🌲December 3🌲 (unfinished)

🥛Milk & Cookies🍪

100

These simple cookies are often decorated and shaped for holidays. Known for their signature ingredient, they're made with flour, butter, eggs, vanilla and _______. 

Sugar (Cookies)!

Jumbles are the earliest form of sugar cookies. These cookies were very dry and were not very enjoyable; however people used them as Christmas ornaments. People would cut out these sugar cookies into different shapes and hang them on their Christmas tree.

200

These cookies are made with flour, butter, sugar, salt, cream of tartar, eggs, then rolled in cinnamon sugar. Their name sounds a bit like someone laughing!

Snickerdoodles 

The name "snickerdoodle" may simply be a nonsense word with no particular meaning, originating from a New England tradition of whimsical cookie names. The Oxford English Dictionary claims the word's origin is "uncertain", and possibly a portmanteau of the word snicker, an "imitative" English word with Scottish roots that indicates a "smothered laugh", and doodle, a German loanword into English meaning a "simple or foolish fellow", originally derived from the Low German dudeltopf, meaning "simpleton, noodle, night-cap".

300

This by no means tall staple cookie base is a traditional Scottish biscuit usually made from one part white sugar, two parts butter and three to four parts plain wheat flour.

Shortbread

Shortbread was expensive and reserved as a luxury for special occasions such as Christmas, Hogmanay (Scottish New Year's Eve), and weddings. In Scotland, it was traditional to break a decorated shortbread cake (infar-cake or dreaming bread) over the head of a new bride on the entrance of her new house. Shortbread was also given as a gift.

400

These are also known as "refrigerator cookies" and can be made in many different flavors, named after the method of keeping food cold before refrigerators in 1800s America.

Icebox Cookies

In the early 1800s iceboxes were developed for home use. These early iceboxes were simply chests with a compartment for food and another for ice. To keep the food cold, the ice had to be replaced as it melted. If you lived in the right neighborhood, the ice wagon would come through selling ice. You purchased what you needed to keep your icebox cold. If you weren’t home and your icebox was on the porch, the iceman would fill it for you.

500

What are the typical ingredients used in making gingerbread cookies?

Brown sugar, flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, salt, butter, milk and molasses!

Gingerbread dates from the 15th century and figurative biscuit-making was practiced in the 16th century. The first documented instance of figure-shaped gingerbread biscuits was at the court of Elizabeth I of England. She had the gingerbread figures made and presented in the likeness of some of her important guests which brought the human shape of the gingerbread cookies.

🛷Flying Reindeer🦌

100

What are the names of Santa's reindeer?

Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner, Blitzen and of course Rudolph!

The first reference to Santa's sleigh being pulled by a reindeer appears in "Old Santeclaus with Much Delight", an 1821 illustrated children's poem published in New York. The names of the author and the illustrator are not known. The poem, with eight colored lithographic illustrations, was published by William B. Gilley as a small paperback book entitled The Children's Friend: A New-Year's Present, to the Little Ones from Five to Twelve.

200

True or False: Only male reindeer have antlers. 

False

Unlike horns, antlers are shed each year. In males, this happens in late autumn, after the rut. Females retain their antlers until spring, because access to food is critical during their winter pregnancy. Some scientists therefore argue that Rudolph, who is universally depicted in late December with intact antlers, is female.

300

Which department store created Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer? 

a. Macy's 

b. Harrods

c. Montgomery Ward

d. J.C. Penney

c. Montgomery Ward

Robert L. May created Rudolph in 1939 as an assignment for Chicago-based Montgomery Ward. The retailer had been buying and giving away coloring books for Christmas every year and it was decided that creating their own book would save money. May considered naming the reindeer "Rollo" or "Reginald" before deciding upon using the name "Rudolph". May said his daughter liked reindeer, and he said he was treated like Rudolph as a child.

400

What kind of environment do reindeer typically live in?

The tundra!

