Christmas in The Netherlands....

Christmas in The Netherlands.... What is most important to us during the holidays? To me, it's the traditions. Traditions that were started in my family and traditions that were started in my own family, after I got married. Every country and family has it's own traditions... mine are based on growing up in my native country, the Netherlands. In the Netherlands, Christmas was mostly a family celebration for us with no presents, since we had received those on the 5th from Sinterklaas. It was purely a family holiday. We had a tree, first with real candles, later with colored lights that my parents seem to have forever... they never broke :-) ..., candy wreaths and beautiful shaped ornaments. In present day Netherlands the Sinterklaas tradition is (still) stronger than the Christmas traditions, but many people now give presents on Christmas Day too. When the Dutch decorate their tree, there is not much difference from Christmas trees all over the world. Special themes or a colorful mix of decorations make up for individual and personal Christmas trees. There are no set rules as regards the Christmas dinner, but game, roast pork or meat fondue are popular main dishes. Those who are religious go to a late-night church-service (around 10 in the evening ) on Christmas Eve. I have special memories of going for many years with my father to a "Kerst dienst" in the Dutch Reformed Church, St. Jans of Maastricht ... just him and me... On Christmas Day we would have (and still have) a delicious breakfast with "Kerststol" (a fruit&almond-paste bread), "krentebolletjes" (current buns) and "roomboter" (real butter). Relatives and friends would come to visit and eat goodies during the day. I still remember helping my mother making tons of "kroketten" (a deep-fried type of breaded ragout) the day before Christmas :-) In the evening, as soon as it was dark, we would turn off all the lights ... lit lots of candles and we would have a fancy 5 course candle-light dinner. We would start off with a chicken soup and a "pasteitje" (Vol-au-Vent filled with a roux) My mom would make a delicious "rollade" (rolled pork) with plenty of tasty "jus" (gravy) for the boiled potatoes... the veggies were usual carrots and peas. We always had to wait a bit after all this before we had desert! Dinner was finished off with a cup of coffee and some cake for those who still had some space left :-) In the Netherlands, we also have a 2de Kerstdag (Second Christmas day - 26 December). We would go visit family and in the evening enjoy another wonderful candle-light meal... usual left-overs from the Christmas dinner. My memories of Christmas are of a warm and "gezellig" cozy holiday. :-) When I married my British husband we made our own traditions :-) In England I made my first Christmas turkey... what a disaster that was!! When we moved back to The Netherlands we celebrated Sinterklaas with the children, and divided our present giving between both holidays, but here in the U.S. we have adopted the tradition of hanging stockings and gift giving on Christmas morning. Sinterklaas still sends us a chocolate letter on his birthday every year :-) We still have our delicious breakfast and 5 course candle-light Christmas dinner, but instead of 'rollade' we have turkey, for desert an English trifle and our tree and table has some extra decorations... 'Crackers' :-) My husband always takes December 26 off so we also still have our second Christmas Day ... or like they call it in England, Boxing Day. That's our Christmas today.... a blend of traditions from our youth, countries and 'host country' :-) Vrolijk Kerstfeest! - Merry Christmas! http://www.thehollandring.com/kerstfeest.htm