{"id":10275,"date":"2012-11-25T16:41:28","date_gmt":"2012-11-25T16:41:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/?p=10275"},"modified":"2012-11-25T16:43:17","modified_gmt":"2012-11-25T16:43:17","slug":"november-25th-happy-st-catherines-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.urban75.org\/blog\/november-25th-happy-st-catherines-day\/","title":{"rendered":"November 25th – Happy St. Catherine’s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"November<\/p>\n

Today is St. Catherine’s Day, which marks the arrival of winter and commemorates the martyrdom of St. Catherine of Alexandria who was was unfortunate to have her head chopped off\u00a0by Emperor Maximinus II around 305 AD in Alexandria.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Catherine was said to be both a princess and a noted scholar, who converted hundreds of people to Christianity.<\/p>\n

The day was traditionally celebrated in\u00a0Britain\u00a0by the custom of lighting a spinning pyrotechnic display (a ‘Catherine Wheel firework’), but I can’t say I’ve ever seen the\u00a0occasion\u00a0being celebrated.<\/p>\n

\"Happy<\/p>\n

The day can also be\u00a0marked\u00a0by\u00a0the baking of ‘Cattern Cakes’ in honour of St Catherine. These are rather tasty sounding chewy biscuits spiced with cinnamon, lightly fruited and flavoured with caraway seeds.<\/p>\n

In the UK, the cakes were made\u00a0by Nottingham lacemakers on\u00a0account\u00a0of St Catherine being the\u00a0patroness of spinners, lace-makers, rope-makers and spinsters.\u00a0Find the recipe here:\u00a0baking.food.com<\/a>.\u00a0[Pic credit<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Back in the day, the cakes were swilled down with lashings of\u00a0Hot Pot, a curious hot\u00a0concoction\u00a0mixing up \u00a0rum, beer and eggs. \u00a0I think I’d stick to a nice cuppa.<\/p>\n

St. Catherine in the arts<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"November<\/p>\n

\"St.<\/p>\n

St Catherine has been celebrated widely in the arts, and you can see some of the paintings\u00a0inspired\u00a0by here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Fab Scottish band The Blue Nile also penned a\u00a0suitably\u00a0melancholic song after her day. Here’s an unreleased version:<\/p>\n