Even though Ebenezer made plum pudding in demand during the Christmas
holidays, it's today that heralds this sweet treat on, you guessed it,
'Plum Pudding Day.' The branches of plum trees have long been positioned
above the doors and windows of European households to keep negativity,
illness, evil or harm at bay, while the Chinese absolutely revere the
plum as one of the most fortune filled foods of all. In Eastern cultures
believe the plum bestows longevity and luck. And then there are the
beliefs surrounding dried plums or prunes. Aside from the fact that they
stimulate digestive system activity, prunes are also said to be a
sexual stimulant. In fact, prunes were served free of charge to
customers in European brothels during earlier times, although I'm pretty
sure they were the only things free in those establishments! So, if
you're craving a sexy and saucy romp, be sure to start by sharing a
little plum pudding today. Oh so good!
By Ellen Whitehurst for Astrology.com
Doesn't this make
you happy!?! You must admit, if it wasn't Plum Pudding Day, you
probably
wouldn't even think about plum pudding, let alone eat some.
Participating in Plum Pudding Day make take a little work. You will find
vanilla and chocolate pudding on store shelves. You'll find banana
and tapioca
pudding, too. Unfortunately, we do not believe there is a packaged
Plum Pudding
on the market. That means you get the joy of finding a recipe and
making
it from scratch. You can also seek out a restaurant that serves
it. Tip:
call and check before you go.
Plums are popular in Chinese and Asian cuisine. It is likely that this day
originated either in Asia, or was created by someone enjoying a Chinese plum
pudding dessert.

Grandma Fisher's Plum Pudding Recipe

from...https://homeschooling.about.com/library/blfeb12b.htm

1 cup
granulated sugar
1 cup butter, room temperature

1 cup milk*

2 eggs, beaten

2/3 cup molasses
1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

3 teaspoons baking
powder
3 1/2 cups all-purpose
flour  plus 2 tablespoons

1 1/2 cups raisins, finely chopped

1 cup dates, chopped

1/2 cup nuts, chopped

3 tablespoons candied orange or lemon citron, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups chopped apples
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Boiling Water

Nutmeg Sauce

* 1/2 cup fruit juice and 1/2
cup brandy may be substituted for the milk if desired.

Grease two 2-pound coffee cans, two 2-quart pudding
molds, or two 2-quart oven-proof deep dishes.

In a large bowl, combine sugar, butter, milk, eggs,
molasses, salt, baking soda, baking powder, and flour; add raisins, dates, nuts,
candied orange or lemon citron, apples, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg.

Fill each greased pan 1/2 full of batter. Cover
tops of pans with lids or 2 layers of aluminum foil. In a large pot or roaster,
place molds on trivets or a rack and add boiling water 2/3 up the side of the
mold; bring rapidly to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover pot or roaster,
and boil gently 4 to 4 1/2 hours (add more boiling water as necessary) or until
fork comes out clean when put into center of pudding.

Remove from heat and cool. Store in refrigerator,
covered, until time to serve. NOTE: These also freeze well.

To serve, steam for 1 hour before serving to heat
thoroughly. Unmold and serve hot with Nutmeg Sauce.

Yields two puddings.

Nutmeg Sauce
2/3 cup granulated sugar*
1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup boiling water

1 tablespoon butter

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

* Brown sugar may be
substituted for the granulated sugar if desired.  

In a large saucepan over medium-high
heat, combine sugar, cornstarch and salt. Add boiling water and cook, stirring
constantly, 3 minutes until ingredients are well blended.

History
of Plum Pudding

Why is Plum Pudding called
Plum Pudding when there are no plums in it? In the 17th century, plums referred to raisins
or other fruits. Plumb is
another spelling of plum. Prune is actually derived from the same word as plum - the Latin
word was pruna, which changed in the Germanic languages into pluma. But the terms were
quite confused in the 16th and 17th centuries and people talked about growing prunes in
their garden.

(1)  Defination of "plum" in the Oxford English Dictionary
A dried grape or raisin as used for puddings, cakes, etc.  This use probably arose
from the substitution of raisins for dried plums or prunes as an ingredient in plum-broth,
porridge, etc., with retention of  the name 'plum' for the
substituted
article."  The OED then goes on to list occurrences of this use in
literature.  Samuel Johnson defined a "plum" as "raisin; grape dried
in the sun."

(2)  Some information from A Gourmet´s Guide by John Ayto
"Dried plums, or prunes, were popular in pies in medieval times, but gradually in the
sixteenth and seventeenth century they began to be replaced by raisins. The dishes made
with them, however, retained the term plum, and to this day the plum pudding, plum cake,
plum duff etc. remind us of their former ingredients." And yes, the raisins were
sometimes called plums in the 19th century, but only when they were in a plum pudding or
plum cake ...

