to a rousing start with the Leeds Pipe Band marching in, pipes and drums going, all done up in the bearskins and tartans (Yorkshire tartan?)  Never expected that!

I've been a bit busy prepping for the Holidays, but I had time to throw together a new blog for Americans to learn about some of Britain's less-known Christmas traditions:

http://expatclaptrap.com/strange-christmas-traditions-britain/

I'm not sure I agree with your meaning of Boxing day, Wikipedia agrees.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_Day

Boxing Day is a holiday traditionally celebrated the day following Christmas Day, when servants and tradespeople would receive gifts, known as a "Christmas box", from their bosses or employers

The BBC never shows adverts for John Lewis etc, it's not allowed to.

Also "There’s also a tradition of each child only getting one present to open on Christmas"

I've never heard of anything like this before, my husband and everyone he knows always got multiple presents as kids, it's no different to the US in that respect.