Merry Christmas

[Helene]

For our posters who celebrate Christmas on 25 December, we wish you and your families and friends a very Merry Christmas.

[Mel Johnson]

Merry Ho Ho, everybody, and remember, tomorrow is the First Day of Christmas, so make sure you've stocked up on Purina Partridge Chow and a lot of plant food for all those pear trees. By Twelfth Night, the party should really be getting good!

[papeetepatrick]

I made a Panettone from scratch last night and iced it with Marzipan, in honour of the kids in 'Nutcracker' and a few other things as well. The commercial sort is all right, but you can get this kind a bit moister, and it rises in this big dome shape, when you leave it at very low temperature in the oven before the serious baking.

Happy Holidays, Ballet Talkers and Lurkers.

[Leigh Witchel]

I celebrate the holiday the way Jews do all over the United States.

Chinese food, anyone?

Happy holidays to all!

[Helene]

I celebrate the holiday the way Jews do all over the United States.

Chinese food, anyone?

What???? And no movie?

[Leigh Witchel]

HAHAHAHA!

You're the third person I've said that to who had the same response!

All those years at Brandeis and I'm still not abreast of my cultural zeitgeist.

[dave23]

10 minutes left of Christmas Day local time (CET) so, Merry Christmas all!

And Helene, do you know which countries celebrate on the 24th?

Unless you were referring to people who don't celebrate Christmas at all.

//Dave

[carbro]

The Eastern Orthodox churches observe Christmas on Jan. 7, Dave.

[Mel Johnson]

In some parts of Germany, Austria and Poland, the children receive their presents on the evening of the 24th, right after the Christmas Eve church service.

[Pamela Moberg]

A very Merry Christmas to all BalletAlerters - never mind when you celebrate or how you do it!

In Sweden the big day is 24. A typical Swedish Christmas looks like this:

Everybody except me watches Donald Duck and other Disney stuff like a bit from Cinderella and Robin Hood, that is at 15 hours. Then I usually repair to the kitchen - not that I am specially anti Disney, but it gives me peace and quiet to get on with the stuff. Pickled herrings in a lot of varieties followed by the Christmas ham. We actually have a very scaled down meal as we are not fond of a lot of the traditional offerings.

Distribution of Christmas gifts - also scaled down as we think it is mainly for kiddies. One substantial gift for each one. Very easy this year as the girls are setting up home. A couple of books for my husband and in return he gives me a couple of books. Something for the house, this year a DVD.

And then Lucia (the cat) climbed the tree and upset it, nice antique glass baubles broke, everybody on hands and knees picking glass splinters, vacum cleaner out but nobody angry with the cat.

Everybody sick of Christmas tree, well, we have a plantation and have been selling trees since end November. 12 € (Euro)/ tree and the customer has to saw it down himself - people think that is fun! :huepfen024:

[Alexandra]

Merry Christmas, whatever day you do, or do not, celebrate it! Especially to Helene and the Moderators, who've kept this site going!! Thank you!

[Paul Parish]

I was a shepherd when I was a child in Mississippi (raised Catholic), shivering in the living creche outside the church before Midnight Mass, and last night I was an angel in a dance ("O magnum mysterium") inside Newman Hall in Berkeley where I live now. Both nights, I got real cold. My feet are killing me today, but it was awesome last night channeling angelic energy, imagining that kind of being, and trying to make it visible to people.

It's not easy connecting with one's own tradition, when it's so tarnished, but I'm starting to think it my duty. I was proud to see the local Episcopal bishop got himself arrested at City Hall, it made me feel less ashamed to have been or continue to be be a Christian.

If there's any Christmas music I'd recommend, it's Joan Baez singing "The Cherry Tree Carol," #11 on her second album, right after "Barbara Allen," circa 1960. It's so beautiful, so moving.

Merry Christmas, everybody.

[perky]

In some parts of Germany, Austria and Poland, the children receive their presents on the evening of the 24th, right after the Christmas Eve church service.

That's how we do it at my house!

My husband is from India from a muslim/catholic background so we celebrate Diwali (the Indian festival of lights) in Oct/Nov. Got to wear a new sari and massive amounts of gold jewerly for that one. Eid following Ramadan is celebrated anywhere from October to February. Got to call my mother in law in India to wish her a happy Eid. Celebrate Christmas by inviting our priest to dinner, who also happens to be from India. Tummy becomes visually bigger due to eating all the Indian food we prepared. Next up is Eastern Orthodox Christmas celebration with my best friend/ sister of my soul Luda, this year on January 7th. Will watch my husband laugh at me as I stagger up the stairs to bed due to drinking vast amounts of vodka.

So, whichever way you celebrate it, Happy Holidays to all and may peace reign in the coming year.

[atm711]

I prepare the traditional Italian fish dinner every Christmas eve---7 kinds of fish; one for each of the sacraments...let's see---this year it was Calamari, Shrimp, Mussels, Clams, Octopus, Crabs, and Scungilli (Conch, to most people).......all the family comes and I usually collapse on Christmas Day----

[sz]

Sounds like my friends and families... Christmas Eve is primarily for the adults with lots of food and drinks and singing and dancing (hey, I'm first generation American from Russian parents...). Christmas Day is more for the kids who wake us up at 6am to open their presents while the adults can't wait to take a long nap.

Very Merry Holidays to All.

[richard53dog]

I prepare the traditional Italian fish dinner every Christmas eve---7 kinds of fish; one for each of the sacraments...let's see---this year it was Calamari, Shrimp, Mussels, Clams, Octopus, Crabs, and Scungilli (Conch, to most people).......all the family comes and I usually collapse on Christmas Day----

what, no baccala??????

[Farrell Fan]

I'd never heard that the seven kinds of fish were in honor of the seven sacraments, but my Catholic upbringing was in many ways deficient. I never even made my first communion till after World War II, when my older brother returned from the army. As far as I remember, there was no set number of fish, but "lu baccalaru," to give it the pronunciation of Camporeale, the town near Palermo where my progenitors were from, was definitely regarded as the highlight. My mother and grandmother cooked all the other fish including the disgusting-looking lu purpu (squid, I think), but my grandfather, who otherwise rarely stirred from his cot, reserved to himself the privilege of preparing lu baccalaru. My mother and grandmother viewed this unaccustomed activity on his part with suspicion, and therefore told me that it was too rich for my delicately youthful stomach and I didn't have to eat it. I didn't and haven't, to this day.

I'm very impressed, atm711, that you're still keeping those culinary traditions alive.

[atm711]

what, no baccala??????

no---too smelly

[dave23]

I had never heard of the Feast of the seven fishes before.

Sounds like something I'll have to try, if only to do something different from the traditional christmas ham.

Makes sense that the seven fishes represents the seven sacraments if it's Vigilia di Natale.

Me, I wasn't with my family for once ands thus in charge of my own food.

Ended up having champagne & foie gras followed by a chateaubriand and some cheese, snacks and wine.

Not very christmasy, but nice.

Best of all, not having to see the 3 o'clock Donald Duck! Horrible, horrible Swedish tradition. Every year you have to watch the same compilation of Disney cartoons. 30 years of Donald Duck and Mickey Mouse on vacation. 30 years of Ferdinand under his corktree. No more, please!

[richard53dog]

what, no baccala??????

no---too smelly

My cousin emailed me Christmas Eve and I said I really had no intention of ever eating baccala again (unless the strong taste and smell is covered up.