Fanny Cradock Cooks for Christmas Part 1 - Your Christmas Bird 1975

In this series Fanny takes traditional recipes and uses her practical know-how to make Christmas cookery easier for the layman. Today Fanny gives advice on choosing the festive bird that suits you best and demonstrates how to stuff, cook and carve it.

[@joebleasdale5557]

"A cross between Mary Berry and Jeremy Clarkson." - Gyles Brandreth

[@JakeHessFan]

I was watching QI, and that exact quote is what led me to seek out Fanny. I'm a Canadian and love British panel shows, but was totally unaware of Fanny Cradock.

[@JUSTIN-ry4dn]

🤢🤢🤢

[@psychosoma5049]

With the personality of a teaspoon, and the sophisticated allure of an airline salad….

[@Frank-ed7hj]

that's what brought me here

[@rnw2739]

What does he know? Began his career as the most stuck up snob there was, now tries to present himself as an amusing eccentric (trying to be like Kenneth Williams) has ditched that ridiculous fake voice and adopted an even faker one.

[@flashtheoriginal]

She was a television natural. Abrupt? Yes. Patronising? Absolutely. But totally engaging with the professionalism to fill the entire slot with her unscripted wisdom. Truly gifted. Thanks for sharing

[@BusinessButlers]

and Johnny was always legless on the grog.

[@JG-nx3jg]

When I'm feeling really snacky I come here. Within minutes the urge to eat is gone. For this I owe fanny immensely.

[@greatwesternsky]

hahahaha

[@giovanna722]

Lol !! Yep.

[@Slothh4884]

Literally what I’m going through right now

[@padraicodomhnall2760]

Brilliant! I'm too scared to go near the kitchen at that point, for fear that she might be in there!

[@andromalius8890]

Try watching Kay’s cooking, you’ll never eat again

[@laurenc2976]

Completely random as I was born jn 1990 but I love watching these videos to see what it was like back then. It seemed to be a much simpler time and I can't help feeling nostalgic for an era I never knew and will never experience. The fact that she's talking about the preparation of Christmas food just makes it even warmer and I feel so cosy and at home whenever I watch these.

[@AlisonBryen]

I was born in 1984 and we watch this every year in Christmas Eve at my sisters house. The kids in our family love watching this too.

[@kona702]

@@AlisonBryen I was born in '84 too 😁😁 Time is flying tho isn't it?? It seems like the year 2000 was just a few years ago lol.

[@th8257]

As fanny mentions a few times in these episodes, it was an absolutely applying time. Massive inflation, widespread strikes. A lot of people were questioning whether Britain was actually governable. We were called "the sick man of Europe". Apart from that, society itself could be pretty unpleasant. Absolutely rampant racism, homophobia and sexism to a level we'd find absolutely shocking now. You have to be very careful about projecting onto the past.

[@AlisonBryen]

@@kona702 It's frightening isn't it? I keep thinking the Millenium wasn't that long ago, but we're nearly a quarter of the way through the "new" century. I'm starting to get lines under my eyes and grey hair too 😩!

[@AlisonBryen]

@@th8257 absolutely, the more things change, the more they stay the same. Thankfully a lot of the unpleasant social attitudes are continuing to change, although there is much work to be done in that area. But, politically the country is in a mess. 12 years of Tory "government" and Brexit have done much damage to this country.

[@AlisonBryen]

The stock in the kettle ends me every single time. Fanny is a legend.

[@katewolfspirit6722]

Every fanny is a legend! 😉

[@rakadoni8403]

I love the fact that she says "It's alright, I've sterilized them", about the garden secateurs, which means they've obviously been used in the garden 😂

[@lucianf89]

😂

[@MegaStig25]

If I'm not talking I can rip a chicken to bits in three and a half minutes

[@AlisonBryen]

I know right! And let's nit forget that she doesn't wash her hands between preparing the turkey and dipping her hand in the honey and rubbing it all over the goose 😂😂😂😂

[@billydeeuk]

@@AlisonBryen You know they used that on their toast the next day

[@sharonstevens4330]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@craig1538]

You can't beat a bit of Fanny at Christmas.

