Minnesotans know that with the coming of bitter cold, something else is knocking on the door. The holiday season is a time of tales, readings, song, and reflection. Get your fill of lutefisk; hear the church bells rung “the old fashioned way;” take a tour of Hmong New Year; feel the melancholy of the farm; experience foreign students first encounters with turkeys and pumpkin pies; and learn the history of fruitcake. These are some of the wide-ranging stories of Minnesota holiday life that await your senses.
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December 8, 2000 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer visits the Stillwater home of Dick & Lois Kohns, serious fans of Santa Claus.
December 19, 2000 - If you're in the midst of a cookie disaster or your fudge isn't looking so good, help is just a phone call away. For the past 11 years, thousands of frenzied cooks have called the Land O'Lakes Holiday Bakeline for tips on how to fix runny frosting, speed-thaw a frozen turkey, or jazz up mashed potatoes.
December 21, 2000 - MPR’s Dan Olson interviews Minneapolis-based harpist Nicholas Carter on Paraguayan style Christmas music.
December 21, 2000 - MPR’s Dan Olson profiles, Carl Andersen, an apprentice seaman who stepped up to an NBC microphone and sang a Christmas carol to the nation.
December 27, 2000 - MPR’s Jae Bryson reports on local Muslims arriving at St. Paul's RiverCentre for Islamic holiday Eid al-Fitr. The prayers and feasts of Eid al-Fitr mark the end of Ramadan, the month-long period of fasting and material deprivation. Organizers say the event, one of two Muslim High Holy Days, attracted more than 10,000 people.
December 6, 2001 - MPR’s Lorna Benson interviews Minneapolis artist Aldo Moroni, who was selected to craft Minnesota's ornament for the Christmas tree in the White House. The resulting creation? An ice fishing house, of course.
December 13, 2001 - All over Sweden, Norway, and parts of the United States people welcome the beginning of the holiday season with Santa Lucia Day. The celebration has become an important family tradition for commentator Nanci Olesen.
December 24, 2001 - Traditional foods like turkey, oyster stew, ham and virtually all kinds of potatoes, be they scalloped, baked or mashed, tend to dominate most holiday tables. But City Pages Eater's Digest columnist Dara Moskowitz says that can get a little boring after awhile. She suggests jazzing up this year's holiday feast with an old farm classic that's suddenly become quite chic -- BEETS.
December 28, 2001 - It's time for potica! Up on the Iron Range, the pastry called potica is a holiday treat. Eastern European grandmothers have made it for generations. But it's hard work, and not many people make it at home anymore. A few bakeries still make potica by hand, the way the grandmothers used to. Mainstreet Radio’ Chris Julin visited Andrej's European Pastry, one of those bakeries, in the town of Chisholm.
December 24, 2002 - MPR’s Cathy Wurzer talks with church bell ringers in the Twin Cities.