Passau is known as “the city of the three rivers” and founded more than 2,000 years ago, Passau is one of the oldest cities in Bavaria.
We had about a 10 minute bus ride to the downtown area from our docking area. Our tour this morning was a walking tour which was fine but there was a pretty steep hill in town and we went up and down it twice. We first walked to a church where we had a talk about making gingerbread, tasted the 3 kinds of gingerbread and watched how to make an evergreen wreath with candles. It was cold outside but it was slightly warmer in the church.
In Germany, the head “master” gingerbread person used to be able to do it with a 4 year level but now it was that plus 4 more years of training, plus 3 years apprenticeship plus another 4 months to learn about opening a business, etc. Until then, you can’t open your own business for gingerbread in Germany. You have to pass several different tests and if you can’t pass them in 3 tries, you can never open your own business unless you partner with a master who had passed it all.
They used to always be partnered with a candlemaker because they used the same wooden molds. Today, they don’t do that because the gingerbread isn’t made in the same molds. He told us there are three kinds of gingerbread, First kind they sweetened with honey, second with molasses, and now they sweeten with sugar and lots of spices. Each has its points and is softer depending on the sweeter – honey, molasses, or sugar. We got to sample each kind.
Being right on three river, there are occasional floods. There is a building near the river that they mark where the floods come up to and the years they had the floods. The last flood they had was in 2013 and it was their deepest – 10.04 feet! That flooded the bottom floor of any building near the rivers.
Saint Stephen’s Cathedral in Passau has the largest Catholic church organ in the world and the largest organ in Europe. It has 17,974 pipes and 233 registers. It is beautiful to listen to. The last time we were in Passau, they had a concert there every afternoon at 4 PM. We were really looking forward to hearing it again. Unfortunately, the city is having problems finding people who know how to play this beautiful organ and they have discontinued the daily concerts. They only have 7 people who know how to play it. We did get to hear a lady practicing several pieces as we were in the cathedral. The city is offering scholarships, etc. trying to entice more people to learn how to play that organ.
Their Christmas Market was at the top of the hill so we only had to walk down one more time to get to the bus. When we got back to the ship, they were gave us a warm wine punch which was very good.
The next day it was back to the real world! Bags put by 5 AM and our bus to the airport left the ship at 7 AM. They did have the dining room open very early for breakfast so at least we started with a good meal.
The flight home would have challenged a saint but that is for another time. Suffice it to say, we will have second thoughts about airline trips in winter.
Prior to COVID, we had scheduled this cruise on the Danube from Budapest to Passau in December of 2020 with four other couples, Of course that got side lined, and over the next two years we lost two couples, so it was just the six of us going. Shot and Pam Shuler, Beth and Dennis Trammel, and us.
This was our second Christmas Markets river cruise. The first one we did in 2017 from Amsterdam to Basel Switzerland on the Rhine River. That was a fabulous experience, and we wanted to do the same thing on the Danube.
The river cruising experience is so laid back, with just 80 or so couples on the boat. It’s very easy to meet people and make new friends. Then there is gliding along the most iconic rivers of Europe with fine dining, superb service, on a beautiful boat. The Christmas Markets just make it that much more special.
As a starter, click to view a short video of the journey, then look at the details of each city along the Danube
So journey with us as we depart Budapest and sail upriver on the Danube towards Passau Germany on an eight day voyage of exploration and discovery.
Up for a great breakfast. We ate most of our breakfasts in the main dining room. They have a buffet breakfast that you can go to or an area with sweet rolls, croissants, etc. but we liked to sit, pick from the menu and have it brought to us.
The tour this morning was again, a tour of the city and Christmas Markets. Most of the tours we had time during the tour to visit the Markets for plenty long enough. Some of the markets were close enough to the ship, we could go there again if we wanted.
Vienna is a beautiful city with lots of elegant buildings and streets. We drove along the Ringstasse (the Ring Road), a road that was laid out during the 19th century along the old city walls. Lots of elegant public buildings, grand residences and imposing palaces. We did some walking around the Schonbrunn Palace which the best claim to fame in my opinion was it was one of the places where the Lipizzaner stallions live. It was also home to many centuries of Habsburg or Hapsburg family. They were an imperial family who were one of the principal sovereign dynasties of Europe from the 15th to the 20th century.
