This is the traditional day for making the Christmas pudding, thus allowing plenty of time for the flavours to develop. There are a number of superstitions and traditions associated with Christmas puddings, both in the preparation and serving, that have developed over the ages.
The origins of the Christmas pudding date back to the 15th Century (although these puddings were more like a porridge in consistency). The earliest Christmas puddings contained a mixture of breadcrumbs, dried fruit, spices, sugar, alcohol (in fact much the same ingredients we use today), but with one important addition: meat! The main reason for making these puddings was as a way of preserving meat. During the 17th Century the Christmas pudding started to become more solidified in nature and by the 18th Century the traditional round pudding wrapped in cloth was common. Puddings were not boiled in pudding basins until Victorian times, although many people still used a cloth to boil the pudding. Today it is probably more common to use a shop bought Christmas Pudding and heat it in the microwave.
Historically every member of the family would take a turn to stir the pudding mixture and make a wish whilst doing this. The pudding must always be stirred clockwise, as it is very unlucky to stir anticlockwise! Stir-up Sunday is generally recognised as being the last Sunday before the First Sunday of Advent. This year (2009) Stir-up Sunday falls on 22nd November.
Traditionally Christmas puddings contained small silver charms or a silver sixpence (again this is not common practice today as many people are frightened of choking on the charms and silver sixpences are no longer in circulation in the UK and therefore not easy to obtain, although some people may place charms on top of the pudding slices as it is served.) The silver charms all had different meanings and depending on what you found in the pudding would decide what type of luck you would have that year. A thimble for example signified you would remain an old maid (unmarried and therefore unlucky) for the year, a button (a bachelor or lucky for a man), the finder of the coin was guaranteed wealth, whereas whoever got the wishbone would be granted a wish. The charms (and the direction of stirring the pudding) pre-date Christianity, but like many other Christian traditions were incorporated into the new religion during Roman times.
Accompaniments to Christmas Pudding vary throughout the British Isles, some places pour cream on the pudding whereas places like Cumberland traditionally used Rum Butter, some households pour brandy over the pudding and set the brandy alight to make a flaming ball. However today what you put on your Christmas pudding is purely a matter of personal taste.