festive feasting days

Christmas time is feasting time. I think that’s the same in every family! I love the food and being close to my loved ones, especially now that I live in China and things like an average supermarket really excite me because of all the stuff I can’t buy in Beijing! It does feels like you are in a constant move from plate to plate, mindlessly stuffing everything inside you… but this is no time to feel guilty! For these days I make an exception to my usual eating habits and have whatever I like. Come new year we will all be sweating in the gym again, trying to get rid of our Christmas pounds but that’s ok. Christmas is feel good time.

Back in Christmas Wonderland

China switched to full on Christmas mode over the last couple of weeks – blinking lights in red, green and blue everywhere accompanied by kitschy cute Santa Claus faces and Christmas unicorns. Not really what we Europeans define as classical Christmas decorations, but then again who can blame them – it’s not like they actually celebrate Christmas. The Christmas equivalent in China is the Chinese new year – usually celebrated at the end of January or beginning of February (depending on the moon calendar).

Since I am back in Germany for the holidays I enjoy driving through the little towns with pretty lights in each window and on the trees. In Germany as well as France Christmas markets are a must during Advent – the time leading up to Christmas Eve. They have become widely popular in other countries too, usually emphasizing on the “German” Christmas market like Winter Wonderland in London each year. Even Beijing had it’s own little Christmas market a couple of weeks back at the German embassy.

I personally think that the Christmas Market in my hometown Trier is one of the most beautiful ones, mainly due to the location within the old center of the city, surrounded by old buildings from different eras and the Dome watching majestically over the many visitors. Have a look for yourself!

xxx

DIY: Bird food tree ornaments

We have always had flocks of birds around the house during winter because of our extensive feeding opportunities. We just love watching them come by, see them return every year and hear them sing. While the humans eat Christmas cookies inside why not share some love with the birds? Get out your cookie cutters and make some bird treats! This is a cute idea to not only do some good for the animals during the cold season but also decorate the empty trees outside.

What you will need:

- Coconut fat or beef tallow (if you are using tallow add about 3 tablespoons of sunflower oil)
- Bird food
- Cookie cutters
- Cutting board
- Toothpicks
- Cord

And here is how it works:

1. Put the cookie cutters onto a cutting board. 

2. Heat the coconut fat a little so that it becomes softer and workable (not too liquid though!).

3. Add the bird food to the fat and mix it well. Don’t use too much food or the cookies might crumble afterwards. 

4. Fill the mixture into the cookie cutters and poke a whole big enough for the cord with the toothpick. Make sure it’s big enough so that you can fit the cord through the whole comfortably. It is very hard to make the whole once they are hard because they will break easily. 

5. Put the cookies onto a big cutting board and leave them outside (in case it’s not freezing) for a couple of hours (best overnight). Once they are hard enough you can push them out of the cutters and pull the cord through to make little hangers. We put a little Christmas tree outside on the balcony and decorated it with the ornaments and a garland made of peanuts and dried & fresh apple slices.

Now you only have to lay low and wait for the first little bird to come pick on it! :)

   

what i wore: christmas day

(Dress – Asos / Coat – New Look / Boots – Topshop)

This is what I wore on Christmas day - you know how much I love berry colours atm, especially burgundy. The dress was love at first sight; I adore the 40’s style cut and it’s finally a dress that is long – even for me! Usually Asos dresses are more like longshirts for me.

Remember these boots? I posted about them here – yes, they came back in stock and yes, at a time that I could actually afford them! I love them! Despite their relatively low heel they gave me massive pain the first few times I wore them but I feel that it is getting better – I guess I just have to break them in. Qualitywise they’re amazing; gorgeous leather and a good fit. Love ‘em.

Oh – remeber this coat? It’s the berry coloured coat from New Look I posted about in my coat special here. My sister saw it on my blog and called my straight after to get it for her. Since we have the same size I was able to try it on to see how it fits and now she can finally wear it. It matches my dress so perfectly so she lent it to me today. It’s lovely don’t you think?

xxx

christmas day

Every year on the 25th we go out for lunch to just sit together, eat, drink and are happy. Eating out means no food prep, no cooking and no dirty dishes; everybody has the day off and can enjoy themselve. We went for Goose, a traditional Christmas dish in Germany (wonder what’s typical somewhere else?), garnished with all the wintery goodness like baked apple, almonds, raisins and red cabbage. It was delish! Finished the feast with some red berry compote and vanilla ice cream! Heaven! We ate from 1 till half past 3, you can imagine that we had to roll out the restaurant after…

I guess you can say there are 3 F’s in my life that are most important to me – Family, Friends and FOOOD! :D

xxx

                                                                             

Jedes Jahr am ersten Feiertag gehen wir essen; wir sitzen zusammen, schlemmen, trinken und sind einfach glücklich. Essen gehen bedeutet keine Vorbereitungen, kein Kochen und kein dreckiges Geschirr; jeder hat frei und kann dass Essen genießen. Wir haben uns Gans bestellt, garniert mit all den winterlichen Göttlichkeiten wie Bratapfel, Rosinen, Mandeln und Rotkohl.  Sooo lecker!Beendet wurde der Festschmaus gebührend mit Beerengrütze und Vanilleeis. Himmlisch! Wir haben von 1 bis halb 4 geschlemmt… ihr könnt euch vorstellen dass wir danach mehr aus dem Hotel gerollt sind als gegangen…

Ich denke es gibt 3 wichtige Dinge in meinem Leben, im englischen beginnen die praktischerweise alle mit einem F - Family, Friends und FOOOD! :D

xxx

merry christmas!

I wish you all a merry Christmas and some special time with your loved ones!

