Our third recipe in this short series of traditional Christmas recipes is for a mouth-watering sweet bread from Europe called Stollen. This sweet, fruity, yeast bread is traditionally served in Austria and Germany at Christmas time. It can be eaten for breakfast, as a dessert, or perhaps, round the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.

Our recipe for Stollen is easy to make and is perfect for the festive season.

Ingredients. Makes 1 loaf

150ml/ 2/3 cup lukewarm milk
40g/3 tbsp caster(fine) sugar
10ml/2tsp easy-blend dried yeast
350g/3 cups plain white flour, plus extra for dusting
1.5/ tsp salt
100g/ cup butter, softened
1 egg, beaten
50g/ 1/3 cup seedless raisins
25g/ 1/6 cup sultanas
40g/ 1/3 cup candied orange peel, chopped
25g/ cup blanched almonds, chopped
5ml/1 tbsp rum
40g/3tbsp butter, melted
about 50g/ cup icing sugar

1. Mix together the warm milk, sugar and yeast and leave in a warm place until it becomes frothy.

2.Sift together the flour and salt, make a well in the centre and pour on the yeast mixture. Add the egg and butter and mix together to form a soft dough. Mix in the sultanas, raisins, almonds and peel and sprinkle on the rum. Knead the dough on a lightly floured board until pliable.

3. Place the dough in a large, greased bowl and cover with a non-stick film or paper. Leave in a warm place for about 2 hours, until it has doubled in size.

4. Turn out on to a floured board and knead until smooth and elastic.On a baking tray, shape your loaf into a rectangle about 25 x 20cm/ 10x 8in. Fold the dough over along one of the long sides and press the two layers together. Cover and leave to stand for 20 minutes.

5.Preheat the oven to 200C/ 400F. Bake the Stollen for 25-30 minutes, until it is well risen. Allow to cool slightly, then brush with melted butter. Sift the sugar over the top and place on to a wire rack to cool. Serve in thin slices.

Giving out cards this Yuletide can be inspiring and fun.  Just think of what people feel when they get your kindheartedness on a piece of card.  Maybe it’s got something to do about the different atmosphere during the holiday season when everybody seems cordial and inviting or perhaps you grow to be a bit more jovial and generous throughout Christmas time.

A number of people send cards for the reason that they think they need to whilst others experience sheer happiness in choosing cards in a shop, writing messages on them, and then ultimately giving them to relatives and friends.  Of course, it’s better if you give out something for the reason that your heart tells you to do so.  Your recipients would recognize if you sent something because of obligation or because of genuine spirit.

Obviously, your aim in giving out cards this Yuletide is to maintain good relationships with persons dear to you, such as family, friends, customers or colleagues.

Giving out business Christmas cards to your customers is important since it’s a means to keep good relations with them and good ties mean longer business relationship.  Every business proprietor or entrepreneur would wish for that to take place.  However, this time you are not going to promote anything about your company. This is the right time to show your gratefulness for their loyalty.

Choose trendy greeting cards to give to your company clients. The quality of the material you send to them shows your class and their importance to you.  Think of what your customers would conceive of you if you hand them a cheap, shabby card made of old materials you stocked from last year’s extra materials?

Now, if you’re planning to produce your own cards, be sure you’re a good enough artist.  We don’t mean to discourage you to test your artistic ability, but save your stationery and pastels for your close friends.

Chooose affordable yet elegant cards, which can be bought online, if you feel like going to nearby stores is a little too time demanding.  You might opt for personalized Christmas cards, which are likewise being sold over the internet.  You can, as well, choose to make your business logo or name printed on the card.

Before giving out, verify the addresses and the names.  Make certain they are right.  Wrongly spelled names can ruin things even if you have the fondest missive.  Also, be wary that not everybody observes Christmas.  So it is best to choose your receivers carefully.

This however is not all that successful with Christmas holidays. Christmas holidays require planning, a last minute one could go so wrong! If you have a family and you know you want to go abroad, this will need to be booked in advance, last minute holidays are extremely difficult to arrange around the Christmas period. What are you going to do with the presents; will the house be safe and what about meeting up with the rest of the external family?

