Blog

How do you know that Christmas is coming? You don’t need a calendar to know it, right? You just feel it when you hear Dean Martin’s or Frank Sinatra’s Christmas songs in the local mall. Or when you suddenly come across a new holiday commercial from Coca-Cola. Or when your kid informs you that she will be Santa’s elf in a school play.

At such moments you realize that along with searching for a nice elf outfit you need to start hunting for presents, to remember where you put those boxes with Xmas ornaments, and to plan an unforgettable celebration in detail.

There always must be something to remind us about miracles that happened to us. And there always must be something to give us some time for enjoying those pleasant memories. It looks like nothing could combine these two features more perfectly than some festival. Such as Chanukah.

Even our early preparations for this holiday seem to be pervaded with an unexplainable expectation of a wonder. It comes to you while you’re looking for the best place to put a menorah, or when you’re anticipating the family reunion. You can feel it while purchasing presents for your dearest and nearest, or when planning a menu for a lavish Chanukah dinner.

Now think about your warmest memory of or association with Thanksgiving Day. Got it? Then try to keep this image in your mind for a while and feel the warmth and comfort filling the space around you.

Can you smell your favorite apple pie? Or do you see yourself and your family sitting on the sofa and watching the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade in New York, while the stuffed turkey is peacefully cooking in the kitchen? This November be ready to add a new portion of pleasing impressions to your Thanksgiving Day memories collection!

Have you ever wondered what the difference of European cuisine from the culinary traditions of other nations? After all, in fact European cuisine is a collective term, as Europe is inhabited by many nations, each of which has its own cultural heritage and taste preferences. In addition, different climatic conditions are formed in each of the countries a unique set of products produced by agriculture.

But there are commonalities among the national dishes of European states, be it France, Spain or Croatia. Let's take a closer look.

Have you already got enough candies and chocolate in reserve? Have you already decided where you’re going to place these big pumpkins? Oh! Hope you haven’t forgotten about absolutely outstanding costumes for your nearest and dearest, and for yourself, of course?

No? Phew! Then you’re almost ready to celebrate the sweetest national U.S. holiday. And we aren’t talking about St. Valentine’s Day now, seriously. If you are native to New England, you probably know it as Cabbage Night. You are highly likely to call it Devil’s Night if you live in Detroit. Or it might be more familiar to you as Gate Night if you come from the Middle West. Fortunately, in any case you mean no other holiday but Halloween! Or the night of October 30th and 31st, to be precise.

Fall… Somehow it makes all of us become poets. At least for a few probably the most beautiful months of the year. But the more we think about this season and the longer we enjoy its marvelous colors and smell its inimitable aromas, the better we realize that there’ll never be enough words to say how we really feel about it.