---

Plum pudding is a steamed or boiled pudding
frequently served at holiday times. Plum pudding has never contained plums. The name
Christmas pudding is first recorded in 1858 in a novel by Anthony Trollope.

During the Puritan reign in England, plum pudding
was outlawed as "sinfully rich."

Traditionally in England, small silver charms
were baked in the plum pudding. A silver coin would bring wealth in the coming year; a
tiny wishbone, good luck; a silver thimble, thrift; an anchor, safe harbor.

By Victorian times, only the silver coin
remained. In England these tiny charms can still be bought by families who make their own
puddings.

It is also traditional for every one who lives in
the household to simultaneously hold onto the wooden spoon, help stir the batter for the
pudding, and make a wish.

Quote from The Gourmets Guide "Nowadays served only at Christmas, and so called exclusively Christmas pudding, this
was formerly a common year-round pudding (albeit not always as rich as the festive
version); indeed, in 1748 Pehr Kalm, a Swedish visitor to England, noted that "the
art of cooking as practised by Englishmen does not extend much beyond roast beef and plum
pudding". And in 1814, one of the traditional English delicacies introduced to the
French by Antoine Beauvilliers in his L´art du cuisiner was plomb-poutingue."
 
ALSO TODAY>>>February 12

• Abraham
  Lincoln's Birthday

Abraham Lincoln.. (February 12, 1809-
April 15, 1865) was the 16th President of the United States of America.
He served as President from March 4, 1861, until April 15, 1865 (he was
re-elected in 1864). Lincoln's Vice-President was Andrew Johnson
(1808-1875).
BARBIE DOLL, two different dates, one in Feb & one in March???

The first Barbie doll sported a ponytail
hairstyle, black and white zebra-striped bathing suit, open-toed shoes,
sunglasses and earrings. A line of fashions and accessories was also
available. Buyers at the industry’s annual Toy Fair in New York were not
impressed, but little girls certainly were and the Barbie doll took
retailers by storm. Mattel was so swamped with orders that it took several
years for supply to catch up with demand.
https://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/barbiedoll.htm
Barbara Handler, the daughter of Ruth
and Elliot Handler. In the early 1950s, Handler saw that her young daughter, Barbara, and her
girlfriends enjoyed playing with adult female dolls as much or more than
with baby dolls. Handler sensed that it was just as important for girls to
imagine what they themselves might grow up to become as it was for them to
focus on what caring for children might be like.Because all the adult dolls then available
were made of paper or cardboard, Handler decided to create a
three-dimensional adult female doll, one lifelike enough to serve as an
inspiration for her daughter's dreams of her future. Handler took her idea
to the ad executives at Mattel Corp., the company that she and her husband,
Elliot, had founded in their garage some years before: the (all-male)
committee rejected the idea as too expensive, and with little potential for
wide market appeal.Soon thereafter, Handler returned from a trip
to Europe with a "Lilli" doll, modeled after a character in a German comic
strip. Handler spent some time designing a doll similar to Lilli, and even
hired a designer to make realistic doll clothes. The result was the Barbie
doll (named in honor of the Handlers' daughter), a pint-sized model of the
"girl next door."
Mattel finally agreed to back Handler's
efforts; and the Barbie doll debuted at the American Toy Fair in New York
City in 1959. Girls clamored for the doll, and Barbie set a new sales record
for Mattel its first year on the market (351,000 dolls, at $3 each). Since
then, Barbie's popularity has rarely flagged; and today, with over one
billion dolls sold, the Barbie product line is the most successful in the
history of the toy industry.
The Barbie doll was introduced as a teenage
fashion model, but in the years that followed she has taken on many
aspirational roles. She has tackled almost every conceivable profession,
including dentist, doctor, firefighter, astronaut, paleontologist—even
Presidential candidate.

Barbie's traditional trademarks
have been her blonde hair, tiny waist and an astonishingly large bust.
If her measurements were translated to human inches, her statistics
would be 38-18-34. The world's most famous doll had major plastic surgery.

The US toy company, Mattel, Barbie was redesigned to better reflect today's society.It is the third such change in Barbie's 38-year history.

Controversies   Barbie's popularity ensures that her effect on the play of children
attracts a high degree of scrutiny. The criticisms leveled at her are
often based on the assumption that children consider Barbie a role model
and will attempt to emulate her.

