Christmas Eve traditions in our family included our favorite foods of raw beef and onions on small squares of rye bread (oh so good), pickled herring, and of course sweet and sour meatballs. The table was laden with all of our favorite food and the sideboard was filled with goodies including Christmas wreath (a stollen with a nut filling and no dried fruit), rum balls, ginger bread and other cookies. After dinner everyone in the family had a glass of wine (the children's were diluted a bit). In the center of the table, the many levels of the candle center piece would be twirling in different directions from the heat of the candles with the angle twirling on top. We too had a pickle ornament on our Christmas tree and people in our neighborhood placed bags of gold chocolate coins on the tree for good luck. Has anyone else heard of the gold coin tradition? And of course a penny for good luck in the new year would be place on a window sill. At midnight the children's choir carrying candles proceeded down the center isle of the church and joined the adult choirs in rejoicing. I am told that we looked like angels. AJ

I've never heard of gold chocolate coins on the tree, but my grandparents always sent the coins to us at Christmas, and we always looked forward to them. They also sent gummi bears, which in those days we couldn't get around here, and we loved getting them every year. Dorie ----- Original Message ----- From: <[email protected]> To: <[email protected]> Sent: Wednesday, November 22, 2000 9:14 AM Subject: [GERMAN-LIFE] Christmas Traditions > Christmas Eve traditions in our family included our favorite foods of raw > beef and onions on small squares of rye bread (oh so good), pickled herring, > and of course sweet and sour meatballs. The table was laden with all of our > favorite food and the sideboard was filled with goodies including Christmas > wreath (a stollen with a nut filling and no dried fruit), rum balls, ginger > bread and other cookies. After dinner everyone in the family had a glass of > wine (the children's were diluted a bit). > > In the center of the table, the many levels of the candle center piece would > be twirling in different directions from the heat of the candles with the > angle twirling on top. > > We too had a pickle ornament on our Christmas tree and people in our > neighborhood placed bags of gold chocolate coins on the tree for good luck. > Has anyone else heard of the gold coin tradition? And of course a penny for > good luck in the new year would be place on a window sill. > > At midnight the children's choir carrying candles proceeded down the center > isle of the church and joined the adult choirs in rejoicing. I am told that > we looked like angels. > > AJ