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When I was growing up, Christmas Eve was just about as exciting — if not more exciting — than Christmas Day. Why? Because that was the day that the Gingerbread Man came to town. Every Christmas Eve my father would bring home to me and my sister a gingerbread man. This was a tradition passed on from his father.

Every family has their own holiday traditions, which vary from country to country, faith to faith, and family to family. But some holiday traditions are more universal — practiced by people all over the world. There are holiday traditions for Independence Day, Christmas, Hanukah, Easter, Thanksgiving, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day, St. Patrick’s Day, Ramadan, and other holidays.

Christmas holiday traditions usually include a Christmas Eve dinner, complete with egg nog, caroling, and good spirits. Holiday dinners on Christmas Day are typically include turkey and stuffing, ham, or lamb with lots of yummy sides like mashed potatoes, yams, and other holiday foods. Read more »

Regardless of which end-of-year festivities you plan to celebrate, the last couple of months of the year tend to be rather harried and hectic. However, if you start planning and preparing now, you can glide through the season calmly. To help you with this, I’ve created a to-do list for The Holiday Countdown. The list will help you make sure that you get to each task that needs to be done with plenty of time left over to enjoy the festive season.

For a limited time, I’m offering this 6-page resource free of charge! Download your copy now and get a leg up on the holidays.

Guest Writer: Michael S. Hutchins

One of the most enjoyable ways to enjoy your home bar and wine furniture is to have a wine and cheese party. To make the party a big hit, however, requires creativity and planning. In planning your party, your first step is to select a theme. For example, do you want wines and cheeses from all over the world represented? Or, do you want wines and cheeses representing just one region, California for example. For the sake of putting our focus on a particular theme, let’s use wines and cheeses from all over the world.

When you send out your invitations to the party, make sure they detail the party’s theme. For time’s sake it’s best to assign a region to each guest, or multiple guests, depending on the number of people you anticipate will attend. Each guest will be instructed to bring a bottle of wine and a cheese from that region.

Alternate between red wines, white wines, and even sparkling wines with each invited guest. Give your guests a suggested price range as well. For some extra fun and ambiance, have your guests bring a theme decoration or two representing their assigned regions,( the country’s flag, for example). Make sure that your guests are instructed to r.s.v.p. This is important for determining the supplies you’ll need to provide. Read more »

Guest Writer: Gregg Hall

In general gifts are given in business to promote goodwill and foster good relationships. They are also given to show appreciation. How do you know what is a proper gift?

First off, if you are dealing in international trade you should make yourself knowledgeable about the customs of those you would like to gift. For example if you are dealing with oil barons or emirates from the Middle East you wouldn’t want to give them a gift of wood no matter how intricate. The reason is that they perceive would to be of very low value, not making any brownie points there. Read more »