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Thursday 6 December 2012

Swiss style Santa

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Today is Santa Clause day in Switzerland. Our Santa comes on the 6th of December and not at Christmas, like in most parts of the world. Another difference is that he doesn't come from the North Pole either but from the Black Forest! He brings nuts, oranges and sweets for the children who have been good and a broom (or a bunch of twigs) for those who have been bad. 

In view of this and since I hosted the quilt group today I decided to have a bit of a Swiss Santa lunch. Traditionally we make and eat "Grättimaa" (meaning old man in Swiss German), made from a sweet bread dough, brushed with an egg wash and sprinkled with sugar.
 The "Graettimaenner"  (and one lady) before baking
The table ready for my guests 
A plate of Christmas cookies. I still have to make two more batches.

I hope your Christmas preparations are going well too and that you are enjoying the season.

Cheers
Vreni x




16 comments:

Silvia said...

Uauhhh!!!: I am the first to wish you Santa Claus day!!!:
Here we celebrate today San Nicolas....The same...with chocolates, sweet things, and so on...
Which a marvelous Christmas table you have arranged for....
Have a nice day and enjoy !!!.
Hugs

Anonymous said...

Oh my your table looks lovely and those little baked men look so tasty!

Thimbleanna said...

Happy St. Nicholas Day Vreni! Your table looks beautiful and that plate of cookies! Oh My! I want one of everything! I love your St. Nicholas traditions. We were in Berchtesgaden one year on St. Nicholas Day and it was so funny to watch the grumps running all over town chasing tourists with their switches. They meant serious business too -- I heard one girl saying how much it hurt to get switched!

Shirley said...

Have a lovely day Vreni.x

Run Quilt Knit Write said...

Lovely! I met Sami Claus and Schmutzli in the garage this evening - getting dressed ready to visit a family in our Siedlung! And we had Grittibänz for dinner!!

Geckoboxes said...

Your story is very similar to the Dutch Sinterklaas!
I wished I could send you some snow to accomplish your Swiss Santa lunch!

FarahLin said...

Your plate of Christmas cookies looks delicious!! I'm sure the lunch was splendid and went well too. Happy Santa Claus Day to you and family!

LintLady said...

Hallo Vreni,
einen schönen Nikolaustag wünsch ich dir noch (nachtäglich?). Sieht aus, als hättest du viel Spaß mit deinem Besuch erwartet.
LG Doris

Rossana said...

WOW! A beautiful Santa Claus Day passed with your quilt group! Here, in my area, we have San Niccolò with little cakes, small gifts and sometimes...... a little piece of sweet coal!

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Happy Santa day (a day late). Your cookies look yummy!

Sheila said...

Happy Santa Claus Day! Love your beautiful table set with yummy cookies and goodies. I hope you have a nice weekend : )

Unknown said...

Wish I could have send you some of 'our' snow. Your cookies and bread figures look yummy .
Rose-Anne

Lynda said...

Your table looks beautiful! Love to hear traditions of other countries. The bread and cookies look good too. We started a new one this year with our 2 year old granddaughter. I have a small decorated mailbox. Every night the "Elves" bring her a small gift. She has been so excited about running to her mailbox and finding a gift. Christmas is so much fun with small children and their excitement.

Kati from Kati's Quilting said...

Ooooh, Vreni, I feel like I'm home! We have the same traditions. Twigs and oranges and nuts and all! I love the cookies you have on the plates, my Grandma makes them every year :) I specially love the gingerbread/pfeffernusse ones with the icing on them and I was thinking about making the linzer ones with the jam in between. Yumm! Your Santa cookies look really cute! :)

Ailsa (Cape Pincushion) said...

Looks delicious and festive! Reminds me of when I lived in Austria, they made the most delicious Christmas cookies there too.

FlourishingPalms said...

What a lovely tradition, and how thoughtful of you to share it with your friends. Those cookies look SO impressive! Good enough to eat even... ha, ha. Hope you had a wonderful time with your friends.