A typical Venezuelan Christmas recipe is the hallaca, which is their luxurious dinner. It is a mixture of beef, pork, capers, raisins and olives that is wrapped in maize, wrapped up in plantain leaves with string and steamed afterwards. This is the meal that is traditionally served in Venezuela during the Christmas holiday.

There is a popular myth which holds that it was common practice for the plantation owners to donate their leftover Christmas food scraps-usually bits of pork and beef to their slaves, who would then wrap them in cornmeal and plantain leaves for subsequent preparation and cooking.

There are, of course, other Venezuelan Christmas recipes but the hallaca is one of the most traditional and its preparation is practically limited to that time of the year. It is still prepared in a very similar fashion to colonial times with some modern refinements-the hallaca is also considered one of the most representative icons of Venezuelan multicultural heritage. The reason for this is because its preparation includes European ingredients such as raisins, nuts and olives-this is in addition to indigenous ingredients such as corn meal colored with annatto seeds; and also African ingredients such as smoked banana or plantain leaves that are used for wrapping. More on Is hallaca a traditional recipe from Venezuela?

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As Christian men and women, we know the true meaning of Christmas in our hearts, but how many of us proclaim this fact to the world around us during the holidays? We can gently challenge those who would see Christmas as a time for commercialism and greed by letting our actions speak for themselves. Spread the message. Want to give something special to a neighbor or fellow employee? The gift of the Word would make the best present. Tell them the Christmas story. It's not "'Twas the Night before Christmas". Ready made pamphlets recounting the birth of the Jesus can be bought online and delivered to your door. To have that personalized touch, how about creating a leaflet of your own. A small token, like a candle, can be added also the to present. Fill someone's heart with the blessings of God's message. Share His love. When a person invites a somebody to their home, it shows that they have an intention to share their blessings with them. When we integrate Christ into our very lives, his dwelling becomes our dwelling. Invite a friend or fellow employee to God's home for an Advent worship or a family Christmas Eve church worship. They will not regret that they came. Show it. For poor people, life gets a little bit harsher around the holiday season. More bad thing happen. People in great need, like the poor and destitute, become more so due to the harsh conditions this time of year brings. God tells us to reach out and help these people. Volunteers are a big help during the holidays. Extra set of hands are greatly needed by soup kitchens and food banks to prepare and serve nice hot meals, as well as help with food deliveries. The social services agency can provide information on families near the community that could use some extra care during Christmas. With support from a church body, everyone can join in and help give gifts and other needed materials. Providing gifts for orphaned children can also be a church project or one taken on by individual families within the congregation. If you see a need that has yet to be met, begin your own program to provide it or just do it as a family. The goal here is to let Christ's light shine in another person's life. In his lifetime, Jesus saw each individual's need where they were. Someone whose been helped by you will be more likely to listen about the God you are serving. Living Christ's life is a commitment to spread the Word and love to others. If Christ is always prioritized in your lives, your actions should be known by everyone. Being Christians, we have a chance to give to the world the true meaning of the Christmas season.

There are many different Christmas recipes that you can use at Christmas time. For most people who celebrate Christmas, the holiday season is characterized by gathering of family and friends, feasting and giving gifts to each other. Christmas would be incomplete without the mention of Santa Claus, Christmas trees, mistletoe, Christmas cakes, cookies, puddings, other Christmas goodies and cards.

 Christmas recipe planning should be done with the precision and advance preparation of a military operation, so that the cook will enjoy it too. All the extra items that are needed for any Christmas recipes should be thought of well ahead of time. It is a good idea that you sit down and choose your Christmas recipes for the cake, puddings and meat, and then list all the ingredients that you will need for each of them. A good plan would be to start doing this in November.

At the beginning of December, decide on what meat you are going to buy and find out how much it will cost-at least this way you’ve made a start. Whether you are eating turkey or ham, any Christmas recipes just wouldn’t be complete without all the trimmings.

Whether the Christmas recipes are designed to be eaten formally at the table or buffet style-try to focus on foods such as roasts or casseroles. These may take a while to cook, but won’t need your constant attention in the kitchen. Whoever does the Christmas catering must also be able to enjoy themselves with everyone else, without having to spend too much time in the kitchen.

Buffets are a great way to manage feeding a crowd. Get as much done with your Christmas recipes as you can the day before-focus on foods that can be eaten at room temperature. It will save you a lot of time and work. Cover the food and remove it just before people go up to eat. When your guests walk through the door on Christmas day let the smells of all those Christmas recipes hit them. Keep a pot of mulled apple cider on the stove so the first thing that you can smell is a delightful mixture of cinnamon, clove and nutmeg.

Make extra large batches of items like spiced nuts, salad dressing or gingerbread in advance. The Christmas cake and most puddings should be made a month beforehand. If you’re not sure what to give them for dessert-solve the dilemma by asking your guests to bring a batch of their favorite Christmas deserts. Your guests can then show off their best Christmas recipes and everyone will enjoy the variety.

