Boxing Day 2020…Turkey Sandwiches and Bubble and Squeak!

 

Boxing Day is the day after Christmas Day and falls on 26 December. It’s also a public bank holiday in the UK. When 26 December is a Saturday, the Boxing Day bank holiday is moved to the next Monday. If 26 December falls on a Sunday, then the holiday is the following Tuesday.

This year Boxing falls on Monday although many will be having their cold cuts today and Monday will be treated as an additional holiday…

Boxing Day got its name when Queen Victoria was on the throne in the 1800s and has nothing to do with the sport of boxing. The name comes from a time when the rich used to box up gifts to give to the poor.

Boxing Day was traditionally a day off for servants, and the day when they received a special Christmas box from their masters. The servants would also go home on Boxing Day to give Christmas boxes to their families.

The day also has religious connections and is celebrated as Saint Stephen’s Day in Ireland and the Catalonia region of Spain.

In some European countries – such as Hungary, Germany, Poland, and the Netherlands – Boxing Day is celebrated as a second Christmas Day.

Collection money…Churches also played a part in the creation of Boxing Day. Through the year
they would take money from churchgoers in the form of a collection and hand it out at
Christmas.

Many of them stored the collection money in a box, which they opened on Christmas Day. The money was then handed out to the poor the next day – on Boxing Day.

I have memories of my father who gave a Christmas Box to the coalman, the milkman and the paperboys in the week before Christmas and call it a Christmas box… the milkman also used to get a hot toddy as those mornings were so cold…

Christmas Day is now a football-free zone, but this wasn’t always the case.

In the days before TV, there would be a full programme of matches on 25 December with fans popping on hats and gloves to watch football at grounds across the UK after eating.

But throughout the 1950s, attitudes towards playing sport on Christmas Day changed.

The final Christmas Day football match took place in 1957, leaving Boxing Day as the traditional festive fixture.

Growing up I remember my father coming home covered in mud and bruises and my mother had the task of washing all the kits…

The balls back then were leather and heavy especially when wet…My father being the goalkeeper seemed to get the brunt of the ball hurtling towards him but he was strong and kept many a ball from ending up in the back of the net…

There were also no fancy stadiums just a field with a net at each end…

If you were not a sports fan then for many people, Boxing Day actually only means one thing – leftovers!!

Let’s face it, many people prepare way too much food for Christmas Day and end up eating it for the next week! Turkey curry, turkey pies and the famous turkey sandwich.

The only way to eat  Turkey sandwich the Jamie O way……

Yum, looking forward to it already – But hang on what about the sprouts?

Bubble and Squeak...there is nothing like bubble and squeak topped with a poached egg…

Love them or hate them – millions of Brussels sprouts will be served across Britain this week as part of the traditional Christmas dinner.

The controversial vegetables face a massive journey to provide the nation with more than 100 million sprouts on Christmas Day…However, there were no sprouts here this year…so think of me while you are enjoying your bubble and squeak…

Enjoy Boxing Day wherever you are in the world and please stay safe…Many of my family and friends in the UK are in Tier 4…Here we are in the orange zone(colour) zones…Orange means no more than 10 cases…but they are taking no chances… on our way home from lunch yesterday we saw testing sites had been set up and migrant workers were being tested…

I am just waiting to hear what’s next it seems that some illegal immigrants have caused this upsurge in cases…spoilt our record but it seems Covid takes any small window to creep in …and it has…Officially

  • In Yellow and Green Zones, events and gatherings can still be organized but recommended to scale down. Strict screening checkpoints need to be managed as well.

Here we go again it seems…XXX

Thank you for dropping in today, I hope you have enjoyed reading this post, as always I look forward to your comments… you know I love to chat!

 

 

35 thoughts on “Boxing Day 2020…Turkey Sandwiches and Bubble and Squeak!”

  2. Cathy Cade

    Love my bubble – one of the downsides of not cooking our own Christmas dinner this year is no bubble and squeak on Boxing Day (although I will have tomorow, as roasting today). Mine just gets stirred around in a mound and spooned onto the plate – you get more crunchy bits that way.

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Pingback: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…20th December-26th December…Recipes, Whimsy, Music and Christmas… | Retired? No one told me!

  4. koolkosherkitchen

    Thank you for explaining the Boxing Day, dear Carol; I have always wondered… Now if you would also explain “bubble and squeak,” I might considered myself British by osmosis. I did play football as a child! Does that count?
    I hope you are enjoying your holidays, darling!

    Liked by 1 person

  5. petespringerauthor

    I knew a little bit about Boxing Day, but I feel like I now have a much better understanding. After two days of too much eating, it’s time to get back on the straight and narrow.

    Liked by 1 person

    2. CarolCooks2 Post author

      I’ll happily grant you honorary status as you played football as a child as for Bubble and Squeak darling just click the name (bubble and squeak) on the post and it will reveal all…Hugs x

      Like

  7. Clive

    Living on my own, the one thing I really miss is bubble and squeak! I just don’t have the leftovers to make it. Hope you’re having a lovely Christmas, Carol x

    Like

  14. beetleypete

    Because we went out to eat, we have no leftover Turkey for the first time in years. My usual Boxing Day dinner of cold turkey, ham, chips, and pickles has been replaced by a Tapas/Mezze mash-up of spicy meats, tortilla, anchovies, cheeses and olives. We will be laying it our later like a buffet, and just having what we want, when we want.
    Best wishes, Pete.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Same here, Pete.. I hope your meal was better than ours.. we were disappointed… Today we are having pork stuffed with cream cheese and jalapenos and brandy butter potato cake plus veggies… x

      Liked by 1 person

      1. beetleypete

        It was a good meal, Carol. Plenty to eat, and very tasty. £50 a head for three courses, then coffee and mince pies at the end. We took the mince pies home, as we were too full to eat them. 🙂 x

        Liked by 1 person

  15. robbiesinspiration

    I don’t eat Brussels sprouts, Carol, because they give me a tummyache. The same goes for all their green cousins like broccoli and cabbage. My mother does make bubble and squeak but I only eat a very little. We didn’t have turkey this year as there were none to be had in our local shops. We had lamb and gammon.

    Like

  18. tidalscribe

    I never knew football had been played on Christmas Day. Me and younger son and fiancée are in Tier 2 so it’s just us for Xmas while daughter and family had to stay home in Tier 4. New Tiers start today with Tier 4 racing towards us!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Yes it was in the early 50’s and then it moved to Boxing day…We are in the same situation Janet as some migrant workers have tested positive for covid and its here…We are in orange zone which is the lowest apart from green but no one is in green at the moment…I hope they can contain it here they have a good track record it was locked pretty quick last time…I am beginning to wonder where this end…Stay safe and well 🙂 x

      Liked by 1 person

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