It's Boxing Day

So Christmas is over, and what have you done. . .

Anne here, still deliciously replete from a Christmas dinner of rolled breast of turkey with chestnut and cranberry stuffing, served with baked potato, baked beetroot (my new discovery — delicious!) and green beans, and followed by plum pudding icecream with hot caramel sauce. And cherries. This Chinese bowl filled with fresh cherries has been on my table every Christmas for years — it doesn't feel like Christmas without it.

And now it's Boxing Day  — at least that's what we call it in the UK, Canada, New Zealand and Australia (and possibly a few other parts of the former British Empire.) Boxing Day isn't just a historical date you read in books, it's still very much alive here. I talked about the origins of Boxing Day in this post  — can't believe it was six years ago — if you want to read up about the history.

These days, though, we don't give boxes of left-over food or old clothes or whatever to our servants — not that we have any anyway, but if we did, I doubt they'd take kindly to being handed our cast-offs. And I'm not sure what happens to the donation boxes in church, but I doubt its contents are divided up between "the poor" of the parish in such a direct way as it used to be.

Here in Australia, Boxing Day is a public holiday, and offers a wide range of choices; some rush off for a second Christmas celebration with the other half of their family. Others head for the Boxing Day Sales (which are like the "Black Friday" sales after Thanksgiving in the USA) where prices are slashed and people hit the shops like there's no tomorrow. Those who don't shop either watch the cricket live or on TV — this year it's Australian versus Sri Lanka — or the beginning of the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race, which is a spectacular event on Sydney Harbour. And because it's summer here, a lot of families head for the beach. The rest of us generally laze around, nibbling our way through leftovers, cherries and Christmas candy, blissfully reading the books we got for Christmas. I'll leave it to you to decide which one I did. :)

So what was your Christmas like? And what are you doing today (26th Dec.)

Comments

[Mary Jo Putney]

Sounds delicious, Anne, and summer heat wave sounds pretty good about now--I'm iced in and grateful for the fact that the eletricity and wifi are holding. *g* Luckily, I also have books....

[Janga]

Your Christmas dinner sounds lovely, Anne. We'll use the Christmas leftovers later in the week, but after three days of rich, calorie-laden, Southern Christmas dinners, I want something simple. I have chili in the slow cooker, and I'll bake cornbread later. It sounds like what we need on a day when the temperature is steadily dropping and an icy wind is blowing.

I've already been out this morning buying next year's gift wrap and ribbon and a few decorations at the 75 percent off sales. I have a half dozen new books just downloaded to my Kindle, thanks to the first of a tidy stack of Christmas gift cards. Tomorrow I have to begin a new freelance project, but today is all mine--and I'll be reading.

[LilMissMolly]

I shoveled the driveway. Six inches of snow so far...

[Anne Gracie]

Sounds very peaceful, Mary Jo, if chilly. Isn't it funny how internet access has become so necessary to us?
Enjoy your boxing day.

[Anne Gracie]

Janga yes, I can imagine that chili and corn bread would make a lovely change from the richness of Christmas cooking.
Here, because it's hot, the leftovers are usually served cold with lots of salad, so it's not as heavy.

I've had a day of reading (with a few hours of writing as well) and later I'm off to have dinner with some writer friends who are over in Melbourne for a few days. I'm looking forward to catching up.
Have a lovely break, and enjoy your reading.

[Anne Gracie]

Ouch, Lilmissmolly! I suppose shoveling snow counts as a classic Xmas activity, but it's not exactly fun. Still, I suppose it works off some of the rich food you've eaten.

I hope you have a lovely rest-of-the-holidays.

[Ella Quinn]

I'm a day late. We celebrate Boxing Day in the US Virgin Islands, just as we drive on the left. Don't ask why, no one can remember. In an effort to stretch out the rich food, we had Christmas dinner.

[Anne Gracie]

Ella, how interesting — I never you knew you guys drove on the left. My instant assumption was that it would be a leftover from a former British colonization, but I just looked it up and the Virgin Islands were formerly Danish. But I guess there was some British influence, and that stuck.

One of these days I'm coming to the Caribbean — I've always wanted to visit. It looks beautiful.