Festive!

FESTIVE!Christmas

THE ULTIMATE FESTIVITIES MAGAZINE

EDITION

December 2010

Top toysfor 2010

Celebrations down under

What’s thecost of your Christmas?

What’s onin Leeds:

Your guide tothe best localpantomimes

Leeds lights switch on

GermanMarket

Host theperfect party

Christmas paradiseScarlet Shopping Centre

Dewdrop lane, Leeds, LS28 9TF 0113 2670259

It’s this time of year again at Festive! Magazine...Hello Readers,

This edition we’ve got Christmas all wrapped up, so look no further for ways to make this festive season your best yet. Stay full of good cheer with our ‘What’s on guide’ in Leeds on page_ to get a full insight on what’s happening in the city this Christmas.

And to make life really easy for you, we’ve even given you a budget guide for Christmas on page_- Is it really essential to spend hundreds of pounds just for one day? But Christmas Day for some isn’t about spending time with loved ones; it can be just another working day, to find out more turn to page.

Not forgetting the kids on page_ we’ve got the best selling Christmas toys this year- that is in fact if the little ones are on Santa’s nice list! Speaking of the nice list, on page_ we’ve got a magical feature on where Santa Claus came from; you’ll be surprised at some of the fascinating facts.

Be sure to get your dancing shoes and sparkly outfits on with our perfect Christmas party guide on page_. With this and so much more, Festive! will get you all ready to celebrate the end of 2010.

We hope you have a very Merry Christmas and a sparkling New Year,Best Wishes,

The Festive! Team

Contents...Page 4 - The German MarketPage 5 - The Christmas lights switch onPage 6 - Christmas events Page 7 - What Pantomimes are on this Christmas?Pages 8 & 9 - ‘A Costly Christmas’

Pages 12 & 13 - ‘Working on Christ-mas day’

Pages 16 & 17 - ‘The history of St. Nick’Pages 18 & 19 - ‘The Science of Snow’

Page 22 - ‘The Traditions of Christmas food’ Page 23 - Christmas Recipes

Pages 20 & 21 - ‘How to host the perfect Christmas party

Pages 10 & 11 - ‘Stay ahead of Santa’ Best selling toys of 2010.

Pages 14 & 15 - ‘Christmas in Oz’ How Christmas differs on the other side of the world.

The German market in Leeds is one of the largest German Christmas markets in the United Kingdom; there are other large German markets in Birmingham and Manchester.

Nestled in the heart of Millennium square, when you walk through the entrance of the Christkindel-markt you feel like you have walked into a Christmas wonderland, with over 40 wooden chalet stalls all owned by German traders all decorated in a very festive way with fairy lights attatched laced around the chalets, selling everything from little trinkets to most importantly traditional German festive food. The German market provides an array of tasty treats and some of the specialties include; traditional German sausages spiced with different flavours, German style potato cakes, delicious crepes that can be sweet or savory, gluhwein, homemade soups, gingerbread, candied fruits and handmade truffles. It also has it’s own ‘Haribo’ stand and a very novel stand that specialises in chocolate covered marshmellows, so if you have a sweet tooth this is defiantly the place to come.

The focal point of the market is a large tent with numerous beer and alcohol stands, the tent is lined with benches and has a stage at the far end where a band performs from 6pm, they sing a mix of tra-ditional German songs and classic English tunes, the idea is that whilst you are drinking you’re huge litre glass of German beer or enjoying a warming hot chocolate infused with baileys that you sing along with the lively band presumably the more you drink the louder you get, the atmosphere in the beer tent is absolutely electric, everyone is guaranteed to have a brilliant night.

Whats on in Leeds at Christmas?

The German MarketBy Emily Sexton-Brown

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Whats on in Leeds at Christmas?

Magnificent McFly light up Leeds

By Julia Simpson


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Christmas Events...

Feeling festive? Why not pop down to Leeds Parish Church to enjoy a tradinal

christmas carol concert. Bring the whole family down and enjoy the christmas

cheer. The concert is on 11th december starting at 11am and will last approxi-

matly 1 hour. Come and help All proceeds will come to Age Concern Leeds.

Each ticket will cost £10 and this includes a glass of mulled and a warm mince

pie after the concert.

Come and sing along with the Heritage Masterworks Chorale and The Voices

of The Day Community Choir, with special guests including Harry Gration

from Look North.

Christmas Carolling Concert

Christmas Antiques and craft fair

Come along to the Antique & Collectors Fair at Thirsk Auction Mart, use this rare opportunity to browse and buy victorian antique jewellery, taking place on Saturday 11th December from 9am - 3.45pm.

Coming soon!Experience the thrill and magic of outdoor ice skating at Leeds’ coolest wintertime attraction as the Ice Cube returns to Millennium Square for an eleventh consecutive season. The Ice Cube opens on 15t January until 6th March, Don’t miss out!

Pantomime season has begun in Leeds.

