Christmas Hygge

Christmas is here and Jesus is the reason for the season! We are so grateful to have a wonderful and loving Savior to rescue us all. It is so fun to gather together with family and friends and create fun memories, eat amazing food, and feel the love and joy Christmas brings.

It’s the MOST Hyggelig time of the year…. Da da da da da da da .. You get the idea ;) Christmas is a wonderful time that is happy, cheerful, warm, and heartfelt. For Danes they would agree that the most fitting word for Christmas would be Hyggelig (a quality of coziness and comfortable conviviality that engenders a feeling of contentment or well-being (regarded as a defining characteristic of Danish culture)... And for the Dutch it would be Gezellig or Gezelligheid (a Dutch word which, depending on context, can be translated as 'conviviality', 'coziness', 'fun'. It is often used to describe a social and relaxed situation.

Even though it is possible to hygge all year round, only once a year is hygge the ultimate goal of an entire month. Without achieving hygge, a Dane’s toil for the Christmas project is redundant. Chestnuts, a fireplace, friends, and family coming together around a table of delicious treats; decorations of red, green, gold; the fresh scent of pine from the Christmas tree; carols everybody knows; and the same Christmas movies and shows is what brings such nostalgia, coziness, and comfort every year! There are Christmas traditions which are specific to Danes, but a Danish Christmas is not considerably different from a German, French, or British one in terms of activities or traditions.

What is different in Denmark, though, is that a Danish Christmas will always be planned, thought of, and evaluated in relation to the concept of hygge. At no other time of the year will you hear Danes mentioning hygge as much. Danish includes a compound word julehygge (Christmas Hygge), which is both an adjective and a verb. “Do you want to come over for some julehygge?”

You can get these Adorable super cozy mugs at Kiel James Patrick! Pic via KJP. Coziest of all Coziness here (if that is even a phrase lol) — You can get these Adorable super cozy mugs at **Kiel James Patrick**! Pic via **KJP**. Coziest of all Coziness here (if that is even a phrase lol)

Every year in the second half of December, a full-blown migration takes place in Denmark. People originally from other parts of Denmark who usually live in Copenhagen pack their stuff, plus tons of presents, and jump on a train headed toward their hometown. A hyggelig Christmas begins and ends with family and friends. But family is not enough in order to put together a hyggelig Christmas. Traditions must be adhered to in order to achieve hygge.

FOOD! First there is food. Heavy Danish food. Julefrokost means “Christmas lunch,” but that’s a misnomer because it’s actually “Christmas meal that lasts an entire day.” There are many diets out there all over the internet that include almost everything. There are diets where you eat only meat or only fat, water diets, high carb and low carb diets. There is no diet that would accept the Danish Christmas food ;). Danes love meat, They love roast pork or duck - often both. It will be accompanied by roast potatoes, or caramelized potatoes, stewed cabbage, pickled gherkins (small cucumber variety), sausages, various types of bread, and a truly Danish invention Risalamande. Risalamande, is a traditional Danish dessert served at Christmas dinner and julefrokost. It is made of rice pudding mixed with whipped cream, sugar, vanilla, and chopped almonds. It is served cold with a warm cherry sauce. It is very much social… Because hidden in the big bowl of dessert is one whole almond.

Usually when everybody has been served a bowl of risalamande, a silence spreads across the room. Eyes shift from person to person. It is more like a poker game or a western style shoot out than a Christmas tradition. “Who’s got the almond?” Whoever finds it gets a present and will be subject to comments about always being lucky (and somehow it does actually seem that some people are better at getting the almond than others).

Aebleskiver (or Ebelskiver) are puffy Danish pancake balls and a traditional Danish dessert most often served during the Christmas season. Enjoy them year-round as a delicious breakfast treat! Find this recipe at House of Nash Eats.

Candles and decorations of course are traditional. Woven paper hearts are rarely seen outside of Denmark. Their origin has been attributed to Hans Christian Andersen, who was a master at paper cutting. They’re made of two double-layered cutouts of glossy paper, and the flaps of the two cutouts are woven together to make heart shapes.

Advent of course is another special part about Christmas. The advent tells the story of Jesus coming to earth to be our Savior. Often times people have advent calendars with little window flaps to open that holds a bible verse in order leading up to Christmas day. More extravagant calendars are often used to put little gifts in each day or fun activities for the kids to hold the children over while they wait for the big day. Here is a beautiful Scandinavian style décor hand made by my friend Jackie at FindingLovely.com. She is absolutely incredible. This is a major DIY project, but a beautiful Christmas staple for years to come.

Achieving hygge would not be possible without all the hustle and preparations leading up to Christmas. Hygge is postponed in order to be accomplished. Knowing friends and family have worked hard all December in order to get together and not focus on work, money, and all things profane is the meaning of hygge. Relax and enjoy the fruit of your work and embrace the beauty in this Christmas season. May God bless each and every one. Merry Christmas to all and Happy New Year!

Here are some more ideas to make your Christmas hyggelig!