The Advent wreath, is a Christian tradition that symbolizes the passage of the four weeks of Advent in the liturgical calendar of the Western church. The ring or wheel of the Advent wreath of evergreens decorated with candles was a symbol in northern Europe long before the arrival of Christianity. The circle symbolized the eternal cycle of the seasons while the evergreens and lighted candles signified the persistence of life in the midst of winter.

In family practice, the Advent wreath is lit at dinner time after the blessing of the food.

Candle Colors:
In Catholic churches, the most popular colors for the Advent candles are purple and rose. In the Western church, purple is the historic liturgical color for three of the four Sundays of Advent: once the color associated with royalty, it symbolizes Christ as the “Prince of Peace.” Rose is the color for the Third Sunday of Advent, known as Gaudete Sunday from the Latin word “rejoice”. Gaudete Sunday anticipates the joy of the Christmas celebration, so its color is a mixture of Advent purple and Christmas white. It may also symbolize the color of early dawn.

In Protestant churches it is more common to use four red candles (reflecting their traditional use in Christmas decorations) because rose vestments and decorations are not commonly used in Protestant churches.

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A nowadays seldomly observed pagan custom is the “Pfingsochse”. Pfingsten marks the first day the cattle was driven to the range. Usually this would be celebrated with a procession though the town where the strongest bull was decorated with flowers. Hence the saying “decorated like Pentecost Bull” – “geschmückt wie ein Pfingsochse”.
This bull or another animal was slaughtered for the following Pfingstcelebrations.
Jokingly one also refers to the one who sleeps the longest on Pfingssunday as “Pfingstochse”.

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832)
(aus: Reineke Fuchs)
Pfingsten, das liebliche Fest…
Pfingsten, das liebliche Fest, war gekommen; es
grünten und blühten
Feld und Wald; auf Hügeln und Höhn, in Büschen
und Hecken
Übten ein fröhliches Lied die neuermunterten Vögel;
Jede Wiese sprosste von Blumen in duftenden
Gründen,
Festlich heiter glänzte der Himmel und farbig die
Erde.

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Advent calendars

This German invention became a custom at the turn of the 20th century and has since advanced to worldwide popularity.

Advent calendars in Germany have 24 small windows or doors that open to reveal a picture, candy or other small gift. Needless to say, it is a favorite with children because it helps them pass the long waiting time until December 24th, called Heiligabend in Germany. That is the evening on which presents are shared in Germany.

Many families put great effort into crafting their own special calendars. Also a seemingly endless variety of calendars can be found in stores—from simple cardboard panels hiding chocolate to elaborate three-dimensional structures containing toys.

Advent wreaths

An Advent wreath—often made of evergreen branches and usually decorated with four candles—is one of the most popular symbols of the season. On the four Sundays in Advent families often gather to light the candles and to sing carols and read Christmas stories together.

The evergreen wreath has its roots in the northern city of Hamburg, where in 1839 a wreath was hung in the prayer hall of the Rauhes Haus charity. This arrangement made of pine branches found favor in the homes of Protestant families, particularly those living in northern Germany. In the 1920s, though, Roman Catholics began to adopt the custom too.

Originally decorated with 24 candles, one for each day of Advent, the number has long been reduced to four, symbolizing the four Sundays before Christmas.

Source by http://www.germany.info

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On their first day of school German kids receive a “SCHULTÜTE”, a large cardboard cornet filled with sweets and little presents. In Austria the students of the “1st Volksschule grade” are called: Taferlklassler. The name dates back to the time, when in the first grade you were only allowed to write with chalk and a little blackboard, only in second grade ink was introduces. How close we are back to these times, when we use an ipad, which is about the size of a “Taferl”.

In Germany and Austria the “Schultüte” is a common treat. It is a tradition dating back to 1810, children were told that there is a “Schultütentree” and when they are tall enough it is high time for their first day in school.

It is believed that the custom was inspired by the Jewish rites of giving children cookies shaped in the form of letters to remind them of the psalm: “Your word in my mouth is sweeter than the sweetest honey”.

Make your own “Schultüte” and fill it with treats and things the “Taferlklassler” will need on his/her first day of school.

You will need:

1. Scissory

2. A stapler

3. Glue

4. bendable cardboard

5. Tissue paper

6. A ribbon

7. Any other decorations for the lovely cone.

Cut the cardboard into a little bit more of a quarter of a circle. Glue one of the straight edges and form a cone. Staple it on top. Decorate it and hide the staples under a ribbon. Add the tissue paper, fill the “Tüte” and tie a ribbon to close it off. Fertig! Done!

Some corns are huge, about 5 feet, remember they should be filled with sweet, but also useful things for this watershed in a young person’s life. You can make own as instructed or buy it, for example here.

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Words of the day:
to BBQ – Grillen – ich grille, du grillst, er/sie grillt, wir grillen, ihr grillt, sie grillen
fireworks – das Feuerwerk
flag – die Flagge

And at the movies, nothing showed independence day so entertainingly as Will Smith under Roland Emmerich’s German direction with Volker Engel’s genius Academy Award premiered Special Effects.