By. Emma Hayes

It’s behind you...men dressed as dames and soap stars hitting the

boards can mean only one thing- it’s panto season again.

The pantomime has been a family tradition during the festive period for generations. Stories such as Peter Pan and Sleeping Beauty are re-told year after year. They are packed full of comedy, pantomime dames, ‘celebrities’, a good fairy and a villain who must be booed.

However, a panto doesn’t just make children laugh, they are filled with old school morals. They teach children the difference between right and wrong through the power of laughter.

If you are looking for some festive family fun this Christmas here is your guide to all the pantomime performances around Leeds.

It’s behind you...

CinderellaThis traditional tale of rags to riches is being shown at The Carriageworks this year from Friday 3rd December to Saturday 8th of January. Cinderella is a story filled with transformation, from mice into white horses to a pumpkin that turns into a magical carriage, all with a wave of the fairy godmother’s wand.Get there early for story time in the reading corner- fairytales and adventures before the pantomime has even begun! (Certain showings only so do check first).

The Carriageworks, The Electric Press, Millen-nium Square, Leeds LS2 3AD (0113)224 3801.

Aladdin This is a magical story of a peasant boy who gets three wishes when a magic lamp falls into his hands.

Pontefract town hall is the venue for this adventure, with tickets under £10 for children and adults here is a New Year treat without breaking the bank.

Monday-Saturday 17th to 22nd of January 2011.

Pontefract Town Hall, Bridge St, Pontefract WF8 1PG 01977 723420

Snow White and the Seven DwarfsA star studded show is at the Bradford Alhambra Theatre this year, Billy Pearce is taking the lead, alongside Eastenders and Emmerdale star Sian Reeves who plays the wicked queen.

The Bradford theatre has gone all out with 3D effects that the children will love.

With a long list of dates from the 18th December to 6th of February there’s no excuse to miss out.

The Alhambra Theatre, Morley Street, Bradford, BD7 1AJ (01274 432000)

Andy C

astro

Kate W

illiams

John Jones


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Costly Christmas how much do you spend at Christmas? More than you mean to would be most people’s response to that question. Christmas is creeping into our lives earlier and earlier every year. It seems to get bigger and bigger every year. So we appear to spend more and more every year too. Christmas getting bigger and better is not a bad thing of course; more focus on family time, a big celebration and lots of lovely presents. However, when that credit card bill arrives in January you might not feel quite so festive anymore.

Everyone knows that ‘times are hard’ it’s all we hear at the moment, recession this and downturn that but Christmas appears to be the exception to the rule. The general public keep smashing those Christmas spending predictions, in defiance of these penny pinching times. According to Barclaycard Payment Acceptance (who process debit and credit card transactions for 88,000 UK retailers) spending in 2009 was up on the previous year. In the week before Christmas 2009 UK shoppers spent £4.09bn on cards, versus 2008’s contri-bution of £3.99bn.

Rachel Worsnop, 32, is a working mum from Menston, Leeds, “Christmas can be a real-ly tricky time for managing our money. We have our daughter and other children in the family too, you want to spoil them but it can cost so much. It’s not just presents though, decorations, food and drink etc, it all adds up. I won’t be cutting back this year though, it’s all worth it in the end.”

Christmas is a time for families and fun, not many people would argue with that but are we losing sight of those traditions? Some people save all year round for Christmas, even joining savings clubs to ensure that money is only spent on festivities. That certainly is dedicated but perhaps we’re missing the point. It’s doubtful that anyone would want their friends and family to miss out on treats,

holidays even because they saving up to buy them a scarfare and glove set with matching ear muffs. The spirit of giving at Christmas stems from the three wisemen bringing gifts to baby Jesus. How many children would know this if you asked them? Probably not that many. The meaning of Christmas appears to be disappearing. You don’t have to break the bank to enjoy this time of year. Budget budget budget. Martin Lewis the money saving expert has an entire section dedicated to Christmas spending on his website. Martin says, “ask ‘what can I afford to spend on Christmas?’ then work out how to have the best one possible within that budget. Christmas is one day – don’t ruin the whole of the new year for it.” This might just be easier said than done though, you can write lists and devise a spreadsheet or two but it might not stop those impulse buys!

Christmas is an expensive time in most households but is that really necessary? Credit cards maxed out and bank balances being emptied are becoming part and parcel of the festive period. Emma Hayes takes a look at how those bills can be avoided.

£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £

James Dwan

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£ £ £ £ £ £ £ £ £here at Festive!

magazine we put this budgeting theory to the test. Larni Nash, 22, is a recent graduate trying to battle her way through the job market. Christmas can prove to be a tricky time for her.

We gave Larni a budget of £250 to buy all her Christmas essentials from the tree to the turkey.

Last year Larni spent nearly £500 so halving her budget will be quite a challenge! Larni split her budget into money for presents, for food, decorations and a train ticket home to Bedford.

On paper this was manageable however putting the budget into practice turned out to be a little trickier, as Larni explains.