[@willlovesgaz]

lubricating a dry bird - always makes me giggle

[@treasalynam8940]

yes she was scared STIFF about lubricating her dry bird. It's a wonder she had to loosen any skin at all...if shes a dry bird, you would suspect she already HAS loose skin XD, but you just simply shove mushrooms right up in her.

[@ParaiusPau]

@@treasalynam8940 And to think she's called "Fanny"... you can't make this stuff up.

[@treasalynam8940]

@@ParaiusPau 🤣🤣🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂😂

[@treasalynam8940]

@@ParaiusPau oh god I can't stop laughing😅🤣🤣😂🤣🤣😂😂 fanny and her dry bird🤣🤣🤣🤣😂🤣🤣😂🤣😂

[@soneil7745]

Her phrasing is unfortunate, but she is definitely right.

[@MissezPremiseHello]

"Fear of Fanny: How to Stuff Your Bird, Complete With Salmonella Sleeves. Be Sure to Use Your Hands on/in Everything!! Garden Tools Optional." I love this Broad. It saddens me that hardly anyone showed up to her Funeral!

[@sunnyshine2215]

I always watch this series every Christmas, it’s hilarious

[@tonyukkola5341]

Iove this can't stop laughing 😜😹

[@nigeltaylor6358]

Me tooooo !!,

[@AlisonBryen]

We get get together at my sister's house every Christmas Eve and we watch this every time. It's become a Christmas tradition.

[@bduhe219]

she's no nonsense, direct, and a kitchen boss. 😂 wonderful. I never have seen this before. marvelous.

[@sunkat76]

So was Mrs Lovett: that doesn't mean you should trust her cooking.......

[@zakkfromskellten]

@@sunkat76 you’re an intellectual beyond your time

[@sunkat76]

@@zakkfromskellten tee hee xD

[@multimill]

I just love how, once she finished stabbing the goose with those forks, she launches them on to the counter with such ferocity. That was her Christmas gift to the sound man. Tinnitus 😂 Just love the divine Mrs C. I remember my mum buying a capon for Sunday lunch and I have never heard anyone mention it since, until now.

[@KiJiHoon]

I think even Gordon Ramsay would be scared of her

[@StuartFuckingLittle]

Him*

[@suzisue287]

@@StuartFuckingLittle no its a woman

[@StuartFuckingLittle]

@@suzisue287 I was joking..

[@lucianf89]

La Hive 😂

[@giovanna722]

It would be so easy for her to play any cold, aggressive female character in any movie requiring one, if she were an actress. I can't imagine working in the same space with her.

[@butterflyray1]

Green mash potatoe the wonderful 70’s lol but the best part is stabbing the bird and while you do it think of someone you don’t like 🤣🤣🤣 There will never be another Fanny Cradock!

[@markbishop1588]

At the end of one episode her husband(Johnny)urged viewers to try her pastry recipes.He actually said 'Goodnight,I do hope your doughnuts come out like Fanny's'.

[@rosiebottom3870]

😅

[@dd7521]

😂😂😂

[@SonOfFurzehatt]

That is how the story goes (at least, one version of it), but no footage of it has ever turned up. I suspect it is an urban myth.

[@jdb47games]

I was born in 1964 and Fanny Craddock was often on telly when I was a child, but I only heard this story about 20 years ago, and no tape of it has ever surfaced, just as no tape of 'The bowler's Holding, the batsman's Willey' as ever been found. They are urban TV myths, like 'those' names in Captain Pugwash.

[@martinmcdonald4207]

Classic.

[@MarthaMyDear6]

It’s that time of year! The Fanny Cradock time of the year. I plan on finally make her White Christmas Cake and mincemeat if I get on it soon! Thanks so much for sharing with us all. ❤️🙏🎄 RIP Johnnie and Fanny!

[@marclegarreta3359]

A British national treasure! I cannot stop watching her.

[@shalemarie]

Don’t u mean him

[@rankepicdino8194]

@@shalemarie Her, Jesus christ how stupid are you

[@mellissa7208]

National treasure? Ugh think she is more remembered for the absolute snob, bigamist, mother who left her children…..she was a horrible person. Her own son called her evil.

