Bavarian Linky Party-top 3 blogs&Sylvester traditions

The winner of the linky party is Lisa from Lisa Loves Holidays and her post on Adventcalenders. Lisa posts about holidays on a daily basis.

2nd place goes to Tragic Sensations for her post on a DIY wreath.

3rs place goes to DIY Home Staging Tips for her post on staging a home for the holidays.

Congratulations ladies! Be sure to visit their lovely blogs. Thanks again everyone for participating-all of your entries were great!

Since today is New Year's Eve, I will tell you a little bit about how we celebrate it back home, where it is called 'Sylvester'.
Stores and businesses close at noon, and people get ready for New Years. There are parties at family and neighbours houses, which start after dinner. Games are played such as melting zinc into figures, and board games. Throughout the evening snacks are provided, and a bowl of punch. TV shows celebrating music and entertainment shows and also a comedy called "Dinner for one". It is the same show every year, and it is hilarious. For those going out, usually all the bars have a special going on, and the city provides a free shuttle bus to take people from bar to bar and to different stations throughout the city. At midnight the city starts an elaborate fire works display, and the individual people also shoot off fireworks from the street and their yards. It is legal in Germany to shoot fireworks on New Years. After the fireworks you call all your friends and family to wish them a happy new year. The next day you usually don't see anyone on the streets until the afternoon, only the city workers are out cleaning the mess left behind.
What are your plans to celebrate the New Year?

Stollen recipe

Here is as promised my Stollen recipe. I made another Stollen yesterday, and it was even better than the first. This one we get to eat, while the other one was donated. Stollen is a type of fruitbread-cake, with rasins and dried fruits inside. It comes in different variations.

You need

300g Raisins, 100ml Rum, 400g flour, 1 pack Dr. Oetker Hefeteig Garant (baking powder), 50g sugar, 100ml milk, 1 pack Vanilla sugar, hint of salt, 1 teaspoon each of the following spices: cinnamon, ground cloves, allspice and nutmeg, 2 medium size eggs, 175g softened butter, 100g Orangat (candied orange pieces) and 100g Zitronat (Citron). A good supermarket will have the Orangat and Zitronat. In the south Publix has it.

To prep
Soak raisins overnight in rum. I use the concentrated rum for baking. You can substitue concentrated almond for the rum if you want to avoid it.

To make

Sift flour into bowl and mix with baking powder. Add all other ingredients with the exeption of the dried fruits Orangat  and Zitronat. Beat with electric mixer about 2 minutes, until dough is smooth. On lightly floured work space add Orangat and Zitronat. If dough sticks, add a little more flour to surface. Form a long bread or two smaller bread loafs.  Bake at 300F on lowest rack for about 50 minutes.
Pull Stollen out of the oven and while warm, baste with softened butter and dust with lot's of powdered sugar. Let cool. Enjoy.
Stollen gets better as it ages, so you can keep it wrapped up for a few weeks or months.
And her a few of my Christmas coffe table set up.

I'm using a blue and white German coffee set.

Here is a closer look at the coffee can, dinner bell and my cookie tower.

Guten Appetit!

I'm linking to: Tablescapes @ Between Naps on the Porch and Seasonal Sundays @ The Tablescaper.

Christmas animals

Today I will show you a few snap shots we took on Christmas of the animals as we were unwrapping the gifts. Above you can see my Christmas dog Bella, wearing a sea shell ribbon.

Feger and Chloe, BFF's.

Chloe playing with Feger's wagging tail.

Chloe playing with ribbon.

Bella digging in the box for more goodies.

Chloe playing with her new toy.

Bella got a new toy and some treats, and Feger just got treats. Chloe got a toy and treats. Chloe loved climbing on all the boxes most, and the dogs loved tearing up wrapping paper and sticking their noses into boxes.

How did your pets spend Christmas?

                                            

Doberman's and the Sea gifts

This Christmas my dear love gave to me lot's of Doberman and Sea gifts. I was so surprised to receive these awesome gifts. I wanted a puppy, so instead I got a stuffed animal Doberman from the movie 'UP' who talks when pressing his paw. His name is Alpha.

My husband also managed to find a porcellan Doberman figurine made by 'Goebel' in West Germany.

Isn't he cute?

I also received a lovely necklace in the form of a sea shell amulet, with a pearl inside and room for a picture.

I was so surprised! I didn't have a clue as to what my gifts would be this year.

From my MIL I received an awesome set of napkin rings made of pewter.

A sea star, a sand dollar, and two shells. Aren't they gorgeous? I was able to use them for Christmas dinner.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas! Our Christmas was wonderful and quiet. We had great food (more about that in an upcoming post), and we took long hikes in the woods with the dogs. We even saw a Christmas deer. It jumped across the path in front of us and Bella was startled, she did not know what that was. She hasn't seen anything that big in the woods before. It was hilarious. The animals also had a great time unwrapping gifts and eating treats, I will post about that tomorrow. We even have a few snow flurries today, nothing that will even stick, but you can see some white flurries.

What did you do for Christmas? 

I'm linking to Marty's Anything goes party.

Bavarian Christmas-Ansbach

A visual tour of: Christmas in my hometown Ansbach, GE.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

To all my friends and family around the world!