All of the above criteria cause issues for booking last minute Christmas holidays. Booking a summer holiday is so much easier last minute. All you need to make sure is the house is locked up and you have some time off work, then you’re on your way. Some tour operators have offered some extremely cheap luxury deals for all to try, this means that holidays can be booked so easily before hand.

You would be very lucky to find a holiday available around Christmas time. Booking a last minute holiday around Christmas could be very difficult, in fact a lot of places will be sold out already, although some are definitely trying to gain some extra flights and seats for families to purchase some holidays. Finding a seat on a flight, for your Christmas holiday is very difficult, that is one reason why last minute holidays aren’t always appropriate!

Luxury holidays and Winter holidays are the best way to spend your Christmas?

Remember that we are talking about luxury Christmas holidays as well. Although Skiing holidays are considered to be quite luxurious, they pale in comparison to these two. What’s strange for Christmas time is that these two holidays are in the Caribbean, one of the hottest locations in the world.

St Lucia holidays are on the rise this Christmas, and so much so that flights have almost been completely consumed already. luxury Christmas holidays are the best option to look for now, they offer some of the best possible holiday packages. There are some great offers available to everyone searching for the right packages. The weather in St Lucia is going to be very warm this December as well, with only a small amount of rain.

Barbados holidays provide anyone visiting this Christmas with a vibrant and exciting Christmas holiday. This is a holiday for those that want to have an up-beat and exciting Christmas. One that will last through all hours of the night and for those that like to party all night long. In Barbados there is no time for rest, unless you can make it to the beach, other than that, it is party, party, party all night long. Christmas is a time of celebration in Barbados, and a massive one at that, parties and late nights all around. You can even find a holiday in Barbados, a full package deal for less than a thousand pounds.

It is cooling down outside and the favorite time of year for many is fast approaching. Yes many love getting together for Thanksgiving and spending time with family and friends. But right after that is when the best month of the year gets here for many. I am talking about Christmas time of course!

Although it is the best time of the year, it is also one of the most stressful times of the year. This year is likely to be very stressful as peoples budgets are shot and available credit is gone or very limited for many. Maybe this will push people to return to more simple times where materialism is out of favor. It will have to for many as people simply will not be able to buy things like they used to.

That does not mean this Christmas needs to be gloomy, just that better planning will be needed to get everything you need. This includes decorations as the décor of your house and outside decorations help set the mood. So getting those right can help boost things up.

Christmas first and foremost should be more about spending quality time with loved ones then about what gifts you bought someone or what gifts you received. If you are honest with yourself things have gotten so materialistic over the years it has really taken away from the holiday spirit for many. Maybe you could find it by watching a feel good movie but then when you get back into your real life maybe you felt pressured that you needed to spend more money to buy more material items to make you and others happy. That is simply not the case. In the long run when you look back you will probably be happier when the focus is changed to quality time spent with family and friends then the stresses of a materialistic Christmas holiday.

With that in mind the need to save money and watch every penny is key this year for the majority of people. That is one reasons why sites about discount Christmas decor are going to be booming this season. People want to save money on everything from an Artificial Christmas Tree to gifts they will be buying. It will be interesting to watch if people are really happier this year because there will be less pressure (on everyone) to not buy too much or spend too much money.

Christmas ornaments are popular purchases. Everyone wants a decorated Christmas tree, and everyone has his or her ideas of what a perfect tree looks like. Some individuals prefer designer trees, trees with matching lights, tinsel and ornaments, all crafted with a specific color scheme in mind. Still others prefer an eclectic mixture of ornaments, none of them matching, but all of them combining to bring to life the spirit of Christmas.

This last group of collectors is perhaps the most interesting group. Christmas ornaments are far more than decorations. They are living memories. They are symbols of family vacations, births, weddings and even family members who have passed away. In a way, they function like photographs. But perhaps some of the most memory-invoking ornaments are homemade Christmas ornaments. Not only do these crafts symbolize the family and immortalize memories, they were created directly from the heart, by the hands of the family joining around the tree to decorate it.