[@dunkster550]

Can’t beat old skool Christmas cooking, why do you think granny’s meals were always the best 😂

[@paulfromdevon4707]

As a kid in the 70s, Fanny Craddock scared the shit out of me.

[@laughinjackdaviscrawford5234]

"The maiden aunt that you have to have on Christmas day because she's lonely or some other old elderly person". icon!!!

[@istvanpraha]

I know! I love the way she speaks! She makes your normal person seem so boring!

[@sunkat76]

....who also just happens to come armed with a kettle full of stock bones and some rusty secateurs for the carvery..

[@dawnfinch8232]

She was great wasn't she I used to. love watching her with my mother

[@faithoffaith]

Her Christmas pudding recipe is absolutely divine. If you ever get the chance to I'd highly recommend you make it.

[@olivia_15.49]

This woman holds a place in my heart. When I was six me and my brother used to watch her at my nans house. We loved it as well. I came back because im 13 now and she is just creepy😂

[@cafeAmericano]

omg. You old timer. Please tell me what was it like back in the great days of Pokemon

[@xXLunatikxXlul]

@@cafeAmericano right? This was a child. 💀

[@TodayFreedom]

“Don’t think I’m a women’s lib type- I’m not such a clot” 😂 God I love classic Cradock.

[@cliveswabs9365]

Thats a dood

[@awnaur0no919]

@@cliveswabs9365 nah she just british lol 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧 still a bad bitch doe 💯💯💯

[@cliveswabs9365]

@@awnaur0no919 Tranny Haddock

[@mogx2586]

Weirdly though that's exactly what she was.

[@soneil7745]

I actually did the chicken with mushrooms under the skin- it's really good!

[@scswp6945]

Yes, it does actually work. The mushrooms are like squeezed sponges and release moisture in to the breast meat. Interesting though that when she’s carving the bird at the end, the peas on the platter (just inside the piped potatoes) look as if they’ve been boiled to death. They’re completely drained of colour!

[@Frank-ed7hj]

it sounds good

[@cynthiatolman326]

Going on 50 years and she's still brilliant.

[@jhunter1573]

Oh how time has passed 😪 remember this first time around 😁👍 brilliant watching it again 👍

[@Lpstpaul]

Double dipping into that honey jar while massaging a raw goose…classic.

[@katewolfspirit6722]

C'mon, we've all done it....

[@gtavmj-1852]

😂😂😂😂😂...

[@johnd8538]

That honey was bin material 😂

[@johnd8538]

I won't be coming to yours for dinner lol

[@th8257]

Fanny was born in 1909, so very much a piece of history here. It shows sometimes in her pronunciation of words such as "item". Very old fashioned, more upper class English way of pronouncing it.

[@angelamaryquitecontrary4609]

"Do you see?" I haven't heard that usage for a long time.

[@TS-qq7vr]

I'm truly impressed how efficient she is.

[@rondonnis6588]

Like a passive aggressive kind of efficiency.

[@magzsara9892]

Given some of the fights that get underway at Christmas some old lonely aunts are better off at home.......... Love this old time cooking and to this day no one makes a mess in the kitchen.... quite like i do.. Happy Christmas for 2018...

[@amw6778]

... a wonderful (although just a tad frightening) woman!... did you know she was credited with inventing the classic 'Prawn Cocktail' starter?.. that's pretty amazing

[@sunkat76]

Aaah hence her disapproval of Gwen Troake using a seafood cocktail as her starter.

[@MegaStig25]

Did she invent bramble jelly as well?

[@JG-nx3jg]

Haha now you mention it, prawn cocktail is totally something fanny would have devised.

[@johnyzero2000]

I've tried this method on a turkey and it works, Fanny knew what she was doing.

[@DCFunBud]

Where has Fanny Cradock been all my life?

[@monicdavis6150]

DCFunBud 😂😂😂Same thing I said! You just can’t look away!

[@lizzy9975]

@TheRenaissanceman65 That's a real shame. Very sad actually.

[@Threebridgecastle]

I absolutely love Fanny Cradock and her no-nonsense approach to everything. She made things look simple and attainable. You can update the presentation a bit but the basic recipes are good. The prep and cooking tips that she gave were amazing.

