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Countdown to Christmas - 18 : Surprise!
Singin 'in the Rain photo, with some editing by me, from isabelrose.com
Yes, I know Christmas cake should be absolutely, positively fruit cake!
No, not that kind of surprise!
This blog post is for those who dare to break the fruit cake tradition and prefer a butter cake for a Christmas cake. I think if you are going to have a variation of the traditional furit cake, then do it brilliantly. Perhaps not as outrageously as Kathy Selden ( Debbie Reynolds) surprised Don Lockwood (Gene Kelly) in the 1952 movie, Singin'in the Rain in the photo above, but I found some amazing surprise Christmas cakes by some skilled bakers. The following images speak for themselves - beautiful cakes and when they are cut, they reveal a Christmas themed surprise.
Although this instructional video isn't for one of the Christmas surprise cakes, this clearly shows how it an be done. Looks easy? so if youa re not having a fruit cake for Christmas, how about trying your own Christmas Surprise cake?
There are many songs about fruit cakes - not all of them referring to the Christmas cake we know and love.It is really surprising to learn via Google that there are 89 listed songs with references to Christmas cake or fruit cake - not all of them complimentary. Probably one of the most famous folk songs about Christmas cake is Miss Fogarty's Christmas Cake (a favourite sung by The Irish Rovers). This first recorded comical Christmas song was written by C Frank Horn in 1883 in Pennsylania, as a variation of an Irish folk song, 'Miss Mulligan's Christmas Cake' . The chorus might give you the hint that Miss Fogarty's cake was not for the faint hearted or those who suffered from a weak stomach. Chorus : There were plums and prunes and cherries, There were citrons and raisins and cinnamon, too There was nutmeg, cloves and berries And a crust that was nailed on with glue There were caraway seeds in abundance Such that...
Where in the world will FIRST experience Christmas Day? Because of the time zones and daylight saving , the first places will be Samoa, Tonga and Kiritimati (Christmas Island) . They are the first places to welcome Christmas. New Zealand and Australia see in Christmas Day soon after, while American Samoa and Baker Island in the United States of America are among the last. These statistics are more often quoted in relation to New Year's Eve, but I think it seems appropriate that Christmas Island is one of the first to celebrate Christmas in the world. Kiritimati, or Christmas Island, is a Pacific Ocean raised coral atoll in the northern Line Islands. It is part of the Republic of Kiribati. The name "Kiritimati" is a respelling of the English word "Christmas" in the Kiribati language The island has the greatest land area of any coral atoll in the w...
Work in Progress - 3 of the 193 for "Stitched Up"- Wilma Simmons The work for the "Stitched Up " Project continues. See the previous "Wednesday Child" post for the background to this art project celebrating the 150th anniversary of the Newcastle Industrial School. I have been documenting the progress of my work, so I thought it might be interesting to share some of the early stages of the "stick dolls" ... Here are some of the beginning steps.. Sticks collected while walking the bushland in my neighbourhood Drying and getting rid of any insects - oven heat 75 degreesC for approx 1-2 hours. Trimmed and cut if necessary Ends sealed with matte sealing solution. Drying - solution goes on white but dries clear. First wrapping - foil to create a body shape Second wrapping - stretch fabric. Third wrapping - fabric strips Some stitching - more stitching and embellishment to ...
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