Time Flies

And just like that - Christmas is over.

It seems like it was just a couple weeks ago that I was sitting in my living room, looking at the mess around me, wondering how another Christmas had gone by, and it was almost 2016. This year has totally flown by, and I am feeling totally blind sided by the fact that it's going to be 2017 in less than a week.

I could talk about all the ways 2016 kicked my butt, but instead let's focus on happy things like Christmas! My in-laws came out to California to celebrate with us, and it was so wonderful to spend a few days with them. I've also decided that the best thing about Christmas these days is having kids and watching them get SO EXCITED about every present!! And shout out to Esther, who made our matching family jammies!! We were in such a rush to get to church that we didn't get a picture of everyone together, but I'll work on that.

Home for the Holidays: Misadventures with Andi

Merry Christmas Eve! Since we're back in Germany (hopefully - we're on the road trying to get there, at least), Hubby and I have decided to try the German thing and open all of our presents on Christmas Eve. I'll let you know how that goes. I'm really hoping for some JIF peanut butter. 

Anyway, I'm really excited to bring you the last guest poster for our Home for the Holidays series. Andi, from Misadventures with Andi is here to tell you all about Christmas in France. Make sure you stop by her blog to share some love, and don't forget to go by Daryl's blog to get an awesome recipe. *******************************************************************

My first Christmas in France was one of many first.  It was my first Christmas living and working abroad as an adult. It was my first Christmas living with my now-husband.  And while I had been a long time Francophile, I still had a lot to learn about French customs, etc.

Living with someone for the first time in a normal situation is one thing, but throw in new country, new language and new holiday traditions and you have a recipe for misunderstandings (or as I labeled them at the time, and the source of my blog name, misadventures).

One of the many wonderful things about my now-husband is that he is the cook.  It is in the French blood and his passion for food means I haven’t cooked in 10 years (lucky girl, I know)!  So that first Christmas together we did our holiday shopping by buying a freshly butchered pintade (guinea fowl) at the Sunday market and finished up our shopping of oysters and foie gras and dinner accompaniments on December 23^rd. 

All in preparation for Christmas dinner. Or so I thought.

I woke up the morning of December 24^th to a lot of noise coming from the kitchen. I stumbled out of bed to see what was going on (and to get coffee).  I asked my husband, “What are you doing?”  He said calmly, “Preparing Christmas dinner.”  I found it very bizarre that he was preparing so much ahead of time for a dinner the following day, but I did not say anything as I am not the cook in the house!

Later in the afternoon I was making myself a snack in the kitchen when my husband came upon me and asked what I was doing, that I was going to ruin my appetite.  I said, “For what?” He said, “For Christmas dinner.”  I of course said, “I hardly think a sandwich today is going to ruin my dinner tomorrow!”

At which point he looked at me like I was crazy!  He informed that Christmas dinner was that evening.  I countered with “how could Christmas Dinner be served on Christmas Eve, wouldn’t that be called Christmas Eve dinner (logical!)?”
Apparently not!
And since then I have been eating Christmas dinner on Christmas Eve! 

Home for the Holidays: A Suitcase and Stilettos

Greetings from Prague!!! So excited to be here, this city is AMAZING. Today we have Megan guest posting with a fabulous Christmas recipe from Norway! Awesome, right?! Be sure to check out her blog as soon as you read this, and don't forget to go visit Daryl to read about some Norwegian traditions! 

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Hi everyone!  This is Megan from A Suitcase and Stilettos.  I am an American living in western Norway and am excited to share with you a simple recipe from my new home.

Since moving here, I have come to the conclusion that Norwegians go nuts for gingerbread.  I am not even kidding!  The smell and the cookies can be found everywhere.  Even the world's largest gingerbread city, Pepperkakebyen, is located here in Bergen, Norway.  And since Christmas is right around the corner, I thought it was only appropriate to share a common gingerbread recipe with you.

1 cup + 2 Tbsp. butter

1 cup white sugar

¼ cup cream, scant

1 tsp. baking soda

3 to 3½ cups white flour

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. black pepper, freshly ground

1½ tsp. ground cardamom

1 tsp. baking powder 

Cream butter and sugar until white. Add cream and blend again. Mix the baking soda in a little water or coffee and add to flour mixture. Sift spices and baking powder. Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix until a nice dough forms. Using a sheet of parchment paper, roll the dough into a 2½-inch diameter long sausage. Twist the ends of the parchment paper to seal and refrigerate to chill—at least 4 hours.

Unwrap the chilled dough and cut into thin slices of about ¼ inch. Bake on lightly greased cookie sheet at 375°F for 6 to 8 minutes. Remove from the oven, completely cool, and store in an airtight container.

Luckily if one does not have time to make these delicious cookies from scratch, one can just head to any grocery store here and buy pre-made dough for super cheap.

Hope you enjoy and god jul og godt nytt år!!! 

Special thanks to this site for the recipe.

