Christmas Pudding

It’s almost time for Christmas Pudding.

Traditional English Trifle

We are so ready for this...

According to Amanda’s Cooking, the English didn’t “invent” the trifle, the Scottish did. The Scots have recipes that date back to the late 1500’s.

But, since Scotland and England united to become the United Kingdom, calling the trifle “English” is accurate enough.

This recipe is wonderful, borrowed from Amanda’s Cooking at:

Amanda's Cooking

Ingredients

CUSTARD LAYER

4 cups whole milk

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

8 egg yolks

4 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoon cornstarch

CAKE LAYER

9x13 white or yellow cake, baked and cooled

1/2 cup cream sherry

3 heaping tablespoons seedless red raspberry jam or preserves

FRUIT LAYER

2 cups sliced fresh strawberries

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 tablespoon cream sherry

1 tablespoon sugar

WHIPPED CREAM

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 teaspoon powdered sugar

Instructions

For the Custard

Combine the milk, heavy cream and vanilla in a heavy bottomed medium saucepan, stirring frequently. 

Heat the milk mixture over low-medium heat until it just begins to simmer and steam rises from the surface.

Meanwhile, mix the sugar and cornstarch together with a fork. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and the sugar mixture until light and smooth.

HINT: I use my KitchenAid for this, but only as a stand. 

I hand whisk but use the bowl of the mixer attached to the machine so that I don't have to hold the bowl as well. 

This allows me to whisk and pour at the same time, which is needed in the next step.

Remove the warmed milk from the stove and while whisking the egg yolks constantly, dribble a few drops at a time into the yolks. Adding the hot liquid very, very slowly in the beginning will temper the eggs, allowing them to warm gradually so that they don't curdle, or worse, scramble! 

Once you have dribbled in a good amount you can increase the amount of liquid you add at a time, whisking continuously until all the milk has been added.

Pour the contents of the mixer bowl into the saucepan and heat over medium, stirring constantly. 

Keep stirring, ensuring that the milk mixture does not stick to the bottom of the pan, until thickened, anywhere from 2-6 minutes. 

Custard will be thick and smooth. 

Pour into a shallow bowl and cover the top with plastic wrap so that the plastic is touching the surface of the custard. 

This will prevent a skin from forming on top. 

Cool in the refrigerator until chilled.

For the Cake

Cut the cake into large manageable squares. 

Cut those squares in half horizontally. 

Open the squares so that the cut sides are facing up. 

Brush the cake with the cream sherry. 

Spread the sherries cake with the raspberry jam. 

Cut the cake into cubes.

For the Fruit

In a medium bowl, combine the strawberries, raspberries, sherry and sugar. 

Stir to coat and allow to macerate. 

Keep in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the trifle.

For the Whipped Cream

Combine the heavy whipping cream and the powdered sugar in a larger mixer bowl. 

Beat on high for 2 minutes, or until stiff peaks form. 

Keep chilled in the refrigerator until ready to assemble.

Assemble the Trifle

Place 1/3 of the cake cubes in the bottom of the trifle dish, jam side up. 

Top the cake cubes with 1/3 of the fruit, followed by 1/3 of the custard and finally with 1/3 of the whipped cream. Repeat layers two more times. 

Decorate the top with fresh fruit. 

Keep chilled until ready to serve.

4,500 years old monument is discovered in English countryside

Archaeologists have discovered a new prehistoric monument near Stonehenge.

The discovery of at least 20 massive shafts - more than 10 metres in diameter and five metres deep - forming a circle more than two kilometres in diameter around the Durrington Walls henge.

Coring of the shafts are Neolithic and excavated more than 4,500 years ago - around the time Durrington Walls was built.

This circle of deep shafts is the largest prehistoric structure ever found in Britain.

4,500 ago, the Neolithic peoples who constructed Stonehenge, a masterpiece of engineering, also dug a series of shafts aligned to form a circle spanning 1.2 miles (2km) in diameter. 

The structure appears to have been a boundary guiding people to a sacred area because Durrington Walls, one of Britain’s largest henge monuments, is located precisely at its centre. 

The site is 1.9 miles north-east of Stonehenge on Salisbury Plain, near Amesbury, Wiltshire.

Prof Vincent Gaffney, a leading archaeologist on the project, said: “This is an unprecedented find of major significance within the UK. Key researchers on Stonehenge and its landscape have been taken aback by the scale of the structure and the fact that it hadn’t been discovered until now so close to Stonehenge.”

Witches - A Moment In History

June 1, 1563: Witchcraft Laws Go Into Effect In England

England’s Witchcraft Laws were put into effect. 

These laws were put into effect on June 1, 1563, and made the practice of witchcraft illegal and outlawed all witchcraft-related activities. 

It was called An Act Against Conjurations, Enchantments and Witchcrafts. 

The law was not the first in English history against the practice of witchcraft. In 1401, witchcraft was legally recognized as heresy against the church and government, but it was not technically punishable by death, although killing witches did happen.

Henry VIII passed an act in 1542 that defined witchcraft as a felony punishable by death for the first time. 

The felon’s property, goods, etc., were also forfeited to the crown upon conviction for witchcraft and you can see how ulterior motives would arise from the nature of the law. Edward VI repealed the law in 1547.

If you were living in England on June 1, 1563, the Act Against Conjurations, Enchantments and Witchcrafts would officially be in effect. 

If you were convicted of practicing witchcraft, you served time in prison. 

If the conviction had the death or destruction of another person attached to it, you were put to death without clergy to take confession, give absolution, or administer last rites.