Did you know that reindeer have changing eye colors? A study by the University College London in 2011 revealed that reindeer could see light within the ultraviolet range. This ability helps them survive in the Arctic as many objects blend into the white, snowy landscape. It also improves their vision during continuous darkness and helps spot predators. Reindeer have gold eyes in summer and blue in winter.

500

What is the difference between reindeer and caribou? 

Trick question, there isn't one! 

Historically, the Eurasian reindeer and American caribou were considered to be different species, but they are actually one and the same: Rangifer tarandus. There are two major groups of reindeer, the tundra and the woodland, which are divided according to the type of habitat the animal lives in, not their global location. The animals are further divided into nine to 13 subspecies, depending on who is doing the classification.

🎉Holidays Around the World🎊

100

Immaculate Conception day centers around the belief that who was free of original sin from the moment of her conception? 

Mary

The Immaculate Conception became a popular subject in literature, but its abstract nature meant it was late in appearing as a subject in works of art. The iconography of Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception shows Mary standing, with arms outstretched or hands clasped in prayer. The feast day of the Immaculate Conception is December 8.

200

Bodhi Day is a Buddhist holiday that commemorates the day that Gautama Buddha in is said to have attained enlightenment, typically celebrated in East ____.

Asia

In the Pali Canon, there are several discourses said to be by Buddha himself, related to the story. In The Longer Discourse to Saccaka (MN 36), the Buddha describes his Enlightenment in three stages:

1. During the first watch of the night, the Buddha discovered all of his past lives in the cycle of rebirth, realizing that he had been born and reborn countless times before.
2. During the second watch, the Buddha discovered the Law of Karma, and the importance of living by the Noble Eightfold Path.
3. During the third watch, the Buddha discovered the Four Noble Truths, finally reaching Nirvana.

300

Yule is a festival which takes place over:

a. One night

b. Twelve days

c. Two weeks

d. One month

b. Twelve days

Scholars have connected the original celebrations of Yule to the Wild Hunt, the god Odin, and the heathen Anglo-Saxon Mōdraniht ("Mothers' Night"). The term Yule and cognates are still used in English and the Scandinavian languages as well as in Finnish and Estonian to describe Christmas and other festivals occurring during the winter holiday season. Furthermore, some present-day Christmas customs and traditions such as the Yule log, Yule goat, Yule boar, Yule singing, and others may have connections to older pagan Yule traditions.

400

The holiday of Our Lady Guadalupe is celebrated on December 12th in some parts of the United States and mainly just below the US in ______.

Mexico

Every year, thousands of people from all over the country make a pilgrimage to the Basilica in Mexico City. The day commemorates Mary the Patron Saint's apparition to Saint Juan Diego in the hills of Tepeyac in 1531. She asked him to go to the bishop and tell him that the Ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God, sent him to ask for a church to be built atop Tepeyac hill.

500

This holiday is an annual celebration of African-American culture from December 26 to January 1, culminating in a communal feast called Karamu, usually on the sixth day.

Kwanzaa

American black separatist Maulana Karenga created Kwanzaa in 1966 during the aftermath of the Watts riots as a non-Christian, specifically African-American, holiday. Karenga said his goal was to "give black people an alternative to the existing holiday of Christmas and give black people an opportunity to celebrate themselves and their history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society." For Karenga, a figure in the Black Power movement of the 1960s and 1970s, the creation of such holidays also underscored the essential premise that "you must have a cultural revolution before the violent revolution. The cultural revolution gives identity, purpose, and direction."

✨Winter Solstice🎇

100

When is the winter solstice each year?

Near the end of December, usually between the 20th and 23rd. 

The reason for this is because the tropical year—the time it takes for the sun to return to the same spot relative to Earth—is different from the calendar year. The next solstice occurring on December 20 will not happen until 2080, and the next December 23 solstice will not occur until 2303. 

200

What is the significance of the winter solstice?

The winter solstice marks the longest night and shortest day of the year for the Northern hemisphere.