Home for the Holidays: The Ugly Duckling

Hey Friends! I'm so excited - today we have Amelia from Ugly Duckling for Home for the Holidays. I love her blog, and she is such a sweetheart. Also, she just recently got engaged! So exciting, right?! So once you're done reading this post you can head on over and shower her with lots of love and congratulations. :)Take it away, Amelia! ********************************************************************

Hello Lovelies! I'm Amelia and I write a blog called Ugly Duckling. I'm from England but for over two and a half years I've been living in Seoul in South Korea. 

When I first arrived in Seoul there wasn't much to be seen by way of Christmas. They do acknowledge it but it's not a major holiday for Koreans. The first Christmas I spent in Seoul I actually had to turn to Google to find out where I could go to get my Christmas light fix in Seoul!! Christmas as I know it wasn't here at all!

In the last couple of years it seems to be catching on though. Yay! This year I've seen Christmas trees and lights popping up in more and more places in the city. I even spotted Christmas decorations for sale in October, almost as bad as the shops in England! Everything in Korea happens fast, like someone is fast forwarding it. I'm pretty happy to report that the Koreans seem to be embracing the festive spirit very quickly too. 

Nevertheless, a Christmas away from friends, family and home comforts can still be hard. I'm lucky to be living in Korea with my fiancee, Steve (we just got engaged four days ago, eeeek!) and together we have begun to develop our own little Christmas traditions.

A few days before Christmas we like to visit a stream (called Cheonggyecheon) that runs through the centre of the city. There's lights all the way along it and a big Christmas tree, it's a great way to get excited for Christmas day!

 

On Christmas morning we open our gifts and start the eating (let's face it, a big part of Christmas is about the food or is that just me??) with smoked salmon, cracked black pepper and lemon on wholemeal bread; a tradition I've taken from home. Of course since it's Christmas (as good of an excuse as any right?!) that's accompanied with a bottle of bubbly. Unfortunately there isn't a turkey to be found in the city and certainly no Christmas trimmings. So instead of cooking our own Christmas dinner we visit a hotel nearby our place that offers a 'festive' menu and has gorgeous decorations to help the festive spirit. Hotels in Seoul are one of the few places that do go all out at Christmas!

Starting the day with a few traditions from home - Smoked salmon, After Eights and Champagne.

Hotel holiday decorations!

Not the traditional Christmas pudding!!

After Christmas lunch we wind down the day by watching a movie and having a bit of a Friends marathon (don't you just love Friends?) in our pyjamas. I also make Steve play board games with me. Honestly, I'm such a big kid!

 

 

By the time Boxing Day rolls around I'm ready for some exercise and fresh air. We like to wrap up as snug as possible (winter here is always well into the minus figures!) and go for a walk.

All in all we have a fantastic Christmas but this year I'm happily going to be celebrating once again at home in England! I'm here for a holiday and will get to do all the good old British stuff again, I'm pretty excited as you can imagine!

Wherever you are in the world I hope you have a Merry Christmas and I wish you all a very happy New Year!

xxx

Home for the Holidays: Christmas in Strasbourg, France

Hello, everyone! So today I have Daryl from Roots, Wings, and Other Things here guest posting about our trip to Strasbourg as part of our Home for the Holidays series! Don't forget to check out my crepe recipe on her blog today. I'm also guest posting for Sarah over at the Fontenot Four if you just can't get enough Christmas in your life!

Take it away, Daryl! 

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Hi there readers of Every Day is a New Adventure!
I'm Daryl from Roots, Wings, and Other Things.
It has been so fun working with Alyx and other "foreign" bloggers to bring to you this holiday series. I'm lucky enough to be friends with Alyx in real life, and seeing as we (and our hot husbands) took a trip to Strasbourg, France this weekend...we decided it would be awesome to include the knowledge learned from our travels in this fabulous series!

Strasbourg sits right on the border between France and Germany. As you can see in the photo above, you can call the city by it's French name (Strasbourg) or its German one (Straßburg.) No matter what you choose to call it, this place is a magical city that knows how to do Christmas the right way.

For those of you who don't know what a Christmas market is, it is a collection of tiny shops that appear (usually in a city's historic center) during the Christmas season. At these shops one can purchase anything from ornaments to dancing santa's, and snack on chocholate covered anything, roasted chestnuts, and mulled wine.

*** The typical drink served at a christmas market is Glüwein and it's non-alcoholic counterpart, Kinderpunsh. Check out my kinderpunsch recipe here!***

It is common for cities in France and Germany to have a Christmas Market, but Strasbourg goes above and beyond; markets big and small stand proud in any place with remotely enough space. The city comes alive with lights and smells and holiday cheer.

At the base of a Christmas Tree that would give Rockefeller Center a run for its money, performers gather an impressive crowd. As we traveled from market to market we were impressed not only by the city's beauty, but by the way it so gorgeously blended the cultures of two countries together. We heard people speaking German, French, English, German with French accents, French with German accents, and then some. Christmas decorations of all shapes and sizes decorated buildings with French and German architecture alike.

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We had an amazing time in Christmas Capital of the World!