I can’t believe we’re already nine days into December!
Having neglected all Christmas preparations in November – and pretty much everything else besides – I am now beginning to panic. Thanks to internet shopping, most of the gifts I need to buy have already been purchased. Needless to say, I bought a lot of books!
We still have to finalize the Christmas menu. Yep, we’re hosting Christmas this year. The Swiss don’t have a traditional Christmas menu which means planning something special every year. The one Irish tradition I’m insisting on is the inclusion of mince pies and brandy butter on the menu.
We also need to organize a tree. The Swiss subscribe to the happy tradition of real candles on Christmas trees. In order to avoid an inferno, said tree needs to be really fresh. In other words, this is something which has to be purchased at the last minute. While I’m all for embracing the traditions of the country you live in, I have to admit this candle-on-tree business scares the crap out of me. I’m not good with fire at the best of times. It was actually the more flame aspect of smoking that put me off trying cigarettes rather than my asthma. Also an ex-boyfriend’s grandmother once burned their house to the ground by forgetting to blow out the Christmas tree candles before going to bed. Admittedly, the grandmother had had a lobotomy during the Hitler regime and wasn’t all there. Still, I always triple check those damn candles before going to bed.
One Swiss tradition I love is baking Christmas cookies. My mother-in-law makes really good ones, although every year she threatens not to make any as the process is fiddly and time-consuming. Needless to say, her husband and sons protest, and out comes the baking sheet. My personal favourites are the Vanillegipfeli (vanilla peaks?) and the Cinammon Stars.
When I lived with my mother in Ireland, Christmas Day was generally spent ignoring each other and reading our new books. I suspect it’ll be at least a decade before I can do that again. Nonetheless, I’ve put several 2009 releases to the side to be read over the holidays. I’ve resisted temptation so far and Karen Marie Moning’s Dreamfever is still wrapped and unread. As I’m hoping to read a few 2009 books over the coming weeks, I won’t be posting my “Best of 2009″ list until the first week of January.
Does your family have any peculiar Christmas/Holiday Season traditions? Did you read any books this year which you think are particularly good for gift-giving purposes?
{ 16 comments }
Our family doesn’t do gift giving anymore, we did it up till 3 years ago but family is scattered over country so we decided first x-mas day is for each his own to spent. Since my brother’s birthday is on December 26th we always spend that day together and going out to dinner with the whole family.
I love to spend first x-mas day with hubby doing our own thing together. Having brunch, making dinner together watch a good, recent, movie. If there is one tradition we have it’s that I always bake the apple-pie for second x-mas day. Ever since I came home from school with my own baked apple-pie I am stuck with the chore
December is a series of stages for us: First I make the Christmas Cake (an English tradition: rum-soaked fruitcake large enough to have its own little village on top when it’s been frosted) so it has time to absorb the rum. Next, I write the Totally Impersonal Christmas Letter (now in its 18th year), format it, print it & stuff 130 Christmas cards with it!. Then there’s Cookie Weekend, when Henry (my ex-husband) comes up and together we bake about 15 recipes of fattening cookies — no nibbling for me this year! — and split them up to give to our respective colleagues.
After that, it’s a swift slide into Christmas. I was raised to put up the tree late (but no actual candles), so I don’t have to worry about that. And my house is pretty much off the beaten track, so no exterior decorations past a wreath on the front door.
It’s just Henry, Ross and me for Christmas proper — and as we do turkey for the American Thanksgiving, we have a range of options for Christmas eve, Christmas dinner, and Boxing Day. (They’re British, so ordinarily they would have turkey for Christmas, but two in one month is too much — as it is, we just had the last of the turkey & rice soup that signified the last of the Thanksgiving leftovers yesterday. Another turkey would pretty much kill me!)
All that’s left then is cleaning up all that wrapping paper!
What an entertaining post! I love all the details about christmases in different times and places. My husband and I still argue about the *right* way to do different things – but now with our own children, we’re making our own traditions which I just love. My favourite is probably when the kids have gone to bed on xmas eve and we do proper mulled wine and fill their stockings and listen to Christmassy music.
When I lived at home we always had the tradition of gift giving on Christmas Eve (24th) followed by a huge dinner with the entire family (aunts, uncles, cousins in all degrees included). But since I moved out and married (and everyone else also went on their merry way with busy lives and all) that has died down.
Since I moved in with hubby no Christmas has been the same. We went away with Christmas a few times (once to Germany, once to Belgium) and I am still trying to coax hubby into visits to London or Disneyland Paris…but not going to happen this year, sadly…
But we’ve also hosted Christmas dinners at our home or attended dinners hosted by my mother, his parents or one of his brothers and their families.
Here in Holland we have the luck to have 2 Xmas days. Not all countries have that.
This year we’re spending the first Xmas just the two of us. Normally when we do that we go on a Xmas movie binge. Either rented or owned we make sure we have drinks and snacks and watch the standard Xmas movies > A Christmas Carol (in all versions possible), The Gringe, Muppet’s Xmas, you name it, we’ll watch it.
Second Xmas day we’re hosting a Christmas Brunch for our immediate family (parents and brothers).
What we’re doing next year? No idea…but I am starting working on either London or Disneyland Paris again as soon as 2010 starts
Lit candles on the tree? I imagine it’s beautiful, but I’d be terrified of fire, too.
I like to do my gift shopping early, and then spend the month leisurely wrapping things so that new gifts just appear under the tree every few days until Christmas. We don’t have kids, so on Christmas Eve, DH and I head out to my aunt’s house for the big Christmas family reunion. Lots of fun, excited little cousins running around, Christmas ham and sugary desserts had by all.
Would love to see the cookie recipes. Those sounds delicious!
The rest of Christmas is always a little different every year, but still nice.
