• know & Tell • HOLIDAY SEASON: A Time to Appreciate the Beautiful Differences
NVM + 2010
By CASSAUNDRA BROOKS
From across the pond comes a holiday delight that fills your insides
Christmas tree lights have come a long way. First, candles were glued
In the Netherlands, the Dutch begin to celebrate St. Nicholas in
Our favorite television shows don’t necessarily feature a holiday episode each winter—not only are they often on break in December, but audiences expect them to be a little extra special. A few years back, The OC did well with its “Chrismukkah” episodes, celebrating both the Jewish Hanukkah and the Christian Christmas. Last year, Community had success with a multicultural take on the winter holidays. Bones fans consider Season One’s “The Man in the Fallout Shelter” among the series’ best and got to see the two leads lock lips for the first time under some mistletoe in season three’s “Santa in the Slush.” Shows like 30 Rock, House, NCIS, Psych, and Grey’s Anatomy play with the theme on occasion. Even The X-Files, Family Guy, and The Twilight
with warmth and gooey goodness. Christmas pudding (also known as plum pudding) is a traditional wintry dessert that has been a staple in English households since about the seventeenth century. It’s made with love from family recipes. The steamed pudding consists of dried fruit, nuts, dark sugars, black treacle, sweet spices, and occasionally dark beers. It is served with a dousing of brandy that is set alight. mid-November. The jolly saint and his helper, Zwarte Piet, dock each year in the harbor of a different city or village, and their procession into town via white horse to meet the mayor is televised. However, nearly every city has its own Sinterklaas parade. And no cookies for this robed gift bearer! According to stnicholascenter.org, children put their shoes next to the window, door, fireplace, or heater (in which the good girls and boys will find small treats the next day) and leave out “a nice drawing, a wish-list, and a carrot or hay, and maybe a saucer of water, for the horse.” On December 5, St. Nicholas Eve, families indulge in festive parties and gift-giving.
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North Valley DECEMBER 2010 | JANUARY 2011
with melted wax or attached by pins to tree branches. Early in the twentieth century, candles were placed in small lanterns and glass balls. But it was a few decades earlier that the advent of electric lights on strings was first used. The first electrically lit tree in the White House was sponsored by President Grover Cleveland in 1895. In the United Kingdom, they are often called “fairy lights.”