As most are keenly aware, daylight hours grow shorter and shorter as the winter solstice approaches, and begin to slowly lengthen afterward. It’s no wonder that the day of the solstice is referred to in some cultures as the “shortest day of the year” or “extreme of winter.” Washington, D.C. will experience 9 hours and 26 minutes of sunlight while certain parts of Alaska, will not have a sunrise at all (and hasn’t since mid-November; its next sunrise will be on January 23).

300

True or False: The word solstice translates to "sun stand still."

True

This comes from the fact that the sun’s position in the sky relative to the horizon at noon, which increases and decreases throughout the year, appears to pause in the days surrounding the solstice. In modern times, we view the phenomenon of the solstice from the position of space, and of the Earth relative to the sun. Earlier peoples, however, were thinking about the sun’s trajectory, how long it stayed in the sky and what sort of light it cast.

400

If you are in the Northern Hemisphere, the increase rate of daylight hours depends on your location's latitude. So in more northern latitudes, you will get more or less daylight hours after the winter solstice?

More!

The Winter Solstice marks the shortest day of the year, the Summer Solstice marks the longest period of sunlight. Following the Summer Solstice, the days become increasingly shorter, just as the days become longer after the Winter Solstice.

500

The Winter Solstice marks the point at which the Sun is exactly overhead the Tropic of which zodiac sign?

Hint: It means "Goat-Horned" in Latin.

Capricorn

While many focus on the winter solstice as a day in the calendar, what we are actually talking about is a very specific moment which is over almost as soon as it has begun. The solstice marks the point at which the Sun is exactly overhead the Tropic of Capricorn, which this year will happen on Friday, 22 December at 03:27 GMT.

🎶Festive Jingles🎼

100

Finish the lyrics: "Deck the halls with boughs of holly, __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __ __!"

"Fa, la, la, la, la, la, la, la, la!"

The popular "Deck the Halls" song is a Christmas carol that dates back to the sixteenth century. It wasn't always associated with Christmas, however; the melody comes from a Welsh winter song called "Nos Galan," which is actually about New Year's Eve.

200

This song is about a poor small child who brings no gift but his instrument to play for Mary and Joseph. 

"The Little Drummer Boy" 

The song was originally titled "Carol of the Drum". While speculation has been made that the song is very loosely based on the Czech carol "Hajej, nynjej". "Carol of the Drum" appealed to the Austrian Trapp Family Singers, who first brought the song to wider prominence when they recorded it for Decca Records in 1951 on their first album for the label.

300

Finish the lyrics: "Dashing through the snow in a ___ ____ open sleigh!" 

a. two-dog

b. one-horse 

c. four-sheep

d. eight-reindeer

b. one-horse!

Jingle Bells was written in 1850 by James Lord Pierpont at Simpson Tavern in Medford, Massachusetts. It was published under the title "The One Horse Open Sleigh" in September 1857. It has been claimed that it was originally written to be sung by a Sunday school choir for Thanksgiving, or as a drinking song.

400

This carol was originally written in Austrian, called "Stille Naucht" and created by Joseph Mohr and Franz Xaver Gruber.

Silent Night

"Stille Nacht" was first performed on Christmas Eve 1818 at St Nicholas parish church in Oberndorf, a village in the Austrian Empire on the Salzach river in present-day Austria. A young Catholic priest, Father Joseph Mohr, had come to Oberndorf the year before. In the aftermath of the Napoleonic Wars, he had written the poem "Stille Nacht" in 1816 at Mariapfarr, the hometown of his father in the Salzburg Lungau region, where Joseph had worked as an assistant priest.

500

What are the twelve cumulative gifts given to one's true love leading up to Christmas day?

Twelve drummers drumming, eleven pipers piping, ten lords a-leaping, nine ladies dancing, eight maids a-milking, seven swans a-swimming, six geese a-laying, five golden rings, four calling birds, three French hens, two turtle doves and a partridge in a pear tree!