I'm a Mexican-American living in Los Angeles and the traditional Christmas dinner foods in our home include: tamales, pozole, buñuelos, atole, ponche (hot fruit punch, usually spiked with alcohol) and café de olla. It goes without saying that nothing beats partaking in a Mexican posada. We start nine days before Christmas celebrating Las Posadas at a different home every day. Las Posadas translates to “the inns” or “shelter.”. Children dress each evening in biblical attire and form a procession led by an angel, Mary, and Joseph, and followed by the adults and children. The procession stops at a pre-selected home-an “inn”-and the group outside the home requests lodging by singing a song, and the hosts of the inn refuse the procession, also with a song, just as Mary and Joseph were refused. Both groups go back and forth singing until the residents ultimately allow the procession to come inside and provide the group with refreshments. , After, the children and adults will often burst open a star-shaped piñata-symbolizing the star in the Bible that led the three wise men to the Christ child-filled with candy, toys, or money.

I’m American and my daughter was a self taught reader. Many of her favorite books were written by English authors so she spelled in the Queens English and marked down for spelling incorrectly by her American teachers. Now she is in her last semester of university and majored in English!

A "Limey" was a sailor in the British Royal Navy, due to the issue of lime juice, as a medicinal ration to prevent Scurvy, a Vitamin C deficiency caused disease.

I'm an American (from Montana), and I introduced Christmas crackers into my family's Christmas traditions 21 years ago while I was days away from the birth of my second child. My mom and dad were with us that year and with good humor they embraced the new idea and we've had Christmas crackers ever since!

I lived in England for 2 years (1992-94). I used to tell everyone they are wasting ink by adding unnecessary letters to their words! 😁

My family is British descent so we do most of the British tradition at Christmas we love it .

Interesting that the carol concert is 3 days after Christmas or the 3rd day of Christmas as they would have said when Mapperton was built. Here in the USA, people take down their decorations on Boxing day and stop doing anything fun. Carols play on the radio in November but stop on December 26th. It's really the "Christmas shopping season" instead of the Christmas season. Enjoy every moment until Epiphany :-)

Dear American Viscountess, may I remind you that your Canadian neighbour to your north, as one of the Commonwealth countries, maintains several British traditions and spelling to date, and I enjoy seeing them in your vlogs.

Households of Australia are still served Xmas plum pudding topped with brandy custard sauce. The embedded thruppence stopped when the currency changed on 14 February 1966. Crackers are set on dining Xmas tables along with a buffet of seafood, turkey, ham, pork, roast vegetables, salads, and crusty bread.

As a Canadian, I grew up with all of the British traditions, due to Canada being part of the Commonwealth. I adore mince pies, and plum pudding with brandy butter!! We also make individual custards baked in ramekins, with maple syrup at the bottom for Christmas. Christmas crackers are just fun! This year's Christmas Speech was bittersweet, although, the King did it justice. The location was poignant. Carols are so uplifting at Christmas. Merry Christmas to you both! Love your channel.

Being Canadian and having Irish and British ancestry. Our traditions were very similar to yours. Mincemeat tarts, pudding, Christmas cake, and poppers. And our stockings always had an orange at the foot of our stockings. Christmas caroling love it. Thank you for sharing all you share.

I was born and raised in Scotland , Married a America in 1971 and moved over there I was glad when you could order them on Amazon we have all enjoyed them For years now