We stopped at St Stephen’s Cathedral which is the mother church of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna.The current Romanesque and Gothic form of the cathedral, seen today in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Duke Rudolf IV (1339–1365) and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first a parish church consecrated in 1147. The most important religious building in Vienna, St. Stephen’s Cathedral has had many important events in Habsburg and Austrian history and has, with its multi-colored tile roof, become one of the city’s most recognizable symbols.
There was to be a protest in the city in the afternoon – protesting any and all things according to our guide. It started out being a protest for the COVID restrictions but has morphed into protesting everything in general and nothing in particular since there are no more COVID restrictions. The city closes part of the palace and the ring road for the protest. Our guide didn’t think much of the protest because they couldn’t even be specific and were protesting higher taxes and food prices, which nothing could be done about.
We went to the Christkindlmarkt at and around St. Charles Church and to the Magic Christmas Market. They had their market laid out in with four branches. They had the most unique, beautiful, handmade ornaments I had seen. We spent a fair amount of money there! They also had some really good Gluhwein.
We also walked to the Pasqualati House where Beethoven lived in Vienna and on several occasions between 1804 and 1815. The composer worked here on his opera “Fidelio” and on piano pieces such as the well-known “Fur Elise”.
Interestingly, The lights on all the streets with the Christmas Markets are all different – some like huge chandeliers, some just strung across in layers, some all over the buildings, etc. The reason for this is that the merchants on the streets decide what they want to put up and pay for. Makes for lots of variety.
In the afternoon, we did a “Behind the Scenes at the Lipizzaner Stallions” tour at the Stallburg Imperial Stables at the Hofburg Palace. That was pretty awesome! We had a guide for the ten of us who took the tour. She told us lots about the stallions, how they are trained and the history of them. The facility was built in 1729 by the Emperor and is one of the oldest of its kind in the world. It is built as part of the Schonbrunn Palace and the horses have very palatial facilities. We got to see the outdoor courtyard, the tack room, the stables, the performance arena and the outdoor training facility. Most of what we got to see was behind locked doors or gates where the general public wasn’t allowed. It was very cool seeing the stallions in their stable. We were just outside their individual stalls where you saw their names, what they ate for each meal and got to have a personal experience with them just on the other side of slats of wood.
We got to see several of the horses in outside stables. The horses are not totally white until they are about 7 years old. They have brown or gray in addition to the white. That is one of the things they look for when the pick horses to train. They also look at temperament, if they think they will train, their personality, etc. Lots of horses don’t make the cut and when they don’t, they sell them off, usually. They stay in Vienna 6 months of the year and have a summer vacation for 2 months and also get to go to the summer farm so they can get outside. It takes about 7 years to train a horse to make a show horses. Each horse does one of the tricks, not all of them. There is a school for the trainers too – one groomsman and one rider/trainer/horse.
Only 6 horses originally started the entire line of the horses so the first name of each horse is the lineage, the second name is the mother’s name. There are 70 horses at various stages of trainings, etc. The horses start doing shows about 8 years old and perform until they are about 25. Then they are retired and live the life of leisure until they die.
Then we went to the Gerstner K. u. K. Hofzuckerbäcker Coffee shop where Mike and I each had a huge piece of apple strudel with clotted cream. You could have one of those, a cheese strudel or any of about 15 awesome cakes and coffee. One of the great things about this place, beside the awesome food, everyone enjoyed their job!! They were all friendly, engaging and just really seemed to enjoy what they did.
The coffee shop was about a 2 minute walk to the Vienna State Opera. Gustav Mahler was, at one time, the director of the Vienna State Opera and the Vienna state orchestra. During his time there, he decided to change the rules. He wanted people to pay attention to what they were watching and the people were using it as time to socialize – see and be seen – talking during concerts, leaving the lights on, etc. He said people needed to pay attention so no lights during performances, no talking and no eating and drinking. The people didn’t like that because they were used to using it as time to socialize so they said if they couldn’t socialize, they weren’t going to go and they stopped. Mahler knew he had to do something so he instituted the intermission, which was OK with the people. Today there are usually 3 intermissions with any thing going on in the Opera House.
