When the holidays come around, it always seems as if there are treats galore! The stores quickly fill up with egg nog, wasail ingredients, and chocolate shaped into just about every shape imaginable. But this year, how about looking at the more traditional holiday treats to spice up your gatherings. By focusing on the traditional and meaningful instead of the gaudy and commercial, you may find that you introduce your family and friends to treats that they love to both eat and discuss.
In Austria, families traditionally spend Christmas Eve together, starting the evening with a church service. Following church, they gather for a traditional dinner. While their main course of Gebackener Karpfen, or fried carp, may not suit everyone's fancy, their dessert of Sachertorte may indeed. Sachertore is a chocolate and apricot cake; the richness of the cake is determined by the depth and quality of the chocolate used.The cake is then frosted traditionally with chocolate frosting, creating a delectable treat for almost any palate.
When December 6th reaches Germany, they celebrate the evening with St. Nicholas coming to all the children. For the good children comes a shoe or boot full of delicious chocolates, cookies, and other treats. This just starts the holiday season. On Christmas Eve, each family member receives a plate of all kinds of treats, including fruit, nuts, marzipan, chocolate, and cookies.These treats are sure to bring sweet dreams for Christmas morning!
Mexico celebrates the holiday season with La Posadas, which marks the journey of Mary and Joseph from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Starting on December 16th, this celebration takes place each night with people going from door to door, singing traditional songs and asking for admittance for Mary. When the door is opened, everyone celebrates and the children enjoy the tradition of the pi?ata.The pi?ata is a brightly colored container made of either pottery (traditionally) or paper (in modern times) filled with all sorts of treats for the children. One by one, the children are blindfolded and try to hit the pi?ata with a stick. Finally, the pi?ata breaks and everyone celebrates by devouring the delicious candies and treats.
And in France comes probably one of the most indulgent treats, the sabots. Traditionally, the sabots were wooden shoes that the peasants wore. On Christmas Eve, the children would put their sabots in front of the fire in hopes that they would awaken to sabots filled with treats. In modern France, however, wooden shoes are obviously not as prevalent.Instead, sabots are made of chocolate by pastry shops and filled with all sorts of candies.Obviously, these are no longer set in front of the fire.
For your next holiday gathering, why not pick a traditional theme and impart both delicious food and knowledge upon your guests.They will in all likelihood be thrilled not to rehash the same tired holiday offerings.
Unfortunately, Halloween is not as safe as it once was. Running around after dark leaves children vulnerable to accidents and malice. While mom and dad might have been able to accept the homemade cookies from the lady two streets over, now they have to examine their children's treats for needles and razor blades. And those who have corrupted the fun of Halloween to a night for malice and mischief have left some parents hesitant to send their little ones out at all.
However, with a few precautions, you can make sure that the Halloween spirit lives on for at least one more generation.
Stay close
You might remember going trick or treating with a group of friends while mom and dad stayed home to pass out treats. However, in today's changing society, it is simply not a good idea. Stay close to children at all times, particularly younger ones, and make sure that everyone stays within view while trick or treating. If taking out a large group, have children choose a Halloween ?buddy? to stay with the entire time.
Set rules
There will be less dissension in the ranks if you set up the rules for Halloween night ahead of time. Make sure your children know before you head out what is acceptable and what isn't. This includes curfews, how far they can go trick or treating, rules about eating treats, etc.
Be visible
While the neighborhoods will be swarming with children out trick or treating, many drivers may not take the extra precautions while driving and will continue to cruise through at normal speeds. To make sure your child is visible to drivers, look for costumes that reflect the light or have your child carry glowsticks or flashlights when trick or treating.
Check the treats
Sadly, you will want to wait to get home to eat any of the treats because you will want to inspect them first. Discard any treats that are unwrapped or whose wrappers have been damaged. Look carefully for anything out of the ordinary. Avoid any homemade treats unless you personally know the person that made them ? and then be careful if your child has any allergies.
Be a watchdog
While Halloween is known for costumes and candy, in more recent years it has also started attracting a crowd with more malicious intents. While some may limit their mischief to covering trees in toilet paper or smashing pumpkins, others can do even more vandalism and damage. And with so many children running around, many being only loosely supervised, there are plenty of opportunities for child predators to take advantage of the situation. Keep an eye out on the neighborhood, and report any suspicious activities to police.
If you plan for Halloween and set up some ground rules, you can help ensure that everyone has a wonderful holiday. That way, Halloween can continue to be enjoyed by children everywhere.
Both Jane Roseen & Robert D. Thomson are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
Jane Roseen has sinced written about articles on various topics from Gourmet, Fathers Day and Desserts. Jane S. Roseen is the Owner and President of Harmony Sweets, an international gourmet chocolate shop. Harmony Sweets' mission focuses on individual consumers purchasing gourmet chocolates from around the world for their friends and relatives, as well as c. Jane Roseen's top article generates over 74000 views. to your Favourites.
Robert D. Thomson has sinced written about articles on various topics from Dog Care, Real Estate and Dental Practice. Paul Hulse writes for the online retailer www.incostume.com. Please visit their site for more information on. Robert D. Thomson's top article generates over 2240000 views. to your Favourites.