[@C-Rex1]

The way she stuffed that turkey really got under my skin.

[@irenestephenson8624]

It looks Raw ! I love her trifles though the house wife wants to come back now .

[@georgiawilby25]

She is so funny reminds me of my great gran 😂

[@campbellfulton5602]

Don’t you just love her passive aggressive commentary

[@alliemaria532]

Nothing better than fanny at Christmas she supplied the Johnny

[@davidcondon4211]

I'd love to see the guests on Christmas Day and I hacking at the turkey with a secateurs!

[@internetsummoner]

Lmao

[@Zoe-dr5ps]

😂😂😂😂

[@aidanbowe3866]

She reminds me of Baby Jane Hudson 😂

[@kathybarry2765]

😂

[@adamashman]

Love her accent hehe I could listen to her for days

[@navigator100group2]

I remember her showing off her kitchen. very impressive design as the cabinets were elevated on legs so which facilitated mopping the floor

[@soylentgreennewdealtimeshare]

In 1976, Fanny replaced secateurs with a sterilised chainsaw, and, that year, Pappa went through our Christmas dinner like a knife through butter. These memories are only now coming back.

[@riskkerroo724]

This woman is doing all this in full fancy dress. Kudos to her lol

[@sukitten1]

Before my time but by far the best TV chef ever. I love the superiority that she is able to project lol. Fantastic thanks for sharing the vid x

[@beatlebrian4404]

Yes Fanny and let's not forget her husband Johnny, who always recommended a wine to go with the meal, I remember once watching the show and Fanny was making doughnuts, when she finished as always she handed over to Johnny, who came out with this " I hope all your doughnuts, will turn out like Fanny's !

[@netram28]

Americans might not get that joke. In the UK the slang term "fanny" refers to a woman's "front hole." In the US, "fanny" refers to the rear-end of anyone, male or female.

[@beatlebrian4404]

@@netram28 I think most Americans, don't get "Fanny" in the first place!

[@leannestevens1711]

I love watching her, I bet she was a lovely woman, barr for being in the kitchen. I watch her every Christmas.

[@juliemullen4507]

I love this women excellent makes me smile

[@ppmppm7010]

Anyone remember around the horne on the wireless Sunday dinner some used to do a scit of Fannie and Johnny 🤣🤣🤣 good old days

[@andymentzer]

Don’t get me wrong, either way , she’s fantastic!

[@DR-xr8so]

OMG - the radioactive uranium mash!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@Knappa22]

Guaranteed to give you that special glow… and make your nose fall off 🥴

[@larrydirtybird]

I couldn’t take my eyes off of her puffy pink long satiny sleeves. It amazes me that she was able to do all that without getting residue from the birds and all the other stuff all over them, not even on the cuffs! I kept thinking, Roll up your sleeves!!

[@paperchain1239]

This woman should run the country imho.

[@georgewilson4095]

Fanny certainly knows how to stuff a bird!

[@europa2000man]

She's a great cook and as well as being a great character. There's definitely few if any television cooks or chefs which would have a laughable personality like Fanny Cradock did.

[@giovannirastrelli9821]

Sandra Lee comes to mind.

[@chrishopkins2054]

Died green mashed spud! I love Fanny!

[@user-yk7yv8rb5i]

I loved this cookery program ❤

[@gtavmj-1852]

The CROSS CONTAMINATION of RAW GOOSE getting in the honey was a REAL doozy... lol.. the hands just kept going in the pot😂😂😂

[@tequilyps]

10:39 .... when 70's England got 'fancy'

[@matthewringland9054]

In this anodyne World we all need to be a bit more 'Fanny'. A national horror and treasure at the same time.

[@garyjones483]

So hilarious this is comedy at its best x

[@Jill4Today]

Amazing Stuff!!! Gotta love her.

[@EphemeralProductions]

When she was stabbin that wobbling bird ! Lmao so funny

[@xoll1571]

😂

[@sampearce-ej6vj]

What a wonderful lady xox from nz

[@foundvhs]

Just an American watching a British Christmas cooking show in January.