About the swag clean up. If you want your "drop cloths' to last insist on going barefoot or with socks on it like the Arabs I saw at the airport years ago layout a large cloth for them to lounge on but they would put their shoes at the edge. That way the grit on the bottom does not get grounded into them ruining your bed sheets, old curtains, etc. Never walk on regular surfaces with your bare feet or socks if you are going to walk on the drop cloths! Greenery dust and dirt: Before I bring my tree in or any vegetation I always spray it with a high pressure nozzle on the garden hose. and let it dry overnight. The same when i go to prune the heavy bushes. It gets all the dirt and dead leaves out so you can see what needs to be pruned. That works great at clearing away last years fruited blackberry vines. The leaves actually disintegrate working itself back into the soil. You can rake all the vines into a pile and burn them for fertilizer. I dont even bother planting new plants for the next year because they come up like weeds. And usually the crop that comes off of the pruned season is enough with freezing the berrys to last for 2 yrs anyways. Just use the frozen berries to jelly the second year. I imagine that if you wanted to use only the juice of the berry you could toss the seeds as bird food. Covering the twig ends in the middle: use the leaves that you trim off before gathering in the middle and attach them to the florist wood sticks with wire by winding the wire around the stick. You can make them as short or long as you want and it might even give you options with longer sticks to fill it outer areas.

My husband is from Scotland. We always have Christmas crackers and love them! He misses the Queen’s speech as it is not aired in Dallas. Thankfully, we can later watch it on the internet.

Our Christmas pudding rolled off the plate, one year, and set my aunt Persian rug alight. Forever singed. 😬 opps

My Grandfather was a WWII veteran (American), worked alongside the Brits and told me all about Limeys. It's funny you brought it up because I just looked it up the other day. I was wondering if it was considered to be a derogatory term. According to someplace in the internet, it is. But if a true Brit is referring to it, I think it must be okay to say it. One must be careful nowadays.

In Canada, we stick a u in everything, an inherited tradition

Julie I've decided you must have lived the most sheltered or unobservant life while growing up. :) You always talk about these things you've never heard of or not tried. I grew up within 100 miles of you and I haven't seen one thing mentioned on your channel that i hadn't already heard of or my family wasn't already doing here in the US. I love mince pies...one of my favorites. Had mulled wine, made swags. Didn't do crackers but i certainly heard of them....and of course our schools and churches had carol services during the holidays. Regradless of your not knowing anything about all the things British/european around you in northern Illinois I still enjoy watching your channels. Happy Christmas!!!

An Australian Christmas.... hot and cold meats, or seafoods. salads of many kinds, and then pavlova and fresh fruits. We used to have Christmas pudding but summer treats are much better for our climate,. Mince pies and fruit cake are still popular. Crackers too. Kids in the swimming pool after lunch all make an Aussie Christmas unique. Happy Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all. A prayer for peace in this troubled world.

As a Canadian, we have more British traditions than American traditions, but we are definitely a mixture of both.

Julie, you should be congratulated for the tremendous job you are doing to restore Maperton (such a beautiful estate) and show the world many of the great homes of the UK. It is quite evident you love UK's history and beautiful historical homes. Your exuberance should be the envy of all viewers, except for the few superhumans amongst us. With the greatest of respect, one area, however, gives me pause. Constantly, you change the narrative by reminding the viewers you are American and how things are done, pronounced, and/or spelt, in the USA. Most if not all of your viewers know the USA counterpart. They watch you to learn about the UK, therefore, considering the title of the above video is 'Top 5 British Traditions', Happy Christmas and Father Christmas was the only information required, not throwing in Santa Claus. Whether it is stating a word should be 'or' not 'our', 'z' not 's', or 'zee' not 'zed', the viewers want to hear about the UK. The constant inferring that the USA way is correct is tedious and inaccurate. The language is called English for a reason, it is the lingua franca of the UK, and the location of the origin of the language. Any other pronunciation or spelling is an imposter. After twenty years it seems time to embrace the language and culture of the country which gave you your title, as well as your husband, and at least two of your children, citizenship. Speaking of which, is it not past time when you show your respect for the country in which you have lived for twenty years, and become a citizen, especially prior to you becoming a Countess. After all, you can hold dual citizenship.

i grew up here in Canada with British grandparents, so christmas was definitely christmas puddings , mince pies , and christmas crackers.And oyster stew on christmas eve. also the queen broadcast on christmas day.Have carried these traditions on to this day.

