Merry Christmas to all and to all a good book!

What was my favorite Christmas present this year? It wasn't a present at all but a moment, one I hope is followed by many more moments like it:

My non-reader husband lying in bed, reading a book

Thank you Carrie Harris for being my husband's gateway back into the world of reading. When you read a passage of Bad Hair Day at your book launch party the humor and expression of that passage piqued his curiosity and made him want to read your books. What it usually takes me a few months with most students has taken me over five years with my husband. I am determined to find him more books just like Bad Taste in Boys and Bad Hair Day - funny, campy, and science-y. That is apparently just what he needs.

He has been telling me for years that he's a slow reader and that's why he doesn't like to read, yet when he picked this book up, it took him less than a week to finish. After recently reading Penny Kittle's Book Love, I used the argument that he's only a slow reader because he's never tried to read to build stamina. Hopefully this picture I took today is a sign that the conversations I have with my students about reading are finally starting to work on my husband. ;)

Merry Christmas everybody! I hope you all found some good books under your tree and that the non-readers in your life found some books they love too!

Christkindlmarket: A small taste of Germany in downtown Chicago

This past weekend my husband and I, along with two of our friends, took an impromptu road trip to Chicago to go to the Christkindlmarket and then to have brunch at Frontera Grill (more on Frontera later).

It's no secret that I love Germany, which is ironic because when I lived there eight years ago, I was dreadfully homesick and wanted nothing more than to live an unenlightened, unexplored life back home in my little bubble in suburban Detroit. But I came away from those two years a changed person and I now have a greater appreciation for other cultures and approaches to life (and it's also where my zest for travel came from). One of the things I greatly appreciate and admire about Christmas in Germany is how festive and comforting it is. There doesn't seem to be this race to go broke buying your family more and more things. Instead of racing to Wal-Mart on Thanksgiving day to trample the mobs of people scrambling for a $200 big screen TV, the pace of German Christmas is much slower and focuses more on quality rather than quantity. Trampling is replaced with meandering. People wander the shops in the downtown pedestrian zone and then make their way to the Christmas Market, usually at the base of the cathedral or city hall, to sip Glühwein and soak in the holiday spirit.

When my husband and I returned to the states in 2005 we continued to attempt to find ways to bring a little bit of Germany back home with us, but it just hasn't been the same. I make Glühwein every Christmas Eve, but honestly, there's nothing like meandering along the old, cobbled streets with that bewitching brew between your hands to keep you warm. We even attempted to go to Frankenmuth, Michigan's "Little Bavaria" (AKA, the lamest place you could ever visit if you've actually been to Germany. Sorry to all those Frankenmuth lovers out there), a few years ago when word of a "traditional German Christmas market" was said to be going on there, but it was one huge letdown. It wasn't even close to looking or feeling like a German Christmas market. More like something the Rotary Club would put on. There was no attempt at ambiance. It was just a bunch of people sitting under a tent selling stuff. And worst of all: there was no Glühwein! How can you have a German Christmas market without Glühwein?

Nuremberg Christmas market 2004

Me soaking in the Christmas spirit in Nuremberg

Even our small town of Schweinfurt had a quaint little Christmas market

 A few years ago, one of my students told me that Chicago puts on a "traditional German Christmas market" every year and that I should check it out some time. Every year I tell my husband that we need to go, but every year the school year pulls the rug out from under me and I never have time to take a weekend to go check it out. This year I decided to forget about the pile of papers sitting on my desk and the lessons I had to prepare for the next week and I asked my husband if he'd like to go to Chicago for the day to check out the Christmas market. We decided to make a whole day in the city, have a nice dinner, and stay the night so if the Christmas market was a bust, we could at least say we didn't waste 8 hours in the car for nothing .

I am happy to report that in terms of "traditional" and "German", Chicago knows how to do a Christmas market right, replete with quaint wooden stalls, a "town square" location, and yes, even Glühwein. There were a few things I didn't like about the location however: the surrounding area was too modern to feel European and, more importantly, Daley Plaza was far too small and crowded to house the number of weekend visitors it gets. Walking around proved to be more of a chore than a joy, and this was even on a rainy day when many more people probably opted to stay home. But hey, I'll forgive them because what the market lacks in space, it makes up for in... Glühwein! :)

Hanging out at the Chicago Christmas market on a crowded, rainy, December Saturday

You can't avoid the Christmas spirit with a steaming mug of Glühwein in your hand

Another Christmas market requirement: The smell of candied nuts wafting in the air

Make sure you only get in this line for bratwurst

If I were grading the Chicago Christkindlmarket on authenticity I'd say they get it exactly right, but in terms of accommodating the number of visitors, they've clearly outgrown their current location and need to think about finding a larger space. Perhaps I should write someone a strongly-worded letter about that. Has anyone else ever been to the Chicago Christkindlmarket? What did you think?

Glühwein: Bringing a little bit of Germany to my Christmas Eve

When my husband and I were living in Germany, one of the things we loved to do around the holidays was visit all of the different Christmas markets and soak in the ambiance of Christmastime in Europe.

My favorite part of the Christmas markets was the vendors selling Glühwein, or what we know as mulled wine. As much as I hate the cold, sipping warm Glühwein as you hold the warm, steaming mug to your cold hands is enough to turn the heart of any Scrooge.

