Holiday Traditions

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

We celebrated St Nikolaus today. Not a Swedish tradition at all, but something my father broughtwith him.
When I was a child we celebrated with other families and sometimes at large gatherings at some hotel for example.
There would be someone dressed up as St Nikolaus and someone dressed up as Krampus the Christmas Devil. We'd get presents and sweets and run around and play.
We used to have an Advent wreath decorated with a Krampus made from dried plums and steel wire.

These days Nikolaus just knocks on the door and leaves bags of sweets on the doorstep for the kids, but they have never managed to catch sight of him.
We had a little celebration with my side of the family with the Swedish variation of mulled wine (glögg), Cristmas stollen (a kind of fruit cake), gingerbread and raisins and almonds.

During Advent it is tradition to have some kind of calendar for the kids. In our case we have embroiderd calendars with little rings for every date where you are supposed to attach little presents. (My mother in law made them, I'm not that self destructive.)
Now when the kids are older we just make presents for special dates like the sundays and St Nikolaus and then we make it a bit bigger and something useful.
Today the got dresses because they work hard on getting taller and their clothes can't keep up.

Thank you Iris! I'm loving this thread

I love the idea of Krampus!! To my knowledge no such equivalent exists in the US. Santa gives us a lump of coal if we have been deemed "naughty" instead of "nice" for the year.

What does Krampus do, exactly?

If you are so inclined to share a pic of your advent calendar I would love it! I can't picture anything big enough to attach a present to, having only seen the ones with the little bits of chocolate. So presents only happen some days and not others? Do you move those dates around to match weekends, or are they fixed? How many days are present days? Just reread what you wrote, now interpreting it that every day is a present day?

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

cement balls

I believe we all demand an explanation on this one please Because I can say unequivocally that cement balls have never been a part of any of my holiday traditions! Nor can my ample imagination wrangle them in there this morning... So please 'splain!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

<snip!>

Each year there's also Christmas calendar on TV and/or radio as well. There are some that are only aimed at kids or adults, but many are such that both enjoy them. It's a TV series, the episodes are usually 5-15 minutes long and there's one every day until Christmas Eve. The story is christmassy and usually involves tomtes, who are sort of Santas little helpers and protect houses, animals and so on.

Oooohhhh! I love this! So jealous! I want a Tomte And the serial episodes sound very cool. It's exactly things like this that make a holiday special Something to look forward to each year.

 

[IrisAlthea]

Thank you Iris! I'm loving this thread

I love the idea of Krampus!! To my knowledge no such equivalent exists in the US. Santa gives us a lump of coal if we have been deemed "naughty" instead of "nice" for the year.

What does Krampus do, exactly?

If you are so inclined to share a pic of your advent calendar I would love it! I can't picture anything big enough to attach a present to, having only seen the ones with the little bits of chocolate. So presents only happen some days and not others? Do you move those dates around to match weekends, or are they fixed? How many days are present days? Just reread what you wrote, now interpreting it that every day is a present day?

As for the calendars they are made with little rings for december 1-24 but we only use the Advent sundays, Saint Nikolaus, Lucia and Christmas Eve.
I'll see what I can do about a picture.

Krampus is said to give spankings but I keep getting presents.
As far as I know this is a remnant of something predating Christianity in central Europe. He is a horned creature who brings Birch switches and there are traditions where young men roam the streets dressed up as Krampus and making noice.
Scandinavia has something similar to this - the Yule Goat. Today it only remains as Christmas decorations made of straw.
When I was a child, a prominent holiday tradition involved the cat trying to kill the Yule Goat.

 

[seela]

As for the calendars they are made with little rings for december 1-24 but we only use the Advent sundays, Saint Nikolaus, Lucia and Christmas Eve.
I'll see what I can do about a picture.

Krampus is said to give spankings but I keep getting presents.
As far as I know this is a remnant of something predating Christianity in central Europe. He is a horned creature who brings Birch switches and there are traditions where young men roam the streets dressed up as Krampus and making noice.
Scandinavia has something similar to this - the Yule Goat. Today it only remains as Christmas decorations made of straw.
When I was a child, a prominent holiday tradition involved the cat trying to kill the Yule Goat.

Here Santa is still called Yule Goat, but it looks more like the American Santa now. My dad's family always had an actual Yule Goat visit them instead of a Santa, even in the 80s, but I was so young that sadly I don't remember it. It was a guy wearing scary, baggy clothes and reindeer antlers. So the tradition isn't that long gone, and yes, very much like Krampus.

And Iris, don't forget the annual tradition of burning the Yule Goat of Gävle. Is it still standing this year or has someone managed to trash it already?

