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24th December 2016 - Heiligabend Traditions

Merry Christmas to all of you!

Christmas Eve in Germany is something quite special and there are a lot of traditions surrounding it. We already told you about some throughout the last 23 days. On Christmas Eve, German families often will go to a Christmas mass or service during the afternoon hours. The Christmas tree is often decorated just before that. Quite a lot of families break with this tradition but we stuck with it this year. After the Christmas service, quite a lot of families with small children will go for a walk while one of the family members plays Santa and puts the presents under the tree. Sometimes the children have to wait outside the room with the Christmas tree inside and have to wait while the Christkind is at work. When a bell rings, they are finally allowed inside and can open their presents. Befor or after the gift giving (though usually before), the families have Christmas Dinner. In my family, as in many others, we have potato salat with sausages, but in others like Alinas they have dinners that are more like the ones in the US and Great Britain, with meat, potatoes, and vegetables and all sorts of things. We usually have that, when my aunty and uncle come to our house or we go to theirs. On the days leading up to Christmas and on Christmas Eve, the house is also cleaned form to basement to the roof, so everything is nice and tidy whadventen Father Christmas or relatives visit. While preparing, we often listen to Christmas music or sing songs our selves. So there is nothing more left for me to say apart from: WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS, WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS, WE WISH YOU A MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

Christmas movies – who doesn’t love them? They are great, happy and joyful. Everyone knows classics like the Grinch, Miracle on 36th street and Love, Actually. Christmas movies have been around in the US for years and they exist in Germany, too. I love Christmas movies, German and English/American ones alike. They cheer us up in all the trouble before Christmas and can bring their own Christmas traditions with them. Some families will watch one every year on Christmas Eve or the day before or after, some watch them to escape the stress of the season. Still Christmas movies aren’t always particularly christmassy either. Some of them deal with the story of Christmas, some with the Christmas feelings and some just with what different people do before and around Christmas. In my case, I watch actual Christmas movies before Christmas but on Christmas Eve itself, I watch both of the older Fantastic Four films, which is my very own Christmas tradition. I think with films, everyone just has to with what he or she (or whatever) likes. So watch whatever you want to before Christmas and enjoy the time you have.

‚Zimtsterne‘ are a traditional German baked good. They are star-shaped and made with cinnamon hence the name. We make them every year at home, because they are my brothers’ favourite. So here’s the recipe for you:

ZIMTSTERNE:

Ingredients:

2 egg whites 125g powdered sugar 1 teaspoon cinnamon 125g ground Almonds sugar for rolling the dough out on

Directions:

Beat the egg whites until they form stiff peaks. Add sifted powdered sugar and beat it again. Keep half a cup of the mixture on the side. To the rest of the mass add cinnamon and the ground almonds and kneed everything together. Roll the dough out on the sugar until it is about a finger wide. Cut out stars with a cookie cutter and put them on a baking tray lined with parchment paper. Let it dry for a few hours and then cover them with the rest of the egg-sugar-mixture. Bake at low heat, roughly 160°C (320°F).

“Christmas in September? What are you talking about?!”, you might ask, but in Germany, this actually makes perfects sense, well not perfect sense but you’ll get what I’m talking about when I’m finished. In Germany, we don’t have many holidays before Christmas, there is St. Martin’s Day and/or Halloween, but they aren’t as big as Christmas. In the US there’s Halloween, which is celebrated in a big way and especially Thanksgiving. In the UK, you have also Halloween as well as Bonfire Night (or Guy Fawkes Night). We simply don’t have that. And that’s why German super markets go absolutely bonkers in early September as soon as summer is just slightly over. What do they do? Well, they get out the chocolate Santas, Christmas decorations, and other festive treats. It’s a nightmare, a pretty and tasty nightmare, but a nightmare nonetheless. Summer is just over and everywhere it’s just Christmas mode. Hello? I actually like autumn! I want to be able not to only get Christmas decorations but also some autumnal things. Unfortunately, I have absolutely no clue why they do it. Most likely just to make more money during the Christmas period I guess, but sometimes it’s just sad to see how commercialized Christmas has become. Don’t get me wrong, I still love Christmas but September is a bit early. But if you are in need of the Christmas spirit before late November, just come here and get some christmassy sweets.