When we returned home to the U.S. back in 2005, one of the traditions I wish we could have continued was visiting Christmas markets. Since we don't have any authentic German Christmas markets nearby (there's one in Chicago that we're definitely going to have to visit one of these days), I'll just have to settle for making my own Glühwein, which I do every Christmas Eve when our family comes over for dinner.

Everyone who comes over loves this warm, comforting liquid, but no one loves it more than me, as it is steeped in warm memories and nostalgic longing.

As I write this post, I have my crock pot, all of my souvenir mugs from Germany, and all the ingredients standing by for me to make later. I can taste its sweet warmth even now.

I can look at each mug and be transported back to that particular Christmas market. I remember each and every one: Rothenburg, Munich, Nuremberg, and Schweinfurt. All of them were similar, and yet they each had something special about them because each town square provides a unique backdrop to give them their own individual ambiance.

Looking at these mugs automatically brings me back to all of these different Christmas markets

My favorite souvenir mug: a boot from the 2004 Nuremberg Christmas market

Glühwein

1 bottle red wine (whatever you like)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
10 cloves
1 cinnamon stick
juice of 1 orange
rind of 1 orange

Bring water, sugar, and cinnamon stick to boil until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat to a simmer and add in OJ. Poke cloves through orange rind and add along with wine. Keep warm in a crockpot on low. Keep it going all day and it will make your house smell wonderful, or in my case, bring you right back to Germany.

2004 Nuremberg Christmas market

Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday that includes something warm and comforting to drink! :)

Wishing for a European Christmas

My TiVo recorded a suggested show this morning on European Christmas markets. So I promptly sat down and watched the whole thing - even though the family's coming over tonight and I have cooking to do . It's funny that I long to be in Europe at this time of year considering how much I longed to be home when I actually lived there. The grass is always greener syndrome I guess.

What makes me love Europe this time of year, Germany in particular, is how Christmas is still done Old School for the most part. It's not about the STUFF: how much you have and how much more you can get. It's about a feeling, an atmosphere. The Christmas market is the perfect example of this atmosphere. Parked in the middle of historic town squares, Christmas markets are akin to being shrunken down and walking around one of those little Christmas villages you put under your tree. And even though the air is cold, you feel warm sipping from a mug of steaming Glühwein. I wish I could be there right now.

'Tis the Season to be Canning

I do not keep it a secret that I despise the vapid consumerism of this time of year. I avoid the mall and most stores in general from Thanksgiving to New Year's. I have instead chosen to make many Christmas gifts for friends and family.

This year I did quite a bit of canning, and this is what my pile of gifts looks like:

For seven people I made:

• pickled/marinated peppers and onions
• red pepper hummus
• Dukkah (Egyptian nut and spice paste - kind of like a savory peanut butter)
• ginger garlic paste
• ginger lemon/limeade

This was much more satisfying to me than spending hours and excessive money at the mall. And maybe the people I give these gifts to don't even like the things I made for them, but so what? You run the risk of that when you buy something random at the mall too. I at least had fun making my gifts, and I did so with less stress and mood swings than if I had gone out and bought all those gifts. If they don't like the things I made, I hope they'll at least pass them along to someone who will.

Thinking About Christmas Cards

I had a dream last night that my husband and I were in Moscow, admiring the wonder and beauty of Red Square. We snapped a self-portrait of ourselves in front of the awe-inspiring St. Basil's cathedral I turned to him and said, "This is going to look awesome on our Christmas cards this year. We'll title it 'From Russia with love.'"

So I was actually bummed when I woke up this morning and realized I won't have that cool picture to put on our Christmas card this year.

At least Shutterfly is willing to hook us all up this year with awesome holiday card designs on the off chance that none of us have that awesome bucket list photo that will make us the envy of our friends and family. This way at least, you'll be the envy of everyone with the best looking design, even if the picture itself won't turn them green.

Shutterfly is one of my favorite websites for ordering photo cards or photo gifts of any kind. Their designs are sleek and classy and often go beyond just the basic 4x8 photo card that you can get at the one-hour photo kiosk at the drug store.

Choosing the card I want to use this year has taken me many hours of perusing the Shutterfly website. I'm still not sure which one I will use in the end, but so far I'm leaning toward this one:



The final decision, however, has yet to be made.

Interested in using Shutterfly for your holiday cards this year? Get 50 free cards by mentioning them in your blog.

Why Didn't I Come Across This Before Christmas?

Furoshiki gift wrapping from RecycleNow on Vimeo


You can even download gift tags to show the receiver of the gift how to turn the wrapping into a bag.

I need to remember to come back to this post next Christmas when I'm tempted to wrap everyone's present in beautiful, yet wasteful paper.

What's Noel backwards?

Apparently, even though I teach junior high students to read and write, I myself cannot spell. (Actually, more like I can't remember that my left is not your left.)

Last night we had the family over for Christmas eve dinner. I was in the kitchen doing my domestic diva thing when my sister-in-law calls out from the foyer, "Hey Beth, who's Leon?"

"Leon? What are you talking about?"

"Your thing in there says Leon."

I'm so very talented aren't I?


Merry Leon to you!