Traditionally we celebrate Christmas with our grandparents and always in the same order: First we decorate the tree, everybody wraps the last presents, we cook, get dressed up and have dinner. After that, we sing a few songs and start giving presents. We used to have only the children’s presents under the tree but now we lay all of them out before we gift them to each other. The unrapping is always accompanied by many “Ahhs” and “Ohhs” and we have a lot of fun together. Each year we promise each other to buy less but we always end up with heaps of little things under the tree. I love to give presents; especially when I know that the other person will be very happy about their gift, so I always try to find something extra special. I for my part was very happy about my presents! ^^ Maybe I’ll show you what I got sometime.

Which traditions do you celebrate at Christmas and did you get something special?

xxx

                                                                                                                             

 

Ich wünsche euch allen Frohe Weihnachten und ein paar schöne Feiertage!

Ich hoffe ihr verbringt die Zeit bei euren Liebsten; wir feiern traditionell immer bei meinen Großeltern und immer gleich: Erst wird der Baum geschmückt, mittags werden noch manisch die letzten Geschenke eingepackt, dann wird gekocht, alle machen sich schick und schließlich gibt es Essen. Nach dem Essen wird der Baum “besungen” und dann werden die Geschenke verteilt. Früher lagen nur die Geschenke für mich und meine Schwester unter dem Baum, heutzutage legen wir sie alle hin und bescheren uns dann gegenseitig. Obwohl wir uns jedes Jahr versprechen weniger zu kaufen, häufen sich schließlich dann doch die Pakete unterm Weihnachtsbaum. Ich  liebe es zu schenken; vor allem wenn ich weiß dass der Beschenkte sich auch wirklich darüber freut, also versuche ich immer etwas Besonderes zu finden. Ich meinerseits habe mich über alles riesig gefreut! ^^ Was ich bekommen habe zeige ich euch vielleicht demnächst noch.

Welche Traditionen gibt es bei euch zu Weihnachten und habt ihr auch was hübsches Bekommen?

xxx

driving home for christmas

   

Long time no see!
Or better; long time no read. I’ve been a little abscent lately; as I said before, there were some personal reasons for it. Things have turned out better than anticipated and everything goes back to almost normal.

I flew back to Germany on the 16th, fortunately no snow chaos this time - last year I was stuck at the airport in London for 12 hours before getting back home with frozen feet and a cold, just to wait for another 3 days to get to Germany. None of that this year; it was even much warmer than expected.

So I finally managed to go to the Christmas Market in my home town Trier – as I said, no comparison to Winter Wonderland although we don’t have an ice rink and ferris wheel. It’s just so much more traditionall, cozy and festive. There is a smile on everyone’s face and the mulled wine is excellent. All of that with a majestic dome looking over the market with its cute little stalls and all the handmade treasures really makes it something special.

We usually celebrate Christmas each year at my grandparents in North Germany which is a 5 hr drive from where we live. So on sunday I it took me forever to get there due to plenty of car crashes and road closures and I was more than glad to finally arrive after midnight. What a ride.

So yeah, here I am, sitting in the attic of my grandparents house, blogging away on an old pc that nearly dies everytime you try to open more than two tabs. Le sigh. Still, I will try to post more often these days (we will see…) and get back into blogging routine. I was quietly weeping inside when I saw that I only managed one little entry this month.

Now all I am looking forward to is the final family reunion when my dad and my sister arrive on saturday and the annual christmas madness begins. At least I already wrapped all my gifts.

Btw, I still have two hand-ins shortly after new year. Sob sob.

Anyways, I hope you are all well and have a lovely holiday!

xxx

 

                                                                                                                                    

Lang nichts mehr von mir gehört!  Ja, ich lebe noch!
Wie bereits erwähnt gab es persönliche Gründe für mein Wegbleiben aber die Dinge haben sich doch noch zum Guten gewendet und jetzt ist fast alles wieder beim Alten.

Am 16. bin ich in den Flieger nach Deutschland gestiegen – diesmal kein Schneechaos mit 12 Stunden Flughafenaufenthalt und Heimkehr ohne verrichteter Dinge, nur um weitere 3 Tage auf den nächsten Flug zu warten.

Hab es daher auch endlich mal geschafft wieder auf den Trierer Weihnachtsmarkt zu gehen. Wie gesagt, da kann das Winter Wonderland einfach nicht gegen anstinken. Wir haben zwar keinen Eis Ring und auch kein Riesenrad aber dafür ist alles viel hübscher geschmückt und anstatt Ramsch aus China gibt es hübsches Selbstgemachtes. Und der Glühwein ist auch besser.

Da wir jedes Weihnachten bei meinen Großeltern in Ostfriesland verbringen hab ich mich dann am So auf die sonst 5 Stunden lange Reise begeben, nur um Dank etlicher Straßensperren und Unfälle erst nach Mitternacht dort anzukommen. Schöner Ritt sag ich euch.

Tja, hier sitz ich jetzt also; in einem kleinem Büro unterm Dach an einem altersschwachen Computer, der jedes Mal fast verreckt wenn man mehr als zwei Tabs öffnet und blogge so vor mich hin. Ich werde mal versuchen in Zukunft wieder häufiger was zu schreiben (habe innerlich ein wenig geweint als ich gesehen hab dass ich diesen Monat erst einen lausigen Eintrag geschafft habe) aber mal sehen wie ich’s hinbekomme.

Jetzt freu ich mich erst mal darauf dass am Sa meine Familie mit meinem Vater und meiner Schwester endlich wieder komplett ist und dann kann der alljährliche Weihnachtswahnsinn auch schon losgehen. Meine Geschenke sind wenigstens alle schon eingepackt.

Muss ja auch noch zwei Hausarbeiten schreiben die kurz nach Neujahr fällig sind… schluchz.

Naja, euch auf jeden Fall schon mal schöne Feiertage, ich hoffe es geht euch gut.

xxx