Happy Boxing Day

Wendall -- every other Thursday

My husband is English, so he is thoroughly horrified that most Americans have to return to work on Boxing Day.

 

The Boxing Day of Christmas past.

In the UK, in many current or former Commonwealth countries, and in the opinion of said husband, December 26, Boxing Day (or the next day after Christmas that’s not a Sunday), is a sacred bank holiday. No working allowed.

 

Since Boxing Day is celebrated in Scotland, New Zealand, and Singapore, it’s quite familiar to several of my Murder is Everywhere compatriots, but for those of you, like myself, who didn’t grow up well-versed in the holiday, here’s a tiny bit of history.

 

Boxing Day, also known as St. Stephen’s Day, apparently has little to do with boxing, or the Boxer Rebellion (this was my misapprehension for years) although it is connected to many other sports—more on this below.

 

The tradition of giving gifts to the poor during this period dates back to the Middle Ages and the etymology may have begun with the idea of an alms box set out for charitable donations on the Feast of St. Stephen. Samuel Pepys discusses this tradition in a diary entry from 1663. 

 

 

The first time the actual term Boxing Day appeared, according to the OED, was in 1743. The tradition became much more codified during Queen Victoria’s reign—when the rich gave their servants, who had to work on Christmas Day, a box of gifts, gratuities, or leftover food and the “unrich” offered a “box” to anyone less fortunate.

 

Boxing Day traditions in the 20th and 21st century include fox hunting in white and red outfits, football games, and in Melbourne, a cricket match. 

 

 

The most common current tradition at the moment is, sadly, shopping.

 

So obviously not everyone has the day off. And the briefest of Google dives shows that those who work in stores on this bank holiday are only awarded extra pay if it is stipulated in their original contract. 

 

 

Of course, shopping is where those in the U.S. share in this holiday, since we have plenty of after Christmas sales, and mind boggling lines, shoving, and chaos at electronics stores, too.

 

 

Boxing Day has some significance for me, personally, since it’s anniversary of my second date with James. 

 

It also features in the finale of Cyd Redondo’s second adventure, Drowned Under, in the form of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht race, which is always held on the 26th.

 

 

If any of you are in need of post-holiday cheer, here’s a link to all of the Jeff Goldblum Curry’s PC World ads, my favorite xmas ads, ever: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4ktzkA9x3I

 

So, happy Boxing Day, however you choose to celebrate. I will not be fox hunting or shopping, but reading instead.

 

See you on the other side.

 

--Wendall

Settling In Before Christmas

 Annamaria on the Monday Before Christmas 

 I made it over the pond and gave first priority to setting up the Christmas tree. Here are a few observations. More to come when the celebration is on in earnest. 

Afternoon Coffee

 My view on a chilly first day of winter

Creative coat hooks in a cafe

Some shots In the theater in San Casciano, where we saw a concert

Views captured on my way home

I hope your celebrations are happy and warm. More on mine next week!

A Mystery Writer's Night Before Christmas...and Fifth Wedding Anniversary

 

Jeff—Saturday 

Whenever I think of Christmas, I think of traditions...such as wishing my bride Happy Anniversary three days later.  Thank you, Santa, for reminding me. :)

To all of you from the many different corners of our world who so kindly follow us on MIE, the very best of the Holiday Season, no matter how you may choose to celebrate the time.  As I’m blessed to be part of the MIE family I have a little tradition I like to sneak in here during the holiday season.  It’s something I composed for my Christmas Eve post a few years back and whether or not you’d like seeing it again, this is four nights before Christmas and it's become a tradition so we’re stuck with it…though updated to include new members of our MIE family. I take great pleasure in brutally fracturing the classic poem, “Twas the Night Before Christmas” by Clement Clarke Moore or Henry Livingston—history is still not sure who wrote it, so apologies to both. 

Livingston

Moore

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a laptop was stirring, nor even a mouse.
The reviews were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that new readers would soon find them there.

The critics were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of best-seller danced in my head.
And DorothyL in her wimsey, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for the hiatus nap.

When out on the Net there arose such a chatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the keyboard I flew like a flash,
Tore open the browser and dove in with a splash.

The glow on the screen cast like new-fallen snow,
A lustre of brilliance onto writing so-so.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But the sight of a blog with ten writers so dear.

