No stirring

Today is Stir Up Sunday, the day for making your own Christmas puddings. Stir Up Sunday is also the informal term for the last Sunday before Advent. Tradition has it that every member of the family should have a stir and make a wish. And the length of time before now and Christmas means the pudding has plenty of time to mellow and mature.

There won't be any stirring in my household, I'm afraid. Nobody seems to like Christmas pudding. I don't mind it because I am an absolute stickler for tradition, but this year I've bought an individual pudding from Lakeland. It isn't the round shape shown in the picture - does anyone ever make them this shape nowadays?

My mum used to occasionally make her own Christmas puddings and Christmas cake. But it was a thankless task because my elder brother didn't like nuts or peel, and the younger brother wasn't keen on marzipan.

I doubt if very many people at all will be stirring up the tradition today. A survey said this week that most of us  have no confidence about cooking, and millions of pounds' worth of home-made meals end up in the bin before they're eaten, including Christmas puddings (which cost an average of £10 to make.)

Will you be making your own pud and how do you like it served? Clotted cream was always the gold stansdard in my Devonian childhood, although I let the side down by wanting "Nestle's cream". I can't stand brandy butter and custard seems to make it a very average delight. I discovered last year you could still get a type of Nestle's cream, so I'm afraid I will be having that with my Lakeland "Billy No Mates" pudding.