The Mischief of the Mistletoe: A Pink Carnation Christmas (43 page)

To make what is termed a pound pudding, take of raisins well stoned, currants thoroughly washed, one pound each; chop a pound of suet very finely and mix with them; add a quarter of a pound of flour, or bread very finely crumbled, three ounces of sugar, one ounce and a half of grated lemon-peel, a blade of mace, half a small nutmeg, one teaspoonful of ginger, half a dozen eggs well beaten; work it well together, put it into a cloth, tie it firmly, allowing room to swell, and boil not less than five hours. It should not be suffered to stop boiling.

—
Godey's Ladies Book
, 1860, Recipe for “Old English Christmas Pudding”

 

By 1803, the year in which this story is set, plum pudding was well established as traditional Christmas fare. Traditions and mythologies abound. Some require that Christmas pudding be made no later than the twenty-fifth Sunday after Trinity, with each member of the household stirring the pudding three times, in tribute to the Three Kings. Likewise, the thirteen ingredients (although some recipes have more and other fewer) are said to represent Christ and the twelve Apostles, while the holly garnish is meant to symbolize the crown of thorns. Other, less religiously charged, traditions include making a wish as one stirs the pudding (I've always liked this one) and hiding coins, gold rings, thimbles, buttons, or other items in the pudding, as the Dowager Duchess of Dovedale does with the cakes in this book.

There are a dizzying number of Christmas pudding recipes. While recipes vary, all seem to include the same basic components: suet, raisins, lemon peel, spices, breadcrumbs, and brandy or ale. According to one source, plum pudding originated as a medieval dish called frumenty—a soupy porridge made up of boiled mutton, raisins, prunes, spices, and wine. With the addition of eggs, breadcrumbs, and dried fruit during the late sixteenth century, the soupy porridge thickened into the glutinous ball recognizable to us as plum pudding. Christmas pudding fell out of favor during the latter part of the seventeenth century but was brought back to the fore by George I, who might not have been able to speak English, but did know a good thing when he tasted it.

 

 

Combine:

Let stand for 12 hours.
Boil for 8 hours and boil again on Christmas Day for 2 hours.
This will yield 9 lbs of pudding.
Don't forget to make a wish as you stir. . . .

Turnip Fitzhugh first stumbled his way onto the scene as a lovable bumbler in the second book of the Pink Carnation series,
The Masque of the Black Tulip
. For some time now, the e-mails have poured in, asking when Turnip was going to get some lovin' (direct quote, there). For all of you who worried about Turnip's future, this book is for you.

I had vague ideas for a book about Turnip, but I didn't know quite what I was going to do with him until
The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
, at the Dowager Duchess of Dovedale's Twelfth Night dinner, when I saw Turnip seated all the way down at the end of the table next to a wallflower named Arabella Dempsey. And I thought, what if . . . ? “What if” always gets me into trouble.

For those of you who have read the series, you'll have recognized the second half of this book as
Night Jasmine
turned inside out, the same events and characters experienced from the point of view of minor members of the house party, whose focus and concerns are completely different from those of Robert, Duke of Dovedale; Lady Charlotte Lansdowne; and the other primary actors of that book. Ever wonder why Turnip was trying to cut down that tree with the wrong side of his ax in
Night Jasmine
? Now you know.

While I tried not to turn this book into a Christmas reunion special, several characters from the prior Pink books did pop up to make appearances in Turnip's story. As a refresher for those who have read the series, or an introduction for those who haven't, here's the Who's Who of both recurring characters and some new friends and relations of pre-existing ones.

Since we've already mentioned Robert and Charlotte, hero and heroine of Book V,
The Temptation of the Night Jasmine
, here's the rest of the gang.

Add up three adventurous sixteen-year-olds, two deadly spies, and one very lax headmistress, and you have the potential for a great deal of trouble. . . .

The author of six previous Pink Carnation novels, Lauren Willig received a graduate degree in English history from Harvard University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School, though she now writes full-time. Willig lives in New York City.