‘Adventzeit’ and Christmas Season

Christmas Season officially starts on the First Advent in Germany. Since this year that day is actually on December 2nd, children will also have already opened their second door on their Advent Calendars, a beloved holiday tradition that marks down the days to the highly anticipated Christmas Eve (Heiligabend).

The First Advent, when in November, often marks also the first day of the Christmas Markets (Christkindlmarkt) which are then open until December 24, the ‘Heiligabend’. For the next few weeks visitors will enjoy hot and scented Gluehwein, warm roasted chestnuts and all kinds of Lebkuchen (a variety of Gingerbreads ) while listening to festive Advent music and walking along little booths selling a great variety of Christmas decorations, the real attraction for young and old. Beautifully handcrafted wooden manger scenes (Holzkrippen) are usually also on display at bigger Christkindl Markets, and Saint Nikolaus is walking the streets to great little children.

Delicious Christmas Favorites for the Holidays

To ring in the holidays for everyone here in California, and fill your home with the delicious fragrance of freshly baked Christmas cookies, we have invited guest author Gabriele Utz, founder of MyBestGermanRecipe.com, to share some of her favorite German holiday recipes with us.

Gabriele, born and raised in Germany, lives with her family in Los Angeles and has always been interested in cooking and baking. After her move to L.A. she thoroughly missed German food, and thinking that other fellow ex-pats might feel the same, she founded MyBestGermanRecipes.com in 2010. The website has now more then 300 original recipes for German food lovers!

Look out for a new holiday recipe on each Advent Sunday. A special “Silvester Rezept” will await you for New Year’s eve!

Christmas Markets and Events around California

Some German Christmas events around California are happening tomorrow (December 1st) to welcome the holiday season. Check out our Event Calendar for location and time.

Have a wonderful Holiday Season !