With a little bold driver so quick with a thrill,
I knew in a moment he hailed from Brazil.
More rapid than eBooks their creations they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now, Kubu! now, Su Lin! now, Perveen and Darko!
On, Vera! On, Kaldis! on, Silva and Cyd!
To the top of the Times! to the top of them all!
Now slash away Christine, slash away pall!”

As wry thoughts, that before the final deadline fly,
When they meet with an obstacle soar to the sky.
So off to their blog-posts these non-courtiers flew,
With a sleigh full of ploys, and opinions not few.

And then, in a twinkling, I saw not from aloof,
The prancing and gnawing of hard comments and spoof
Taking aim at some points so to bring them to ground,
Brought on by hard thinkers of Southern Cross sound.

The writers were dressed from each head to each foot

In bold clothes that were tarnished with gashes well put.
A bundle of ARCs each had flung on its back,
They looked like kind peddlers bringing books to a rack.

Their eyes—how they twinkled! Their dimples how merry!
Their cheeks like Jeff Bezos’s, their noses like sherry!
One’s droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
‘Til his bottle of bourbon fell out on the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
Threw up smoke of the kind to fire scotch from the heath.
He had a broad face that would fill up the telly,
And as he reached for his bottle mumbled, “Just jelly.”

Neither chubby nor plump, more like jolly and svelte,
I laughed when I saw him, ‘til his stare I felt.
But a wink of his eye and no twist to my head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

They all spoke not a word, but went straight to their work,
And filled all the bookshelves, then turned with a jerk.
And crossing their fingers aside of their noses,

And giving great nods, passed around the Four Roses.

They kept all at play ‘til the ladies gave whistle,
Then each turned as one to read an epistle.  
And I heard them exclaim, ‘ere my charger lost might,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-fright!”

And, of course,“Kala Kristougenna.”

 

 —Andreas Kaldis

A Wonderful Night In Berlin

 

Moi, Sarah and Margaret

A few weeks ago I got a email from the British Embassy in Berlin, inviting me over to speak at a cultural evening ( when I say that to my friends, they snort in derision. Caro? Culture?).

There was the Northern Irish Writer Claire McGowan, the Welsh writer  Sarah Ward and Margaret Murphy  representing England, and The North of England in particular.

Huge temptation to tap dance down these stairs

The event was organised with supreme precision as you might expect. Claire, Margaret and Sarah could get to Berlin on a direct flight, in Sarah’s case having to spend the night with family first to be close to the airport. As we had to get up at 4 a.m., we went out the day before.

The event itself was something I’ve never witnessed before. And jolly excellent it was!

We met in a boardroom beforehand after going through security at the embassy where ‘him indoors’ was held back for looking well dodgy. They let him through in the end.

Once inside the boardroom we met our moderator Gesa who, I think, is a Professor of Cultural Studies. ‘Him indoors’ and her had a long and heartfelt chat about the inability of German students studying English literature etc to come to Britain since BREXIT.

In the Drum!

We were then taken through to sit on a small stage in a circular room, ‘The Drum’, while the media comms spokesperson addressed the crowd outside. When she’d finished her speech there was a James Bond type rumbling as the doors of the Drum rolled open and in walked our audience.

Waiting. We could the gathering of the crowd outside.

I’ll happily admit that Brits are not good at talking other languages. Our audience were all German who spoke English fluently and often another 2 or 3 languages – more about that on another blog.

It was quite formal and well behaved until one of the readers called her character by the wrong name. She had written another two novels by then and had her Davids and Damiens mixed up. I think we’ve all been there! We were reading in alphabetical order, so by the time they got to me they were well warmed up.

                                                                Me talking. As usual.

The event was running to a very strict timetable, four ten minute readings with some questions from the audience and then outside to the atrium where there was lots of drinks and lovely food from each nation. Scotland had smoked salmon, Wales had Welsh rarebit, Irish was something that looked like a potato samosa but real genius was a wee pokey hat full of chips with a little bit of deep fried fish on top. We had that, and donated the fish elsewhere. There might have been other food, but the veggie stuff was superb.

Gesa and Margaret

German book events  often have readings going on for 40 minutes and our audience dutifully listened to us. In Scotland a reading exceeding 5 minutes would have to be facilitated by whisky and some form of anaesthesia.

