Merry Christmas from Germany, our fifth stop on our Christmas Around the World Series. My two little charges have been in a German language playgroup off and on for the last few years. In December, their little group will meet to sing German Christmas carols for any native speakers in the area. Last year they sang to a German transplant who was housebound caring for her ill husband. She was so touched by their sweet music that she joined in with the singing as the tears streamed down her cheeks. She quickly called her mother in Germany and held the phone up so that she could hear the little carolers also. It's a Christmas memory that I will never forget.The tradition of the Christmas tree, or "tannenbaum," hails from Germany, where pine trees are hung with cookies, candies, fruits, ornments and real candles. Our Christmas tree looks like we get help from young children. Which we do. 
But even before we had children, our Christmas tree looked like we had help from very young children. Now at least I have them for my excuse. My gift-wrapping skills are along the same line.
But even before we had children, our Christmas tree looked like we had help from very young children. Now at least I have them for my excuse. My gift-wrapping skills are along the same line.The advent, or Christmas countdown also comes from Germany, although a traditional advent consists of four candles, one being lit each Sunday until Christmas. I found these little personalized chocolate advent calendars in a candy shop in London and lugged them home in my carry-on for the two little charges.
In parts of Germany, a little girl called Kristkind delivers gifts for the children. Like Santa Lucia, she wears a candle-lit crown on her head. With her comes, Han Trapp, a vicious demon who waves a stick to threaten the naughty little children. This picture has nothing to do with anything that I'm writing, except it looks so German it makes me want to say ya.
The tradition of decorated gingerbread houses also comes from Germany. This week, the two charges were invited to a gingerbread house contest and party. My first thought was that we were far too busy to make gingerbread houses and so we were not going. Later I thought we would go to the party, but not bring any gingerbread houses. The night before the party, I caved in and made a quick batch of gingerbread and cut only the facade of the house with a couple of support triangles in the back. 
We decorated the little houses using royal icing and any leftover colorful Halloween candy. This is what you look like when your mother drags you out of bed with curlers in your hair to decorate your gingerbread facade before the party.
I'm telling you, this gingerbread recipe is fast, easy, and super tasty. It rolls out beautifully and handles very easily, plus there is no chilling time involved.Gingerbread Dough for Houses or Cookies
from the Joy of Cooking
Estimated Cost: $4.50 for a small house and a dozen cookies
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
4 and 1/2 cups flour, plus more for rolling
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ginger
In a medium sucepan, melt butter over meidum heat. Stir in sugar and molasses over low heat, stirring until dissolved. Remove from heat. Add remaining ingredients, stirring until smooth. Add another 1/2 cup flour and remove ball of dough to counter. Knead a few times until smooth. At this point you can refrigerate the dough, or flour your surface and begin to cut out. Bake at 350. Cookies will take as few as 8-10 minutes, while house pieces may need up to 15 minutes. Remove warm finished cookies or house pieces from cookie sheets after a few minutes.
And as a very quick Tuesdays with Dorie post note, this week's assignment was a buttery jam cookie. 
I didn't think this cookie would appeal to me, with sticky jam right in the dough of an otherwise very straighforward sugar cookie. I was right. I'm sure someone out there will like them, but it wasn't me. 
I even tried frosting them with a raspberry jam buttercream, but still..... no, NO, no.
I didn't think this cookie would appeal to me, with sticky jam right in the dough of an otherwise very straighforward sugar cookie. I was right. I'm sure someone out there will like them, but it wasn't me. I even tried frosting them with a raspberry jam buttercream, but still..... no, NO, no. Check out the other TWDers for glowing reports of success.
Next Up:
Christmas in Mexico and hopefully tamales....
Merry Christmas from Sweden, our fourth stop on our Christmas Around the World series, and where the merry season begins on the evening of December 13th. 
The eldest daughter of the family assumes the role of the Italian saint Santa Lucia. Wearing a dress of white and a lighted wreath in her hair, she serves sweet rolls and drinks to her family, singing carols all the while. Here's our very own little Santa Lucia, without the lighted candles in her hair. I still can't figure out a way to do that safely. But still, she braved not fire but snow and wind to drop off our favorite cinnamon rolls to our little family and a few of our neighbors, too.
On Christmas Eve, Swedish families gather to dip black bread into hot broth, a gratitude and good luck ritual but also a solem reminder of a time of famine. 
And now for your recipe, my friends, and this one is so unbelievably yummy. Really, you won't be able to believe me when I tell you how yummy my Mom's cinnamon roll recipe is; you will simply have to make your own and put it to the test. And if you make them as I do with a maple cream cheese frosting, I promise that you'll be tempted to have a "Gladtig Jule" every night this month. 