There is a different opera, play, etc. every day at the Opera House. They were doing Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” the day we were there which would have been great to see but unfortunately, we didn’t have time. You could stand for the performance for about 15 Euros. If you wanted to sit in the best place, it was 301 Euros.
Then back to the ship for a relaxing supper and evening. Course, we did make time for a couple of scotches before turning in for the night.
We sailed all morning which made for a nice, relaxing time. We went through the Lock of Gabcikovo which is about the only lock we did during the day and it was a big lock. After we docked, we went on the included excursion.
Our tour there was the Bratislava’s Christmas Markets and an organ concert at the Gothic St. Martin’s Cathedral. The Cathedral is one of the largest and oldest churches in Bratislava, known especially for being the coronation church of the Kingdom of Hungary between 1563 and 1830. The concert was a woman playing the organ who was very good playing several pieces and Christmas carols. Her husband sang the Christmas carols accompanied by his wife on the organ. It was a good concert and we really enjoyed it. We also enjoyed the church because it was warm inside! It was cold outside.
There are lots of places for food. Apparently a lot of people use the market for supper. Lots and lots of people and lots and lots of places to buy great looking food. Too bad we were not hungry!! Some of the food looked great. We did have gluhwein, of course. Mike had some great hot chocolate also. There was mostly food in markets and not a lot of stalls selling Christmas things. I wonder if this might have been that this is the first year the Christmas Markets have been open since COVID first shut them down. I would think I lots of places that had them in the past just didn’t have the supplies to have a nice market or maybe they were unsure if they would be open this year. Last year they shut them down late in the year and there was some uncertainty if they would open this year.
In the roads of the town there are grooves in middle of stone. They were built this way and filled with rough rocks to keep horse hooves from slipping taking items to market.
After we got back to the ship, we did a tour of the ship’s bridge. The first mate did the discussion since the captain only speaks German. Sometimes there is only a 3-7 cm clearance under a bridge with the ship’s bridge down to the slit to see out of. There are 13 locks from Budapest to Passau and 167 locks from Passau to Amsterdam. The ship can go under a bridge with 7 cm clearance below the boat to bottom of river. The wheel house is down for 4 days going from Passau to Amsterdam for bridges
Viking includes at least one excursion in every port. Usually it is a tour of the city. The first one was a tour of the beautiful city of Budapest, the capital of Hungary. We started in the city of Pest and did a general tour of the city, seeing the most iconic places such as Heroes Square and the State Opera House. Then across the river to Buda with the Castle District, Fisherman’s Bastion, Matthias Church, and beautiful views of the famous Chain Bridge across the Danube. The tour guide was very knowledgable and made the tour fun.
After the tour and lunch, we walked to the closest Christmas Market. The Christmas Markets are the reason for the trip!! The market had lots of great things to eat as well as all things Christmas. Of course we had some Gluhwein. I collect the cups since each market had different cups. They have the name of the market as well as the year on them. And they are all unique.
The food on the Viking ship was excellent. There was a set menu available at each meal as well as different selections for each meal. There are several available places to eat. The main dining room (with floor to ceiling windows), the Aquavit Terrace (which is awesome when it is warm. It is on the back of the ship and has an area outside with seating) and the ship’s lounge for quick breakfasts of coffee and pastries White and red wine and beer are included with lunch and dinner. All Viking ships are set up the same so they all have these restaurants
For some reason, I have this weird fascination with clocks that are out of the ordinary. The requirement is that they be electronic, and hopefully in kit form so I can assemble it.
This version is based on an oscilloscope tube. The kit was very easy to assemble, although the plastic case had some issues with fitting, and small broken pieces. The actual electronics worked the first time, and are still functioning perfectly after a year.
The SCTV Scope Clock from Cathode Corner is a unique, hand-made timepiece that brings the time to life on a vintage cathode-ray tube. The hours, minutes and seconds glow gently in green numbers formed with a precision circle generator. Driven by a tiny yet powerful Teensy computer, the clock can also display poetry and play games.