My best British christmas tradition; Terry`s chocolate orange ❤

Scurvy was a large scale problem for sailors up until the late 18th century. Malnutrition was a problem on long sea voyages. So the British Navy, as I understand it, got smart enough to carry quite a bit of limes on long voyages to counter this problem. It seemed to work well. And naturally as large as the empire got, long voyages requires limes to counter the vitamin C deficiency caused by scurvy. So all of us outsiders saw the limes and the British as frequently together. Thus the name, Limey. That was how I learned about the name.

I grew up and remain in Canada. I certainly recognize many of the British traditions in your clip. My Dad‘s mom was Scottish and his dad was Irish, my Mom’s side my grandpa was from Wales and my grandma‘s family from somewhere in England. I’m not positive where. My granny used to make the mince pie as well as shortbread cookies and other types of cookies with fruit in them. We pulled Christmas crackers after the feast of Turkey, aspic, mashed potatoes, gravy, brussel sprouts, turnip baked sweet potatoes. I learned how to make gravy at my Granny’s side. She was a great baker and cook. There’s a church in Cardiff that has a stained glass that’s dedicated to the Gaskell family apparently. That’s on my Mom’s side. You don’t want to know what the Irish side is famous for lol😂 My mom was an excellent cook. The turkey was usually a bit dry though, but the gravy granny and I made was spectacular. I remember the vegetables because they were winter vegetables and perfectly cooked not over cooked at all. It was always a quiet Christmas as both of my parents were only children. My mom is still alive and we will be gathering for what she says her last Christmas in her home. She’s in her 80s and wants to move closer to assisted living where many of her friends have moved. I too add the U to everything. I spell check…Cheque, how’s that for weird lol. I love watching your videos and enjoy every minute of them. Wishing your whole family a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! That’s how we refer to it🎉🥂🙋🏼‍♀️❄️☃️🎄💐🇨🇦💝🕊💞🐕🐾🦜🐈⛪️🤶🏻🎅

I am in Canada, love mince tarts, pies, Tortiere, fig pudding with brandy sauce and Christmas crackers for sure

The Queen's speech. 💜😔

Christmas, normally pumpkin and sweet potatoes pies and ice cream in US. Cookies too.

The Glaister family absolutely love making MInce pies and Christmas cakes…and me (mum) loves Christmas cracker jokes …please keep the traditions alive ..ooooh and stir up Sunday ..we still do that 🎉

Canadian here but parents were Londoners and ancestry is English back centuries. Limeys, heard that term since I was young. Unsure it's origin though. I still MUST have mincemeat tarts and the plum pudding. Was set alight every year while growing up. Always Christmas crackers.........lots of fun with silly hats, toys inside and dumb jokes. Queen's speech: yes. Every year, even as a young family here in Canada we all watched. Every single year. And lastly, it is indeed spelled "Favourite" haha! Merry Christmas!

Our family always had the Christmas Plum Pudding with custard. But our biggie was a Trifle. Yummmm 😁

Always mince pies with mulled wine and the homemade sausage rolls!!!! ❤

Canadian here, yes to Crackers, and Julie, you can make Mincemeat without meat, I have in the past. Green Tomato Mincemeat is superb, they have a unique delicious flavour, or there is Pear Mincemeat, Apple Mincemeat, very delicious, the longer you cook it, the stronger the taste. A little vinegar, lots of spice, raisins, brown sugar, thick pastry, totally delicious. Made with meat and suet does not sound appetizing to me. Our favourite (note correct spelling ;-) } is Apple Crumble. Making Swags sounds like a lot of fun! Merry Christmas, cheering you on from my part of Canada.

Happy Christmas. There are so many Christmas traditions that you have in England that we share here in Canada. Also, British sailors were called limeys because they carried limes and other citrus fruits on long voyages for vitamin C to combat scurvy.

