Resilience, Obama’s Final Words On 2013, Figgy Pudding

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Veronica Rueckert and Mike Arnold get some tips on how to be more resilient, hear about Obama’s final press conference in 2013, and learn how to make figgy pudding.

Featured in this Show

  • Food Friday: Making Figgy Pudding For Holidays

    For many, “figgy pudding” is simply the subject of a brief lyric in a familiar Christmas carol.

    But, as families gather around the table for a scrumptious holiday meal, WPR classical music host and frequent “Food Friday” contributor Lori Skelton suggests bringing back this traditional British dessert.

    Although many might think of pudding as a soft and somewhat gelatinous snack, traditional Christmas pudding is thickened with bread crumbs and seems more like a cake.

    “The use of the word ‘pudding’ in the English language goes back to about 1300. Back then, that would be beef or mutton that would be boiled in a skin,” Skelton said. “Around the 14th Century, boiling beef and mutton with fruit and spices and wine became known as ‘pudding.’”

    These puddings would traditionally be served before Christmas and seemed more like a porridge before it evolved to the familiar dessert people know today.

    “As you added more fruit and sweeter spices and eggs and got it thicker, that’s how we got the pudding,” Skelton said.

    Americans haven’t yet embraced Christmas puddings the way the British have. According to Skelton, more than half of the households in the U.K. will have a pudding between now and the New Year.

    Skelton said she hopes to inspire Americans to give Christmas pudding a whirl.

    “I think this is easier than fruitcake,” she said. “A lot of your steamed puddings just come together in one bowl. Once you get the basic technique down, it’s pretty easy to throw one of these babies together.”

    Visit this NPR story from 2007 to learn the recipe Skelton used to make her flaming figgy pudding.

  • Bouncing Back–How Resilience Helps Us Overcome Difficult Times

    There’s been growing attention to the role of resilience in helping us bounce back from traumatic events, improve our health, and avoid job burnout. A researcher shares tips on the value of resilience, and how we can teach and learn it.

  • Obama Meets The Press For A Last Time In 2013

    2013 has been a difficult year for Obama, ending in political fallout from a bug ridden federal health care exchange website. He meets the press for a final time this year.

  • Food Friday: Bring Us Some Figgy Pudding!

    This week, learn about steamed puddings. Lori Skelton drops by to tell us about her latest culinary masterpiece: A fig and raisin pudding reconstituted with rum and brandy.

Episode Credits

  • Mike Arnold Host
  • Veronica Rueckert Host
  • Mary Steinhardt Guest
  • Edward Miller Guest
  • Galen Druke Producer
  • Cynthia Schuster Producer

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