The Scope Clock is housed in a laser-cut case made of clear acrylic plastic. The clock case design evokes memories of the old TV sets from days gone by. The plastic version puts the tube and the circuit board on display. A set of four knobs allows adjustment of the display brightness, focus and centering. The large function knob provides quick selection of one of several clock faces, haiku, Pong or Tetris.
The clock faces are designed for simplicity and beauty. The digits are reminiscent of Nixie tubes. Each digit is formed of circles, arcs, ellipses and lines. The extensive use of curves avoids the jagged appearance of the typical vector display.
Tetris uses the two lower knobs as rotation and position controls for the falling block. given the unique characteristics of a vector display, the ‘bucket’ that the blocks are piled into is drawn as one outline object. Each hole in the bucket is drawn separately.
Pong uses the two lower knobs as the paddle controls for the left and right side players. English may be applied to the ball by hitting it near the edge of the paddle. Each game goes up to 11 points.
There are hundreds of haiku available, displayed in a random sequence. Each is credited to its poet.
The clock is easy to set up and use. The User Manual provides all the necessary guidance.
The Scope Clock uses a precision crystal clock circuit to keep time to within 3 minutes a year. If this isn’t accurate enough for your needs, a USB GPS receiver (GlobalSat BU-353S4) may be plugged in to keep the time accurate to a fraction of a second. A standard CR2032 coin cell keeps the onboard clock running in case of power failure, so the time only needs to be set once for years of operation.
The long-life 3RP1-A CRT has been shown to run for typically 20 years of continuous operation.
The clock is powered by a 12 Volt, 1.5 Amp DC wall adapter. An American, European, UK or universal adapter is provided as needed.
Stoney and I had flown to Loma Plata the day before to take a couple of the land development folks there. The airport is a 7000 foot by 100 ft wide clay and dirt runway in vey nice condition. That day we didn’t stay as we needed to get back to run another trip. The passengers stayed there for pickup the next day.
The morning of the trip, the weather had turned a bit wet with scattered showers, but great visibility, and a reasonable 3000 foot ceiling. The normal route to the North to get to Lomo Plata was to go to a fix 50 miles from Asuncion, report the fix, and ATC would cut us loose, as there was no radar in the country. This meant that we were responsible for checking visually for traffic, and what few other aircraft might be around reported their positions at certain fixes.
The day before, the landing had been uneventful, as the runway was dry. This morning it was Stoney’s turn to fly, and our arrival was anything but routine. It had just rained at the airport. We could see the shower over the airport and watched it move away. There was an obvious mud puddle at the end of the strip, so we elected to land past it.
We are dealing with an airplane that, although one of the fastest turboprops around, also had unreal short field capabilities. So landing a bit long was not an issue. All was fine until the touchdown, and the mud started flying. I suggested that we not do reverse, but Stoney still had to come to beta mode (flat pitch props) to slow us down. The brakes had become useless, as we were just sliding in the muck.
As soon as the props went to beta, the mud started flying up from the surface and coated the windshield. By this time we were most of the way down the runway, off to the side and sliding. To Stony’s credit, he kept us on the strip and came to a slow taxi at the end. I said to keep us moving while we turned around so we wouldn’t get stuck. When the airplane stopped, we just left it in the middle of the runway at the end.
WOW what a mess. There was mud everywhere. In the gear, the flaps, the engine inlets, and all over the fuselage. This was going to take some time to clean, and there were no facilities there to do it. We decided to just fly the airplane back home with everything hanging out, and we would clean it up in Asuncion.
In the mean time we were invited to tour the Mennonite town nearby. Very impressive how clean and orderly everything was. We visited a general store in town, and my biggest impression was the large refrigerated tank that sold fresh whole milk. The ladies from the town would bring their jugs and containers to the store and fill them up from this stainless steel drum. Our guide asked if we wanted to try the milk. OMG, the freshest, sweetest, creamiest, coldest milk I have ever had. I sometimes dream about that milk it was so good.