The Power of Art

Homemade Christmas ornaments are usually not the fanciest ornaments on the tree. Professional ornaments are literal works of art. Crafted from any number of materials, they are often beautiful, ornate and unique. But homemade Christmas ornaments are works of art too, but a different kind of art. The kind of art that may not be beautiful in the eyes of the public, but that is absolutely stunning in the eyes of the parents of the children who crafted them. Homemade Christmas ornaments can also be made from any number of materials.

Families can sit down during craft time and paint wooden ornaments, create felt and pipe cleaner animals, or even design stained-glass ornaments. Most importantly, children have the freedom to do whatever they want. They can paint themselves, write the date, recreate their family, design a landscape or bring to life a memory of their favorite vacation. If Christmas truly is about family and joining together to celebrate life, than homemade Christmas ornaments are the perfect Christmas tree decorations.

Homemade Christmas ornaments can also make wonderful gifts. Parents and children can craft presents for the rest of the family, or at summer camp, children can design the perfect package for a parent’s birthday, Christmas itself or even Mother’s Day or Father’s Day. Not only do homemade Christmas ornaments help symbolize family trips, they also symbolize family love. Even when they do not directly reflect a specific event, they reflect the family, and sometimes parents especially prefer receiving them as gifts than helping in the process. There is nothing more beautiful at Christmas time than receiving a present from a child who thought enough about his or her parents to work hard, possibly for days, on a certain, beautiful object.

Besides, making unique Christmas gift with your kids can be a lot of fun. You get to spend some quality time with your kids and establish a kind of family tradition on gift making. Traditions will help sustain your family during rough times and will help make your holidays even more memorable. To help you find some unique Christmas gifts that you and your kids can work on together and establish a family Christmas tradition, here are some ideas for you.

Christmas Gift Baskets

Although Christmas gift baskets are quite traditional, you can always turn this traditional Christmas present into a unique Christmas gift. Forget about those traditional food baskets. A lot of people get food baskets for Christmas these days. Instead of putting food in your Christmas basket, ask you kids to put some handmade trinkets that they made into the basket. Handmade trinkets like Christmas ornaments should do the trick. Just make sure that you add some other things into the basket like CDs, small collectible items and the likes to make the contents of the basket more interesting.

Christmas Cookies

If you love to bake, you can ask your kids to help you bake some Christmas cookies. Yes, there is a big possibility that your small kids will only cause mess in the kitchen instead of really helping you out but since you are trying to establish a Christmas tradition here, you just have to put up with the mess. Don’t worry, next Christmas, you kids will already grow up a little bit so they will not really make so much mess in your kitchen Christmas.

While you are baking cookies, keep your kids busy by ask your kids to prepare some nicely decorated jars where you can put the cookies. To avoid some accidents, buy plastic jars for this purpose instead of glass. Plastic jars are lighter and do not break into pieces if your kids accidentally drop them on the kitchen floor. You should also buy enough decorative brightly colored papers and ribbons to decorate the jars and make some really unique Christmas gifts.

On rainy days, there is nothing better than craft-time. Crafts are productive projects that allow children to pass the time creatively while creating something that can be given as a gift. And often times, the parents can join right in on the fun. Even many recreational programs and summer camps include craft time to help boys and girls exercise the artistic side of their brains—sadly, in the age of television, not a lot of time is dedicated to artistic endeavors.

But craft time is important, and some of the best crafts are Christmas ornaments. Ornaments provide endless options in both design and materials, and children will always be able to think of Christmas ornaments to make, for friends, family and even themselves. And choosing the right Christmas ornaments to make is a decision that lives on forever—year after year, during tree decoration time, that child will always remember the homemade Christmas ornaments he or she made.

Exercising the Brain

When deciding which Christmas ornaments to make, a few factors need to be taken into consideration. For instance, materials are important. While many ornaments can be made from scratch, others will need certain stencils or pre-made materials. Still, there are so many Christmas ornaments to make that each craft time can focus on a different style or design, leading to countless activities for countless rainy days. Some of the most popular Christmas ornaments to make are wooden ornaments.