• One of the most common criticisms of Barbie is that she promotes an
  unrealistic idea of body image for a young woman, leading to a risk that
  girls who attempt to emulate her will become anorexic. A standard Barbie doll is 11.5 inches tall, giving a height of 5 feet 9 inches at 1/6 scale.
  Barbie's vital statistics have been estimated at 36 inches (chest),
  18 inches (waist) and 33 inches (hips). According to research by the
  University Central Hospital in Helsinki, Finland, she would lack the 17 to 22 percent body fat required for a woman to menstruate.^[14] In 1963 the outfit "Barbie Baby-Sits" came with a book entitled How to Lose Weight which advised: "Don't eat."^[15] The same book was included in another ensemble called "Slumber Party"
  in 1965 along with a pink bathroom scale reading 110 lbs.,^[16] which would be around 35 lbs. underweight for a woman 5 feet 9 inches tall.^[17] In 1997 Barbie's body mold was redesigned and given a wider waist, with
  Mattel saying that this would make the doll better suited to
  contemporary fashion designs.^[18][19]


• "Colored Francie" made her debut in 1967, and she is sometimes described as the first African American Barbie doll. However, she was produced using the existing head molds for the white Francie doll and lacked African characteristics other than a dark skin. The first African American doll in the Barbie range is usually regarded as Christie, who made her debut in 1968.^[20][21] Black Barbie was launched in 1980 but still had white features. In September 2009, Mattel introduced the So In Style range, which was intended to create a more realistic depiction of black people than previous dolls.^[22]


• In July 1992 Mattel released Teen Talk Barbie, which spoke a
  number of phrases including "Will we ever have enough clothes?", "I love
  shopping!", and "Wanna have a pizza party?" Each doll was programmed to
  say four out of 270 possible phrases, so that no two dolls were likely
  to be the same. One of these 270 phrases was "Math class is tough!" (often misquoted as "Math is hard"). Although only
  about 1.5% of all the dolls sold said the phrase, it led to criticism
  from the American Association of University Women. In October 1992 Mattel announced that Teen Talk Barbie would no longer say the phrase, and offered a swap to anyone who owned a doll that did.^[23]


• In 1997 Mattel joined forces with Nabisco to launch a cross-promotion of Barbie with Oreo cookies. Oreo Fun Barbie was marketed as someone with whom little girls could play after class
  and share "America's favorite cookie." As had become the custom, Mattel
  manufactured both a white and a black version. Critics argued that in the African American community Oreo is a derogatory term meaning that the person is "black on the outside
  and white on the inside," like the chocolate sandwich cookie itself. The
  doll was unsuccessful and Mattel recalled the unsold stock, making it
  sought after by collectors.^[24]


• In May 1997 Mattel introduced Share a Smile Becky, a doll in a pink wheelchair. Kjersti Johnson, a 17-year-old high school student in Tacoma, Washington with cerebral palsy, pointed out that the doll would not fit into the elevator of Barbie's $100 Dream House. Mattel announced that it would redesign the house in the future to accommodate the doll.^[25][26]


• In March 2000 stories appeared in the media claiming that the hard vinyl used in vintage Barbie dolls could leak toxic chemicals, causing danger
  to children playing with them. The claim was rejected as false by
  technical experts. A modern Barbie doll has a body made from ABS plastic, while the head is made from soft PVC.^[27][28]


• In September 2003 the Middle Eastern country of Saudi Arabia outlawed the sale of Barbie dolls, saying that she did not conform to the ideals of Islam. The Committee for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice stated "Jewish Barbie dolls, with their revealing clothes and shameful postures, accessories and tools are a symbol of decadence to the perverted West. Let us beware of her dangers and be careful."^[29] In Middle Eastern countries there is an alternative doll called Fulla which is similar to Barbie but is designed to be more acceptable to an
  Islamic market. Fulla is not made by the Mattel Corporation, and Barbie
  is still available in other Middle Eastern countries including Egypt.^[30] In Iran, Sara and Dara dolls are available as an alternative to Barbie.^[31]


• In December 2005 Dr. Agnes Nairn at the University of Bath in England published research suggesting that girls often go through a stage where
  they hate their Barbie dolls and subject them to a range of
  punishments, including decapitation and placing the doll in a microwave oven. Dr. Nairn said: "It's as though disavowing Barbie is a rite of passage and a rejection of their past."^[32][33]


• In April 2009, the launch of a Totally Tattoos Barbie with a range of tattoos that could be applied to the doll, including a lower back tattoo,
  led to controversy. Mattel's promotional material read "Customize the
  fashions and apply the fun temporary tattoos on you too", but Ed Mayo,
  chief executive of Consumer Focus, argued that children might want to
  get tattooed themselves.^[34]


• In July 2010, Mattel released "Barbie Video Girl", a Barbie doll
  with a pinhole video camera in its chest, enabling clips of up to 30
  minutes to be recorded, viewed and uploaded to a computer via a USB cable. On November 30, 2010, The FBI issued a warning in a private memo that the doll could be used to produce child pornography, although it stated publicly that there was "no reported evidence that the doll had been used in any way other than intended from>>>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barbie