Stir-up Sunday 2020
Sunday, 22 November 2020 is ‘Stir-up Sunday’, so put on your apron and gather family or friends to make a Christmas pudding. It’s the day when wishes are said to come true, so get stirring!
What is Stir-up Sunday?
It is a tradition that harks back to Victorian times when the family would gather together to stir the Christmas pudding five weeks before Christmas. The opening words of the Book Of Common Prayer, used on the last Sunday before Advent, reads: "Stir up, we beseech thee, O Lord, the wills of thy faithful people," so the tradition stands that this is the day to get stirring!
The Stir-up traditions
Christmas pudding would traditionally contain 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and his disciples.
It is traditionally stirred (while making a wish) by each member of the family from East to West, to remember the Wise Men that visited Jesus in the Nativity Story.
The customary garnish of holly represented the crown of thorns. Be warned: the holly berry is very toxic, so instead adorn your Christmas pud with fake foliage!
Adding coins, originally charms, to the pud was said to bring luck if you found them in your portion on Christmas Day. The traditional lucky charms were a silver coin for wealth, a wishbone for luck, a thimble for thrift, a ring for marriage, and an anchor for safe harbour. Biting down on such a thing would surely cause a trip to the dentist with a cracked tooth, so we don't recommend this