It used to be that my Christmas tradition was a real tree, new pjs on Xmas Eve, and the annual kitchen fiasco of beef burgundy. This year, I caved and bought an artificial tree since my mom is coming down and now (all of a sudden) she’s allergic to pine. We’d also knock ourselves out, buying as many Christmas presents that would fit under the tree. This year I put my foot down and let my family know that it wasn’t necessary to go bankrupt buying gifts — one or two is plenty, and not even required.
We’ll still do the pjs and beef burgundy thing, however. That is a requirement.
I can’t believe it’s December ninth, either! Why does December always go so fast?
I need more time….
We don’t really have any special Christmas traditions. My grandma used to make these great almond sugar cookies, but she’s not really up to baking any more. I suppose I could ask her for the recipe and do it. =/ And on Christmas Eve we go to church for the candlelight service and sing Silent Night in German, then open presents from the family.
On Christmas Day we usually just hang out at home like slugs and play with our new toys–but this year I have to work on Christmas Day. Booo.
Hey, they’re not candles unless they’re candles.
I still have so much to do to get ready for Christmas! Well at least the tree is there and all the decorations are in place…
We always do breakfast with the kids, then we unwrap pressies, and then go visit the parents and cook together. On the second day we watch a movie and just relax with the kids. So nothing special, just enjoying it to spend time with family.
As your book-reading mother of Christmas Past Present & Future, I am really looking forward to those Swiss Christmas Cookies. Festive cookies were part of my American childhood, though of course not made by my Irish immigrant family. I am bringing the filling for your mince pies, though your pastry is better than I could ever hope to make – brandy butter is another story and I have orders to fulfill for the fans, to melt into the 5 Christmas puddings I made and gave away, as pudding is not a tradition in Switzerland. Candles on Christmas Trees scare me senseless, and I will be in that room! Maybe I should buy a fire extinguisher as a gift-to-self? My favorite books this year (worthy of gift giving) were: all those Julia Spencer-Fleming books I borrowed; ‘The Glass Castle’ by Jeanette Walls; ‘Revelation’ by CJ Sansom; ‘The Given Day’ by Dennis Lehane; ‘Olive Kitteridge’ by Elizabeth Strout.
Hey, it’s Monkey Bear’s Mom! I feel honored to be in the same comment thread. (I’d say the same thing about Mr. M. Bear, but he’s got a gun, so I’ll just walk quietly away.) Your daughter is the loveliest blogger, with the possible exception of Tumperkin, Heidenkind, and all other bloggers reading this…
I’m a nosy American, so I will ask: What part of the US did you grow up in? When did you emigrate to Ireland? Despite marrying British men (two men, three marriages — one of marriages was solely for US immigrations), I’ve never thought I’d been completely happy living in England. I used to think I’d miss the American TV too much, but with satellite connections that’s no longer a valid reason. Still, I was happy that both husbands have been happy moving over here.
Magdalen, I’ve never been called “Monkey Bear’s Mom” before – it’s an honor! I was born in San Francisco, California and grew up there. I moved to Ireland when I was 18. I always think of myself as American and when I go home (as I did in September after almost 7 years) and I’m with my lifelong friends over there it’s a wonderful thing. Time passes and we are all getting older, but the connection to those people is unbreakable. As is my connection to the place, San Francisco is a very big part of who I am.
Trish, like your new nickname!
@Leontine Which days do you celebrate? The Swiss have their big celebration on the evening of the 24th – at least the Protestants do. The 25th and 26th are also free but less of a big deal. As far as I’m concerned, Christmas is on the 25th, so we also acknowledge that.
@Magdalen Mmm! I love Christmas cake. I far prefer it to Christmas Pudding.
@Tumperkin Mulled wine is another must!
@Pearl I would love to go away for Christmas one year but it’s probably not PC.
@Lynn Spencer I’ll see if I can find a couple of nice cookie recipes for you. My mother-in-law guards her recipe for vanilla cookies but I might be able to persuade her to share!
@Amy I would love to hang out in my PJs. That’s what we used to do in Ireland. It’s a bit more difficult to get away with when I’m playing hostess to 15 people!
@heidenkind We will also be singing Silent Night in German. In my case, off key… Boo is right to working on Christmas Day!
@Christian You’d just better hope Karen Marie Moning’s Dreamfever doesn’t go up in flames!
@Marissa We split the opening of presents between Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. The kids usually open their toys after breakfast on the 25th and then they can spend the day playing with them. I feel bad for them when they open stuff after dinner on the 24th and are then packed off to bed.
@Trish/Monkey Bear’s Mom You’ll probably be sleeping on the sofa next to the tree…I’ll leave you a bucket of water.
@Andrea Didn’t you experience a live candle Tanner Family Christmas?
I forgot about the sofa-sleeping next to a smoldering tree – I’m asking Santa for flame-retardant pajamas! Andrea, this is my first Live Candle Christmas, and I’m looking forward to acting like a kid with the grandbabies. I usually have a Bah Humbug attitude to the Santa Season – Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday, which is truly tragic because I live in a country where it isn’t celebrated and you can’t even buy Ocean Spray Jellied Cranberry Sauce in a can!
I love the live candle tree traditions! Was never worried about it going up in flames. Someday, if I ever buy my own house, I’m going to try candles on a tree.
But this year we went out and bought a live tree that is a good mix between a traditional European and a traditional North American pine (less dense than a NA tree). It is decorated and has white lights that twinkle every night (usually with the cat camped underneath batting at a branch or an ornament). Love Christmas and am just realizing how much I missed the weeks up to Christmas. When I was in Germany, I was always stressed about preparing for the flight to the US and never fully enjoyed it I think.
Trish, I hope the kidlets will help you get rid of your inner Scrooge!