Sarah and I.

At the Q and A, I did see a few nodding heads when I talked about Scotland and the weather, the fact that we have got two roads that go up and down the way and if any point if you want to go side to side it takes a very long time.

I’m going to ask the other members of the panel to do a guest blog, about what they said about their part of the Uk. It was very interesting, and very different to ‘where do you get your ideas from?’

                                                          Audience really enjoying the evening

At the mingling, when people were talking to me about Scotland, they spoke with great affection. They had been to University here for part of their studies. And there was two lovely comments along the lines of ‘yes, I studied in Edinburgh but we always went to Glasgow when we wanted to enjoy ourselves.’

I was last in Germany I think, in 1980 when we visited both East and West on a school trip. It was both poignant and interesting to stand at Checkpoint Charlie again, but more about that in another blog.

Munchies, Wine and Signing!

My vision of walking around Christmas markets, drinking lovely coffee and eating gingerbread was somewhat spoiled by my suitcase being in Heathrow airport for a lot longer than I was. I know most MIE bloggers, by the nature of the blog, are well seasoned travellers, but being without a suitcase for 24 hours was a lesson learned.

It only leaves me to say Merry Christmas to you as it was on the lovely bookmarks at the Embassy event.

What a wonderful evening it was.

Caro  Merry Christmas to you all,

 

 

I know something about polio

 Michael –every other Thursday

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a doctor or a medical scientist. I don’t know about the latest research or treatments. But my first partner had polio as a young child so I have some first-hand knowledge about living with the aftereffects of the disease. And of dying with them.

She caught polio when she was four from a young relative who was believed to have the flu. Apparently, the early symptoms can be quite similar. In fact, many people don’t show much in the way of symptoms at all, so it’s a bit like Covid – you can pick it up without realizing the other person is even sick. This was one of the reason that parents with young children dreaded the disease in those days. The other was how the symptoms might develop.

Her symptoms became severe, and her life was only saved by an iron lung, a horrible experience now superseded by modern ventilators, which, I believe, are still pretty awful. She lived, but was badly affected and needed medical interventions that included a spinal fusion.

She was the most amazing person. Smart, active, and despite daily difficulties, she never once complained in the ten years we were together. There was no challenge she wouldn’t take up if it was physically possible for her to do so.

What I learnt later is that there is post-polio syndrome. What that means is that one’s reserves have been seriously curtailed by the disease and the experiences around it. Perhaps a person with healthy lungs has 25% spare capacity. Perhaps a polio victim has 10% spare capacity. As we age, we need that spare capacity. That capacity ran out for her in her late thirties.

I will always miss her.

One of the great achievements of humanity has been to reduce the everyday (mainly childhood) diseases of the past to handfuls of cases, and to completely eliminate one of them, smallpox. It might seem unbelievable – but nothing seems unbelievable any more – that anyone would want to unwind those truly remarkable achievements. Yet, we have the new nominee for health secretary seemingly keen to do so, and his lawyer actually pushing the FDA to withdraw its approval of a polio vaccine. (I understand it is one vaccine, not all polio vaccines. I’m not sure of the details, but there is a live (but greatly weakened) virus version of the vaccine that is oral, and so easy to administer, that under the right conditions – largely that there is not a high rate of vaccination in the population – can mutate into something dangerous. This has a rate of the order of 1 in three million vaccinations and never in the currently well-vaccinated US.)

Of course, the battle cry of the antivaxers is that vaccines can cause/are correlated with autism. It’s just not true. There are no scientific studies that support that. A recent study from Denmark followed more than half a million children, and showed no correlation between autism and whether or not the child had been vaccinated. Yes, autism is increasing. So are many other things that could be responsible such as pollutants of various types including microplastics. Real medical scientists are working on the issue and no doubt will make progress if they are not prevented from doing so by people with no medical or scientific training who have their own axes to grind and no real concern about who gets hurt – or dies – along the way.

I am not a great fan in general of the minority leader in the Senate, Mitch McConnell, but he knows something about polio too. He had it as a child. Here’s what he said:

“The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives and held out the promise of eradicating a terrible disease. Efforts to undermine public confidence in proven cures are not just uninformed — they’re dangerous. Anyone seeking the Senate’s consent to serve in the incoming Administration would do well to steer clear of even the appearance of association with such efforts.”

