On a white Christmas, what can be more wonderful than a warm fire, friends around candle-lit table, delicious food and a glass of wine?
This is so "hygge".
In Denmark there's a word for this feeling. Other times when I've experienced this feeling I've been known to say something dorky like "I'm in my happy place" to express the sentiment, but Danes have a word for it and they know what they're talking about. Danish winters are cold, long and dark, but Danes have a way of gathering around the hearth and a lighting a warmth from inside themselves that chases away the cold (and it's not just because they light enough candles to put any fire marshal through the roof!).
Christmas here is exactly that: Hygge!
In many ways Christmases are the same here as back home: filled with friends, food, Christmas trees and family gatherings. But there are a few things which are really different... such as families singing and dancing around the Christmas tree, making home-made decorations from evergreen branches clipped from your own yard, and imbibing on æbleskiver.
Here are some stories from my hygge Christmas in Denmark...
Christmas starts early, and Danes pull out all the stops!
Danes aren't religious. At all. But at Christmas they suddenly believe in Jesus, Santa, gnomes and beer (no, correction: they believe in beer allll year!). But this is the time they pull out their decorations and heapsof candles and many, many gnomes. This is the biggest party I've ever seen! Christmas is celebrated for 4 weeks, known as "advent". The week before the first Sunday the entire house is decorated! Every Danish house is home to a Martha Stuart (who would be more likely called "Mette Stenstrup")...
...and everyone makes their own decorations!
Each Sunday before Christmas a candle is lit in the advent wreath....
And in my family we spend many Sundays during the holiday season with candles lit, Ella Fitz singing Christmas songs, and indulging in gløgg and æbleskiver. Gløgg is wine served warm with raisens and slivered almonds, and it's wonderful!! Æbleskiver are little tasty bites of heaven which could be rightly nicknamed "pancake balls". They're served with jelly and powdered sugar....yummm!
PLEASE NOTE: I got an æbleskiver pan for Christmas, and I can't wait to bring this tradition home with me! :)The day before Christmas it's time to put up the tree and decorate it. In our house candles were only on the top branches to keep the little ones safe!
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| Viggo wanted to hang stars on the TOP branches :) |
Christmas is celebrated on December 24th and Danes hold VERY tightly to tradition. Each year the same traditions are followed, and it's not acceptable to deviate. In this home my morning was spent with the family grandparents and friends all around, eating all sorts of delicious goodies (not unlike what we enjoy in America - except here everything was homemade...and without sugar!). We drank beer and wine and coffee and talked and laughed the day away.
In the afternoon it was time to brave the snow and go to church. For many Danes this is the one time they darken the door of their local church, even though they still pay taxes to the church....
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| The Vicar |
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| Christmas songs - in Danish! |
After the singing and the service, it was time to head back home for the crowning moment: dinner!
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| Lars has perfected the sauce, and now it's time to cut the duck and put it on the table! |
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| The kids can't sit still through dinner- and they tear into the presents! |
Dinner is finished with more wine, lots of time for stories and for dessert: risengrød. It's rice cooked with milk, sugar, and vanilla, then topped with cinnamon and butter . One lucky person will find an almond in their risengrød... and win a gift!
We somehow finished all the risengrød without finding the almond... oops!
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| Treats from home |
The night is finished with song and dance around the tree - and throughout the house! Then opening some gifts among the adults, another bottle of wine, more laughs, stories, and relaxing. What a lovely, hugge day!