I have never written to you. The one and only time I left a Christmas letter on the window seal was back in Austria when I was only a little girl, and because of our tradition, the note had been addressed to the Christmas Angel and not you.
Tag: <span>Holidays</span>
Today is Saint Nikolaus day, and in a few hours, right after dawn, little children in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and many other countries, will sit in the living room and kitchen, huddled up together waiting for the Saint to arrive. Even now fifty years later and five thousand miles away, I still celebrate the day and I remember my childhood.
T’was a month before Christmas,
And all through the town,
People wore masks,
That covered their frown.
The frown had begun
Way back in the Spring,
When a global pandemic
Changed everything.
I finally realized the cleaning fairy will never stop by our home and I am left with all there is to do. I am getting older, the house is not getting smaller, and it seems I am constantly running behind. I feel like I spend all of my precious free time cleaning and scrubbing the house, and I am tired of it.
I always wanted to go there, but never found the time. This year I visited the Chinese Lantern Festival with my Meetup group and we all had a good time. It’s like stepping into a new world.
There was a time in our lives when we didn’t have too much money. To be honest, we didn’t have any and hardly made it. We were forced to start all over new, and so we moved with our dogs and everything an SUV could hold across the country. It was a move we couldn’t afford, many things were left behind.
Best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender and race neutral, celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious faith of your choice, or worldly practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasions and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or earthly traditions at all.
Antipasto is like the overture to the opera, it announces that something special is about to begin. The colors, the smell, the artful compositions remind us that it is time for pleasure now; time for relaxation and indulgence, time for the Italian meal.
Cinnamon star cookies (Zimtsterne) are a traditional part of the Holiday Season in Austria and Germany. Cinnamon and almonds taste great together; the smell of the cookie in the oven is mouthwatering. The history of the cookie is interesting as well. Cinnamon was a rare and rather expensive spice in Europe, and almonds had to be imported. Only the rich and Royals could afford both throughout the year. Ordinary people used cinnamon and almonds only for once-a-year festivals such as Christmas.