Hypnogoria: THE OLDTIME YULETIDE ADVENT CALENDAR

Welcome dear friends back to the Hypnogoria Old-time Yuletide Advent Calendar! So then, dear friends, we reach the final door of our Advent Calendar! Behind which hides two final letters!

Now then, next up we have the letter Y. Now I did consider allocating this letter to the Yule or the Yule Log, but we have already talked of both, and so I have opted for the more obscure, but much tastier and intriguing Yorkshire Christmas Pie.

Of course, we are all familiar with the concept of Christmas pies, whether the one Jack Horner in the corner was tucking into, or those tempting festive favourites, the mince pie. However the Yorkshire Christmas Pie was perhaps the pinnacle of festive baking, fusing together several generations of Christmas dining in one delicious pastry case.

Now this dish had its heyday in the 18th and 19th centuries and sometimes was known as a celebration pie, a trunk pie or a stand pie. And the Yorkshire Christmas pie gained these sobriquets because it was a very special pie, baked just to celebrate Christmas and it was indeed the size of a large piece of luggage. In fact, they were baked to be absolutely air-tight so they could be shipped all around the country for Yuletide.

And what was special about these Yorkshire Christmas pies was that they contained basically a super roast dinner inside, in which the centrepiece was several different birds stuffed and roasted one inside the other. Here’s an original recipe published in The Art of Cookery, Made Plain and Easy by Hannah Glasse, in 1747

First make a good standing crust, let the wall and bottom be very thick; bone a turkey, a goose, a fowl, a partridge, and a pigeon, Season them all very well, take half an ounce of mace, half an ounce of nutmegs, a quarter of an ounce of cloves, and half an ounce of black-pepper, all beat fine together, two large spoonfuls of salt, and then mix them together. Open the fowls all down the back, and bone them; first the pigeon, then the partridge; cover them; then the fowls then the goose, and then the turkey, which must be large; season them all well first, and lay them in the crust, so as it, will look only like a whole turkey; then have a hare ready cased, and wiped with a clean cloth. Cut it to pieces, that is, joint it; season it, and lay it as close as you can on one side; on the other side woodcocks, moor game, and what sort of wild-fowl you can get. Season them well, and lay them close; put at least four pounds of butter into the pie, then lay on your lid, which must be a very thick one, and let it be well baked. It must have a very hot oven, and will take at least four hours. This crust will take a bushel of flour. These pies are often sent to London in a box, as presents; therefore, the walls must be well built.

Sadly there is no vegetarian option. And given the amount of wildlife in that pie, I am reconsidering my own dietary choices, to be honest! There’s a small aviary in that pie! However, I think we may all take comfort in the fact that no matter how much we over indulge this Christmas, our excesses will seem poultry, I mean, paltry compared to the gargantuan gluttony of a Yorkshire Christmas Pie!

So then, to our final letter, and perhaps the most challenging of all, Z. So what could Z stand for? Well, there is the German festive decoration the Zwetschgenmännle, little figures made from prunes sold in German Christmas markets. The Zwetschgenmännle come in many different designs, gnomes ,devils, angels, sweeps, lovers, and are said to bring good luck, echoing an old German saying “if you have plums in the house, you will never run out of money”.

However they are perhaps a little obscure! So then, instead I shall say Z stands for “zzz” that classic comic-book noise for sleeping. For tonight is Christmas Eve, when we should all be tucked in bed early so Father Christmas can come and drop off the presents. Of course, the ironic fact is few of us will be either in bed or asleep early tonight!

As children, it is almost impossible to sleep knowing that Santa is on the way, and many a child will be up very late, ears straining for the sound of sleigh bells or hooves on the roof. However for us grown-ups, we are often up way too late too, for despite our best intentions there always seems to be one more little job to do for the Christmas Day preparations. All too often somehow there always one present still to wrap up, or some prep work for Christmas dinner that needs to be done just before bed.

However this year, I hope that all goes well and all will be done in time to sit and unwind and enjoy the magic of Christmas Eve. And indeed I hope you all have a wonderful Christmas and I hope this little advent calendar has brought a little more magic to your Yuletide festivities. And so on that note, I wish a merry Christmas to all and to all a goodnight!