“Chopping my Christmas budget in half felt very drastic to begin with but then when I thought of what else I could do with the money I soon came around!

“Day one of shopping went well; I started with gifts. On the day I stuck to my budget which was almost £70. However that didn’t stay that way. Presents ended up being one area I severely overspent. It was too hard! Over the weeks building up to the big day I continued to pick up little stocking fillers but it all added up in the end.

“I then decided to move on to a part of Christmas I love- the decorations.

“I made some of my own decorations and really shopped around, this helped me save a fortune.”“Normally I would fall through Debenhams doors and buy all new decs every year but I was surprised what Wilkinson’s has to offer!

“ I booked my train ticket home to Bedford way in advance, this made a big saving. My ticket cost £34.60. Last year that cost £108 because I left everything until last minute. The budget hasdefinitely helped me be more organised this year too.

“One thing I did go over budg-et on was my new Christmas outfit. This is necessity, I have to have one every year. I did hold back this year, last year I spent almost £100! I allocated £40 from my budget for my Christmas day outfit but spent £60 overall. At least it was a saving on last year!

Overall Larni spent £298.90, almost £50 over budget.

So Larni didn’t quite manage her set budget but she didn’t do too badly, “It was really difficult to stick to the budget! Obviously I went over by nearly £50 but it’s still a £200 saving on last Christmas. I did cut back and make sacrifices but it means I can hit the January sales now! I would recommend everyone to have a budget.”

Lar

ni N

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by. K

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Stay ahead of Santa...Santa’s little helper Robyn Vinter looks at the hottest gifts on the childrens toy market for all those good little girls and boys

NYONE who has ever bought Christmas presents for chil-dren will know what a mine-field it can be. Trying to ensure that not only is the gift age ap-propriate, but it is fun and that the child doesn’t already have it is enough to leave any sen-sible person tearing their hair

out. This year of course will be no different, with the new toys of 2010 all battling to be top of this year’s Christmas lists.

Looking at bestsellers from the last 50 years, it’s clear that toys based on films and televi-sion will always be popular. In the 60s, Thun-derbirds toys were huge, along with James Bond and Dr Who. In the 70s it was Star Wars, Jaws and Superman and then Transformers, Masters of the Universe and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles in the 80s. The 90s saw a revival of Thunderbirds when the Tracey Island toy was revamped and rereleased, as well as Pokemon, Power Rangers and Teletubbies, and the 00s was dominated by Harry Potter toys.

According to Woolworths, with the release of Toy Story 3 earlier this year, the Jet Pack Buzz Lightyear (£39.99) action figure will be the top seller. Toy Story toys were huge in 1995 when the original film was released and stayed on top for years, with the release of Toy Story 2 in 1999. The franchise has grown tremendously since then and in Toys ‘R Us this year there are over 150 items in the Toy Story range.

Another popular television star is the ani-mated Ben 10, who features in most retail-ers’ lists for Christmas in one way or another this year. Ben 10 first appeared in 2005 but has steadily grown in popularity since then. The toys are based on an American cartoon about a boy who gets an alien device stuck on

his arm allowing him to transform into differ-ent creatures – clearly why these toys are so popular with boys. Amongst the new Ben 10 items are the Action Cruiser (£29.99) – a car which shoots missiles and alien gel, and the Ultimate Alien Disc Alien Ultimatrix (£18.99) – a light up wristband with voices and sounds from the Ben 10 characters.

For girls this year, dolls are as popular as ever, and none so much as the enduring Bar-bie doll. Barbie first emerged in the 60s in a black and white bathing suit, and since then

“Toys based on films and television will always be popular”

The mostenduring doll of the last 50 years has been given a high tech update

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has gone through many looks including a sur-geon, paratrooper, business executive, chef and even a cat burglar. This year the fashion toy has been given a hi-tech makeover. Bar-bie Video Girl (£59.99) allows users to see the world from Barbie’s point of view through a small camera in the doll’s necklace. The im-ages can then be viewed on a screen on her back and can be uploaded to a computer us-ing the USB cable supplied. Barbie Video Girl is in the Hamley’s Top Ten and is the 2010 In-dependent Toy Award winner in the dolls cat-egory.

The traditional baby-like doll is still reigning this year with the release of the fifth version of the ultra-lifelike Baby Annabell (£34.99). Little girls have al-ways loved playing with

babies and the sheer volume of accessories on the market at the moment just demon-strates how large the demand for these toys really is. For toddlers, the My Stroll and Play Walker (£29.99) is part of the Fisherprice My First Doll range and encourages role play and nurturing whilst supporting a youngster’s early steps.

Puzzles and board games don’t always fea-ture high in the most wanted lists but cer-tainly rank highly in terms of longevity and value for money. There are more household names in this category than any other and even toys from 50 years ago, such as family favourite Twister, still sell well. This year, old favourites like the Rubik’s Cube and Scrabble sit on the shelves alongside Monopoly Revolu-

tion (£29.99), an updated ver-sion of the classic family board game,

and Pumpaloons ( £ 1 4 . 9 9 ) , where con-

t e s t a n t s race to be the first to pump up their in-f l a t a b l e character.

