Many of the traditional Christmas customs originate in pagan festivals. Thousands of years ago people were often afraid of the long, cold winter nights. When the days finally became longer, people celebrated the return of the sun by making bonfires, feasting on large meals and exchanging gifts. After the birth of Christ, many of these traditions were combined with the celebration of Christmas.

The word Christmas, itself, comes from the Old English name ‘Cristes Maesse’. The first recorded observance occurred in Rome in AD360, but it wasn’t until AD 440 that the Christian Church fixed a celebration date of 25 December.

Christmas in Britain

Most people are on holiday in the UK and stay at home with their families on Christmas day, the main day for Christmas celebrations in Britain, when the family members gather to have a Christmas dinner at midday. During the weeks before Christmas, people send cards and go to Carol services and put up Christmas decorations in their homes. There is one very British Christmas ritual, which is watching the Queen’s message on TV. The tradition began in 1932 when King George V read a special speech written by Rudyard Kipling. The broadcast was an enormous success. Queen Elizabeth II continued the tradition until her death. Every year she broadcasted her message on Christmas Day, and it was heard by millions of people all over the world. In England most people watched or listened to it after their Christmas Dinner! This year it is King Charles III to deliver the speech for the first time in history.

Pulling a Christmas cracker is also a popular British tradition. But what is a Christmas cracker? Christmas crackers are tubes made of brightly coloured paper. When pulled apart, it makes a pop sound. Crackers usually contain a small gift, a paper hat and a joke. Crackers are famous for their very bad jokes! The party hats look like crowns, similar to the ones worn by the Wise Men. There is normally a cracker next to each plate on the Christmas dinner table.

Christmas in the United States

Just like in the UK, Christmas in the USA is observed on the 25^th of December. Here the festive season begins on the fourth Thursday in November, just after the Thanksgiving holiday. Christmas Eve in the USA is not an official holiday, which means that most people have to work. However, many workplaces hold Christmas parties and celebrations. After dinner on Christmas Eve, children go to bed early but not before hanging up their stockings on the fireplace or the end of their bed to be filled with gifts by Santa Claus. On the following morning, children wake up to look for their presents in their stockings and under the Christmas tree.

Boxing Day

Boxing Day is a public holiday in the United Kingdom, Canada, New Zealand and Australia. It is also a holiday in many other countries in the Commonwealth of Nations. It is based on a long custom of giving gifts to poor people. It is usually celebrated on 26 December, the day after Christmas Day. In some countries the public holiday is moved to the next weekday if 26 December is a Saturday or Sunday. Boxing Day is an old custom going back to the Middle Ages.

Christmas in Hungary

In Hungary the Christmas tree is decorated on Christmas Eve. In addition to the usual decorations, Hungarians also put fondant candies on and under the tree. According to the Hungarian tradition, the Christmas presents are brought by baby Jesus, although some families (who belong to other religions or atheists) follow the Santa Claus tradition, which was promoted also by the communist government that ruled until 1990. Typical Hungarian Christmas dishes include: fish soup or bouillon, stuffed cabbage, roast turkey with stuffing, and the famous poppy seed or walnut rolls, which is a traditional Hungarian pastry, mostly eaten during the winter holidays. It is basically a kind of sweet bread, known as ‘beigli’ in Hungary. During the last few decades other variants (such as chestnut, plum jam, prune, or even cocoa) have become popular, too.

Budapest is the setting for the modern Cinderella story that Debenhams tells on the occasion of Christmas. Online daily Szeretlek Magyarország drew attention to this video ad that will immediately get you in a cosy Christmas mood. The British multinational retailer Debenhams picked Budapest as the location for its latest Christmas advertisement.

This is not the first time that Debenhams shot an ad at Budapest: the previous one was produced in the Hungarian capital in 2013.

The beautifully and glamorously lit city stole everyone’s heart, and it was such a great success that the British company decided to shoot this year’s campaign material in Budapest too.

You can spot Nyugati Railway Station (which was already featured in Lacoste’s ad recently), several streets from the Pest side, Metro Line 4, and the gorgeous staircase of Pozsonyi street 40 in the video. Oh, and Ewan McGregor too!

source: Daily News Hungary, Szeretlekmagyarország 

These pretty sugar and spice gingerbread men and heart-shaped cookies make a great Christmas treat. Make them into special but cost-effective gifts for your friends and family.

makes: 20
preparation time:1 hour
cooking time:20 minutes
total time:1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. runny honey
30g unsalted butter
60g light muscovado sugar
250g self-raising flour (to convert plain flour into self-raising flour, add two teaspoons of baking powder to each cup of plain flour)
1 tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
finely grated zest of1 lemon, plus 2-4 tbsp. juice 
60g ground almonds
1 large egg

To decorate:

50g icing sugar, sieved 
silver balls

You will need:

parchment paper and baking sheets
5cm biscuit cutters
small plain piping nozzle
paper piping bag

Preparation:

1.     Put the honey, butter and sugar into a small pan and stir over a low heat until the butter is melted.

2.     Sieve the flour, ginger and cinnamon into a bowl. Add the lemon zest and ground almonds.

3.     Pour the egg, melted mixture and lemon juice into the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon until the mixture comes together.

4.     Knead the mixture on a lightly floured surface for a couple of minutes, then wrap in cling film and pop in the freezer for 30 minutes to firm up.

5.     Set the oven to Gas Mark 4 or 180°C. Roll out the dough to a 5mm thickness, on a parchment-lined surface, and stamp out the biscuit shapes. You should be able to get about 20. Push the tip of a tiny plain piping nozzle near the top edge of each biscuit, and lift out to make a hole.

6.     Put the biscuits on to parchment-lined baking sheets. Bake for 15-20 minutes until pale golden. Cool on a wire rack.

7.     To decorate: Mix the icing sugar with 4 tsp. hot water, to make a smooth icing. Spoon into a paper piping bag with the nozzle. Pipe icing on the biscuits and decorate with silver balls. Leave to set.

OUR TIP: To give it as a gift thread ribbon through holes in biscuits. Wrap in cellophane. Store in an airtight container for up to 1 week.

spice gingerbread men– fűszeres mézeskalács emberkék
heart-shaped– szív alakú
cost-effective – költséghatékony
runny– folyós
unsalted– nem sózott
baking powder– sütőpor
ground ginger– őrölt gyömbér
ground cinnamon– őrölt fahéj
finely grated– finomra darált
zest of lemon– citromhéj
ground almonds– őrölt mandula
sieved – szitált
biscuit cutter– süti kivágó forma
piping nozzle– habzsák fej
to stamp out– kinyomni, kiszúrni
tip– valaminek a hegye/csúcsa
to lift out– felemelni, kiemelni
hole– lyuk
to store – tárolni
airtight container– légmentes tárolóedény