She might be 81, but Mrs. Emily Faries wouldn't cook a Christmas pudding indoors if you paid her, and why should she? For more than 60 years, the perky Paget resident has made what her granddaughter says are "the best puddings in the world'' the old-fashioned way.

Cooking over an open fire is a tradition which stretches back to Mrs. Faries' childhood when she watched her older sister Amy make the family puddings. What Amy began (their mother didn't make them), another sister continued, so young Emily -- the third of 10 children in the family -- had plenty of time to study the process while sneaking bits of fruit-laden dough from the bowl.

To this day, Mrs. Faries continues to cook her mixture in recycled coffee cans, their lids secured with twine, over an open fire in her garden.

Though unusual today, this method of making the Christmas puddings was common before the advent of pudding moulds, fancy stoves, pressure cookers and microwaves.

A dedicated recycler before the word was re-invented in recent times, Emily Faries not only continues to gather old coffee cans in which to cook her puddings, but the large pot in which they are boiled began life at a dairy.

"It was one of the original boilers used by Dunkley's Dairy when it first began sterilising milk,'' she said. "Before that, we drank the milk hot from the cow!'' In fact, the ex-boiler is so satisfactory that Mrs. Faries is unable to use her purpose-built outdoor chimney to cook the puddings because it is too big.

To get a smaller pot would mean being unable to boil her eight, two-lb.

puddings at once.

Instead, she builds the fire on the ground behind the chimney, using bricks and reinforcing rods on which to set the pot. Another tradition has always been the inclusion of recycled cedarwood, cut down and carefully stored following the post-war blight, in the outdoor fire, but that is about to end.

"I've got just one log left,'' Mrs. Faries said.

Married to the late Mr. Jeremiah Faries for just under 60 years, his widow continues to make the puddings to the same standard she has always done.

"I carry the recipe in my head,'' she noted.

Mrs. Faries begins the process three to four months in advance when she puts the fruits to soak in rum. A believer in the finest ingredients, she relies on daughter-in-law Sylvia to bring back from Canada the freshest figs and dates for inclusion.

Referring to the rum, Mrs. Faries confided: "My granddaughter in Scotland shares hers with friends and tells them I make the best pudding in the world.

They taste it and say, `Yes, but there's something strong in here'.'' On mixing day, out comes the "big, old aluminium pan'' in which the great-grandmother has been mixing her puddings for upwards of 60 years, and the time-honoured process begins.

From the original recipe obtained from her sister, Mrs. Faries has fine-tuned the ingredients over many years until finally arriving at the flavour everyone raves about. Because of this, no further changes are planned.

Quantities, however, are constantly adjusted to keep pace with the expanding family circle, which now includes in-laws, grand- and great-grandchildren.

In addition to the usual ingredients, such as dried fruits, nuts and homemade breadcrumbs, there is freshly grated carrot from family gardens, and grated apple. Butter is used instead of suet.

Before spooning the completed mixture into the coffee tins, they are meticulously lined with waxed paper to prevent sogginess from steam and facilitate removal.

In preparation for the fire, Mrs. Faries scours the hedges and byways ahead of time, gathering enough twigs and wood to keep the flames going for five hours.

She makes up the fire using a time-honoured formula which begins with kindling and newspaper, and builds to sturdier logs that burn for hours.

"I enjoy lighting my fire,'' she said. "I watch it carefully to make sure the puddings don't burn.'' While the puddings are cooking, Mrs. Faries will "trot back and forth'' with kettles of boiling water to top up the bubbling pot.

And how does she regulate the flames to maintain a steady temperature? "By my brains!'' she exclaimed.

Making the puddings is only half the annual story, however. After putting enough aside for the 16-17 family members who will gather at her Christmas table, Mrs. Faries packs up the rest and mails them off to her sister, grand and great-grandchildren in the US, Canada and Scotland.

Before her son returned home to live, she used to despatch two puddings to his family in western Canada. A former tenant is also on the mailing list.

No stranger to hard work -- "I came up the hard way, you had to work for what you got'' -- Mrs. Faries regards making puddings not as a chore but as a labour of love, and hasn't the slightest intention of calling it quits or turning to modern methods.

"Every year my husband would say, `Emily, when are you going to give this up?' '' she recalled, "and I would say: `Jerry, I will make these puddings until I die'. As long as the Lord gives me strength, I'll carry on.''