D e s p i t e u s u a l l y

being small and inexpen- sive, stock-ing fillers can be the most popular presents on Christmas day, as children rarely take the cost into consideration when choosing what to play with. There are some great toys on the market at the moment for under a tenner.

The main one would be Zhu Zhu Hamsters (£7.99), currently a big craze in children’s toys. The lifelike critters behave like real ham-sters, making noises and interacting with their habitat. There are now so many differ-ent varieties that, much like Furbys or Beanie Babies from the 90s, they have started to be-come collectables. The accessories are also mostly under £10 so the fun continues when new items are introduced. The only criticism of these delightful little pals is that the batter-ies don’t seem to last long, and despite being cheap themselves, the cost could soon start to rack up with a few of them running around. Rechargeable batteries appear to be the easi-est way of solving this.

Every year the toys on sale get more and more technological, but despite this,

the essential themes are the same. Girls tend to like dolls and role play games and boys traditionally like ac-tion figures and weapon-style toys.

By making an informed decision about gift buying, much of the stress of Christmas can be avoided – that is until next year.

“Toys from 50 years ago still sell well”

Pictures: Aaron Sam

uels, June Berry

Another reincarnation of Buzz could hit the top spot this year


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What will you be doing on Christ-mas day? At home with family and friends enjoying the festivities? Pull-ing crackers with the kids? Singing along terribly to the latest Christ-mas album because you’ve had one too many Sherries? Well not for this hard worker….

By Darcy AmamouChristmas?......“It’s just another day”

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Christmas?......“It’s just another day”

Gavin Mintus, 31, is a radio pre-senter with two children, Abby,

5, and Jacob, 3, who will be spending Christmas day at work. “I’ve worked on Christmas day for the past three years and this year will be no different. I’ll be waking up just before the kids and heading off to the studio.”

And just like Gavin, thou-sands of people from across the country will be doing the same. According to TUC, three quarters of a million people will work on Christmas day. So much for the times when it was all about spending the day with family and friends and just enjoying the festivities! These days, Christmas is becoming very commer-cialised with people feeling the need to spend excessive amounts of money on the latest toys and ‘must have’ gifts, a quantity of food that can feed the masses and the latest limited edition deco-rations/ Christmas trees that ‘everybody’s talking about’ because if you don’t buy them now you won’t be able to next year! Gavin continues: “It’s a shame because the true meaning of Christmas is being lost behind all of this commer-cialisation. My kids think it’s about getting presents

from Santa and eating lots of sweets which is what it has turned into.”

Another factor why a lot of people choose to work on Christmas day is because of the extra money that comes with it. Gavin continues: “It’s all about the extra money, that’s why I don’t mind being at work and I get to spend time with my

wife and kids afterwards which is a bonus. You could call me the new age scrooge because I’m earn-ing money on Christmas day when everybody else is just sat around the house getting bored of each other!”

The tradition of Christmas day is fading away more and more every year with money making busi-

nesses and people choosing to work instead. But thanks to these workers, I guess you don’t have to worry about buying that last minute jar of cranberry sauce that you completely forgot about whilst doing the big Christmas shop or if you need to fill up the car to take the in-laws home.

Gavin says: “I think it’s the same as Sundays. Tradition-

ally, nobody ever did anything and now you have the option of going out for lunch, you can go and buy a new outfit and I can definitely see Christmas going that way and I urge people to jump on board the new Christ-mas revolution! For me, it’s just another day.”

“ I’m the new age scrooge”


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enced by the Anglo-Celtic. The celebrations were much like the English style, from Carol singing in the streets to cook-ing roast turkey and puddings in an oven hot kitchen. But with the increase of over-seas migrants, the traditions vary from one family to the other. As a consequence of the scorching weather, traditional dinners have been replaced by a colder and more suitable menu that consists of seafood,

cold deli meats, pasta, salads, desserts, fruit salad, ice cream and chocolates. Wendy says: “The meal in our family has al-ways been very English, baked chicken, potatoes, veggies and plum pudding for dessert – which is not fun cooking if it is 35 degrees in the kitchen. Possibly there is a BBQ but the custom is to have huge quantities of seafood these days. There is always a traffic jam every Christmas eve on all

As the white crispy snow covers the rooftops of England and the aromas of

succulent turkey and sweet fruit cake cover the dining tables , the sound of children unwrap their presents under-neath the decorated Christmas tree. What about the rest of the world? What are the Austral-ians doing whilst your brother-in-law snores full bellied on the couch to the sound of the Queen’s speech? And what are the Aussie kids doing whilst you sit huddled up in front of the crackling warm fire, eating mince pies and playing board games with the family?

