Winter is officially here. So I thought we could share our favourite things about winter. Here are my top 10:

1. Warm clothes. There is something comforting about a giant jumper, thermal leggings and fluffy socks.
2. Glühwein – A tradition in my family. A German take on mulled wine. Made with spices, orange juice, red wine, sugar and a lot of love and care. I make it as a gift for family members every year. My dad taught me to make it as a child and it has been a mainstay every Christmas in my home as an adult.
3. Lebkuchen – Another German influenced tradition (one side of my family is Serbian/ German/ Austrian). These little soft ginger bites of awesome are a rare Christmas treat. I haven’t found a reliable recipe that is gluten-free, unfortunately.
4. Christmas pyjamas. Every year growing up on Christmas Eve my mum would give me Christmas pyjamas. We would put on our jammies, eat a mince pie with a glass of milk and do something together.
5. Drunk Pork. Since moving in together and deciding to spend Christmas Day in our home, James and I make what we lovingly call drunk pork. It is a shoulder of pork slowly cooked in the oven alongside that year’s tipple of choice and spices. Past incarnations have been: Hobgoblin Ale, Jack Daniels and Coke and one experiment with sambuca that wasn’t so great.
6. The “good” weather. Days when it is cold but it dry. When you get all wrapped up in a warm bundle of clothes and embrace the freshness of the frost outside.
7. Fresh Snow. Throughout history, snow has always had a mystical power and brings a sense of inner warmth. Snow is both dangerous and fun all at once. There is something very satisfying to see undisturbed snow – a perfect blanket of white fluff.
8. Comfort Foods. Nothing quite beats coming into your home from the cold outside to a warm bowl of soup or stew. It warms the soul.
9. Sports. From skating to sledging there is so much that freezing cold temperatures can bring. I worked for a couple of winter seasons at an indoor ice-rink as an ice guard and even although it was work, it somehow didn’t feel like it.
10. Green Day – American Idiot Album. Now this one is probably just me. Back in the days before Spotify and MP3 players, there was the Discman (and the Walkman but that is a little further back). I was in college, it was winter time and I did my Christmas shopping in my downtime from work and college. My Discman only played one disc at a time and I didn’t carry more than one CD at any one time. So for that entire Christmas season, I listened to Jesus of Suburbia and Holiday.