Don’t tell us, Mr. McConnell. Tell your colleagues in the Senate!

Nuts for Christmas

 Sujata Massey

I'm reposting this blog for the 3rd December in about ten years. Right around this time, a lot of us responsible for Christmas gifts, food and parties are at a breaking point. When I say I'm nuts for Christmas, it's a triple entendre.  Cookie baking takes just too much time right now--but a couple batches of spiced nuts are done in 30 minutes--and I am happy I made them. This recipe uses date syrup, but one can use coconut or white sugar, and you might have a recipe up your sleeve that suits you. The key for a sacking holiday nuts recipe is that it to be sweet, salty and spicy.  

Throughout December, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, and pecans are always in my shopping cart. I first wrote about this peculiar passion six years ago, yet I couldn’t resist returning to the topic this year.  And the nuts made me contemplate whether traditions can shift a bit and still feel comforting. 

 

This year, not as many Christmas markets are running in Germany as before Covid. For many centuries, Germany and other German-speaking countries have held Christmas markets in town squares that are filled with wooden stalls and sparkling lights, mulled wine and celebrating people.Weihnachtsmarkts sell holiday greens, ornaments, gingerbread, and a variety of roasted nuts--straight-up smoky smelling roasted chestnuts, as well as sugared, cinnamon almonds--either way, the nuts come wrapped in twists of newspaper. I remember going mad for the almonds and lead Christmas tree ornaments at the Recklinghausen Weihnachtsmarkt during a late 1980s holiday visit to Germany with my mother and sisters. 

 

The other nutty tradition that gets me reminiscing isn’t tied to any holidays. Roasted nuts--especially peanuts--are part of the everyday street food scene in India. Walking through Mumbai, I’ve often passed vendors shaking peanuts in a giant steel bowl set over an open fire. What aromas! And just like the practical Germans so far away, these vendors shake the nuts into newspaper cones and hand them over.

 

Despite my overseas romances with various forms of roasted nuts, I only began roasting nuts at home in the early 1990s.I was inspired by a set of recipes for home-made spiced nuts by Julie Sahni. Such nut seemed less perishable and safer to mail to my relatives than cookies—though I’m not going to lie, I make a lot of cookies in December, too. But nuts are the best: not only can you eat them out of hand, but you can add them to salads, cakes, ice cream, oatmeal, and pancakes. Add some chopped dried fruit and you have a trail mix extraordinaire. My family has come to expect these nuts to arrive every year. And it seems symbolic that our bicultural identity comes together in these nuts, which marry the sweet of Germany with the spicy heat of India.

 

As time marches on, many of us are reducing our sugar intake. Last year, I adjusted the venerable spicy nuts recipe with coconut sugar instead of ordinary white sugar. The coconut sugar didn't make as nice a syrup with water as refined white sugar did. It was eerie, but the healthified nuts still tasted very sweet. My own threshold for what tastes sweet has lowered.

This year, I decided to make extra batches of nuts using a few different sweeteners and to bake them in a regular oven. Because I couldn’t locate a recipe for such that called on Indian spices,   I realized this was a chance to make my own recipe. I counseled myself to be prepared for imperfect results, knowing that food professionals often test upwards of a dozen times before a winner is found.  

The seasonings

 

Driving the mission was a change in sweetening from dry sugar mixed with water to an already usable syrup. The sweetener I was most hopeful about was date syrup, originally known as dibis in Iraq and other parts of the Middle East. Typical uses for dibis are drizzled over hummus, mixed into drinks, and within desserts. I would never have known about it if I hadn’t kept coming across it in healthy baking recipes this past year. 

One tablespoon of date syrup has a glycemic index of 47. Putting it in context with other options, maple syrup and coconut sugar have a glycemic index of 54, honey has 58, and sugar 60. (Agave syrup is very low—just 19 on the glycemic index—but I think it tastes weird). According to nutritionists, dates are loaded with amino acids, vitamins and minerals, and antioxidants. because of the protein within nuts, my holiday guilty pleasure could turn into a life-saving holiday hero.

Step into my kitchen. Here's what happened.

20 minutes was too long for half these nuts!

