Mr .Sundback is ADORABLE lol

Let's hope we will wake up to a nicely wrapped public option on Christmas morning!

Its nice and all but if Mr.Obama id as green as he pretends to be he need to find an artificial tree this year.

Holiday shopping and decorating?! (seriously?) Here in Europe, it is a much more laid-back sort of holiday -- starts later, is smaller, and not as stressful. Ask again in mid-December, although by then, we will probably already have visited a couple of Christmas markets in Germany (wish they existed in North America!)

Heh. It's funny- I was just thinking the other day that retailers are a bit late with their holiday displays this year. I remember a few years ago when the economy was a bit more robust that some stores had their wares out in August. August! I can't imagine what the rest of the world must have thought of us then. :)

Mr. Sundback looks a bit like Santa Claus, which I guess is only fitting given his line of work.

Mschatelaine - I lived in Germany for only a year, but the Christmas markets are the thing that sticks out the most to me! Roasted almonds, gluhwein, and all of the festivities - so much fun!

mschatelaine, I went to Asiago last week. There's not even snow yet, and they're already putting Christmas decor up. To some extent, Americans are not the only ones who tend to be too Christmas-happy.

Icanmakeit, artificial trees are no greener. Not only do they look like crap, but the carbon footprint of a plastic tree made and shipped to your local KMart is probably the same as a tree that is grown for a couple of years then cut to make way for new seedlings. They smell nice and after you're done, you can dispose of it properly so the city can haul it and make compost out of it. Sure, plastic christmas trees last forever, but honestly, who keeps a ratty-looking tree for decades at a time? People dispose of their trees after a few holiday cycles. Only then will we realize that it lasting forever may not have been such a great idea.

Now, if they dug the tree out and placed it in a giant pot instead of cutting it down - that may be a better solution. Once holiday is done, just haul it out and place it in some unassuming corner until next Christmas. (But I have to say, that's gonna be one giant pot!)

I guess the debate resurfaces every year but... yes! I too am glad the White House uses a REAL tree which is sustainably farmed, smells good, and gets mulched and put back into the earth from whence it came. On the other hand, artificial trees don't come close to looking real (might as well go with the aluminum ones or something), off-gas nastiness into your home, are made of petroleum products, and once disposed, sit in a landfill forever... it is a bit early for Christmas talk, though.

Somedudeinvincenza,

Maybe in Asiago it gets too difficult for them to put up the Christmas decorations when there is snow?

I know that there are a few towns I have seen where they don't seem to have the budget to take down the Christmas decorations from year to year. They keep them up over their pedestrian areas, but just don't light them -- come to think, I think those towns were in Northern Italy...

Cleeuw --

The gluhwein is wonderful, but last year we had eierpunsch in one of Berlin's many Christmas markets... wow! It's sort of a hot alcoholic egg nog, put not as sweet. Have you ever tried it or made it?

Am I the only one that thinks it is funny that an entire team was necessary to choose a christmas tree? Imagine the meetings that were held!! I would love a copy of the agenda and notes.

Mschatelaine - I've had the eierpunsch in Bremen, actually. I haven't made it, but that would be a great idea for a Christmas party!
http://www.marions-kochbuch.de/rezept/0598.htm