Christmas in England {Celebrating Christmas in a Multicultural Home}

Happy Christmas! An Alabama girl growing up in the USA, I felt I already had a strong sense of unique cultural traditions. When I married my British husband who is from England, I had culture shock

Even though my husband and I have lived in the US since we were married, some of his customs and traditions have rubbed off on us. No, we haven’t totally swapped iced sweet tea for hot earl gray, but we’ve added in new things and more are yet to come.

Celebrating Christmas in England

Food:

Christmas Dinner: My husband made an emergency, panicked phone call to his Mum our first Christmas together. Something about a roast and how we didn’t understand. When we said we’re going to prepare a roast, we meant roast beef. For my husband, a roast could mean a roasted turkey, goose, etc. The “roast” is all about the preparation.

Christmas Dinner Sides: Sides traditionally include parsnips, roasted potatoes (my personal favorite), Brussels sprouts, and cranberry sauce. BTW, the cranberry sauce is a condiment; he still had this look of horror on our first Christmas, when he watched someone eat cranberry sauce as a side dish. He had the same look during our first Thanksgiving. The link above will lead you to a treasure trove of recipes.

Trifle: Our children love trifle! They prepared several when the baby arrived, and they enjoy making it as much as they do eating it. A trifle is a layered dessert, made with pudding, jello with fruit, angel food cake, whipped cream, and sprinkles on top. We like to add mini chocolate chips, instead of sprinkles.

Christmas Pudding: An extravagant part of the meal that’s doused with brandy and then lit on fire, Christmas pudding has an interesting history behind it. From what I understand, some people love it while others don’t. According to my husband, Christmas Pudding is mandatory for the holiday festivities, but after the lighting and learning who’s going to break their tooth on the sixpence hidden inside, they resign themselves to the fact that no one wants to eat it.

Christmas Tea: Not to be confused with “having a spot of tea,” which must include cookies (called biscuits), the late afternoon or early evening tea is considered the smaller evening meal, after the larger Christmas Meal. It’s an excellent time to serve any leftovers.

Yule Log: A favorite among children, a yule log is a large swiss roll, covered in chocolate that’s made to look like bark, with sugar sprinkled on top to look like snow.

Goodies and Snacks:

A lovely buffet of treats and goodies:

• Turkish Delight
• Chocolate Orange
• Quality Street
• A variety of nuts

Other Traditions:

Happy Christmas!: After being married to a Brit for nearly two decades, I still find it unusual hearing “Happy Christmas” instead of the typical Merry Christmas. One day I’m sure it’ll start to roll off the tongue.

Boxing Day: For years, I saw this on my calendar, but I had no idea what Boxing Day was. What’s strange is that Boxing Day is an equal part of the Christmas celebration in England, but neither my husband nor his relatives can agree on what Boxing Day commemorates. For fun, have your children look it up and see how many different answers they can find. And then come back and let us know what you learn.

Christmas Crackers: I thought Christmas crackers were some fancy crispy bread, but no. Christmas crackers are a type of small firework. Set on the Christmas table, a couple of people pull either end, there’s a little bang, and the prize inside (including a party hat) goes to the individual who draws the largest part. Even the most serious of Brits enjoy these.

Queen’s Speech: I can imagine my husband sitting with his Christmas Crackers prize, his tea and biscuits, and a bowl of trifle while listening to the Queen address the nation on the television.

Do you incorporate traditions into your Christmas celebration? I’d love to read them in the comments below.

It’s the most wonderful time of the year! Christmas – a time for gratitude, togetherness, and celebration. The Christmas Blessings Giveaway is in its 8th year, and we are excited to once again bless not one family, but two, with some cash for the holiday season!

I’m teaming up with an amazing group of bloggers with the hope of making this Christmas the best yet for TWO families by giving away $500 in Paypal cash to each family. What would you do with that money?! While we wish we could bless many more families, we were able to come up with a big prize for TWO families – $500 each (delivered via Paypal) – that we pray will make a big difference in their lives this Christmas season – whether it’s to fulfill their kids’ Christmas wishes, pay off some bills, or to help build some savings, our prayer is that it helps to lessen any financial burden and/or fills a specific need.

There are lots of entry options in the Rafflecopter form below – the more you enter, the better your chance of winning! I know it can seem tedious and time consuming to go through all the entries, but isn’t a chance at $500 worth it? I think it is! Plus, all of these amazing bloggers donated their own money toward the cash prizes, so this giveaway wouldn’t be possible without them.

I hope you’ll take the time to check out each one. Who knows, maybe you will find some new blogs to follow. The giveaway will run from Monday, November 15th through Wednesday, November 24th (ends at 11:59pm EST). Winner will be notified by email shortly after the giveaway ends. The winner will have 48 hours to respond to claim the prize or another winner will be drawn. You must have a Paypal account to win. By entering this giveaway, you agree to be added to the email lists of the participating bloggers. Please be sure to read the Rafflecopter terms and conditions upon entering. Rafflecopter code – a Rafflecopter giveaway