Coming Next:
The three wise men are not placed with the creche until Epiphany Eve on January 6
Children in France leave their shoes out by the fire on Christmas Eve, in hopes that 
Although it is a very classic French dish, it certainly wouldn't not be considered a Christmas dinner. But, besides being absolutely delicious, it sure takes the snap out of the air on a chilly December night. And any leftovers make a wonderful warm lunch as well. Click 
(I made a few substitutions in my coq au vin-I used a mixture of white grape juice, tomato paste and red wine vinegar for the red wine. I also used boneless chicken breasts instead of a whole chicken cut into parts. For my fellow penny 
My family polished off a dozen in about as many minutes. With colored sugar, they're festive enough for your Christmas cookie tray.
Dorie Greenspan's Sable cookies
Since my son, like most children, is wild for frosted sugar cookies, this is the second time I've made this recipe. It's buttery and quick and sturdy enough to hold up to little hands and blobs of icing. (Sincere admission to follow: I like my sister Michelle's sugar cookie recipe better. I tried twice , really I did. Sorry Dorie and Dorie's grandmas. I'll be sure to share Michelle's recipe sometime this season.) 
Tonight, we'll be plating the purdy little cookies and going in for sneaky deliveries. You know- you turn off the lights in your car, pull up to the house, stealthily tiptoe to the door, quietly place the cookies on the mat, ring the doorbell, and run for your life. For some reason, it increases the cookie sharing pleasure tenfold. I love the CIA feeling of sneaking around when I was a little girl, and I still take great pleasure in avoiding being caught as an adult. Quiet Man is perfectly content to aid and abet by driving the get away car. 
For Dorie's sugar cookie recipe, click over to to the beautiful 
Or rather, Merry Christmas to you from Holland, our second destination in our Christmas Around the World Series. 
On December 5, Dutch children await a visit from the religiously clad Sinter Klaas riding his white horse. In harbor towns, Sinter Klaas will actually sail in to the harbor, with children waiting to welcome him. With Sinter Klaas is the stern-faced Black Pete , ready to punish the naughty little children. He looks a little like an Oompah Loompah gone bad. (I think perhaps American children would be less scared of Santa Claus if we gave him a stern companion. As it is, children have every right to be scared to sit on the lap of an old man that knows their every wayward deed and is willing to dole out coal accordingly.) On December 5th, little ones in Holland (and other Western European countries) leave out shoes filled with carrots and hay for Sinter's noble steed. In the morning, they hope their horsey offerings will be replaced with candy and little surprises. 
The two charges are exceedingly grateful that Sinter Klaas goes out of his way to visit the American little children who remember to leave out their shoes as well. It's so much easier for me to resist candy once it's been inside someone's shoe. No temptation there. 
Remember that little scene from Miracle on 34th street when a orpaned girl from Rotterdam insists that Santa Claus really would be able to speak to her in her native tongue? And then lo and behold, in one of the most tear-jerking moments in all of filmdom, the two of them sing something that sounds like"Sinter Klaass kapooncha ka, heifa den mine shooon sha." Help me witht the slaughtered spelling readers, but in the meantime you get the idea. 
This one is a belly-warming quickie, cheap and scrumptious. Don't skip the bread and cheese-it really makes it special. And for a fun Dutch Christmas tradition, place a chocolate initial (piped from a ziptop baggie) on each person's side plate. When I taught school, I simply squirted each student's initials with Hershey's syrup on waxed paper and let them lap it up with pretzels. No one ever complained. But if I have time, I prefer to use real chocolate. Now on to the soup!
When I was a first grade teacher in California, a group of us put together a month long social studies unit on Christmas Around the World. It's bit of a misnomer really, because Christmas Around the World was really a unit on celebrations in Europe, North America and some information about Hanukkah. But misnomer, or not, it was a big hit with the first graders, and I learned to associate the customs of other countries with my own holiday celebrations. The two charges are especially anxious to celebrate Christmas throughout the entire month of December. This month, I'll tell you a little bit about the traditions that we associate with the various countries, as well as leave you a recipe or food idea to compliment our studies. This year, it has particular meaning for me, with my European travels so fresh in my mind. 
First stop on our 
"It is a fair, even-handed, noble adjustment of things, that while there is infection in disease and sorrow, there is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good-humour."- A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens
Here's a quick soup recipe that will help you catch up on your leftovers. Or not. It's equally good for catching up, or for just living in the moment. It's based on a Mexican Chicken soup recipe by Ina Garten, but it's really just a basic jumping off point for a bowl of healthful, spicy, inexpensive, delicious dinner. 