Preparing and celebrating Christmas Season in Austria and Portugal by Carla Simões https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo Mulled or Port wine, hot or chilled, gingerbread or king-cake ? What do we eat, drink, do for Christmas ? Share your traditions, recipes, decorations, crafts for Christmas and New Year´s Eve ! en-us 2018-12-05 17:08:52 UTC 2023-10-18 13:10:50 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-assets.s3.amazonaws.com/icons/Xmastree.png carlasimoes https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/311505475 In Portugal we don´t usually open a window on the Advent calendar or light a candle on the Advent wreath, but we carefully build our nativity scene and decorate our houses with mistletoe,  baubles and Christmas lights and of course we make sure we have a huge pile of logs in-store to warm up the Winter days. I´m attaching a picture of the preparations for the New Year´s Eve  in "Praça da Figueira" by the Tagus River, Lisbon.]]> 2018-12-05 18:05:23 UTC https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/311505475 https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/312329882 In Austria on Dec 6 NIKOLAUS comes and brings apples, peanuts, chocolate and small presents – but only to good children. 
If kids (or adults) were naughty the companion of Nikolaus, called ‘KRAMPUS’, visits them. He takes a ‘Rute’- a big tree branch – with him. But this is an old custom, which nowadays only is used in the countryside. There young men use big KRAMPUS-masks on a ‘procession’ through the villages. 
Here you can see a picture of a very small ‘Krampus’ 
]]> 2018-12-07 17:27:03 UTC https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/312329882 https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/312657786 Hello, here in Austria we like to bake biscuits during the advent period, so I decided to give you a recipe. My grandmother made me some Vanilla Crescents, whose are very typical for Austria :-) I highly recommend you to bake some, because they were quite tasty! Kind regards, Stephanie ]]> 2018-12-09 16:29:50 UTC https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/312657786 https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/313203311 Thanks for the recipe. I love baking "Plätzchen". I´ll try the crescents too. What about the vanilla, don´t we add some vanilla sugar ?]]> 2018-12-10 22:56:10 UTC https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/313203311 https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/314634399 In Portugal we usually spend the Christmas with our family as it happens all around the world, I suppose. However, in Portugal we have some particular traditions, for example: most families eat codfish with potatoes, egg and some vegetables but it is not a rule, there are many families that prefer pork, lamb or even roasted turkey that usually is eaten in the US, Samuel Peralta.]]> 2018-12-14 13:29:50 UTC https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/314634399 https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/314638917 In some villages families usually light a stump to warm up Jesus Chirst and all the family sits around it and chats while they are drinking  Porto Wine or any other typical Portugues liquors. Ana Rita]]> 2018-12-14 13:42:51 UTC https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/314638917 https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/316705201 This is our crib. In Austria most families have them, for example under the christmas tree. ]]> 2018-12-26 22:16:12 UTC https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/316705201 https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/316705270 I made this picture on Christmas Eve. You can see our christmas tree with the presents. I hope you all enjoyed Christmas! ]]> 2018-12-26 22:18:34 UTC https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/316705270 https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/316731624 advent market at our townhall square in Vienna  ]]> 2018-12-27 10:23:51 UTC https://padlet.com/carlasimoes/ilafryx1w5bo/wish/316731624