Born in Detroit, Michigan, USA in the late 40s with Polish grandparents and various family members living in small homes our holiday meals depended on who cooked well and what home we visited in. Every few years the type of meals changed, like to Thanksgiving turkey to Christmas ham. In the late 70s my ex husband's family ate meat loaf, mashed potatoes and gravy at an aunt's. when I had 3 children under 6 in early 1990 there were no more older generation and we all loved in different cities and states with few traditional meals because of all the hours of travel, sometimes on snowy highways to see each other . never heard of swag though I did buy some fake evergreens to decorate a stairway and fireplace mantel in the early '90s. lately my kids in mid 30s travel to have dinner with me and my two oldest stop for prepared dinners from various local restaurants. I've never had a full sized kitchen, especially having downsized 7 yrs ago, so an old - fashioned traditional home cooked meals are no more. only a small batch of cookies. My daughter is now the family baker. Her husband and my sons do the cooking from their college days but traveling nixes that here. and I, too, am a rarity in missing my mom's wonderful fruitcake from the 1960s. Merry Christmas everyone, and a Happy Healthy 2023💚

Have Your Selfs a Merry Christmas 🎅 🎄 🤶

Merry happy Christmas 🎄

Here in Australia, we call Christmas crackers Bon bons. We have all the same things still. Turkey, ham, pork, trifle, xmas pudding without suet which each member of the family gets to stir in sixpences and makes a wish. Also xmas cake, crackers, vegetables and mince pies that are just fruit. We have begun adding prawns to the feast being hot here. Oh and cold egg nog. Yum

I’ve noticed that there’s a touch of a British accent in Julie’s speech when she says “all” or “always”! Maybe just me, merry Christmas!

Favorite Christmas treat: pumpkin cake

I adore Christmas Crackers! I also love the Queens message.

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM YOUR BOUGHTON FAMILY 🎄🎅 LIMEY or LIME JUICERS was a word used for British sailors in the 1800s who got lime juice with their meals to prevent scurvy. You can't beat a good old fashioned TRIFLE for dessert . What's the difference between a SNOWMAN and a SNOW WOMAN....SNOW BALLS !!

Enjoyed your Carbon Footprint joke about Father Christmas (Santa Claus)

Your father has a lovely tenor voice!

Homemade peanut butter fudge, butterscotch pie, sweet potato pie, and coconut cream pie. This time of year, I just can’t resist, but after the holidays are over, I don’t eat any of that throughout the rest of the year.

Enjoyed hearing about these traditions!

Here in Newfoundland we have what we call Christmas pudding which is same as you described. It was my favourite part of the meal when I was young. My Nan always made a rum caramel sauce for the top. We also had those crackers and the funniest moments are when we put the paper crowns on. We also listened to the Queen's speech.

What a treat for the Patrons!!!

My sister birthday is on Christmas Eve ..so we would do her birthday then are gifts then go to bed and breakfast and stockings

I think limes were issues to members of the British Navy on voyages to prevent scurvy. thus the name "limies " was given as a nickname. Triffle is an institution as a Christmas dessert. Happy Christmas to you both for the great content all year. May 2023 bring you all the Joy and success you hope for . Good Health.

Mince meat pies with custard are my fave. Living in America I now have to make my own because they don’t have them here.

Pro tip from my grandfather who was a botanist and loved to garden when you are making swags or pruning lay down a burlap or plastic tarp under on the table if making a sway or under the bush and volia clean up is a snap.

standing rib roast and Yorkshire pudding 🥰

I'm glad you refer to 'British' Christmas traditions - it helps remind people that the UK isn't just England! In Scotland we also have a 'pudding' at Christmas but we call it a 'clootie dumpling' as it's boiled in a cloth ("clootie'). Julie you know that vegetarian suet is available? I always thought 'limeys' was an Australian term for Brits - due to the limes on the boats to help prevent scurvy. I haven't heard Americans use that term - perhaps why Julie hasn't hear of it.