When we returned to the strip, the mud had dried out and was now concrete. The gear and flaps on the MU-2 are run by electric motors turning jackscrews. Raising the gear or the flaps would have just ground up the bearings and screw followers, so we flew back with it all hanging out. We found some rain showers on the way to start getting some of it off. The flight back took us about thirty minutes longer, but that was OK,
We started with a small pressure washer to clean the mud off, and that was a three hour task to get most of it off. Did some maintenance procedures on the gear and flaps before running them. When we sold the airplane a few years later, they were still finding dirt and grime in strange places all over the aircraft.
We have so many traditions, especially for holidays and it’s fun to learn about traditions in other countries.
Philippines
The Saturday before Christmas Eve, in the city of San Fernando – the “Christmas Capital of the Philippines”, is a “Giant Lantern Festival”. The festival is a century old tradition which is a competition between each of the surrounding districts. The original lanterns were 2 feet tall and now are 20 feet tall. The lanterns are made from a variety of materials such as colored plastic, fiberglass and handmade paper. They consist of thousands of spinning lights that light up the night sky and symbolize the Star of Bethlehem and unwavering hope.
Sweden has used a Yule goat as a Christmas symbol since ancient pagan festivals. It is a symbol of generosity and plenty. The goat was also supposed to help deliver presents and is almost as popular in displays, decorations and on trees as reindeer are. Gävle, Sweden, in 1966, had the idea of making a giant straw goat. The goat is more than 42 feet high, 23 feet wide, weighs 3.6 tons and is built every year on December 1. It has been in the Guinness Book of World Records. Unfortunately Gave’s goat has been burned 35 times in the last 50 years. Do the people keep building the goat because they get lots of visitors each year to see if the goat survives or is it just they love their tradition?
Austria has a tradition at their St. Nicholas festivities on December 6. St. Nicholas rewards the well behaved with gifts. He is joined at the festivals by an evil accomplice, Krampus. Krampus is an anti-St. Nicholas who comes to warn and punish naughty children. He is a devil figure, often in chains, dressed in fur with a scary devil mast with horns and a long red tongue. He carries a wooden stick or switches to threaten children who misbehave. Sometimes he appears with a sack or basket strapped to his back to cart off evil children for eating or transporting to Hell. The US has introduce Krampus in post cards, holiday cards and several movies.
Japan doesn’t celebrate Christmas in a big way but they do have a traditional meal. Or traditional since 1974, when Kentucky Fried Chicken did a very successful advertising campaign which featured Kentucky Fried Chicken for Christmas dinner. It is so popular that people order their dinners months in advance or wait in line for hours, just have have their fried chicken dinner for Christmas.
Iceland celebrates for 13 days before Christmas. Each night children leave their shoes by the window. One of the 13 troll like “Yule Lad” characters comes during the night, leaving good boys and girls a small gift or candy. Naughty children get rotten potatoes in their shoes. The 13 Yule lads are troll like and each have their own speciality. Sheep-Cote Clod harasses sheep; Gully Gawk hides in gullies waiting for an opportunity to sneak in the cow sed and steal milk; Stubby is unusually short and steals pans to eat the food left in them; Spoon-Licker steals wooden spoons to lick and is extremely thin; Pot-Licker steals leftovers from pots; Bowl-Licker hides under beds and waits for someone to put down a bowl which he steals; Door-Slammer likes to slam doors, especially during the nigh; Skyr-Gobbler loves skyr (similar to yogurt); Sausage-Swiper hides in the rafters and steals sausages that are being smokes; Window-Peeper is a voyeur who looks through windows in search of things to steal; Doorway-Sniffer has an abnormally large nose and acute sense of smell which he uses to find laufabrauo (leaf bread – a traditional Icelandic Christmas bread made very thin, decorated and fried); Meat-Hook use a hook to step meat; Candle-Stealer follows children to steal their candles; Gryla, the mother of the Yule lads whom Icelandic mothers would scare their children from misbehaving by telling them Gryla would abduct them; Leppaluoi is the husband of Gryla, not evil but lazy. These 13 trolls are known for the mischief their name suggests.
Denmark homes are decorated with superstitious characters called “nisser”. “Nissers” are believed to provide protection from evil and misfortune if treated well. They are however, known to be short tempered when insulted or offended. They usually play tricks, steal things or even injure livestock if offended. Their name means “a household spirit” or goblin in Norwegian. They are generally described as being short, having a long white beard and wearing a cone or knit cap. They look similar to garden gnomes.