James I added to the Act Against Conjurations, Enchantments and Witchcrafts in 1604 to make invocation or communication with spirits a felony punishable by death as well.

Being burned at the stake was actually not very common in Elizabeth I’s and James I’s reigns. Only those who committed heresy or treason were burned, and because witchcraft was turned into a felony, the cases moved to common courts and convicted individuals were hanged.

George II changed the law again in 1736 to say that anyone who “pretended” to conjure spirits, tell the future, etc., was a con artist. 

Punishments for con artists were fines and prison time. 

It’s important to note the language of these changes because it shifts the perception of witchcraft in the judicial system from something very real and dangerous to something not so real and less dangerous.

A witch under the law was no longer making deals with the devil but in fact knowingly conning people around them. 

It shows a shift in society around the Enlightenment.

Despite witchcraft technically being illegal in England until 1951 (yes, the 20th century), people were no longer routinely put to death by the mid-1700s. Helen Duncan was the last person to do time in prison under George II’s 1736 witchcraft laws. She spent nine months in prison for being a clairvoyant, and then she was arrested again in 1956 after the 1951 Fraudulent Mediums Act, which was later repealed in 2008.

Hate Campaign Against Witches

 

Toni Hunt and her staff at 'Spellbound' in College Green, Gloucester, say they have been called terrorists and devil worshippers and have received death threats, and they are victims of a hate campaign.

 

They have reported the crimes but feel the police they are not taking the crimes seriously because of their beliefs.

Ms Hunt says they have been targeted for abuse for about two years but  recently a threat was made to burn down the premises - with the staff still inside.

"I have reported such incidents on numerous occasions but when the police arrive they tell ne that people are just expressing opinions," she said.

"If we were members any other religion or group it would be treated as hate crime and dealt with appropriately.

 

"Persecution of witches did not end centuries ago - it is still very prominent in the 21st century and we are being subjected to it regularly.

"Over the last twelve months there is one particular lady who has targeted the shop. We have her on CCTV but nothing seems to be done about it and my two staff members are fearful of her.

"We have been called all sorts - Black Magic Badger Killers, Spawn of Satan and in the same league as ISIS to name just a few. It's just not acceptable.

"I have two lovely staff members here. They are just young girls and they are regularly being mocked and laughed at due to their beliefs and the way they dress. 

"I accept everyone has their own beliefs but I do not accept someone being persecuted because of them. I believe if this was a mosque or a church being targeted far more would be done but we are just not taken seriously."

Toni says the one individual who has caused the most problems has been seen outside apparently praying for them - whilst at the same time insulting the staff. The shop has been defaced with substances smeared all over the door and windows.

"One incident, where we arrived to find what appeared to be glue all over the outside of the shop, was caught on CCTV and has been reported to the police but still nothing has been done and we have to continually face each day wondering what we will be subjected to next.

"All I really want is the police to realise the gravity of the situation. This isn't just someone saying they disagree with our beliefs, this is harassment and hate crime. We are being verbally abused, our property damaged and no one is being held to account - so it continues."

Gloucester Local Policing Sergeant Matt Puttock said "One of my officers, PC Adams, has been working with Spellbound to understand the issues and provide support.

"We are attempting to identify the suspect from the CCTV images and PC Adams has regularly visited the owners of the shop since reporting these incidents.

"PC Adams also works closely with Gloucester City Safe and has liaised between the two so that City Safe can provide further support. We will continue to work with Spellbound to ensure we are well placed to assist them should problems re-occur."

County Hate Crime Co-ordinator PC Steph Lawrence urged anyone who feels they have been the victim of hate crime to report it. (Just don't expect much if your Pagan)

But Steph goes on to say, "If a crime has occurred we will investigate and gather all available evidence to assist in any prosecution," she said.

 

Witches - A Century of Murder

 

In this two part drama-documentary, Dr Suzannah Lipscomb goes in search of the of the gruesome witch hunts and trials that infested the British Isles 400 years ago.

Through original documents and powerful drama, Suzannah uncovers the fear of Satan that drove the persecutors to such extreme lengths and what it was like for the innocent victims tortured and executed for crimes they couldn’t possibly have committed.

Understanding Christianity by the Church of England

The Church of England has developed a new training program called 'Understanding Christianity', for young people because they feel that classes currently do not always properly explain Christian beliefs.

The Christian activities will also include festivals and practices, with the hope the program will help schools teach on the creation, the fall, incarnation, salvation and the Gospel.

Project leader Derek Holloway says, "We're living in an age of increasingly discussion and interest in religion - which is often quite negative - and it's important that all adults are able to hold an informed conversation about religion."

"They can only do that if they have got a good understanding of what those religons teach."

"There is a great excitement when people see the resource and the potential that it has to enhance, improve and make more creative the lessons which teachers are delivering around Christianity."

This may be a response to decisions like the two-year commission, chaired by the former senior judge Baroness Butler-Sloss (photo below) and involving leading religious leaders from all faiths, calls for public life in Britain to be systematically de-Christianised.

Britain is no longer a Christian country and should stop acting as if it is, a major inquiry into the place of religion in modern society has concluded, really upsetting ministers and the Church of England.

It says that the decline of churchgoing and the growth of other faiths mean a "new settlement" is needed for religion in the UK, giving more official influence to non-religious voices and those of non-Christian faiths.

The report, by the Commission on Religion and Belief in Public Life, claims that faith schools are "socially divisive" and says that the selection of children on the basis of their beliefs should be eliminated.

Then there's  the compulsory daily act of worship in school assemblies should be abolished and replaced with a "time for reflection".