Hard Sauce

24th December 2012

Nearly midnight - too late to write -  so some random moments...

The familiar voice at the end of the phone makes my heart stop - for a second I think it’s my father...it’s his brother - my dear uncle  - concerned about the flooding in the West Country and are we alright?  Although they are so different it’s just that he reminds me so much of him.....as if he was still alive..... 

He tells me about their Christmas and that he’ll make Hard Sauce to have with the pudding. Which is the same recipe we use - my sister will make it tomorrow for us -  because it comes from his mother - creamed butter and castor sugar flavoured with vanilla essence, spiked with blanched almonds like a hedgehog and with a cherry on top. It hardens in the fridge and then melts into a sweet rich sauce in the heat of the pudding. I love it that we are carrying on a family tradition down the generations, a Christmas ritual - a way of keeping those precious people alive in our hearts.....

All day it’s been hard not to think about other Christmas Eves - I used to wrap presents with my brother.....my husband and I didn’t really make many rituals....he says he’s mostly looking forward to going to church with my brother-in-law tomorrow......whereas for me it’s all about the family....I think the socialising maybe too much for him now....