Wisconsin Time, Traditions, and Tourists

Belgian Christmas Traditions with Christine DeSmet

The research for writing a future Christmas book in my Fudge Shop Mystery series took me down memory lane.

I’m half Belgian, and my characters in the series are full Belgian—Ava Oosterling and endearing troublemaker Grandpa Gil.

Finding the best chocolate and fudge for my novels of course led me to the Belgians in Door County, where my series is located.

Belgians also populate the nearby counties of Kewaunee and Brown, which are also next to Lake Michigan and the bay called Green Bay. The Green Bay Packers play at Lambeau Field, which is named after a Belgian, Curly Lambeau.  

Belgians started coming to this country in the 1850s, soon after Wisconsin became a state in 1848. Land for farming was becoming scarce in crowded Belgium, and Wisconsin needed workers, so the U.S. government sold land here to immigrants for $1.25 per acre.  

The history of the Belgian immigration to Wisconsin is now housed in a beautiful facility that shouldn’t be missed if you travel to Door County—the “Cape Cod of the Midwest.” The Belgian Heritage Center is in the village of Namur—named for a city in Belgium.

The Belgian Heritage Center’s website has an excellent, historical timeline, probably filled with surprises for you. It notes, for example, the fire that killed thousands in Wisconsin including Door County the same day as the Chicago Fire in October 1871.

 http://www.belgianheritagecenter.org/en-us/default.aspx

In 1990 the Namur Historic District was approved as a National Landmark by the U.S. Department of Interior, purportedly the largest “rural” community ever to receive that designation.

On the grounds of the Heritage Center you can visit the schoolhouse used by nuns in the 1800s and a roadside chapel. These tiny churches fit perhaps four people and were essential to immigrants lonely for their homeland.

Christmas for Belgians began this past week with December 5 Saint Nicholas Eve and December 6 Saint Nicholas Day.

In Belgium, children put their shoes in front of the fireplace so St. Nick can leave presents in or near them. Because of the Dutch influence in Belgium, those may be wooden shoes. Such shoes were worn by early Door County immigrants because leather was scarce.

My family followed Belgian holiday traditions. Seafood is a staple for a Belgian Christmas Eve because of the “old country’s” proximity to the ocean. I grew up with oyster stew served on the Eve. Dad also had to have pickled herring.

We had an Advent calendar. Religious aspects aside, as a kid I enjoyed opening each day to see what was under the flap. In Belgium, it’s common to get chocolate calendars—which is more my character Ava’s style and mine, too!

A week before Christmas we made sugar cookies—miles of them spread across the big kitchen table. Belgians are partial to cookies called “specaloos” at Christmas. They’re made with brown sugar, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg or allspice in the dough that is cut into fun shapes.

Making and serving a yule log is also a Belgian tradition. It’s a roll made of chocolate cake and frosting and decorated to look like a real log.

This 2019-2020 holiday season marks special Belgian milestones in both mystery writing and football! The famous Belgian sleuth Hercule Poirot, invented by author Agatha Christie, debuted in the spring of 1920, a hundred years ago. And 2019-2020 is the 100-year anniversary of the Green Bay Packers, too—a team started by Belgian Curly Lambeau.

So, to experience a Belgian holiday, watch a Packer game, get a chocolate Advent calendar, make a yule log and specaloos, and serve a good Belgian beer. Belgium has more than 600 varieties of beer!

On Christmas morning, serve a cinnamon coffee cake with coffee. In some areas of Belgium, “cougnou” is served; it’s a sweet bread baked in a tin the shape of the swaddled baby Jesus.

Ava Oosterling and Grandpa Gil and I wish you Happy Holidays!

Christine DeSmet is the author of the holiday novella, When Rudolph Was Kidnapped, and the forthcoming Deadly Fudge Divas, the fourth book in her Fudge Shop Mystery Series. Both books are published by Writers Exchange Publishing. 

