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Dec. 14th, 2009 08:53 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
mistymasseyToday in 1546, Tycho Brahe, Danish astronomer and alchemist, was born. Tycho was the original party boy (even lost his nose at a party!) but still managed to make extraordinary contributions to astronomy. Nowadays, he'd have been one of those guys at college who never came to class but aced the exam anyway.
Once when I was a teenager, my mother made the mistake of asking me what I wanted her to prepare for Christmas dinner. I suggested a traditional Christmas goose and plum pudding (I'd been reading a lot of Poe and Dickens right around then.) I'm sure my mom was groaning inside, but she never let it show. On Christmas Day, the roasted goose was brought to the table with great fanfare, accompanied by chestnut stuffing and various vegetables. It was all delicious. At last it was time for the plum pudding and hard sauce. Mama had soaked it in brandy, so we could set it alight. The blue flame was beautiful, and for a moment, I felt as if I'd become a character in a book myself. With great excitement, I tried my first bite. And learned something important.
Plum pudding is just another word for fruitcake. Nasty, nasty fruitcake.
I managed to choke down a whole piece of the stuff, but every year after that, I made sure to ask for pecan pie or something chocolate instead.
Once when I was a teenager, my mother made the mistake of asking me what I wanted her to prepare for Christmas dinner. I suggested a traditional Christmas goose and plum pudding (I'd been reading a lot of Poe and Dickens right around then.) I'm sure my mom was groaning inside, but she never let it show. On Christmas Day, the roasted goose was brought to the table with great fanfare, accompanied by chestnut stuffing and various vegetables. It was all delicious. At last it was time for the plum pudding and hard sauce. Mama had soaked it in brandy, so we could set it alight. The blue flame was beautiful, and for a moment, I felt as if I'd become a character in a book myself. With great excitement, I tried my first bite. And learned something important.
Plum pudding is just another word for fruitcake. Nasty, nasty fruitcake.
I managed to choke down a whole piece of the stuff, but every year after that, I made sure to ask for pecan pie or something chocolate instead.
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Date: 2009-12-15 04:00 am (UTC)I never heard this story before. Thanks for making me snort my coke zero.
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Date: 2009-12-15 11:39 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-15 02:11 pm (UTC)I had some plum pudding that was good once. Had something odd about it, like soaked in cream or something. Can't recall exactly what.
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Date: 2009-12-15 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-12-16 01:19 pm (UTC)