[@kova1577]

Wow, I’m doing just that. It’s Jan 12th atm. Technically orthodox Christmas was 5 days ago

[@davedavis4269]

Fanny juices her turkey 😂

[@andrewdaley5480]

Then he husband gives it a good seasoning. 🇬🇧

[@asitis56]

I love watching a bit of Fanny 😮

[@martinmcdonald4207]

Fanny showing us how to `lubricate a dry bird`. Splendid stuffing indeed. Merry Christmas all.

[@independentpuppy7520]

There's my Sarah my darling. She was kind sometimes lol. I bet poor Sarah was terrified. I hear Fanny could be very nasty if you got on the wrong side of her.

[@thesteamaddict4286]

Do you realise who 'Sarah' actually is? It's an unknown Delia Smith. I'm not joking!

[@DeepScreenAnalysis]

She put her hand in the honey 6:35, smeared a RAW goose with it and then put her hand back into the honey again!!!!!!!

[@NicsFavorites]

I was yelling at my screen over the same thing!

[@clairenoon4070]

Well, she lived to 85, so it clearly didn't do her any harm!

[@MsShellectable]

All hail Fanny the Kitchen Queen/Boss and First Wave feminist.

[@Demetri450]

Wow!, look at that set!

[@montyf2165]

Nice to see a couple of Parkinson Cowans in use. She was a champion of cooking by gas and worked for gas boards at exhibitions.

[@dawnfinch8232]

Showing my age now remember watching this with my mother 🤣

[@Zoe-dr5ps]

Love your name Dawn, so pretty.

[@dawnfinch8232]

@@Zoe-dr5ps ❤️❤️

[@Zoe-dr5ps]

@@dawnfinch8232 ❤️❤️

[@markknight1011]

Love a bit of Fanny at Christmas

[@namesdaisy9403]

Thanks for these videos, I had never heard of this woman. I just watched Fear of Fanny, also on KZbin.

[@Bungle-UK]

Christmas just isn’t the same without a bit of Fanny.

[@suzannedelgado4542]

No hand sanitizer in sight! Or hand washing it seems... but I love fanny! 😮 merry Christmas all 🎉

[@cardboard316]

At the end when she said revive, I thought for a moment she was meaning one of the birds

[@andromalius8890]

Love this pink number she’s wearing, iconic

[@fuckst1cks]

May all your doughnuts turn out like Fanny's.

[@youarewhatyouare]

Her haphazard approach was loved we always watched for her off the cuff mishaps she was always cooking chicken which people could only afford at Christmas the only person today who cooks on a TV show who comes close to her is ainsley

[@flappospammo]

Can't beat a bit of fanny at xmas

[@mjcleary9364]

How very endearing of her to admit that she is scared stiff being on camera.

[@levimacdonald5188]

Merry Christmas 🎄

[@petercampbell8694]

It’s George Doors mum!! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@Redpill1962]

Lubricating a dry bird ….. 🔥

[@LexiiAllen17]

My mum watched Fanny Cradock when she was growing up

[@johnlong8082]

Was she a stalker?

[@istara]

That is one hell of a knife! Slicing through bone like butter

[@reidb18]

She almost lost a finger with those secateurs.

[@MsShellectable]

When? I saw nothing like that happen.

[@ultravioletgaia]

@@MsShellectable 12:50

[@kova1577]

@@ultravioletgaia i think 12:07, give or take a second or two, is a much closer call

[@markczarny7088]

My tip to fanny would be first put on make up before you start drinking God love her

[@tauIrrydah]

I love her disdain for "Pa"

[@kaysmith8992]

I grew up watching the Two Fat Ladies and this video gives me a similar vibe. Very gently entertaining and useful tips.

[@buster3577]

I love fanny!

[@bradwalker4687]

Brilliant 😀

[@Zelda_Thorn]

love her dipping that raw goose hand back in the honey

[@adrianh332]

Lubricating a dry bird, Fanny needs to help me with my wife then.

[@kova1577]

Eww, might want to trade her in for a newer model. 😂

[@joeheppell7085]

So proud I was born in 1975.

[@paulmartin3682]

I love fanny