These are usually sold pre-cut, and children can paint them with acrylic paint and even write their names and the date they painted them. Still others are balls that can be designed with glitter and other pieces of material and string that can easily be glued on, although adults will want to help if a heated glue gun is used.

Other Christmas ornaments to make include ornaments made with pipe cleaners and felt. These can be cut into various shapes including animals, insects and even people. Pipe cleaners can be used to craft anything from antennae to hanging hooks, and eyes can easily be glued onto anything from butterflies to reindeer. These ornaments are some of the most challenging, but some of the most rewarding Christmas ornaments to make because nothing is pre-designed. Instead, the entire creative process is orchestrated by the children, and they create from a few raw materials something magical and something real that can be remembered every year at Christmas time.

Buying Or Ordering

Christmas cards are available in bulk and at outstanding holiday prices. You can order them as special holiday greeting cards in numbers ranging from 25 to 25 thousand. Besides that, you can buy them at all stores selling stationery and books when the holiday season is drawing near.

The choice of holiday greeting cards is tremendous. If you are ordering your personalized Christmas cards, then all the jobs are customized, like your logo, photos, etc. But otherwise the cards available range from fancy and ornamental designs, to landscapes, prints of famous paintings and with messages for the Christmas season. Often the cards combine the Christmas and the New Year season too.

Business And Corporate Customers

If you are selecting holiday greeting cards for your customers, colleagues or business associates, you are showing a friendly working relationship with them. To show your professional loyalty to your customers and valued partners, send the finest business greeting cards which are available on many websites and can be ordered and customized to your choice.

The holiday greeting cards that you send to your friends and business associates should represent you and express your feelings towards them. In the holiday season, each one tries to reach out to many people and reconnect by sending them a card. It should express your consideration and appreciation for others in your life.

You can choose from a huge variety of top quality holiday greeting cards, and ordering and shipping can be done at a very quick pace. You can even buy cards which support social organizations, so that in buying one of these cards you are helping a cancer patient, helping to support an old people’s home or even reaching out to help orphans.

Effects

When you send holiday greeting cards to your friends and relatives, it just expresses the sentiments in your heart. The recipient feels special and cared for because you are showing your love and care for the person by sending a card. The effect of the holiday greeting cards which you send your business associates, partners and customers is naturally a bit different, because here it is important that the cards leave a lasting impression. The card should be outstanding and should be something special, so that you will be remembered by them.

You can get noticed by the holiday greeting cards that people have received from you. So, take care to choose them carefully, because every detail from the picture and design to the text in the card can reflect your character.

Shine On

The number of Christmas tree lights used when decorating the Christmas tree varies from family to family. Some prefer a lot of lights on their tree, while others prefer fewer. As a rule of thumb, most people use 100 lights per foot of tree. For example, if the tree is seven feet tall, then you will want to put about 700 Christmas tree lights on the tree. Give or take 50 lights depending on what you like best.

Another dilemma for Christmas tree decorators is the color of lights. This is again, a matter of personal preference. Some people like the classy look of plain white Christmas tree lights, while others like the colored or multi colored lights. Personal preference and family tradition should play a role in this choice.

While for a long time Christmas tree lights came only in the inch long egg shaped bulb, there are now a variety of shapes and sizes. Mini lights are now available, as are lights shapes like snowmen, stars, and Santa Claus. Bubble lights, which are small lights encased in a base, are also popular. These lights are placed above a tube of colored liquid, and when the lights are turned on a bubbly effect occurs.

New And Technologically Improved

New technology has made Christmas tree lights even better than they were before! Now, LED lights are available to consumers. These use much less energy and are more environmentally friendly.

Another option made available by technology is lights with special effects—flashing lights, twinkling lights, fade in fade out lights, and patterns. Small computer chips and special bulbs make lights like these possible.

Simply Splendid

The lights that you put on the Christmas tree may not seem like an important decision, but it can dramatically change the appearance of the tree and define new and old traditions for the entire family.