And another quintessential American Hero, Bruce Willis, was born as Walter Bruce Willis in Idar-Obserstein, Germany.
Armageddon and the Die Hard Series encompass what Europe thinks when they think of America.

And last but not least let us think about the US Troops in Germany’s Rammstein and anywhere else on the globe. A movie we would suggest to revisit is Tom Cruise in “4th of July”

INDEPENDENCE DAY TRAILER

ARMAGEDDON

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY

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Wikki und die Starken Männer

Heidi

Pumuckl

Die Biene Maja

Die Sendung mit der Maus

Der Rosarote Panther – Paulchen Panther

Tao Tao

Pinocchio

Kalimero

Alfred J. Kwak

Das Sandmännchen

The best good night song ever: La Le Lu

Oma Bitte Kommen!

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Tuesday, May 4, 2010, 6:30 pm, at Deutsches Haus at NYU to benefit the website GermanyinNYC.org

“The place for all things German in New York” cordially  invites everybody to its very first Mayfest on May 4, from 6:30 to 9:30pm at Deutsches Haus at New York University.

Consul Jochen Wolter, president of the presenting German American Community Project writes: “This event will benefit our successful website GermanyinNYC.org, the colorful, events-centric information platform that brings together the variety of German-related activities, locations and points of interest in the New York metro area. The site’s offerings – from funky and eclectic to historic and traditional – are designed to serve the area’s ever-expanding German-interest community.”

The organization’s Board of Directors includes Dr. Horst Freitag (Consul General of Germany in New York), Dr. Katrin DiPaola (Director, Deutsches Haus at NYU) and Gabriele Becker (Executive Director, Goethe-Institut New York), amongst others. Tickets are available by contacting rsvp@germanyinnyc.org.

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Last Year’s Opening:

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Faschingskrapfen

Fasching ends on February 16th. The climax of carnival is Fat Tuesday or Shrove Tuesday. Festive costume parades on Faschingsdienstag end the winter throughout Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It also is the last day of feasting which means lots of meat, eggs, cream and deep fat fried pastries such as the Faschingskrapfen or carnival doughnut. This deep fried confectionary is rich in calories, but irresistible delicious.

Faschingskrapfen are named after its creator Cäcilia Krapf who was a Viennese cook at court in the late 17th century. Faschingskrapfen would become a tradition to publicly announce the engagement of two lovers by the girl breaking the Faschingskrapfen into two halves.

I chose a traditional Faschingskrapfen recipe from the Sacher Hotel in Vienna.

Ingredients (servings: 16)

330 g flour (fine)
80 ml milk
30 g yeast
1 piece egg
3 pieces egg yolks
1 pinch salt
40 g icing sugar
1/2 pkt vanilla sugar
1 piece lemon (rind)
2 cl rum
80 g butter
apricot jam
flour (for the work surface)
vegetable oil
powder sugar
Preparation

Warm up about 2 tablespoons of milk to drinking temperature and dissolve the yeast in it. Stir in a little flour to create a thick-pasted pre-dough. Sprinkle with flour, cover with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm place (28–30 °C) for about 15 minutes, until the surface begins to show small cracks.

Use the rest of the milk and stir together the egg, egg yolks, salt, icing sugar, vanilla sugar, grated lemon rind and rum. Add the melted butter and beat. Using a blender with a kneading hook, blend the mass with the remaining flour and the yeast dough until smooth.

Cover with a cloth and leave to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour. Knead the dough again and on a floured surface shape into a roll. Cut nut-size pieces about 20 g in weight and, using the palm of your hand, shape into round balls. Dust with flour and press them a little with a baking tray. Place on a baking tray and leave to rise in a warm place.

Heat some oil (160 °C) in a pan for deep frying or in a saucepan and fry a golden brown on both sides. Scoop out and place on a cake grid to drain. Fill a pastry bag with jam and squeeze into the doughnuts. Dust with powder sugar.

Apricot jam is generally used as filling. But the first time I came across orange jam filling was as an intern with Austria`s then Chef of the Decade Jörg Wörther, who used Zwergorangenmarmelade.

Orangemarmelade

Since oranges are in season in California, I would like to share with you the orange jam recipe of my brother in law, Daniel Wiley. Dan is not a chef, in fact he has bought jelly his entire life – until he met my sister who in her old old fashioned Austrian manner would rather buy the ingredients and make her own jam. Today Dan makes the most delicious Orange jam ever! I would like to share his recipe with you since he insists, it is so easy that everybody can do it.

Orange jam:

Ingredients:

Several pounds of oranges

Preserving sugar

Glass jars

Preparation:

Squeeze the fresh oranges. Strain the juice from the pulp. Weigh the pulp. The relationship between fruit and sugar is 2:1. Heat the pulp and add the sugar under stirring. Constantly stir to avoid burning. Stir until the sheen of the sugar reaches the surface. Still stir. Check the consistency of the jam with a spoon. The jam is done when it starts sticking to the spoon. Rinse the glass containers with hot water. Then pour the jam into the jars.

Enjoy your home made orange jam in Faschingskrapfen, cakes or simply spread it on bread.

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