12 days of Christmas

I really liked this song as a kid (along with We Three Kings), but never really understood why there were 12 days. We always just celebrated on Christmas Eve. This year, several answers fell into my lap:

Martha Stewart: of course, what doesn't she know? In her December 1999 issue (which I picked up at Cameron's Books) she give an explanation of the 12 days and crafts to match. Supposedly, "the carol developed in England during the first few decades of the eighteenth century, a period during which overt demonstrations of Catholic faith were heavily curtailed by the Protestant rulers." The song had hidden meanings in each symbol of each day. In the mid-nineteenth century the song became a game where a "group would gather and each person would sing the verses in turn, with another day added by each new singer. A forgotten verse meant a forfeiture, with the losses tallied at the end."

First Day - December 26

Second Day - December 27

Third Day - December 28

Fourth Day - December 29

Fifth Day - December 30

Sixth Day - December 31

Seventh Day - January 1

Eighth Day - January 2

Ninth Day - January 3
Tenth Day - January 4

Eleventh Day - January 5

Twelfth Night - January 6

Toni: was telling me about her trip to France and the Epiphany celebrations that they had there. I hadn't heard about Epiphany and thought that it was a neat idea to have a cake with a baby Jesus in it and whoever finds it is the king (or queen) for the day.

Festivals, Family, and Food: by Diana Carey and Judy Large is a great book that I found at a natural children's toy store. They have another description for Twelfth Night and Epiphany (specifically, the cake). It was the twelfth night since Jesus's birth when the wise men arrived and this night is the end of the Christmas season. They recommend this night for taking down the tree and eating the cake. "There is a special cake to have on this evening-the French call it a Galette des Rois. . . One tradition is that a hidden treasure is put inside it-the one who finds the treasure is king for the night. . . Another custom is to bake the cake with a bean and a pea (dried) in the mix. The one who finds the bean is king and the one who finds the pea is queen for one night. Here is their recipe for Epiphany cake (oh, it is a British book, so you may need to convert the measurements):

8 oz butter

grated rind of lemon

5 oz sifted icing sugar

3 oz self-raising flour

3 oz ground rice

6 egg yolks

3 egg whites

Extra sifted icing sugar

Cream the butter and grated lemon rind and then beat in the icing sugar. Sift the flour and ground rice together and add one third of it to the creamed mixture. Add two of the egg yolks and repeat with the remaining flour and yolks. Fold in the stiffly whisked whites and turn into a prepared tin (possibly a ring shape) and bake in oven 350 F for about an hour. Then test to see if springy and cooked. Decorate with a lemon butter icing or just sifted icing sugar and decorate with little figures of the three kings or with crowns or stars.

There is also a few other recipes for Epiphany cake here, here, here, and here. So find one that you like (I think I will try the last, it looks easiest).

Little Birds Handmade: gave me the idea of an advent calendar, but I didn't get around to making one in time for December 1st, so decided to do a 12 days of Christmas calendar (hoping that this would cause less of a post-holiday slump).



Twelfth Night: I love this play (and never really knew the reference before) and played Viola in my high school's production. Wikipedia, explains that Twelfth Night (aka, Epiphany) is also called Little Christmas or Women's Christmas in Ireland because it is the day that men do all the work and the women go out and have fun (plus they get presents). Sounds pretty good to me!