Well there’s definitely no snow-men in the garden for Australia at this time of the year, as it’s summertime. Daily tem-peratures range from 30 to 40 degrees centigrade, so it’s all about blue skies, hot weather and maybe a sizzling bar-beque! Christmas down under is special for a lot of Austral-ian students as it’s the holiday season, which means finishing their academic year after sitting exams, then waiting for their results and having a good time in the sun with friends. Wendy Hilton, 49, a teacher in Austral-

ia says: “it’s hot this time of year which means certainly no snow and probably a trip to the beach at some stage or swimming in a pool if you are lucky enough to have one.”

New Zealand is the first coun-try immediately west of the international date line and are therefore the first in the world to celebrate Christmas, whilst everyone else is enjoying Christmas eve, running around the malls for last minute pre-sent buying or hanging up their stockings for Santa Clause’s late night visit.

Australia has a population of just over 18 million people. It’s a harmonious mix of many ethnic groups ranging from Scottish, Northern European, Italians, Spanish, Middle East-erners, Vietnamese, Japanese, North and South American plus many more. Australians are appreciative of culturally diverse Christmas celebrations and have many ways of mak-ing merry with the colours, customs and festive rituals that these national groups bring with them.

Up until 30 years ago, Christ-mas down under was influ-

“It’s hot this time of year”

Christmas dowFESTIVE!

carols and performing nativ-ity plays. Behind all the tinsel and glitter, Australians reflect on the true meaning of Christ-mas remembering the birth of Jesus by attending midnight mass. Wendy: “On Christmas eve we usually go to midnight mass where we sing, pray and possibly there is an enactment of the nativity.” This is followed by very little sleep and children waking up at dawn in anticipation to

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“There’s certainly no snow”

roads leading to the Sydney fish markets.” Family gather-ings usually take place in back yards, picnics in the park and on the golden sandy beaches. It is still an occasion to be with friends and family, exchange gifts and to eat huge amounts of food. Wendy continues: “Af-ter eating, a trip to the beach or possibly a game of back yard cricket (or street depend-ing where you live) is usually on the cards. No matter where you are or what you eat there is always Christmas cheer - drinking!”

It’s thought the weather is too intense for Santa with his big boots, red long coat and matching hat to be delivering his presents, plus where would he get Rudolph and the gang to land his wooden sleigh

without snow? Therefore he has been replaced by ‘swag man’, who wears a brown Akubra (an iconic Australian hat), a blue singlet (vest) and long baggy shorts. Unlike Santa, who spends the rest of the year in the North Pole, reading children’s letters and making toys with his elves, swag man spends his time under Uluru, a large sand-stone rock formation with his merry dingoes, and at

Christmas time, he gets his huge four wheel drive and sets off through the red dust to deliver his presents. Ho ho what?

Despite the differences, there are a lot of similarities between the British and Aussie Christ-mas celebrations with people organising glitzy parties, writ-ing cards, buying decorations, flooding the shopping malls, children placing the fairy on top of the Christmas tree, singing

unwrap their gifts. “Once we get home it’s time for drinks and probably constructing swing sets or bicycles etc for the 'Santa' presents. It is not unusual for the kids to wake up at six or earlier. We usually open presents, then you may have organised to 'do' break-fast with one family group, lunch with another and, if you still have any energy a quiet evening with friends or resting with family, that’s if you don't

stay at the beach till darkness and watch the English cook themselves in the sun and the Japanese drown themselves in the surf!”

So if you are considering a trip to Australia during the festive season, don’t forget your bikini and surfboard. Oh and if you see an old man driving around in a four wheel drive, it’s prob-ably the swag man, Merry Christmas!

s down underBy Darcy Amamou


The History of Father Christmas Cheery and chubby, Father Christmas towers over our annual festival but do we really know where

and when this magical figure came from? Julia Simpson reports....

S anta Claus, St Nicholas, Noël (whatever you may call him) Christmas just wouldn’t be with-out him. Like it or not, he has be-come the meaning of Christmas-he’s warm, cuddly and of course partial to a glass of sherry or two which makes him ever more popular.

But do we really know where this ho-ho-hoing jolly old man actu-ally came from? And in fact who is the true identity of Christmas?

When we think of Santa Claus today we often think of plump man wearing a red jacket with white trim, red pants, black belt and boots, and a long white beard. It’s hard to imagine Santa any other way, but as we’ll soon find out Santa has had a long history in Western Civilization.Father Christmas is based on a real person, St. Nicholas. Nicholas was a Christian leader from Myra (in modern-day Turkey) in the 4th century AD. He was very shy, and wanted to give money to poor people without them knowing about it. It is said that one day, he climbed the roof of a house and dropped a purse of money down the chimney. It landed in the stocking which a girl had put to dry by the fire! This may explain the belief that Father Christmas comes down the chimney and places gifts in children’s stockings. St. Nicholas didn’t ‘arrive’ in Britain until after

the Norman invasion, and when he did arrive his story was quickly absorbed into the legend of Father Christmas.Our first written reference to the entity of Father Christmas is found in a 15th century carol, which includes the line “Welcome, my lord Christëmas.” From this point onwards, Father Christmas is seen to represent the spirit of Christmas: that of good cheer and benevolence to all.

