Take the Xmas Challenge! ‌🎄‌

[Michal_Gebacki]

Ho, ho, ho, Community! 🎄‌ 

Current year is slowly reaching its end, but before we'll welcome the new one - many of us are going to celebrate some even more important time! Usually, all that holidays atmosphere hits us not necessarily in the December 25th, but days and weeks before. This is why so many of us are decorating their rooms, houses or apartments in the beginning of December, and even in the late November, to embrace that pre-Xmas vibe! ❄️

Share with us how you're putting yourselves in the Xmas mood! Pictures of your decorations, trees, food you're preparing, clothings you're putting on... Anything, feel free to interpretative this challenge however you want! 

All challenge participants will get dedicated "Celebrator" badge with bonus 100 points as well! Let me start with the screenshot of our lates Monday team meeting on Zoom. Despite being remote, we tried our best to get into that unique December mood! 🎅

[ChadTurner]

Some Slovak Cookies 🇸🇰🍪

Our Tree: 🎄

[Michal_Gebacki]

And here are all the things I need to feel the vibe, lovely! 🎄

[Julius_Loman]

@ChadTurner  Awesome! You got all of the important ones:

• grilážka
• kokosové guľky
• vanilkové rožteky
• medovníky
• brabantské pečivo
• linecké pečivo
• plnené oriešky

You are only missing Christmas wafers, but I'm sure you have them already, just not on the pictures. Greetings from Slovakia 😀🎄

[ChadTurner]

oh we've got them too. Always freshly imported from Slovakia 🙂 

[kurt_aigner]

Christmas for me is spending valuable time with the family, love, contemplativeness, peace ...
And here is a snapshot, how that normally looks like:

[AgataWlodarczyk]

"A picture worth a thousand words." 😉
It's better to be a "good girl" when Kurt it's nearby. 😅

[dannemca]

Oh Christmas, I love Christmas time!!!

Waking up on the Christmas day and looking for gifts is a really great memory I carry with me and do my best to share the same feeling with others children. 

Since I remember, my parents, every year, get few presents and share to children that needs, trying to make them believe that hope is still there. This happens on my hometown, and I try to be there when I can.

In 2012, I could not travel to my hometown, due to IT support during seasons, and decide to start my own gifts sharing on the city I was living.

I got help from many friends during these years to make this happen. 

I am sad that due to pandemic, the daycare I use to help, is not open, so I could not organize the delivery. But hope to continue this next year.

Let's remember what Christmas should be celebrate for, no matter your belief. Caring and sharing, like this community 😄

[AgataWlodarczyk]

Beautiful initiative! 💓 Great that you shared it with us and mention, that each of us can be a Santa. 🎅

[Michal_Gebacki]

This is fantastic how strongly you're engaged in the local community, hats off! 

[theharithsa]

This is great, @dannemca 
Keep it up. There is nothing that comes first then seeing people around us smile. If we are the reason for that smile, there is nothing like it. 

Thanks to you for being a part of that journey. 

[Malaik]

Hum Hum Hum

So this Challenge is not for me.
We can meet next time for other feasts.

Byebye Challenge, and Byebye 100 points.

[skrystosik]

I've baked Makowiec for my coworkers 🙂 

[AgataWlodarczyk]

Woooow! Amazing! I would love to eat it now! 😋

[skrystosik]

Do you want address? Community team is always welcome 😉

[AgataWlodarczyk]

By the time we come, this poppy seed cake will probably not be there anymore, I think. 😋

[skrystosik]

I like to cook so even if not that one, there always will be something tasty available 😉 Maybe someday I will open own restaurant, who knows 😉 

[AntonioSousa]

I really love getting into the Christmas spirit, and today I attended a meeting dressed in my favorite Christmas clothing 🎅

I hope Santa Claus, Noel Baba, Pai Natal, or someone like the jolly white-bearded guy below, brings you & all, a lot of joy, peace and all the good things that we all hope for!

[AgataWlodarczyk]

Pai Natal rules! 🎅 💓

[Kenny_Gillette]

Our family is getting ready for CHRISTmas by listening to some good Christmas music and decorating our house.  And of course, we love presents but nothing like Slovak Cookies that Chad Turner got

  

 

  

[Michal_Gebacki]

Love these classy living room Christmas decorations! 

