Seventh Day of Christmas Party and Menu Ideas
Entertaining Themes and Recipes Based on Swans a-Swimming
Nov 6, 2009
According to the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas", the gift associated with the seventh day of Christmas was seven swans a-swimming. Swans are a protected species within the UK so are not found on butchers’ shelves. Swan upping is a traditional July event where all that season’s young Mute swans on the river Thames are ringed and a census of all of them is taken.
Throw a Royal Party to Celebrate Swan Upping
However, just because swan is not available on the meat shelves, don't imagine that a party or dinner cannot be based around the idea of this graceful white feathered river bird. Swan upping originated from medieval times when swans were regularly used as a gourmet food at banquets and the reigning monarch claimed ownership of all of them in open water.
Use this swan connection as a theme for a party based on royalty where guests arrive dressed up as kings and queens. Menu ideas include Coronation Chicken (poached chicken served in a curried sauce with apricots) which was created for the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953 and served cold with rice and peas. As a dessert, why not try this recipe for Queen of Puddings.
Queen of Puddings Recipe
Ingredients (serves 4):
- 1 pint milk
- 4 oz white breadcrumbs
- 3 tbsp jam (strawberry, blackberry or raspberry)
- 2 oz caster sugar
- 2 eggs
- 1 lemon
Method:
- Grate the rind of the lemon
- Bring the milk to a boil in a saucepan then remove from the heat and allow to cool for a moment
- Stir in the breadcrumbs, half the sugar and the lemon peel
- Let it rest for about 15 minutes so that the breadcrumbs soak up the liquid
- Separate the eggs
- Lightly beat the yolks and add them to the milk and breadcrumb mixture stirring well before pouring into a pie dish that’s been lightly greased with butter
- Pop the pie dish into an oven that has been preheated to gas mark 4, 180 C, 350 F for half an hour until the milky custard mixture has just set
- Melt the jam in a saucepan and pour it evenly over the cooked pie base
- Whisk the egg whites up until they are nicely stiff and add the rest of the sugar
- Spread the meringue mixture on top of the jam and milk pudding and put back in the oven for about 15 minutes until the meringue is nice and brown.
Readers may also be interested on this article Themed Parties on the Twelve Days of Christmas for further information on the popular Christmas song. If these ideas based on parties on a royal theme don’t appeal, why not consider those offered in the article The Sixth Day of Christmas Party and Menu Ideas or this one on The Eighth Day of Christmas Party and Menu Ideas?
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