Web Voyager
From our Newspapers
Web Voyager
By Ellen Highland Fernandez
Webmaster@cpubco.com
Christmas around the world
Christmas traditions are not all the same. Each country has its
own way of celebrating December 25. This year, take the time to
tour the world during the week of Christmas.
My personal favorite site is WorldView Christmas
. From this site, you
can link to Christmas traditions in different countries and then
continue following the links to learn more about the country. You
can go to the site to find out why people in the Congo prepare a
special dinner and place it on tables outside their houses, what
harasa is in Iran, why Scotland celebrates Hogmanay and learn
what
children in Brazil do with their shoes.
Another wonderful site is the Christmas Calendar
. Click
on each day to learn how Christmas is celebrated in different
countries. The entry for December 12 was about Latvia. The entry
read, in part, "We celebrate Christmas on December 24. First we
eat Christmas dinner. We eat chicken, peas, bread, apple pie and
chocolate. Grownups drink champagne or martini but children drink
juice. After dinner we sing songs or poems to get a present."
Travel to a Christmas site in Finland
to learn
about Joulupukki. Read how their visit from Santa Claus differs
from most other countries.
In Iceland , the Christmas season is refered to as Yule. Learn
why.
Christmas in Poland is a
magical time where, on Christmas eve "animals are said to talk in
a human voice and people have the power to tell the future."
Finally, to learn the origins of Christmas and Christmas customs,
go to http://www.soon.org.uk/christmas.htm.
Food around the world
One common denominator among all the countries is Christmas is a
time of sharing and being with family. When everyone gathers
together, they tend to eat and eat and eat. Here are some sites
for Christmas recipes from around the world.
Food and Wine magazine
shares recipes from plum pudding to Kletzenbrot and gives
examples of the different meals favored by different countries.
Santa's favorite foods and recipes
lists a large variety of
recipes to try. It includes turon from Spain, pudding from France
and of course pumpkin pie from the United States.
Epicurious magazine offers recipes from Europe
Better Homes and Gardens helps plan your
holiday meals. You simply click on the recipe you want and they
will prepare a shopping list, make-ahead calendar, and a
printable recipe list for you.
Gingerbread is a favorite Christmas tradition. Check out the
history of the Gingerbread.
Prefer an Amish Cookie, go
to http://holiday.ritech.com/christmas/recipe.html for this and
other recipes.
Want a Italian Christmas feast, look at
for a lobster
macaroni dish. Buon Appetite!
If you are not really concerned about the meal being a
"traditional dish" and you just want to try something different,
go to The Recipe Concentration
, a country
orientated recipe-site database. Another starting point site is
from Yahoo .
Have a wonderful Christmas.
As you voyage down the cyber-path, you are encouraged to send me your ideas for topics you would like to see discussed and to share your favorite links. Send correspondence to me at:
e-mail: Webmaster@cpubco.com, via post: Web Voyager, Ellen H. Fernandez, PO Box 2000,
Clarksburg, WV 26302, or through our web site. Phone: 626-1466.
EDITOR'S NOTE Ellen Highland Fernandez is the Webmaster for Clarksburg
Publishing Company's site and her column appears on the first and third Sundays every month in
the Sunday Exponent-Telegram
Clarksburg Publishing Company, P.O. Box 2000, Clarksburg, WV 26302 USA
Copyright © Clarksburg Publishing Company 1997