United States – All Things Gourmet

Olympic Spirit!

We thought we would take a quick break from all things food and beverage related for a quick announcement! Gourmet International employees have been placed into teams representing the United States, Canada, France, Germany and Norway. This Thursday/Friday, as the official Winter Olympics begin, we will have our own opening ceremonies and carrying of the olympic torch!

I hope to get some good photos and maybe, if I am lucky, I can grab some video of everyone enjoying the following itinerary of events:

Friday, February 9 – Opening Torch Ceremony & First Event: Paper Plate Discus
Monday, February 12 – Broom Hockey Shoot Out (might get upgraded to a real shoot out!)
Wednesday, February 14 – Chair Rowing
Friday, February 16 – Paper Plane Javelin
Monday, February 19 – Balloon Sprint
Wednesday, February 21 – Cookie Monster
Thursday, February 22 – Synchronized Chair Dancing
Friday, February 23 – Final Synchronized Chair Dancing & Closing Medal Ceremony

Now, there is an “Official Rule Book” – with rules and instructions on how to participate in these events! I will share those on the actual day of events! We hope you stick with us as we take a fun break and enjoy some company rivalry!

What are some of your favorite events that take place during the Winter Olympics? I’d have to say that I do enjoy a lot of the skiing and ice skating events, as well as, of course, HOCKEY! Luge is another fun one… so many to choose from! Oh and curling… I’ll just stop now, because I will probably just list all of the events!

Christmas Traditions, Customs & More.

I thought it would be fun to search around for some sources to share some German Christmas traditions. My family background is mainly Latvian, pretty much everyone in my family (except my brothers and I), were all born in Latvia. My father and his family were from Latvia and then there is my mother who actually was born in Germany to Latvian parents. So while I, myself, am not German per say, there are some European traditions that are similar in nature from country to country.

For fun, here’s an Advent and Christmas Quiz from the website, “The German Way & More“. My score? I received 7 out of 10 correct! Look at the brain on me!

From Advent, to the German glass pickle ornament myth, to yuletide, here’s an A-to-Z Guide to Christmas traditions. This “guide” offers some insight into the many different Christmas customs from Austria, Germany and Switzerland.

If you were wondering what the differences are between Christmas in the United States and Germany is, try here to find a comparison chart with links to more information. One custom I can relate to is that my family always open presents on Christmas Eve. In the United States, the customary thing to do is to wait for Christmas Day to open gifts. I always thought I was really cool and special to be able to open gifts before all my friends. Growing up we never really left any cookies and milk out for Santa, maybe we had some stocking stuffers to open the next day on Christmas Day, but everything else was done on the Eve. Church, dinner and then gifts! While at the link provided above, you’ll find some good seasonal etiquette if you are traveling to Germany during the Christmas season.

I hope you find some interesting information while browsing through those links I provided. What are some of your holiday traditions? Share them with us in the comments!

As I wrap up this quick post for today, the elves are working up some holiday fun at Gourmet International for our holiday party! Stay tuned, we hope to share some photos and cheer from festivities that are to take place on Friday afternoon!

Christmas Markets of the United States.

Christmas Markets have become a popular place to visit during the Christmas season. What does a Christmas Market entail? And when did it begin? Widely popular all throughout Europe, Christmas Markets have had a long tradition of being an important aspect of the season. Taking a look back at some history, Vienna, Austria, was first to have “December Market” in 1298. As for the Christmas Markets opening in Germany, there have been different answers: Munich 1310, Bauzen 1384 and Frankfurt 1393. From there the Christmas Markets spread across Europe and beyond. Below is a photo from the Christmas Market in Nuremberg.

Christmas Markets are also known as Christkindlmarkts, otherwise known as Christ Child Markets. This dates back to the days of Martin Luther where he wanted to take focus away from the Saints Nicholas and Martin. Before the 1530s, gifts were exchanged on December 6th (St. Nicholas Day) or November 11 (St. Martins Day). Martin Luther’s children received gifts on the 24th of December, from Christkindl or Christ Child, and as that continued some of the Christmas Markets called themselves Christkindlmarkts.

I’d like to make sure we give credit to German Girl In America for a lot of the data and information that I shared here with you all.

Christmas Markets have spread all across the United States and have gained popularity among larger cities. Just take a moment on Google and you can search the many markets across the States. I’ll list a few here:

Note that all the Christmas Markets have different operating dates, times and such. Do check out their websites prior to visiting and research what is available and open during certain times of the holiday season.

These Christmas Markets offer a variety of seasonal treats, foods, candies and an assortment of gifts, festivities and fun for families and friends to enjoy. Have you been to a Christmas Market? If you have, what are your favorite things to do, to see, or to buy?

If you are searching for a Christmas Market near you, try looking at ChristmasMarkets.com to help you with your search!

The photos that are seen throughout this post are all under Creative Commons CC0 and were obtained by Pixabay.