My grandma always made the Christmas puddings for our family, my uncle's family and then a small extra one which Dad would have on his birthday on 6 January. I took it over four years ago, and asked Grandma for her recipe. I was expecting something on a flimsy bit of antique paper that Mrs So-and-So had vouchsafed to her in 1950-something or even 1930-something, but it turned out she just used the one on the Atora Suet packet. Pah! I made that the first year, but then switched to Delia's. I don't bother with sixpences and we have a pressure cooker, so once it's basically just mixing and then hour and a half's steaming per pudding.

I also had a conversation with my dad that went:

"I need to take all the pudding basins back up to Manchester for the Christmas puddings."
"What, even that little one? I used that to beat my scrambled eggs in?"
"Do you WANT a mini-pudding for your birthday or- "
"Oh, take it, take it!"