Im Italian, so Christmas Eve we have seven fishes. We make pizelles, and pignollis, Christmas cookies, pecan pie, Italian soups, and for Christmas day big beef tenderloin

Also, spiked eggnog, a wonderful charcuterie, board, nuts, to crack, and monkey bread for Christmas morning

Love mince pie ❤️

Oh the highlight on Christmas Day and the Christmas Dinner was seeing a flaming Christmas Pudding a glow in that lovely blueish flame and we used to have sixpence coins in ours 😋😜😊😅

We were told limey has to do with the pale pallor and the lack of sunshine causing rickets so sailors brought back limes to offset the rickets.

It is interesting to me that swags were amazing to you. I’m an American and we had swags for various seasons including the holidays. I lived in England when I was a child and we adopted several British traditions. We’ve also adopted several Hispanic traditions over the years as well. Merry Christmas!

Making, sharing and eating decorated Christmas sugar cookies (biscuits). I LOVE the silly jokes in the crackers. I share the Christmas cracker tradition with friends even though my heritage is Danish and German, not British. This year we had little nutcracker ornaments in our crackers.

I’ve made swags my whole life since I was like 10yrs old! My Mom decorated weddings and events. I don’t know how she learned her decor designs but she was amazing! She passed away just 2 yrs ago

Brownies and/or butter cookies are good enough for me!

Brandy butter is perfect in every way.

Chocolate Bavarian pie that my grandmother got the recipe for in the 1920s is my favorite holiday pie.

This limey living in North America loves mince pies , plum pudding and brandy butter ! I miss everything about Blighty Christmas’s .

Christmas crackers are a part of our Australian Christmas! I love how you respect and celebrate British traditions & the annual carol service sounds so special. Merry Christmas!

Canadian here- and we spell F...Favourite. I believe Americans spell it as Brits do, favorite. Happy NY!

Father being danish we had stocking with an orange and almonds, candy and a small gift. My fovourite❤️

Julie needs a garden shed to do her swags!

In addition to it being a joy watching you guys, I think all these videos you've created will be a genuinely valuable historical document showing the brass tacks (sometimes 'unglamorous') side of how these houses were maintained and preserved for future generations. Thanks for the wonderful view into the life of Mapperton and the Montagus. Merry (and Happy) Christmas.

Lol- one phrase you have adopted is..."If you like....."

Oh….and I must add that my Grandmother always made a batch of Ginger Wine. Very special for Christmas. 😊

In the States, a "Limey" was another name for a sailor because while at sea they would suck on lemons to stave off scurvy.

Christmas dessert in our household (Michigan) is to bake my dear mother's Scottish Shortbread. Simply the best and nostalgic. Also, pumpkin pie, apple pie and decorated Christmas cookies make an entrance too. Merry Christmas Julie, Luke and your dear family.

How had you never heard of “Limey?” I’m from Southern Indiana and know it. And yes, it was from the British Navy eating limes to prevent scurvy. “The British began storing citrus fruits on board all of its ships. The British Navy gave its sailors limes or lemon juice rations to ward off scurvy - earning them the nickname of "Limeys" among the American sailors who didn't know about or believe in the preventative treatment.”

Limey is an expression for Brits, coming from the sailors who needed Vitamin c was needed to help with the problem of scurvy.

We made swags all the time in Virginia, placing them over doors and pictures.

Limey comes from old time British seaman who used to get limes in their diet in order to prevent scurvy.

My parents born in London and all of my grandparents and moved to Canada, always had to have a traditional Christmas pudding with a caramel sauce. It was fantastic. All other ancestors still in the UK. We too had to have Christmas crackers and we all had to wear the crown included in the cracker and there was a joke and some sort of small object included. Miss now not having my parents for this tradition and our crowns on. Everyone sat around the telly waiting for the Queen’s speech and now the King’s Speech. Also fruit Christmas cake always served too with the minced meat tarts. Christmas Eve was always spent with family and a buffet dinner and then Christmas Day a formal dinner. Boxing day was always spent going to the relatives homes to see their Christmas decorations and gifts received, never out shopping that day. We have the Christmas Carol singing in my church too and it is televised on the Church website if you can’t go in person. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you and your family.

