More Traditions for Christmas

Maybe your holiday festivities are in a rut. Maybe you and your husband need to start some new traditions that aren't quite like your families' traditions. Or just maybe you want the holiday season to be about something besides shopping, gift-wrapping, gift-opening, and gift-returning. Take a look at some traditional ways other countries have celebrated the Christmas season. You might get some ideas you want to incorporate into your own family's holiday.

Mexico is credited with being the native home of the poinsettia, almost synonymous with Christmas now. Legend has it that the seventeenth century Mexican Franciscan priests were the first to include the plant with bright red flowers in their Christmas celebrations. Another Mexican tradition is the las posadas where people divide themselves into two camps: innkeepers and pilgrims, to replay the ancient story of Joseph and Mary searching for an inn in Bethleham. Once the pilgrims have been accepted into a predetermined "inn", they serve food and drink. And then they have a piñata party. We in the United States have adopted piñatas for children's birthdays, but wouldn't it be a fun tradition for Christmas?

In Russia, the former Soviet Union, and other parts of the Ukraine, a simple dish called kutya, an traditional ritual food whose origin is lost in ancient times, is served at Christmas Eve. The Kutya is eaten from a common dish to symbolize unity and is eaten to recall departed ancestors. The grain it is made of is an emblem of hope and immortality, and the sweet taste of honey and poppy seeds ensure happiness, success, and an untroubled rest. To make your own kutya, you will need:
1 cup long-grain rice
¼ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons chopped toasted almonds
¼ cup raisings
1 cup honey
1 cup water.
Bring rice, salt, and 2 ½ cups water to a boil. Stir, cover, and reduce heat to low, simmering for 20 minutes. Mix in the raisins. Heat the honey and water in a small pan until the honey is dissolved. A small amount of honeyed water is poured over each serving of kutya. Happiness and prosperity to you!

In Scandinavia, those cold, dark countries up north, it is a common practice to provide a Christmas feast for the birds before sitting down to the Christmas meal. To honor this tradition, you can make a simple bird feeder yourself.

Tie a few feet of string to a pine cone. Mix ½ cup vegetable shortening or lard with 2 ½ cups of oatmeal or cornmeal until well blended. You may want to add some chopped nuts, dried fruit, or sunflower seeds to the mixture. Roll the pinecone in the mixture, then suspend on a tree branch.

Hans Christian Andersen, the author of such Christmas classics as "The Little Match Girl" and "The Fir Tree" was a native of the Scandinavian country Denmark. Choose one or more of his classic tales to read aloud as part of your Christmas tradition.

Mulled wine is a "glowing" tradition from Sweden. There it is called Glogg which means glow in Swedish. To make your own mulled wine:
Get two bottles of red wine. It doesn't need to be the best wine, you are going to disguise the taste after all, but a rough dark red works best.
4 small oranges
1 lemon
brown sugar or honey
12 whole cloves
2 cinnamon sticks
Grate the peel from one orange and from the lemon. Add the peel and the oranges to your pan. Toss in the cloves and cinnamon sticks. Pour in the two bottles of wine and warm. It is important to not boil the wine, as that will evaporate the alcohol. Add sugar or honey to taste, and stir until dissolved.

Or you can do what I do, and buy a package of mulling spices and a couple bottles of wine, and heat those together in a slow cooker or crock pot.

If you are still looking for something a little different this Christmas, try writing Merry Christmas in other languages on your greet cards. Or learn how to say them. Here's a list to get you started:
Greek: Kala Christougena
French: Joyeux Noel
Italian: Buon Natale
Russian: S Rozhdestvom Kristovym
Spanish: Feliz Navidad
Swedish: God Jul

Happy holidays!