The first batch I made was three cups of nuts tossed with my usual spices and one-third cup of date syrup. I quickly found that date syrup tended to caramelize faster than expected—resulted in blackened nuts that weren’t very pretty and tasted slightly burned. I also noted (belatedly) that whole almonds are double the size of the walnut and pecan halves, so a shorter cooking time for walnuts and pecans would further protect the nuts. 

 

For Attempt Number Two, I cut the oven time from twenty minutes to twelve minutes. I also did the extra step of splitting up the nuts on two baking sheets, with the fat almonds on one sheet, and the skinny walnuts and pecans on the other. That way, it was easier to take the faster baking nuts out when they were crying for mercy, and let the almonds linger a few more minutes.  

Walnuts and pecans and pistachios done right

 

So far, so good.

 

I found myself curious about the road still not taken—another syrup that was a candidate for sweetening.What would the nuts taste like roasted with maple syrup? Would this lighter, higher glycemic index syrup be even better? 

 

For Attempt Number Three, I took the one-third measuring cup I’d used for previous recipes. I filled half of it with date syrup from my waning bottle and then poured maple syrup to the top. After roasting, the nuts were soft and didn’t taste like much. Impatiently, I waited for them to cool to crispness before tasting. 

 

Maple-Date nut mix

Hmmm. The odd thing was that although the maple-date laced nuts were lighter in color and dried to a nice crispness, the taste wasn’t as deep and hauntingly flavorful. There was an umami in the date syrup and a nicely chewy caramelization that was no longer there. And being able to taste between the various batches made me decide that date syrup alone was the best. The ultimate nuts that I'm sharing with you. Recipe is also in print below.

Voila!

Spicy Christmas Nuts

Makes 3 and 1/3 cups

 

Ingredients:

1 cup unroasted, unsalted unblanched whole almonds (often sold as ‘natural’ in the grocery store)

1 cup unroasted, unsalted walnut halves

1 cup unroasted, unsalted pecan halves

1/3 cup unroasted, unsalted pistachios

 

¾ teaspoon roughly ground or pounded fennel seeds

1 tablespoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon amchoor spice, available at Asian grocery stores ( you can substitute 2 teaspoons lemon juice at end of recipe, if you can’t get amchoor)

½ to 2 teaspoons ground cayenne pepper (I use 1 teaspoon)

1-2 teaspoons fine salt, divided (I use Maldon Sea Salt that I pound fine. but pound it fine)

 

1/3 cup date syrup

2 tablespoons olive oil.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

1.     Line two rimmed baking sheets with ungreased parchment paper.

2.     Put all the almonds in one bowl.

3.     Put the walnuts halves, pecan halves and pistachios in a second bowl.

4.     Stir all the spices (including 1 teaspoon of the salt) together in a cup and set aside. Be prepared to divide this mix later between two bowls of nuts.

5.     Mix the date syrup and olive oil in another cup. Be prepared to split it between two bowls of nuts.

6.     Cover the nuts in each bowl firstly with the syrup-oil mixture, and secondly with the spices. Don’t be afraid to use your clean hands!

7.     Put the sticky spiced almonds on one baking sheet, and the rest of the nuts on the other sheet. Wash your hands!

8.     Set a timer for 5 minutes and put both baking sheets in the oven. When your timer rings, use a spatula to stir around the nuts on each baking sheet and rotate the sheets back to front, and higher rack to bottom rack. This promotes even cooking. 

9.     Set timer once again for 5 more minutes. When the timer rings, take out the walnuts, pecans and pistachios and set them on their parchment lined pan on a kitchen counter or table. If you are using lemon juice INSTEAD of amchoor, now is the time to toss the nuts with the lemon juice, remembering that you’ll divide the two tablespoons of lemon juice between both sheets of nuts. Taste to see if you want to add any more of the reserved salt.

10.  Allow the almonds to roast two to three more minutes longer than the walnuts-pecans-pistachios--or until many of the nuts show some signs of caramelization. Then you should remove the baking sheet to cool on the counter.

11.  The nuts will probably be cool enough to handle and taste in fifteen minutes. Let them cool to room temperature before packing in tins or git bags. They’ll stay fresh in their wrappings for up to a month, and they can be frozen as well. Eat out of hand and also use as a topping for cereal, oatmeal, cake, ice cream, pancakes, and any other place you think they will spark joy.

 

Which special traditions do you enjoy that you would never change? And what have you tweaked for the better?