Old and New Traditions

After spending Thanksgiving in Vienna, we were able to visit a few of the traditional Christmas markets open from mid November through late December.  I was amazed that this tradition has been going on for hundreds of years, we found one market dating back to 1294.  I totally loved the shopping, food and mulled wine served in Christmas mugs.

The most amazing part is the sense of community you feel.  These markets are open all day until about 10pm.   I ended my vacation wishing we could start a Christmas market right in our Dallas area suburb…but I don’t see that happening anytime soon.

So for now, we will make new traditions and recreate some of our favorites, like mulled wine and the traditional bratwurst and sauerkraut.  I have had mulled wine prior to this and I thought it was pretty overpowering, but the majority of what we tasted in Vienna was good but mild – well, it’s got to be if you are going to drink it all day!  We brought one box of mulled wine spices home (it comes in tea bag form), and I found another variety here at the local grocer – they were very similar.  Add several tea bags with mulling spices, a bottle of wine, and 2 to 3 tablespoons honey.  Guaranteed to warm you up on a cold winter’s night!