I t was Clement C. Moore, however, who really popu-

larized the legend of the saint and many of the traits we now associ-ate with Santa Claus, including his appearance, his method of trans-portation and the names of his reindeers. He originally wrote the poem, “A Visit from Saint Nicho-las,” (now more commonly known

as “The Night Before Christ-mas”) for his family, but it became extremely popular after it was published anonymously in 1823.Political cartoonist Thomas Nast helped ingrain Moore’s vision of Santa into the public mind. In 1863, he began draw-ing a series of annual cartoons for “Harper’s Weekly” that de-picted Santa as bearded and fat, as Moore had described. Previous images of Santa had always shown tall, thin men wearing Bishops Robes.

Nast’s first cartoon was published on the cover of the magazine in 1863 and showed Santa handing out gifts to Civil War soldiers. In the picture, he is sitting on a sleigh pulled by reindeer. Later, Nash would also invent the North Pole and elves.

“Harpers Weekly”image of Santa Claus

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But the definitive, iconic image of Santa Claus as we know him today was created by Coca Cola, who at the turn of the 20th century they began a massive publicity campaign using Santa Claus as their gimmick. The ads showed a smiling Santa holding a Coca Cola in his hand. These campaigns helped establish a “uniform” for Santa. This interpretation of Santa was a rather large man, tall and tubby, with a bushy white beard. He had a red outfit lined with white fur.

W e can all cast our memories back and

remember those remarkable advertisements, and after these were publicised Coco- Cola’s sales throughout winter soared as they primarily produced the adverts towards children, an important segment of the soft drink market.

Ever since this, Santa has remained the same joyful, red and white character as we know him now.

A lthough it can be argued that many

Christian churches dislike the secular focus on Santa and the materialist focus that present-giving gives to the holiday. They would prefer that focus be given to the birth of Jesus, their nominal reason for the Christ-mas celebration. Couldthis be the change in modern society? More people would rather spend Christmas drinking Coco Cola and buying presents than actually celebrating the birth of Christ?

F ather Christmas, Santa Claus, St Nick

will always be in my eyes the meaning of Christmas.

It’s the one time of year where you can get away with eating far too much, exchange pre-sents to loved ones but more importantly still keep hold of that magical feeling that Santa really will shuffle down your chimney this year!

Where can you find Santa in Leeds this year.......

Santa’s Magical Grotto at The Merrion Centre from Sunday 28th Novemeber to Friday 24th December Santa will be in town!!!

In keeping with the traditional Christmas spirit the Merrion Centre’s Christmas deco-rations will be bigger, better and brighter than ever as its coming complete with Santa’s Magical Grotto- where children and adults alike will have the chance to meet Santa and

his little helpers.

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the science of snowIt is mesmerisingly delicate but has the power to bring the country to a standstill. Robyn Vinter examines one of the planet’s most beautiful weather formations

NE THING that is always synonymous with Christmas is the win-try weather. From cards to

decorations, snow seems to be a traditional adornment for every Christmas - yet few people really understand its origins. Despite its simple beauty, the creation of snow is quite complicated.

The process of the formation of snow begins high in the clouds. Up to six miles in the air, water vapour condenses and then crystallises. As more water va-pour condenses, the snowflake gets larger and forms intricate patterns.

The size and shape of the snowflake depends on the tem-perature of the air and where the snowflake falls. In high clouds,

six-sided hexagonal crystals are usually created; middle height clouds produce needles or flat six-sided shapes and lower clouds produce a wide variety of six-sided shapes. Colder temperatures create snowflakes with sharper tips on the sides of the crystals and may lead to branching of the snowflake arms - known as dendrites. Under warmer conditions, snowflakes grow more slowly, resulting in

The size and shape of the snowflakedepends on the temperature of the air

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smoother, less complex shapes.

A snowflake’s symmetry is all down to the arrangement of water molecules. When water is in its solid state – ice or snow – the molecules form weak bonds, known as hydrogen bonds. In forming these bonds, the molecules rearrange themselves into a symmetrical hexagonal shape, due to the need to max-imise attractive forces and mini-mise repulsive forces. As more molecules condense and join the snowflake, more elaborate patterns are formed.

The perfectly symmetrical snow-flake often does not survive long enough to reach the ground. Before it has grown big enough to fall it has usually been buf-feted by winds inside the cloud, causing crystals to break off and losing its symmetrical shape. As the snowflakes fall, particularly in warmer conditions they often collide and stick together to cre-ate larger flakes – the kind often seen in Hollywood movies – or graupel, smaller hail like balls.

The Inuit language has 100 different words for snow

The Inuit language has about the same number of words for snow as English, but due to the nature of the language, new words can be created by adding more descriptive affixes. For example, “falling snow” would be one word.