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Once again, the holiday season calendar is filling fast. There are all kinds of Christmas-related activities that families are involved with, each year. There are private parties for friends, civic gatherings for whole towns, office parties for businesses, and of course, large family gatherings. Most families try to schedule at least one large party for the extended family members, every Christmastime. Parents of small children often face these large family parties with a mixture of anticipation and doubt. They know that there will likely be family members at these parties that they haven't seen in many years, maybe since their own childhoods. And now, as adults and parents themselves, this is their first opportunity to introduce their own children to the rest of the family. Many parents are extremely self-conscious, when it comes to bringing their children to family parties, worried that the family will judge their children more stringently than friends, or even than strangers would. Some parents may feel that a large gathering of people, many of whom really are strangers to their kids, isn't the best light in which to meet young family members. It's also not the best situation in which to expect the best behavior from children. It's a fear that's exaggerated by most parents. They want their kids to be seen as the best kids, ever, but they forget that sometimes kids really just act like kids. Even so, it's the goal of most children to behave correctly and to please their parents. A bit of natural rambunctiousness or noisy behavior shouldn't ruin a parents night, no matter what Uncle Joe thinks about it. On the other hand, it can be helpful for parents to prepare their children a bit for large family Christmas gatherings. Discussing, ahead of time, the kind of behavior that's expected can provide a child with a blueprint for the party. Also, making sure that children are well-rested and well-fed, beforehand, can make a big difference in a child's mood at the party. Parents should prepare themselves, as well. Most of the adults who will be at any gathering have had experience of some sort with small children. They understand that even the best kid has moments of noisy or disruptive or even destructive behavior. Parents need to understand that, though it's nice when relatives compliment them on their kids, what others really think about their children isn't important, ultimately. It's the unconditional love between parents and their children that matters the most, at Christmas and throughout the year.

As joyous as the holiday season is, Christmas is also an increasingly expensive occasion for most families, today. Many families, who gather with their relatives at this time of year, are finding that alternative ways of gift-giving can make the financial impact of Christmas more bearable. Such creativity hearkens back to a simpler time, when the spirit of giving had nothing to do with marketing, and everything to do with the thought and love behind each gift. If you're looking for a simple way to liven up your family gatherings, and save money at the same time, consider the idea of family story-sharing. It really is simple. Everyone has a favorite song or story-or even a poem-which brings the Christmas season alive. Reading or reciting these traditional holiday tomes is a wonderful gift between family members, and easy to prepare: Each year, the story-telling duties can be delegated to one nuclear family, or to all the teenaged cousins, or to all the adults, or names can be drawn for those who will share their holiday tales. Selections can be read or recited by heart, can be long or short, and most-since they're familiar-are available and downloadable, online. They can be printed in easily readable font and contained in holiday-themed folders. A bit of rehearsal can help anyone prepare for such an event. Even a performance for family should be special enough at the holidays, to warrant proper preparation. The littlest family members will almost certainly be the most enthusiastic about sharing their favorite holiday stories, but they can also use help, finding their material and practicing its presentation. Children may even choose to write their own material, creating new holiday stories and traditions, which can become fodder for family laughs and memories for decades to come. The perfect time for a family story-circle is after a big meal, when everyone is rested and ready to listen and be entertained. Pick a "moderator" to introduce each reading or song, and to keep things moving along. Limit the number of stories, each year, to a handful, alternating family members, from year to year. Keep each season's session a moderate length, so that story-sharing is fun, rather than tedious. Sharing favorite holiday stories and poems and songs with your loved ones can turn into a highlight of each Christmas family gathering.

When most parents face the holiday season, they imagine themselves busily shopping, cooking, cleaning for guest visits, and of course, doing whatever is necessary to make their childrens' Christmas special. Adults are so used to being busy and stressed, during the holidays, that they forget that their kids may want to be a part of all the preparations, too. But even as they plan their strategy for surviving the busiest time of year, most parents forget to actively include their children in the preparations that make the holiday events what they are. Kids want to be contributing family members, and help out, in whatever ways they can. Parents need to remember to include their children in all aspects of their holiday activities. Christmas shopping is one activity parents often try to avoid with children, especially young children. Too much frenzy, too much traffic, too many people. But kids can learn valuable lessons by Christmas shopping with their parents. Like, the fact that we often help Santa Claus, by giving gifts to other family members. Kids can learn, during Christmas shopping trips, the relationship between giving and loving, especially among family members. By observing Mom or Dad, as they shop for the family, children can discover the joy of finding gifts with real meaning, gifts that will make a statement about love. Then, having learned that lesson, when a child has spent time and effort considering and choosing the perfect gifts for Mom and Dad, there's even more to look forward to on Christmas morning, than what Santa left under the tree. Kids can be a great help, during the holidays, when it's time to decorate the family home. They love the sights and the smells and the dazzling displays that all the decorations can provide. And children love to place their own stamp on the decorations and make some of the decorating decisions, whether it's choosing where to hang a strand of lights, or making paper snowflakes to hang from the ceiling. Children need to feel the sense of family closeness and belonging that's part of the magic of Christmas. Participating, with the family, in the activities of the holiday season, even the preparation for those activities, enhances every child's enjoyment of this special time of year.