On Christmas Eve, Danish families place their Christmas tree in the middle of the room and dance around it singing carols.
The Irish leave a tall red candle in a front window on December 24, a welcoming symbol of warmth and shelter for Mary and Joseph. Traditional Christmas fare in Ireland often includes homemade roast goose or turkey, vegetables, cranberries, and potatoes. And they serve Christmas Pudding, or Plum Pudding. One superstition of the pudding is that it should be made with 13 ingredients to represent Jesus and His Disciples and that every member of the family should take turns stirring the pudding with a wooden spam from east to west, in honor of the Wise Men.
Boxing Day, celebrated on December 26, is an important day when they traditionally have football games and horse racing. Another tradition for the Christmas season in Ireland that I like – in some towns, Women’s Christmas is January 6 (also known as the Feast of the Epiphany). The women are given the day off and men do the housework and cooking.
Christmas dinner in Poland typically has an extra setting at the table in case anyone shows up uninvited. Nothing can be eaten until the first star is seen in the sky (a reminder of the Wisemen who followed a star to visit Jesus). At the table are 12 dishes, meant to give you good luck for the next 12 months, or a symbol of Jesus’s 12 disciples. It is traditionally meat free (to remember the animals who took care of Baby Jesus in the manger). One of the must haves is “barszcz” which is a beetroot soup. Carp is often the main dish along with bios which is made of cabbage, bacon and dried plums. Most also have a popular dessert, a poppy seed roll made of sweet yeast bread, mixed dried fruit and nuts or a moist cake made with honey (like gingerbread) or gingerbreads.
In Poland people prepare their homes for Christmas by cleaning everything, including windows and carpets. Everything must be clean for Christmas Day!
Ukraine celebrates Christmas on January 7 because they use the old “Julian” calendar for their church festivals. They eat their main Christmas meal, called the Holy Supper, on January 6. As with Poland, you can”t begin the meal until the first star is seen in the sky. They also have 12 dishes with no meat. A similar meal is eaten.
Farmers might want to add this to their traditions. In Ukraine they have a dish made of cooked wheat mixed with honey and ground poppy seeds. Most families throw a spoonful of this mix at the ceiling – if it sticks, there will be a good harvest in the new year.
I love Christmas!! It is my favorite holiday! Not just the religious aspect, I love the decorations, family time, food, and fellowship of this time of the year.
Today, most Americans blend religious and secular customs with their own family traditions, often incorporating food, decorations and rituals from places they or their ancestors once called home. Roast turkey and ham are popular for Christmas dinner throughout the country, but depending on the region, so are tamales, roast goose with red cabbage, crawfish jambalaya, roast pork or “seven fishes” seafood salad.
Using mistletoe inside began because of the healing properties of the herb. Since it blossoms even in the coldest winter, the Celtic Druids began to look at it as a symbol of vivacity. The association between mistletoe and fertility/vitality strengthened through the Middle Ages and became part of Christmas. Kissing under the mistletoe began in England where men could sneak a kiss from any woman standing under the mistletoe. Any refusal was considered bad luck
The nativity scene of Jesus’ birth was begun by St. Francis of Assisi who created an original living nativity around 1223 in a cave in Grecio, Italy. He created it to help his followers better understand the birth of Jesus. At the time, plays were a common way for the church to help people learn scriptures. The nativity scene typically has at least Mary, Joseph and Jesus. Shepherds, sheep, angels, donkey, ox, and the Magi (Three Wisemen) and their camels
Advent is a religious event that has been celebrated since the 4th century. It is a four-week period that starts on the Sunday closest to the November 30 feast day of St. Andrew the Apostle to prepare for Christmas. It is a celebration of the coming of Christ.
