Boxing Day, also known as the Feast of St. Stephen (after the first Christian martyr), originated in England in the middle of the nineteenth century under Queen Victoria. It originated as a holiday for members of the merchant class to give boxes containing food and fruit, clothing, and/or money to trades people and servants.
~Fairly Well Established Historical Fact
"Few Americans have any inkling that there even is such a thing as Boxing Day, let alone what the reason might be for a holiday so named...even though Boxing Day is celebrated in Australia, Britain, New Zealand, and Canada, not all that many in those countries have much of a notion as to why they get the 26th of December off. Boxing Day might well be a statutory holiday in some of those lands, but it's not a well understood one."
More About Boxing Day
A few years ago my sister Carrie added Boxing Day to our family holiday season traditions. The first year she had the event, December 26 - the official date of Boxing Day, landed conveniently on a Saturday. Because the day after Christmas does not always accommodate us, we have modified Boxing Day to fit in with our American work schedules. The first Saturday after the 25th is Boxing Day.
Why Boxing Day? Mainly because we really like to get together over the holidays but we all have families with different Christmas traditions and everyone pretty much likes to be at home on Christmas Eve and Christmas morning. Boxing Day has become the perfect time to spend time together, have some fun, exchange gifts - and, of course, have some yummy chow!
The Boxing Day Theme this year is "finger foods."
I'm going with the Ham & Cheesy Puff Pastries, but this time with a ham mousse filling.
Filling:
Ingredients:
6 oz soft cream cheese
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 tsp mustard
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
8 oz ham chopped in cubes
2 tbsp chopped green onions
Preparation:
Blend ingredients in food processor until smooth
Cut the tops off the puff pastries and spoon the ham filling into the center
Replace tops
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