Christmas is that magical time of year when we slow down and spend quality time with our loved ones.  It is a time to share with our family, friends, co-workers, even people that we have never met, and probably never will.  A Christmas gift is our way of telling someone we love them, others that we appreciate him or her, or letting the less fortunate know that we do care. 

A wonderful Christmas gift to ourselves is doing something special for a person or family less fortunate than we are.  Here are just a few of many ideas for a special Christmas gift: More on Original Gifts for the Whole Family

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Like many other countries all over the world; at Christmas time, Argentinians get together and celebrate. Their celebrations may be rather different from some other countries because of the climate. In America, for example, we are used to winter snow and wrapping up warm at Christmas time-in Argentina, Christmas occurs in the summer, when the hot, dry winds called ‘zonda’ blow from the equatorial north. Yet the Argentinians still like to celebrate in their own particular style-and using traditional Argentinian Christmas recipes. Because of the heat, the Christmas dinner is usually served outside in the shade under a tree or trellis; or on a veranda, and the table is decorated with rosebuds and jasmine instead of candles. More on Christmas recipes from Argentina

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Every year, we wonder how we can possibly make it through the Christmas holiday season with our sanity intact. There's just always too much to do, and the calendar seems to get filled in completely, from October through December. In most households, today, two careers are required to make ends meet, so finding the time to do everything the season demands is harder than ever before. Every year, parents are forced to figure out how to manage careers and the events that make the holidays so special. Some activites just can't be enjoyed. This hectic modern life has meant the end of some of the most time-honored customs that families once observed during the holidays. Pulling out the old family recipe book, for instance, and spending days at the oven, doing all the Christmas baking, is something we only read about in history books or historical novels. Stringing popcorn, as hanging decorations, is an activity most kids today have never imagined. So many of the customs that used to be integral parts of our Christmas celebrations have been lost to the bustle of modern life. But it needn't be that way. Parents who'd like to keep those traditions from dying out, completely, can join in groups, to help each other maintain some of that vanishing charm of Christmas. When we were young and early December rolled around, for instance, we used to gather pencils and papers, and we carefully crafted the perfect letters to Santa Claus, asking for those goodies we wanted to find under our trees on Christmas morning. It took time, and Mom and Dad always helped us with the letters, mailing them when we were done. One way that parents can help each other is to share the oversight of such activities. Parents of schoolmates, or parents of kids in the same neighborhood can switch off, from year-to-year, the duties of hosting get-togethers for their kids, to tackle tasks like writing to Santa Claus. One family can have all the kids over on a Saturday afternoon, and one or two parents can help the kids all write their letters at the same time. The non-hosting parents can help out with food and writing supplies, and then can be free to spend the afternoon taking care of their own Christmas business, or everyday chores which will free them up for more Christmas activities. Those great old Christmas customs we used to love can be preserved, this way, while allowing time for mom and dad to handle the other business of the season. And ultimately, sharing these duties with the other parents in their peer group will create more time for their own families, which is what Christmas is all about.

Most people are too distracted thinking about Christmas sales and promos, they tend to forget the celebration of Epiphany. Epiphany is the time after Christmas when the 3 Magi visited the Child Jesus. Back then, the Epiphany celebration had the twelve days Christ's birth when the church celebrates Christ being shown as the Light of the world and remembers the journey of the three wise men. Many people not from the United States start the Epiphany celebrations by caring for others on St. Stephen's Day. St. Stephen's day is on December 26, in honor of Stephen, considered the the first martyr of Christianity. In Acts 6-8, his story might be included during family bible readings on December 26. His convictions about the revelation of Christ in the world brought about his death. In the book of Acts, he was considered the first martyr among Christians. For hundreds of years, people of the Christian faith have remembered his faithfulness on December 26, the day after Christmas. This day marks a day for selfless care for people in need, the unwanted, who have no people to love them. As a family, you might choose a needy family or local group to help the day after Christmas. When most families are shopping the after-christmas sales, you can make an impact on your local community by taking a meal or gifts to a family in need. In Britain and Canada, this day is called Boxing Day, an official holiday in Britain. When my kids first heard of Boxing Day, they thought it was a celebration of those who box as a sport. They were surprised at the true meaning of Boxing Day. On this day,food boxes are delivered to the ones in need. In the past these were given to workers from their masters. The spirit of Wenceslaus is shown so that the whole community may join in and celebrate the manifestation of the Good News of Christ's birth. Churches usually organize Boxing Day to specifically serve the physical and spiritual needs of their fellow men and thus show that Word of God requires good deeds to your neighbors. Boxing Day is one of those days where you can see these good acts being done.