[AgataWlodarczyk]

Beautiful Christmas tree and lovely stockings! 😍

[Jan_W]

When the weather outside is frightful and the fire is delightful in Poland it's customary to sip on some "kompot z suszu" which translates directly into dried fruit compote drink.

This is what Xmas tastes for me - some mushroom and cabbage pierogis, lots of fish and this compote. 

As I started preparing my own Xmas I started making my own compote, bragging with my friends over who does a crazier and more tasty compote. We actually try to do a theme based on the beer styles, like:

• Imperial dried fruit compote
• Session dried fruit compote
• Pastry sour dried fruit compote
• (Lord forbid) Smoky dried fruit compote

You cannot go wrong when selecting what to add to yours, just follow the two rules:

• no sweeteners, only fruit
• no smoked fruit, only dried ones and fresh

Obviously also:

• be gentle with ginger
• remove all the albedo (the white part) of the citrus (between the aromatic zest and the body of the fruit)
• do not overdo the spices
• use several batches of water as the fruit will give away the taste for a while.

You will need following utensils:

• a large stewpot - the bigger the better
• a second container to 
• a sieve (strainer will do)
• a ladle
• somewhere to pour it into when it's ready (you can keep it in the stewpot, I prefer to keep it in 5l bottles)

You will need the following fruit:

• about 1 kg dried fruit (about same amount but you can play around):
  • apples
  • pears
  • plums
  • apricot
• Zest (remove the white part and throw in boiling water for 15 seconds before adding it to the compote):
  • 1 orange (I actually add 2) 
  • 1 lemon
• other dried fruit, I use:
  • dates
  • figs
  • cranberries
•  spices
  • 1-2 cinnamon sticks
  • 1-3 slices (about 3cm long about 3-5mm thick) of peeled ginger
  • 1-2 anise stars
  • 3-7 cloves
• Fresh fruit
  • 1-2 apples
  • 1-2 oranges  (the tasty, orange bit)
  • 1 lemon (the sour part)

As I've mentioned, I like to go crazy with mine, so I've added:

• 1 fresh quartered pineapple (peeled obviously) 
• 1/2 honeydew melon (the yellow one)
• 2 kiwis (peeled)
• 10 red pepper (not chilli, pepper)
• 5 cardamom seeds

The process.

I do mine differently than the typical ones where they boil the water with spices and add fruit for 15-20 minutes. Feel free to do the light version if you like.

1. Rinse the fruit before throwing it into the stewpot.
2. Add the fruit and spices to the stepot - basically everything goes in!
3. Cover the fruit with water (my stewpot was huge so about 4 liters of water is what I added)
4. Boil. You want your fruit to give away flavors and the sugars to go into the compote, I tend to keep the simmering compote for about 30-45 minutes
5. Using the sieve remove as much compote fluid from the main stewpot and transfer to the mixing one
6. Repeat the steps 3-5 at least once (I did twice as I had a lot of fruit in and it was still giving flavors
7. When mixed fluid is room temperature transfer it to bottle(s) or store covered on a balcony when it's cold. 

Here's another recipe from a site called The Polonist

[Michal_Gebacki]

Wow! That's really useful, thanks for this refined recipe!

[theharithsa]

I love Pineapples. 😍
This recipe seems to be delicious when it is cooked/backed. I am not so good at cooking but I can eat and tell which tastes great. 

[AgataWlodarczyk]

I drank it today and can confirm that it's a recipe worth trying! 🥃
@Jan_W thank you for the treat! 😍😋

[theharithsa]

This might not be a perfect pic to celebrate Christmas but this is how I do it. I visited malls and walked around the tree to celebrate the festival. 

[Michal_Gebacki]

This is an universal area to feel this kind of atmosphere 😄

[AgataWlodarczyk]

Beautiful! Thanks for sharing! 🎅

[Julius_Loman]

Finally, I'm also sharing our Christmas tree as we are decorating it just in time before the Christmas Eve. A little bit after the event, but take it as the proof of celebration 😁

[AgataWlodarczyk]

Beautiful 😍 Thanks for sharing!