0 to -4° C Thin hexagonal plates

-4 to -6° C Needles

-6 to -10° C Hollow columns

-10 to -12° C Sector plates (hexagons with indentations) -12 to -16° C Dendrites (lacy hexagonal shapes)

The first person to photograph snowflakes in depth was Wilson Bentley in 1885. Bentley, from Vermont in the United States, photographed over 5,000

snowflakes throughout his lifetime. These pictures were taken in 1902.

No two snowflakes could ever be the same

It may be extremely unlikely but if two snowflakes were produced under exactly the same condi-tions, then they could develop into the same pattern. It is likely that every snowflake has had a good match at some point in history.

Too much exposure to the snow can make a person blind

The term “snow blindness” refers to a condition where a person’s eyes have been dam-aged by over-exposure to ultra-violet light. This happens in polar regions because snow reflects up to 90% of ultraviolet light.

It can be too cold to snow

It is possible for snow to be produced at any temperature below 0oC, however, by the time the temperature has reached -20oC, the snow has usually already fallen at warmer temperatures.

SNOW MYTHS BUSTED

Larger snowflakes typical of Holly-wood seen here in the film Chroni-cles of Narnia: Legend of the Dawn Treader - released 8th December

In colder areas, the individual snow crystals are effectively dry - because they are frozen solid – and do not stick together. This is the type of snow found in snowdrifts, where the wind can move the powdery snow around.

In the UK, even our cold weather is relatively mild compared to more extreme temperatures found elsewhere on earth so we very often have large flakes consisting of lots of smaller snowflake crystals. We are lucky in this sense because it is the best weather for building snow-

men or throwing snowballs as the snow is sticky and can easily be shaped.

Despite it being made of water, which is essentially clear, snow appears white. This is because the smooth crystals partially reflect the light. When there are a lot of crystals together, the light bounces around, reflecting off the crystals and back out, and this light appears white. The ice does absorb some light while bouncing around, and more so the red light, which is why snow often appears slightly blue.

A snowflake’s symmetry is all down to the arrangement of water molecules

fact

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Fiction Fiction Fiction

SAM WILSON


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How to host the perfect christmas party...

C ocktail sausages, check! Party poppers, check! Lets the christ-mas cheer begin..

It’s that time of year again when everybody is having Christmas par-ties, everyone is full of the christmas spirit and absolutly everyone wants to enjoy good food and even better drink. At a great christmas party it is extremely important to make your guests feel welcome and comfortable in their surroundings, normal-ly a glass of bubbly will ease them into the evenings proceedings.

When having a Christmas gathering it is normally easier to cook nibbles rather than a meal because plates and

cutlery gets too compliacted when alot of guests are involved. They en-joy eating the delcious nibbles and it is a little bit less work for you as the host.

When it comes to the cost of host-ing a party you can stick to a reasonable budget and still buy realy nice food for your party. If you go to supermarkets like Asda and buy their special party range, it tastes scrumptious and you haven’t spent a fortune. Another alternative is to make some of your nibbles from scratch. it will take some preperation but will ultimatly be the cheaper option.

For example you can buy sausage meat very cheaply, then make your pastry from flour, water and salt, and you can create some divine sausage treats...

TOP TIP!

Make food in minature

form and use cocktail sticks

to save on cleaning up!

by Emily Sexton-Brown

FESTIVE!

20

TOP TIP!Make sure everyone’s glass is topped up on

a regular basis!

D ecorations are key when having a fes-tive party, it is imperitive that the

room looks ready for a party. When deco-rating a table golds and silvers give a rich yet party feel to any table, with the help of some tinsel and glitter you will be well on your way to having pretty and tasteful decorations. These decorations are easy to find at reasonable prices, they can be found in shops like Wilkinsons, most supermarkets, Marks and Spencer’s and BHS.

The ultimate key to the perfect christmas party is, lets face it is..alcohol, and lots of it! It is very important to keep your guests very well fueled and make the party last until the early hours in the morning. Be-cause it’s christams mulled wine is always a popular choice, and gives a warming feeling on a cold winters night. However to really get the party started you could make your own christ-mas punch, consisting of vodka or rum mixed with a cocktail of different fruit juices

It has to be said the most luxurious drink that you can offer your guests at your christamas party has to be Champagne, If you crack open a few bottles then your sure to be one popular host!

Finally the finishing touches are very important, make sure your house or venue is tidy, it may sound obvious but a tidy area is far more appeal-ing to people than an area which has unnecessary clutter and is uninviting. Always be polite and treat your guests well to be considered a good host.

Make sure the music is tasteful and suits the atmosphere, for this oc-casion christams songs would be very much on the agenda. When the tunes are blasting, the Champagne is flowing and everyone is suitably full on the tasty nibbles you can then relax, pat yourself on the back and have a jolly good night!