Visit her here: https://christinedesmet.com/

(Scroll Down to the Bottom of the Post  to Leave a Comment for Christine DeSmet)

And Jerol Anderson says Wisconsin isn’t Just for Tourists

I’m all about the hidden gems, the natural beauty and the off-the-beaten-path places you’d never know were there until you stumble across them.

I feel blessed to live in a state with four seasons and each season has its special beauty with small-town communities creating delightful entertainment.

Just about the time the hummingbirds and the variety of summer birds leave our state in September, the air becomes crisp and dry. Wisconsin foliage begins its colorama of red, orange and yellow mixed with the green and of course the bronze and cream color of crops ready for harvest.

It all starts in late October up North and spreads continuously toward where we live in Southern WI. By mid-October a drive northward for a day-trip or a weekend stay is an exciting, colorful escape. Around every curve of the country highway through the rolling hills is a true ‘eye-candy’ treat. In addition, when driving through each small town, there’s a touch of brighter orange — a carved pumpkin or spooky Halloween delight on nearly every park bench or in front of each home.

More fall delights are many craft fairs filled with creative and exclusive art, farm markets filled with fresh vegetables and fruits, and of course Thanksgiving preparations and football, both high school and University of Wisconsin. I have a granddaughter who had to be a full-on athlete to play in the marching band. Strenuous workouts started in July.

As winter approaches, crops in the farm fields for as far as one can see to the horizon are harvested. And soon the barren fields welcome pristine, white snow and the activities that come with it — snowmobiling, skiing, ice skating, sledding, hiking, and more. Wisconsin has over 1,000 miles of trails, many along railroad track-beds, now paved for hiking, bicycling and cross-country skiing. Narrow trails are also plowed through snow in farm fields and along roads for snowmobiling. While driving, we see miniature road signs on three-foot poles along these trails.

Of course, family Christmas programs, and plays, operas and more are available in schools, churches and each community.

Spring arrives in April but the rule is, no planting of the garden until after Mother’s Day in May. But even earlier, acres and acres of corn, hay, soy beans and every other crop imaginable from potatoes to ginseng are planted in Wisconsin. The green sprouts bring smiles after the snow-laden fields of winter.

Orange Orioles are the first bird to return from the South, followed by blue buntings, finches, and a colorful array of fine feathered friends. I can’t hold back a smile when I walk out into my garden just after daybreak in spring and the air is filled with a joyously, loud symphony of birds building nests and babies screaming for their food.

Spring and summer are also filled with treasure-finding savings at garage and antique sales offered by churches and individuals and the roadside farm markets of fruits and vegetables start up again.

The festival season that continues through the summer has a great kick-off with the Memorial Day Fireman’s Pancake Breakfasts and parades. Hundreds of friends, parents, grandparents and grandbabies stand in line for breakfast in front of our firehouse. Sharing the arrival of spring sunshine while in that line is nearly as important as the pancakes.

Wisconsin is known for very different Indian names of cities like Oconomowoc, Waukesha, Milwaukee and more. And, it’s possible to visit a different community festival or County Fair every summer weekend — Tobacco Days, Syttende Mai, Dogs and Kraut Days, The Thresheree, Cinco de Mayo, Thirsty Troll Brew Fest. . 

. 

I live in a small-town known for its pottery. In the fall there is a driving tour to visit pottery studios and their kilns. And, in summer the town square hosts an event offering pottery and forged iron art where after dark the flames of a ten-foot kiln fires a new sculptured statue for the park.  

Wisconsin summers are the best in the world ­— sufficient rainfall, hot but not too hot, a variety of birds and this year loads of dragon flies to keep the mosquito population down; all allowing for daily therapy in the garden.

I am a writer and a gardener and my goal is to have one of every flower in my over 1,000 square feet of beds carved out of the forest around our home.

With all the lovely nature and kind-hearted people around me, I find the inspiration and quiet time heart-warming and stimulating.

I also write mysteries and other stories set in quaint, small-towns. Stop by here  www.jerolanderson.com to learn more.