It was a traditional Christmas, Wien-style. In Austria Christmas Eve is the big night for family gathering, smuggling in the gifts under the guise of the Christkind, and decorating the Tannenbaum. Minus the need for the Christkind, we gathered at My Heart's parents house to get festive.
The Tannenbaum was awaiting decoration, the table was groaning under the weight of holiday cookies, and there was even a dog frisking about hoping for a fumbled treat. Rather than the smell of turkey wafting from the kitchen, the air was redolent with the aroma of Kraut und Schweinbraten. I was in charge of the traditional untangling of the ornament hooks whilst My Baby and her Mutter filled in the blank spots on the tree. Herr Pacher tended to the grub, monitoring the progress of the Schweinbraten and getting a mountain of Knodel ready for the last minute boil.
Schweinbraten is the most traditional of Austrian holiday meals. The enormous slow-cooked pork roast is accompanied by bowls of homemade Kraut and the aforementioned Knodel. Knodel are giant dumplings that are common across central Europe. Herr Pacher had the Semmelknodel stacked up like cannon balls, ready for the boiler.
Fashioned from bread, milk, egg yolks and other yummy stuff, the semmelknodel are boiled and served up with the rest of the Austrian comfort food. It is good to know where your nap spot is before you tuck into a plate of these bad boys. As big as your fist and packing the calorie content of a freight car, these are not light nosh.
Schweinbraten, an entire bowl of Kraut and two Knodel, enough food to for two days of forced march and not a light leafy green in sight. Dinner was followed by more time around the table with Kaffee and even more baked treats. It is a good thing that this is not my regular fare or I would be packing around another ten kilos somewhere in the middle section.
I will add but one other tidbit of information. Here in Vienna holidays are really holidays, not excuses to shop. Since Christmas fell on a Friday this year, pretty much every retail store is closed from early on Thursday until Monday morning. When I say retail stores, I mean just that. Grocery stores, shops, malls, the whole town closes up until the next workday. It's family time, not shopping time. There is no running off to the mall the day after Christmas and you had better stock up on enough vittles to get through the long weekend.
Wishing all of you around the world Frohe Weihnachten, Happy Holidays and a Merry Christmas from Wien, its time to say "Ciao for Now"
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