 

[DiskoTroop]

I believe we all demand an explanation on this one please Because I can say unequivocally that cement balls have never been a part of any of my holiday traditions! Nor can my ample imagination wrangle them in there this morning... So please 'splain!

cement balls is a family name for a meringue sort of cookie that has walnuts in it that my grandmother seemed to be the only one that could make correctly without them turning into spherical nuggets resembling in taste and consistency..... cement balls

 

[IrisAlthea]

Here Santa is still called Yule Goat, but it looks more like the American Santa now. My dad's family always had an actual Yule Goat visit them instead of a Santa, even in the 80s, but I was so young that sadly I don't remember it. It was a guy wearing scary, baggy clothes and reindeer antlers. So the tradition isn't that long gone, and yes, very much like Krampus.

And Iris, don't forget the annual tradition of burning the Yule Goat of Gävle. Is it still standing this year or has someone managed to trash it already?

Still standing. You can have a look:
http://www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken

That is so cool to hear that the tradition is still more alive in Finland!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

Is your advent calendar this big, Iris?

 

[IrisAlthea]

Is your advent calendar this big, Iris?

Nope, but if I had that many windows to clean, I would so steal that idea.

 

[LallyH]

When I was a teenager, my mum and I would spend evenings in the kitchen from November onwards, making mincemeat, christmas cakes and christmas puddings for the extended family and some friends (she used to barter with her friends who were good at sewing because she was useless at it!). I loved those nights - the warmth, the aroma and having a laugh with her - she had a wicked sense of humour

When I got my own house, she would come to mine and we would do the same things, but on a smaller scale. For some reason, the first year, we listened to Ry Cooder while we baked, so now, when I do the Christmas baking with my own daughter, it's the traditional background music, but with me doing the mum dancing now

Get Rhythm

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

When I was a teenager, my mum and I would spend evenings in the kitchen from November onwards, making mincemeat, christmas cakes and christmas puddings for the extended family and some friends (she used to barter with her friends who were good at sewing because she was useless at it!). I loved those nights - the warmth, the aroma and having a laugh with her - she had a wicked sense of humour

When I got my own house, she would come to mine and we would do the same things, but on a smaller scale. For some reason, the first year, we listened to Ry Cooder while we baked, so now, when I do the Christmas baking with my own daughter, it's the traditional background music, but with me doing the mum dancing now

Get Rhythm

I don't know exactly how that works, but music paired with aromas paired with activities paired with outside temperatures somehow triggers a certain mood or emotion for me. Made so much more special with memories and because we only do it annually. That mood is certainly what Christmas (or other holidays) is all about for me. I love evoking that

 

[LallyH]

When the children arrived, and therefore preparations were needed for Santa's arrival, I always used the end of the batch of pastry to make an especially large mince pie to leave out on Christmas Eve. I have a little old tin from a set used for Yorkshire Puddings, which is circular, about 4 inches across and an inch deep, which was perfect.

The kids are teenagers now, but my query about whether Santa still needed a pie was met with looks of horror and 'of course he does, what are you thinking???'

 

[desertslave]

I just sent this to Master to illustrate to him that there are realms of crazy I haven't even thought of visiting. I'm feeling stunningly normal after reading this installment of my favorite blog. She cracks me up!

http://victoriaelizabethbarnes.com/scaling-back-on-christmas-decorating/

 

[Kitty]

The kids are teenagers now, but my query about whether Santa still needed a pie was met with looks of horror and 'of course he does, what are you thinking???'

I'm just like that The biggest kid when it comes to Christmas. We just put up our tree and I cried because there were no candy canes yet.

 

[Ahlam]

My spouse's family is Czech and German and my family is Swedish and Redneck, so together we have accumulated a mixture of traditions that I've been told is untypical. We do things the pretty much the same way every year.

The weekend after Thanksgiving every year, we cut hundreds of paper snowflakes which we display in our windows and hang from the ceiling. We eat leftover turkey soup and sit by the fire, watching the flickering shadows cast by our creations.

On December 13th (St Lucia's Day), I bake saffron bread and we hang the lights on the Christmas tree and all over the house. That's when we bring out all the Christmas decorations and get into the holiday hype. During the days leading up to Christmas, I bake many different kinds of cookies and make fancy jellies to give away.

On Christmas eve, family and friends come over and we exchange gifts and feast at midnight. We serve sliced ham in a big tureen of broth (everyone dips their bread into it), many different pickles, salads and cheeses and sour cherry soup for dessert. On Christmas Day, we wear pajamas and the children receive stockings stuffed with small gifts and treats from Santa Claus. We have an ultimate Mario Kart championship. The winner is King (or Queen) of the house until New Year.

On New Year's Eve, the children go stay with grandparents and we transform our house into a 1930s style speakeasy and brothel. I fill the bathtub with moonshine and we throw a rather raucous kinky Prohibition era costume party and blow up fireworks. We exchange car keys for whimsical condoms and candy canes at the door. Every year I swear I'll never go through with it again, but then here I am sending out invitations.

