Christmas in the USA compared to the UK by Katherine Garbera

Today we have author Katherine Garbera on the blog with her guest post, Christmas in the USA compared to the UK, on the blog tour for her latest book, Christmas at the Candied Apple Café. Post contains affiliate links.

USA Today bestselling author Katherine Garbera is a two-time Maggie winner who has written more than 60 books. A Florida native who grew up to travel the globe, Katherine now makes her home in the Midlands of the UK with her husband, two children and a very spoiled miniature dachshund.

The difference between the run up to Christmas in the USA and the UK is more than I would have guessed. The first thing is advent calendars. In the UK most everyone has one of those ones with chocolates in it and opens it every day. In the US it’s not celebrated by everyone as much. I’m Catholic and we do celebrate advent I have a large wooden Advent box and in my family we put a clue in the box and the kids then solve it and go find their prize.

Another thing that is different is that most people in the USA decorate the outside of their homes with lights and also decorate their yards with illuminated figures sometimes set in scenes. When the kids were little we used to go and drive through neighborhoods to see the lights.

Most of Christmas decorations and sales don’t start until after Thanksgiving (the last Thursday in November). We buy our trees after that and start getting ready for the holidays. In the UK I’ve noticed that the holiday starts earlier in November. I like seeing the decorations sooner.

In the UK there are lot more Christmas German markets, which we have made a tradition in our family. We like to go to the ones in Birmingham on the last Saturday in November and use it to kick off our Christmas season. We also are fans of going to see the holiday decorations on Regent Street in London. As I have never lived in New York City, I’ve never seen them there.

We love mulled wine which I never had growing up in Florida though we have hot apple cider which I haven’t found over in the UK. I think I prefer mulled wine!

The things that are the same is that the focus is on family and friends and celebrating the season together. I love going to concerts and getting together for dinners with our friends.

Another thing that is different is that we have all of this Rankin-Bass holiday stop-motion animation Christmas specials on in the run up to Christmas. Our favorites are Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus Is Coming To Town and The Little Drummer Boy. When my kids were little we used to go outside on Christmas Eve and look up to the sky to search for Rudolph’s red nose and because we lived in a flight path for the airport we’d almost always spot a red light up in the sky which would make them run back inside and race up stairs to get in bed so Santa could stop at our house.

Further on to that we have a Santa Tracker through NORAD and many of the local news stations show where Santa is on Christmas Eve.

I’ve noticed that we all cook and bake a lot at Christmas though the things we make are different. I’d never had Christmas pudding until I moved here and I love it! In the US we make a lot of cookies and pies. Some of my favorites are peanut butter cookies with a Hershey’s kiss in the middle of it, peppermint pinwheels which are a sugar/butter cookie dough that is twirled with a red colored peppermint flavored dough and then sliced and baked. I also love well pretty much any cookie!

What’s your favorite part of the holiday?

There’s nothing so magical as Christmas in New York…

Santa is coming to New York!

Snow is falling, excitement is high and the delicious scent of chocolate drifts along Fifth Avenue – the Candied Apple Café is ready for Christmas! And no one is busier than publicist Iona Summerlin. With so much to do, she doesn’t have time to think about men, dating, or the fact her last boyfriend ditched her for her brother… Relationships are off the menu!

Hotel boss Mads Eriksson is not looking forward to the first Christmas since losing his wife. His six-year-old daughter Sofia has lost her belief in Christmas magic along with her mother, and he has no idea what to do. But an unusually festive business meeting at the Candied Apple – and meeting the beautiful Iona – starts to defrost Mads’ frozen heart, and suddenly life seems full of light and sparkle again.

If only they dare to believe, maybe all their Christmas dreams will come true!

www.katherinegarbera.com
@katheringarbera
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