Limey comes from when the British navy carried limes on their ships for the sailors to combat scurvy They became known as limeys in the 1800’s.

Mincemeat has been made for years without suet!!

Limey refers to a British sailor who ate limes (and other citrus fruits) on long sea voyages to avoid scurvy. Dates back to the 17-18th centuries when British sailors on leave would hang out in American seaport towns between voyages.

My son’s in laws who are American, like me, introduced us to crackers. I thought it was fun to see everyone at the table wearing paper crowns and popping crackers

I’m in America and we had swags in our home.

This thr first of my 69 Christmas ' without the Crackers. We spent Christmas at home together dealing with Covid. Sadly no pudding either. I do have mincemeat waiting for it's pastry.. I live in Canada where my Mum a warbride settled with my dad. We always had a traditional British Christmas. Miss it. Thank you for the memories.

Limey was a name for British sailors and the fact they would issued lime / lime juice to stop scurvy

My family does Christmas crackers at our Christmas Eve dinner. Our family tradition also says you have to wear your paper “crown” until the end of the meal.

I believe it comes from British sailors eating limes during long voyages to keep from getting rickets.

Jam cake was a regular from mom. Also millionaire candy, bourbon balls, and pecan Sandies.

My ex boyfriends mother is a Limey and has been a friend for years. One Christmas she forgot to order her crackers so I made them out of poppers I took apart and toilet paper rolls. All decorated they turned out beautifully. Except… one of the crackers caught fire with my paper crown and caused a teeny tiny smolder at the Christmas table. I was awarded the scorched crown. She has never forgotten to order them again.

Sweet potato pie is a favorite for Christmas desserts.

A most Blessed Chritsmas to the Mapperton Family! Cherres.

You didn’t mention British pantomimes which I used to enjoy. Even though I now live in the US, I still listen to Kings College Cambridge carol service which happily is broadcast to the US as well.

I grew up in Northamptonshire but have lived in the US since my early 20's, now in Alabama. I still LOVE mince pies, even making my own mincemeat so I can leave out the candied peel, and using vegetarian suet. Happy New Year🎉

Minced pie or Xmas cake is yummy

Every year our mother would make Christmas puddings. But we wouldn't eat any of them that Christmas. They would be kept to mature for the following Christmas. One year she made extra ones, because we were going to Singapore for 3 years. The extra ones were put into storage, and for a few years after we returned we would have those puddings at Christmas. They were really good.

The carol services or concerts are my favourite elements of the Christmas season, too. One point ahead of the various traditional foods. One year I spent Christmas in Tokyo where I did not know a soul. In the lead up to Christmas Day the Union Church in Omotesando advertised a concert by the Tokyo Embassy Choir. Not knowing what to expect, to my surprise I discovered that if I closed my eyes during the singing, I didn't know that I wasn't "home." Many of the traditional standards from the UK, other parts of Europe across various centuries and in multiple languages as well as Alfred Burt a 20th century American composer were on the program. Year after year I enjoy my vast and marvelous collection of CDs, most especially those from Kings College Cambridge, the Monteverdi Choir and the Tallis Scholars that I never tire of hearing. These I burned onto a flashdrive and took with me to Tokyo that year, making the season too glorious for homesickness of loneliness.

Merry Christmas from Norway to you both

From what I learned most country's sailors used lemons for scurvy but the British used limes. That's why the nickname Limey is for the British rather than all sailors. I love the fresh greenery swags, and mince pies! I've never had crackers at Christmas but they seem like a fun addition to the holiday.