Category Archives: Traditions

Christmas Nativity Play

Christmas, Family, Traditions, , , , ,

We had our Christmas Party on Sunday night and let the kids do the Nativity Story.  I found a cute children’s version with the pictures.  My husband was the narrator and then 5 of the older grandchildren read different parts and the two little girls put the pictures up on the magnet board.  My DIL played the keyboard, so that we could have help singing the songs.  (We are not a very musical bunch!)  And all in all I think that it turned out great.  Everyone helped and it was not a ton of preparation.

Here is a sample of the pictures, you cut out the individual characters and animals and place them in the different scenes.  This also has the script, if you just want to let the children act out the parts!

 

 

You can find the link here, if you want to print your own copy.  This site has some cute games and ideas for kids.

Now, with all that said, I am now on a hunt to make costumes for next year!  If anyone out there has seen any cute costumes, please let me know.  I could make them, or I am willing to buy some of them.  It is something that we would use for years to come, so I want to make some that will grow a little with the kids.

Anise Candy

Christmas, cooking, Recipes, Traditions, , , , ,

Today’s candy is a very old recipe that I remember my mom making for Christmas.  I have not made it for years, but ran across the recipe the other day and decided in honor of my mother that I would make this!  It is a hard tack candy that you could actually use to make suckers with, but I just made it the way my mom used to.  For those of you who do not know what Anise is, it is a black licorice type flavor.

So let’s make some Anise Candy!  First you are going to put 3 cups sugar, 1 cup corn syrup and 1/2 cup water in a large kettle.  Bring to a boil.

You will let it boil to the hard crack stage.  To test if it is at the hard crack stage, drizzle a small amount of the candy into a bowl of cold water, like this.

When the candy come out hard and brittle, it is at the crack stage,  if it is soft and pliable you need to keep boiling it until you reach the crack stage.  I tested my about 3 times, until I got it to where I wanted it.  If you have a candy thermometer, you could also use that, you need to reach 300-310 degrees F, but I am showing you the good old fashioned way to test it! :)

When it gets to crack stage, add 1/2 tsp red food coloring and 1/2 tsp anise oil.

Pour out onto a buttered cookie sheet  and let cool just a bit. (sorry about the flash spots in this picture, but the candy is so shiny that it just kept reflecting)

When slightly set, mark off in squares.  (I actually do not remember my mother doing this, I remember her just using the handle of a butter knife and breaking it into pieces, but I have this step written in my recipe, so I tried it!)

After it has cooled off, break into pieces.  Maybe this is why my mom just broke it with the handle of the knife, because it just kind of breaks into pieces!  But it looks so pretty!

Put all those pieces into a bowl and look at how festive they are.  They are also fun to add to plates of cookies or fudge etc to just add some bright color!

Here is the recipe:

Anise Candy

3 cups sugar

1 cup white syrup

1/2 cup water

Put in kettle and bring to a boil.  Cook to crack stage.

add: 1/2 tsp red food coloring

1/2 tsp anise oil

Mix and pour into buttered cookie sheet.  When slightly set, mark off in squares.  Cool and then break into pieces.

Happy Sinterklaas Day!

Christmas, Family, Traditions, , , , , ,


We have a fun tradition that we have celebrated in our family for the past several years.  Our oldest son served a mission for our church in the Netherlands and Sinterklaas Eve is a big celebration!  It is basically the welcoming of Santa and the start of the Christmas season.  In the Netherlands, Sinterklaas arrives on a boat and then rides a horse down through the town.

According to wikipedia, He is celebrated annually on Saint Nicholas’ eve (5 December) or on the morning of 6 December in Belgium and Northern France.

In the Netherlands, Saint Nicholas’ Eve, 5 December, became the chief occasion for gift-giving during the Christmas season. The evening is called Sinterklaasavond or Pakjesavond (boxing evening). For Belgian and some Dutch children, it is customary to put one shoe in front of the fireplace from the day Sinterklaas arrives in the Netherlands, usually in the third week of November, sing Sinterklaas songs and go to bed. A carrot and/or hay may put in the shoe as a treat for Sinterklaas’ horse. The next morning the carrot would be gone and the children may find candy or a small present in their shoes.

We sometimes celebrate with Dutch foods and treats and sometimes it is really quite American!  This year was very American!  We played games like Reindeer Bowling…
and Pin the Nose on Rudolf…

All the kids got their traditional Christmas jammies and a book from Grandma and Grandpa, so that they can use them all month long!  And then as we 
were all just sitting and visiting, guess who to my wondering eyes should appear?  yep, it was Santa Claus, or as they say in the Netherlands, Sinterklaas!

Some welcomed Santa a lot better than others, but they all had a turn sitting on his lap and talking to him and they received a bag of treats from him.  Santa was so nice to take the time to come and see us on his busy schedule,  we sang him a song as he walked out the door and then the kids had to listen to see if they could hear the sleigh bells ringing!

We love the tradition of Sinterklaas Eve in our home, do any of you have any international traditions that you like to celebrate at this time of year.  Whatever they are, I hope that they are filled with love and with your loved ones!

Happy Sinterklaas Day from our house to yours!