In der Weihnachtsbäckerei, gibt es manche Kleckerei. Zwischen Mehl und Milch macht so mancher Knilch eine riesengroße Kleckerei in der Weihnachtsbäckerei, in der Weihnachtsbäckerei…

This is one of many famous German Christmas songs sung here. If you start humming the melody every child, teen and grown up will be able to recognise it. They are usually not made for singing in church but at home, in kindergartens and at schools. Some of them like Leise rieselt der Schnee and Morgen kommt der Weihnachtsmann are more traditional and sometimes are centuries old others like In der Weihnachtsbäckerei and Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen are by the famous German Children’s song writer Rolf Zuckowski. The newer ones are often sung by children my age and their parents and younger siblings, simply because they aren’t around as long. But the songs are so popular amongst children and adults alike that you will definitively find grandmothers and fathers being able to sing them too. The most important thing about them is that they have a simple melody and are (of course) in German so that little children are able to sing them. One of my favourite ones is Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen so I’ll put the text here. I’ll also like you some YouTube videos with German Christmas songs so you can listen to them.

1. Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen,                             Snowflake, White skirted

wann kommst du geschneit,                                          when will you snow down

du wohnst in den Wolken,                                                  you live in the clouds  

dein Weg ist so weit.                                                               Your way is so far

 2. Komm setz dich ans Fenster,                                        Come sit by my window

du lieblicher Stern,                                                                           you lovely star

malst Blumen und Blätter,                                         you paint flowers and leaves

wir haben dich gern.                                                                    We like you a lot          

 3. Schneeflöckchen, du deckst uns                               Snowflake, you cover our

die Blümelein zu,                                                                                  flowers up

dann schlafen sie sicher in himmlischer Ruh.                   So they sleep safely in                                                                                                        heavenly peace

 4. Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen                              Snowflakes, white skirted

komm zu uns ins Tal,                                                        come to us in the valley

dann bau´n wir den Schneemann                                so we can built a snowman

und werfen den Ball.                                                               And trow a snowball

 Lots of Love, Jana <3

YouTube videos:

Schneeflöckchen, Weißröckchen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2e1CuFttLo

Leise rieselt der Schnee: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SFRQq-TJvug

Lasst uns froh und munter sein: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBmLgyUUN2I

Kling Glöckchen, klingelingeling: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LMzoo0E29q8

In der Weihnachtsbäckerei:

Usually, the time before Christmas, Advent, is supposed to be very nice and calming. A time to get together with family and friends and think about the miracle of Christmas.  Well, unfortunately it never really is like that in today’s world. Today, we have brunch at my house for my mother’s birthday. I also have to be in church and help with the preparations for the Christmas play. AND I have to do my homework for Uni. It’s a rather stressful time. Having to buy presents, cleaning, preparing for Christmas Eve/Day. I guess we sometimes forget what Christmas is all about. Because of that, I really love going for a walk with a friend on the weekend, maybe even spend some time by myself watching movies, not thinking about anything. During this hectic season, it is important that we don’t lose ourselves in the chaos that is surrounding us. We have to accept, that sometimes it’s ok to just do nothing and to spent time just doing what you want. I hope this allows you to just breathe for a second and appreciate that you can sit in front of a laptop for a second, read this article and let your mind wander.

Have a lovely time until Christmas.

Makronen are a lovely baked good that we have in Germany. Usually it’s a paste made out of egg whites and hazelnuts which is baked on an oblate or very thin wafer. My mother loves them and so do I. The general recipe can also be used to make cinnamon stars if you want to.

Here’s the recipe my family uses all the time:

You’ll need:

3 egg whites 250g sugar (roughly 1 cup) 250-300g ground hazelnuts full hazelnuts for decoration ¼ Lemon juice & rind oblates

What you have to do:

Mix the egg whites and the sifted sugar to a thick paste and put one small cup of the mixture away. Add the ground hazelnuts and the lemon. Put the paste onto the oblates with two tablespoons. Put a little bit of the left over egg mixture into the middle of the oblate and add a whole hazelnut into it. Bake at low temperature until they are light yellow in colour (this means roughly 180°C or 350°F for about 10 minutes). They usually keep their shape better if you allow them to dry for a few hours before baking them (this is a tip from my mum it’s not in the cookbook).

Hope you’ll try to make them as they are super-duper tasty!!!

I’m gonna bake something this weekend. And it’s not just anything, it’s Stollen, one of Germanys most famous Christmas sweets. Some would call it a cake, others would call it a sort of bread, and although it is sometimes eaten like bread, i wouldn’t refer to it as such. There are different kinds of stollen you can make, but they alle habe a few things in common. First of all, they sorta look like a light bread, covered in what seems to be a ton of powdered sugar. Stollen itself is made with a yeast dough and before baking it, sultanas, candied orange peel, candied lemon peel and often also Marzipan and almond peaces are mixed with the dough. This makes Stollen more fruity and sweet. Baking Stollen is not hard, but it takes a lot of time. And here’s a fun fact at last. Christstollen, the most traditional one, is supposed to look like infant Jesus covered in canvas.