Advent is 4 weeks and represented in the church with a wreath made of a circle of evergreen branches to symbolize eternal life. There are 4 candles in a circle on the wreath. Each week a new candle is lit. The candles all represents something different. The first candle is The Candle of Hope representing God’s people shining in a dark place and the hope we have in Jesus. The second candle is the Candle of Peace, representing the old testament prophets and the peace we find in Jesus. Third is the Candle of Love, representing John the Baptist and the love we have for Christ. the last candle is the Candle of Joy, representing Mary, the mother of Jesus and the joy we find in Jesus. In the center if the circle is the Christ Candle, lit on Christmas Day. It represents the birth of Christ and reminds us Jesus is the light of the world and if we follow Him, we will never walk in darkness, but have the true light of life.
The Advent calendar was possibly created in the 19th century by a housewife who was tired of being asked when Christmas would come. The 24 openings have a picture or small gift for each day beginning December 1. Some towns have entire buildings and celebrations around opening of each window.
Yule logs are a tradition that is said to predate Christianity. As part of the winter solstice celebrations, Gaels and Celts burned logs decorated with holly, ivy and pinecones to cleanse themselves of the past year and welcome the new one. Europe had much ado about the Yule log for many years with different ways of ensuring the burning of the log for the 12 Days of Christmas. Today the yule log is usually a log shaped dessert, very tasty.
The tradition of leaving milk and cookies for Santa Claus is a tradition which dates back to ancient Norse mythology. Odin, the Norse god, had an eight legged horse named Sleipnir. Kids would leave treats for Sleipnir hoping to get treats in return. This tradition became popular in the US during the Great Depression when parents tried to impress upon kids the importance of being grateful for anything they were lucky enough to receive for Christmas.
Evergreen fir trees are universal winter decorations. They were used as a reminder that spring would come again; the Romans placed them around temples to honor Saturn, the god of agriculture. In the 16th century, German Christians brought the trees inside their homes as a symbol of everlasting life.
Germany started the Christmas tree tradition as we now know it in the 16th century when devout Christians brought decorated trees into their homes. Decorations for these trees were made by hand. Trees were decorated with berries, popcorn and nuts to feed the birds and the custom continued with indoor trees.
Martin Luther is said to be the first person to put lights on a Christmas tree. Legend has it that he was walking through a forest one night and was moved by the beautiful stars shining through the trees. When he got went home, he recreated what he saw for his family by putting a tree in their living room and placing lighted candles on its branches.
The first president to set up a Christmas tree in the White House was Franklin Pierce, and the first president to establish the National Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony on the White House lawn was Calvin Coolidge.
Christmas Caroling was begun in Europe thousands of years ago before the establishment of Christmas when it was a celebration of the Winter Solstice. The word carol means dance or song of praise and joy. Christmas carols were possible first written in Latin in the 4th and 5th centuries.
Carol singing has come and gone but was revived to include singing at home, church and on the street as well as in plays since the 1800s The first printed publication of Christmas music helped widen interest in carols. It was published in 1833 and included “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen “, “The First Noel”, “I Saw Three Ships”, and “Hark! The Herald Angles Sing”. Almost all Christmas carols have some part of the Christmas theme, whether the birth of Jesus or the celebrations of the season (snow, sleigh rides, etc.).
Each carol has an interesting history. “Silent Night” was thought to have been written n Christmas Eve for the midnight mass in Orberndorf, Austria in 1818. Two priests adapted a poem and introduced it at their service despite their church organ being broken.
“Joy to the World” contains Christian imagery/. Its lyrics originate in the Old Testament in a 1719 translation of the Psalms of David, melody crafted in the 19th century.
The first version of”O Tannenbaum”, “O Christmas Tree”, originated in Germany, maybe as early as the 16th century. This carol pays homage to a universal symbol of Christmas, an evergreen tree.
“Santa Claus is Coming to Town” was written by Haven Gillespie in 1934 just after he learned his brother had died. On the subway ride home, remembering his childhood with his brother and his mother’s warning that Santa was watching, he composed the song and had a composer wrote the music.
“Deck the Halls” dates back to the 16th century Wales where its melody and many of the lyrics were from a New Year Eve song. Undergoing several changes such as “fill the meadcup, drain the barrel” to “don we now our gay apparel”, the current version became popular in 1887.