 

[Cumference]

An advent calendar:

I think it is very typical that grandparents make them and enthusiastically make

n * 24

little presents, where n is the number of grandchildren.

They normally stop, when the breeding program makes n a large number, and expect the parents to carry on.

We too are down to sunday presents, that are proportionally larger and more fun.

 

[Cumference]

....

On New Year's Eve, the children go stay with grandparents and we transform our house into a 1930s style speakeasy and brothel. I fill the bathtub with moonshine and we throw a rather raucous kinky Prohibition era costume party and blow up fireworks. We exchange car keys for whimsical condoms and candy canes at the door. Every year I swear I'll never go through with it again, but then here I am sending out invitations.

I'm envious!
That sounds like great fun.
(And maybe an ugly January 1st)

 

[Cumference]

...

And Iris, don't forget the annual tradition of burning the Yule Goat of Gävle. Is it still standing this year or has someone managed to trash it already?

Webcam to check it:
http://www.visitgavle.se/sv/gavlebocken

..... Something has to burn at Winter Solstice!

 

[Cumference]

.... but of course the Swedish soreheads have fireproofed it, fenced it in and posted guards.

 

[IrisAlthea]

I just sent this to Master to illustrate to him that there are realms of crazy I haven't even thought of visiting. I'm feeling stunningly normal after reading this installment of my favorite blog. She cracks me up!

http://victoriaelizabethbarnes.com/scaling-back-on-christmas-decorating/

Thanks for the laugh!

My spouse's family is Czech and German and my family is Swedish and Redneck, so together we have accumulated a mixture of traditions that I've been told is untypical. We do things the pretty much the same way every year.

The weekend after Thanksgiving every year, we cut hundreds of paper snowflakes which we display in our windows and hang from the ceiling. We eat leftover turkey soup and sit by the fire, watching the flickering shadows cast by our creations.

On December 13th (St Lucia's Day), I bake saffron bread and we hang the lights on the Christmas tree and all over the house. That's when we bring out all the Christmas decorations and get into the holiday hype. During the days leading up to Christmas, I bake many different kinds of cookies and make fancy jellies to give away.

On Christmas eve, family and friends come over and we exchange gifts and feast at midnight. We serve sliced ham in a big tureen of broth (everyone dips their bread into it), many different pickles, salads and cheeses and sour cherry soup for dessert. On Christmas Day, we wear pajamas and the children receive stockings stuffed with small gifts and treats from Santa Claus. We have an ultimate Mario Kart championship. The winner is King (or Queen) of the house until New Year.

On New Year's Eve, the children go stay with grandparents and we transform our house into a 1930s style speakeasy and brothel. I fill the bathtub with moonshine and we throw a rather raucous kinky Prohibition era costume party and blow up fireworks. We exchange car keys for whimsical condoms and candy canes at the door. Every year I swear I'll never go through with it again, but then here I am sending out invitations.

That sounds like a great way to say goodbye to the old year!

An advent calendar:

I think it is very typical that grandparents make them and enthusiastically make

n * 24

little presents, where n is the number of grandchildren.

They normally stop, when the breeding program makes n a large number, and expect the parents to carry on.

We too are down to sunday presents, that are proportionally larger and more fun.

Yup, just like that.

Mother in law never made n*24 presents though.

 

[Cumference]

Yup, just like that.

Mother in law never made n*24 presents though.

By the way, I think I've spend too much time around here:
I see zoo-erotic connotations in that calendar!

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

By the way, I think I've spend too much time around here:
I see zoo-erotic connotations in that calendar!

What!? Stockings and full reindeer sacks, and you can't come up with any sexual connotations? . For shame!

And Ahlam - I love your Christmas mix!! Particularly the snowflakes and the Mario Kart championships. Great stuff!! I may have to make a few snowflakes myself this year

 

[Collar_N_Cuffs]

What!? Stockings and full reindeer sacks, and you can't come up with any sexual connotations? . For shame!

And Ahlam - I love your Christmas mix!! Particularly the snowflakes and the Mario Kart championships. Great stuff!! I may have to make a few snowflakes myself this year

Ohhhhhh! I'm still asleep. I saw "zero" instead of "zoo".
Yeah, they look a bit friendly, don't they?

 

[IrisAlthea]

By the way, I think I've spend too much time around here:
I see zoo-erotic connotations in that calendar!

And now I can't unsee that, thank you very much.

Today is Lucia day.
We haven't celebrated but we did have saffron bread at work yesterday and we celebrated at our childrens school the day before that.

Here is a luciatåg for you:

And saffron bread:

 

[Cumference]

And now I can't unsee that, thank you very much.

Always a pleasure.

Retinas are the perfect canvas for painting with the Grimy Brush of Eek.