12 Days of A Tudor Christmas Giveaway

Day 10
The Boleyn Pack:

Day 9 winners are:

Robbie won the Tudor Throne
Shibhon won The Tudor Age

Please email your mailing address to:
newroyalreviews at yahoo dot com

You all have such brilliant and lovely traditions. I grew up in a Scottish and Irish home, so Christmas and New Years is filled with Scottish and Irish traditions yet my favorite has always been Oidche Choinnle.

Oidche Choinnle, is Gaelic for Night of Candles. On Christmas Eve lit candles are placed in the windows to light the way for the Holy Family. On New Years, the candles help light the way for a stranger, “The First Footer”. As a child, I remember my Great-Grandmother lighting actual candles each window, although I still practice the tradition, I err on the side of caution and use battery operated ones.

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Moving on to your Tudor Questions, which were all brilliant by the way!

Gisele Alv ask: Was Henry happy at least once in his life?

I believe that Henry was the happiest at the beginning of his reign. He was 18, and the burdens of being a king hadn’t effected his yet. He did as he pleased, and I believe that he was in love with Catherine of Aragon. Without being bogged down by matters of State, he jousted, put on elaborate banquets, performed in masks and disguises, and wrote brilliant songs that showed he was truly happy. At this point of time he was still known as Harry and most importantly he still knew who his true friends were.

Robbie ask: What happened to Katherine Parr after Henry death’s.

Katherine Parr was in danger of losing her head briefly whilst Henry was alive. Henry had a warrant for her arrest drawn up and was making plan to marry Charles Brandon’s widow. Fortunately for Katherine, Henry’s mind changed and when they came to arrest her, Henry pretended to be outraged over the warrant and acted like he had no clue it even existed. I imagine that Katherine was rather relieved by Henry’s death and grateful that she managed to keep her head.

Six months after Henry’s death, Katherine married the man she loved, Thomas Seymour,
who happened to be the uncle of Henry’s only legitimate son. On 30 August, 1548 Katherine gave birth to a daughter, whom she named Mary. Six or seven days later the former queen died from what appears to be complications from childbirth.
Katherine had managed to escape the executioners blade only to perish not even two years after the death of Henry. According to historical records, any mention of Katherine & Thomas’ daughter Mary cease to exist after two years and it is believed the child died.

Shibhon ask: What does a maid of honor tart have to do with Henry 8?

It’s funny that you ask this question as Maid of Honor Tarts are one of my favorite Holiday desserts to make.
For those of you who do not know, Maid of Honor are tarts with a piecrust bottom, a jam center, and a cake like top. The are absolutely scrumptious.

According to tradition, Maid of Honor cakes, or Richmond cakes as they are also called, are responsible for Henry VIII falling madly in love Anne Boleyn. They said that when Anne was Catherine’s Maid of Honor Henry happened to catch Anne eating these cakes from a silver dish.

Tasting a tart for himself, Henry deemed the treat delicious and had both the recipe and the creator of the recipe locked up in Richmond.

While no one actually knows if the story is true, one thing is for certain, Maid of Honors are deliciously sinful.

What to make a dessert fit for Henry VIII? Try my recipe for these tasty treats.

First off and most importantly USE ONLY JAM. If you use any other filling it will run over in your oven leaving a bubbling mess of goo for you to clean up. Trust me, I speak from experience.

1 9 inch pie dough. (I use pre-made pie dough that comes in rolls)
1/4 cup jam
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/4 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup finely chopped almonds.
(Double the recipe for 12 tarts)

Place over rack in the center position and preheat the 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
Lightly grease a cupcake or muffin tin.
Cut out 12 3 inch circles and place one in each cup of the cupcake tin. Fit to the bottom, but do not press completely down.
Add one teaspoon of jam to the bottom of each shell.

Batter:
In a medium mixing bowl, cream together softened butter or margarine and white
sugar until light and fluffy.
Mix in egg. Add flour, baking powder, almond extract, and chopped almonds mix
until all ingredients are thoroughly combined.

Top with 2 tablespoons of batter.
Bake for 20 minutes until risen and firm.
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 3 minutes then remove from tin.

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Today’s Giveaway is:

The Boleyn Pack:

This Pack includes:

1 Anne Boleyn Scarf kindly donated by The Anne Boleyn Files
1 Copy of The Lady in the Tower by Alison Weir
1 Copy of The Other Boleyn by Philippa Gregory
1 Copy of Mary Boleyn by Alison Weir
1 Copy of Jane Boleyn by Julia Fox

The books were kindly donated by a small bookshop called “Write To Read”

Today’s Rules:

1. Leave a comment with your name and an answer to the questions:

Who is your favorite Tudor?

Tudor Trivia: Do you have a Tudor-related question? If so, then this is your time to ask it. Questions will be answered in the remaining posts.

2. Giveaway Worldwide.

3. You do not need to leave your email address as the winner will be announced the next day. The winner will also be announced on the right side of the blog under the Royal Winners banner. You have until the 23rd to respond with your shipping address. You may want to subscribe to Royal Reviews via feed burner which is located in left side of the blog so that the winners and new giveaways will be sent directly to your inbox.

4. Followers will receive an extra entry so make sure you let us know if you follow us. You will also receive an extra entry if you post about the giveaway.