A few mornings ago we awoke to a fresh snowfall. Little T was the first to discover this after opening the front door and shrieking “IT SNOWED!!!!!!!” – but it was hard not to share his enthusiasm, as the white blanket of snow really was beautiful. Along with the snow came much colder temperatures. For the last few days it has been below zero, getting as low as -6 degrees. But I like how they describe the weather here. “Sunny, with blue skies today with temperatures below zero. Ideal Glühwein weather!” And that, it is.

If you aren’t familiar with Glühwein (sounds like glue-vine when pronounced in English) it is a mulled wine beverage served steaming hot, that is heaven when sipping it outside in cold temperatures. If you have ever been to Germany during the month of December and visited a Christmas Market, you are likely very familiar with Glühwein. But it is also served in other places too. Like our Friday night farmer’s market, where we enjoyed sipping a mug full tonight after our traditional weekly market shopping.

To keep warm this evening, we had planned to make a steaming bowl full of fresh mussels with white wine and garlic, as we noticed that they have been available in the market the last few weeks (they are a very seasonal thing here – you can’t buy them all year round). Unfortunately we learned that not only the weather froze, but also our poor mussels. So instead, we decided to have a “picka-picka” night which is putting together a bunch of different appetizers on a tray and enjoying them over the course of a few hours. Tonight, our picka-picka will consist of a Caprese salad (layers of fresh basil, sliced buffalo mozzarella and sliced tomatoes drizzled with olive oil), baked garlic (a whole garlic with a layer sliced off the top so that all the bulbs are exposed, drizzled with olive oil and salt and baked for an hour….very decadent smeared on crackers), slices of cured meats, a cranberry pâté, and a Pié d’Angloys, which is a cheese from France that we are going to bake in the oven. It is sitting right beside me while I type this, making my mouth water.

Along with adjusting to this colder weather and having only one brake work on your bicycle, is having to adjust to it getting dark so early. Around 4 o’clock it is time to start closing the curtains as it is completely dark by 4:30pm. It can mess up your sense of time, which was proven yesterday when I sent Hubby off to pick Little T up from a friend’s house. Ten minutes later he called me on his cell phone asking why I wanted him to pick Little T up an hour early from his playdate. I was literally shocked when I looked at the clock and realized I had thought it was an hour later than it was! But apparently the early darkness is affecting Hubby as well, as he too didn’t catch the time.

But even though there is darkness and a chill outside, there is lots of light and warmth inside our home, as it is the perfect time of year to illuminate rooms with candlelight. This Sunday we will light another candle on our advent wreath, marking the Second Advent. I also bought myself a pair of black leg warmers, as I love how they look when worn with a nice set of low-cut black boots with heels. But I realized how practical they are in keeping the chill off your legs. If only I had kept all those leg warmers I owned in the 80’s!

The cold weather doesn’t seem to bother Little T. I asked him earlier today what he wanted for dessert after his lunch. His reply?

Ice-cream.