“Jingle Bells” was originally written in the 1850s in Savannah, Georgia. Called “The One Horse Open Sleigh” was a celebration of Thanksgiving. The song was renamed in 1857 and is as we know it today. The song made history in 1965 when it became the first song broadcast in space. The crew of Gemini 6, following reports of seeing Santa Claus, did an improvised version using bells and a harmonica they had snuck on board.
Christmas Pickle– If there’s a pickle among your snowman, angel and reindeer ornaments, you’re likely taking part in the American tradition of hiding the green ornament on the tree, so that the first child to find it gets an extra gift, or has good luck for the following year. The practice’s origins are a bit murky (or should that be briny?), but, it’s likely it grew from a Woolworths marketing gimmick from the late 1800s, when the retailer received imported German ornaments shaped like a pickle and needed a sales pitch.
Candy Canes – Candy canes can be devoured as a treat or hung on the tree as decoration. They date back to 1670 in Cologne, Germany. The most popular account is that a choirmaster wished to quiet the children in his church, Cologne Cathedral, during their yearly Living Creche tradition each Christmas Eve. He reportedly commissioned a local candy maker to create what he referred to as sweet sticks for the children. He specified that they should have a crook at the top of each stick, to remind the children of the shepherds who visited the baby Jesus. He also specified that he should use the color white to teach the children about Christianity and remind them of Jesus’ sinless life. This trend caught on quickly and spread throughout Europe where other congregations began to hand out the candy canes during nativity plays.
The red and white peppermint sticks arrived in the US in 1847, when a German-Swedish immigrant in Wooster, Ohio placed them on a tree. By the 1950s, an automated candy cane making machine was invented. Candy canes are the number 1 selling non chocolate candy during December.
We have so many great Christmas traditions! Many families develop their own traditions to become part of the family story. It’s a great way to connect our family together and to the world. Wouldn’t it be fun to try a different tradition from somewhere in the world and see if that fits your celebration? It’s an easy internet search.
No Thanksgiving table would be complete without a delicious pumpkin pie, with its trademark velvety texture and autumnal spices. Our version is served with creamy pumpkin gelato for an extra helping of seasonal cheer. Individual tart molds ensure that everyone can enjoy a taste of this holiday staple.
Ingredients
SUGAR SYRUP: ⅓ C plus 1¼ T (95 ml) water ½ C plus 2 T (150 g) sugar 2½ T (25 g) dextrose powder 1 T (95 g) glucose syrup
PUMPKIN GELATO 1¾ C (500 g) pumpkin pie filling ⅔ C (145 ml) water
PUMPKIN FILLING: 1½ C (400 g) pumpkin pie filling 2¾ tsp (20 g) honey ¾ tsp (2 g) ground cinnamon 2½ T (20 g) ground ginger 1¼ tsp (3 g) ground nutmeg 2 lg eggs, beaten ⅔ C (150 ml) heavy cream ½ C (100 g) brown sugar
TART CRUST: 1¾ lb (800 g) short dough
CRUMBLE: 5 oz (150 g) short dough
CRÈME CHANTILLY: ⅔ C (150 ml) heavy cream Seeds from ½ vanilla bean
GARNISH: ¼ C (5 g) garden cress
Directions
Sugar Syrup: Boil all ingredients in pan on high, remove from heat; let cool.
Pumpkin Gelato: Heat all ingredients in pan, stir in sugar syrup, heat to 140°F (60°C), cool to room temperature; chill overnight. Place in ice cream machine and freeze.
Pumpkin Filling: Heat all ingredients in pan to 122°F (50°C), let cool to room temperature, transfer to an airtight container; chill overnight.
Tart Crust: Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Grease 12 individual tart molds with nonstick spray. Roll out dough to ⅛ in (3 mm), cut and press dough gently into molds, bake 15-18 minutes or until set; cool to room temperature.
Crumble: Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C). Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Roll out dough to ⅛ in (3 mm), transfer to baking sheet, bake until golden brown, let cool to room temperature; crumble.
Crème Chantilly: Whisk cream and vanilla bean seeds until medium stiff peaks form; transfer to a piping bag (star tip).
Plating: Spread filling into tart crusts, remove tarts from molds, pipe cream rosettes around edges, plate with crumble and gelato; garnish with garden cress.