Bavarian Christmas-Christmas Eve



Source: http://www.tourismus-prien.de/

The 24th is the main Christmas holiday in Germany. Stores and businesses close at lunch and people go home and get ready for Christmas Eve. They set up the tree if they haven't already. At 1700 hours early mass starts, where the children perform a play of the Christmas story. Afterwards the Christmas dinner is served and then the family sings Christmas carols and reads the Christmas story. Then the gifts are opened. Late mass is at 2300 hours, which is the one I like best. We walk to church in the dark, cold and usually snowy night. All the other towns people are walking, too. The church is lit only by candles. I love the little cozy old churches in the little farm towns. They have so much history and such beautiful carvings and figures and windows. The benches are the original wood benches from when the church was first built, so they can get a little hard to sit on. We do the 24th German, and the 25th American. Our meal on the 24th is Leberknoedelsuppe (Liverdumpling soup) and Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut. For dessert I usually make Applestrudel, but this year my husband requested another Stollen.



Leberknoedelsuppe



It is really yummy! It doesn't taste like liver at all, I have never met anyone who didn't like the soup. The Bratwurst you can get at the Christmas markets as well.



Bratwurst mit Sauerkraut

                                                                Frohe Weihnachten!
Linking to Fridays's Nature Table @ The Magic Onions.

Ocean inspired Holiday Rooms

                                        
 A little eye candy before Christmas! For this Bermuda villa dining space, the designer used the existing asparagus green color on the chairs and drapes and added darker shades of green as accents. A touch of red from holly berries on place settings makes the room feel festive while the shells on the wreath and candlesticks remind us that we’re still on the coast. Aren't the colors perfect for island living?
                                       
                    An ocean inspired sitting room. Love the turquoise colors and the chair.
                                        
                                            I love this sunroom! It's got a cozy feel to it.
                                         
Seasonal pillows and throws add festive accents to a room that already has punches of red and coral throughout. I could live there!
                                          
             Red adds a pop of color to this space and the centerpiece is made of pine and sea stars.

                                           
      Pretty pastels, white wicker and wood boards on the walls lend a nautical touch to this room. Even the dog matches!
Visit Coastal Living to see more!

German Christmas cookies II

I am finally done baking, we have enough cookies to get us through the holidays and I gave away some, too. Today I want to show you how to make Vanillekipferl (Vanilla cookies) and Kokosmakronen, (Coconut Macaroons). These are my favorite cookies.

Vanillekipferl

You need

50g grinded almonds

190g sweet butter

225g powdered sugar

2 egg yolks

270g flour

mark of 2 vanilla beans

dash of salt

lemon zest from one lemon

60g grinded hazelnuts

3 packs vanilla sugar

To make

Roast almonds in a dry pan. Mix with butter, 75g powdered sugar, egg yolk, half of the vanilla mark, lemon zest, haselnuts, flour and salt. Knead a dough and wrap in foil, cool for ca. 2 hrs.

Form little horns out of the dough (see picture) and place on baking sheet lined with backing paper. Bake at 350F about 12 minutes. Dust the warm Vanillekipferl with with the rest of the powdered sugar and vanilla sugar mix. Store in airtight container and enjoy.

When you make these it smells so good in the kitchen, the lemon zest and the almonds!

Kokosmakronen

You need

2 eggs

125g sugar

50g butter

300g shredded coconut

150g baking chocolate

2 tablespoons powdered sugar

To make

Beat the eggs foamy with a mixer. Add the sugar in small batches and keep beating until sugar is dissolved and a creamy mass is in the bowl.

Melt butter, let cool slightly. Mix into the creamy mass with the coconut flakes. Heat oven to 250 F. Use two teaspoons to form dough masses on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Wet your hands and form the macaroons. Bake ca. 25 minutes. Let cool.

Melt the chocolate in hot water bath. Dip the macaroons in melted chocolate and let set. Store in airtight containers and consum within a week, as they are best fresh.

Guten Appetit!

Elf party and raffle winners!

Today is the final reveal of our raffle winners. First up the winner of the Follower raffle: Kirsten @ Drivtommer-Hus.
Winning number is 9, selected by random drawing. You win the little evening purse.

Winner of the fourth raffle is Bianca @ Creativity, Life and me, Winning number is 2, selected by random drawing. You win a set of Kathe Wohlfahrt German Christmas Ornaments.

Both ladies please contact me within 24 hours to claim your win or another winner will be selected.
I would like to thank every one for participating. The top 3 blogs of the Bavarian Christmas Party will be featured next week on Friday, 31st.

Now on to the Christmas party we attended last week. Santa was there, and his Elf, portrayed by my dear husband. I was there with my Santa's hat, and we served food to the men and women of the Fire Station and Military Police Station.  The Elf handed out candy, and the kids got to sit on Santa's lap and so did I.

The buffet consisted of southern specialties such as several turkeys, smoked Boston butt (smoked, pulled ham), dressing (so good), gravy, cranberries, beans, mashed potatoes, mac&cheese, sweet potatoe.

We asked everyone to bring a dessert. There was just as much cake as there was food. We couldn't eat it all, so the uniformed men and women can have leftovers for days.

Some of the cookies I brought along.

Unfortunately the event was overshadowed by a fatal helicopter accident a few days prior that the team had to respond to. It put's things back into perspective. I ask that you keep the family of the deceased pilot in your thoughts this season and also think of the men and women in the military who are not with their loved ones for Christmas and think of their families as well. I am so blessed and happy to have my husband home.

And there is me on Santa's lap. I asked for a puppy, but he said all he had was a candy cane. Go figure. I was elated to find out that Santa is from Germany, from a town near my home. He lives here now. What a small world it is.

Join me tomorrow for more cookie recipes!