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Recipes The perfect mince pies

For the pastry:

150g unsalted butter

295g plain flour

a little cold water

For the filling:

200g golden syrup

75g sultanas

50g candied peel

a pinch of mixed spice

25g butter

4 soft amaretti di Saronno

or 4 tbsps plain, soft cake

crumbs

1 large egg, beaten

To make the pastry, cut the but-ter into small chunks and rub it into the flour with your finger-tips. It should resemble coarse, fresh breadcrumbs.

Sometimes it is best to add a pinch of salt, but it all depends on how you feel. Sprinkle some cold water over the crumbs and bring them together with your hands to form a soft, but not sticky, ball. Pat the dough into a sausage the same diameter as your tart tins and chill in the fridge for half an hour.Preheat the oven to 190°C/gas

mark 5. To make the filling, warm the syrup in a saucepan

with the dried fruit, mixed spice and butter, then stir in the

amaretti or cake crumbs. Remove the pan from the heat,

then stir the beaten egg into the mixture. Cut the roll of

pastry into 24 thin slices, then use each to line a tart tin.

Trim the edges with a small knife. Divide the filling between

the tarts, but don’t overfill them, then bake till golden and

bubbling - about 15-20 minutes.

As the pastry is very rich, the finished tarts are very fragile

so let them cool in their tins for 8-10 minutes before remov-

ing them.

Food Glorious Food.. The best stuffing in the world..Ingredients: 9-10 C. stale, hard bread, shredded into 1” chunks3/4 C. unsalted butter, melted12 oz. crimini or button mushrooms, cleaned and chopped2 medium yellow onions, coarsely chopped3 stalks of celery, coarsely chopped6 cloves of garlic, minced or pressed2 lg. eggs, beaten

3/4 C. chopped walnuts1 tsp. salt (or to taste)1 tsp. freshly ground black pepper2 tsp. dried rubbed sage1 1/2 tsp. dried thyme1 tsp. dried rosemary1 tbsp. poultry seasoning1/4 C. chopped freshly parsley5 C. chicken broth, or as needed

Instructions: 1. In a large skillet, melt butter. Add onions and celery and cook about 5 minutes. 2. Add mushrooms and garlic and cook until mushrooms are barely tender, about 3 minutes longer. 3. Place mushroom mixture in a large mixing bowl. 4. Add salt, pepper, and other herbs and spices. Stir to combine. 5. Stir in nuts. Stir in bread pieces. Stir in beaten eggs and 1 C. chicken broth. 6. Add additional broth until this bread stuffing recipe reaches your desired level of moistness, at least 2 additional cups. You can add up to 4 additional cups for very moist stuffing.

7. Pour herb stuffing mixture into a large, buttered casse-role dish.

8. Covered with buttered foil. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F oven 45 minutes, or until hot throughout. 9. Uncover and bake 15 minutes more, until top is crisp. And enjoy one of the best traditional turkey stuffing reci-pes ever.

by Emily Sexton Brown

FESTIVE!

22

Every year on Christmas day we sit in our sitting rooms and smell the sweet aroma from the kitchen roam around the house, but how did we arrive at our delicious traditional feast…..

When the French Jesuits introduced the nation to eating turkey as a main meal we welcomed this idea with open arms and has now become the con-ventional Christmas meal sometimes other forms of poultry are used, but most commonly turkey is cooked.In Victorian times tur-key and poultry were around, but were far too expensive for the every-day person to purchase and became a status symbol, if you were for-tunate enough to afford poultry for your Christ-mas meal in those times you were considered up-per class.

In 1840 Queen Victoria’s Christmas day menu consisted of royal roast swan and beef, which gives us an idea of what the wealthy would eat in those times.

Of course Christmas dinner, isn’t Christmas dinner without it’s loyal accompaniments these being the crispy roast potatoes, the juicy pigs in blankets, our trusty vegetables and of course lashings of rich gravy. Moving onto one out our sweeter traditions, the favourite, the humble mince pie. Mince pies are the iconic Christmas treat, its what we leave Santa as a snack for delivering our presents,

Mince pies are the treats that we eat so many of that we feel like we’re about to burst, but how was the mince pie made and why is it such a big part of Christmas?

Mince pies are very Brit-ish, they are small and are filled with dried fruit, and coated with sweet puff pastry or shortcut pastry. The term ‘mince’ derives from the word ‘mincemeat’ they are called mince pies because they were originally made with mincemeat, either chopped meat or liver paired with boiled eggs and ginger would be the ingredients of a mince pie, by the nine-teenth century this was replaced with dried fruit and lashings of alcohol normally brandy or rum. It was a medieval belief that if you ate a mince pie every day from Christmas day until the twelfth night, you would receive happiness for twelve months.

The Traditions of Christmas Food...By Emily Sexton-Brown


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T.Clarke &Son

Antique Watch Specialist...

...For that unusual Christmas gift.

18, Booths Yard, Leeds, LS1 2JD

0113 2574260

Festive!

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