Here in Norway the thirteenth yule-day is just the day we throw out the yule-tree and take down the decorations. We should start having cake after we’re done cleaning!
Same in England, at least traditionally. There’s a song about the Twelve Days of Christmas etc. I think the old thing to do was cook two Christmas cakes and keep “feeding” one of them with brandy until Easter, when you covered that with marzipan to make something called a Simnel cake. Also I think you were supposed to actually make those cakes at the beginning of October, so it’s a pretty obvious example of a historical practice of preserving the harvest, with religious significance attached after the fact. I think I might get back into it, I love a bit of traditional food culture.
Here in Norway the thirteenth yule-day is just the day we throw out the yule-tree and take down the decorations. We should start having cake after we’re done cleaning!
Same in England, at least traditionally. There’s a song about the Twelve Days of Christmas etc. I think the old thing to do was cook two Christmas cakes and keep “feeding” one of them with brandy until Easter, when you covered that with marzipan to make something called a Simnel cake. Also I think you were supposed to actually make those cakes at the beginning of October, so it’s a pretty obvious example of a historical practice of preserving the harvest, with religious significance attached after the fact. I think I might get back into it, I love a bit of traditional food culture.