December is one of our busiest months and home to some of our most significant holidays. In addition to special observances such as Pearl Harbor Day and Animal Rights Day, we have some fun observances such as Cookie Day and Fruitcake Month. If you were participating in each of these holidays or observances, what would you be doing? What might you be eating, singing, wearing, or working to change?
Answers to the quiz are located in the last article of this issue, “Next Month in This Awful Awesome Life. You can read your way there or follow this link, https://www.thisawfulawesomelife.com/home/2024/12/3/next-month-in-this-awful-awesome-life-january-2025-by-fram-joyce
December Holidays and Observances:
National Cookie Day Giving Tuesday
Eggnog Day Christmas Book Day
Ugly Sweater Day National Peppermint Bark Day
Gazpacho Day Kwanzaa
Jane Addams Day International Animal Rights Day
Nobel Prize Day UNICEF Day for Change
Ambrosia Day Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe
Hanukkah Gingerbread House Day
Cocoa Day Christmas
Christmas Eve Bouillabaisse Day
Maple Syrup Day International Human Rights Day
Sangria Day Sacagawea Day
Winter Solstice Homeless Person’s Memorial Day
Short Story Day Mathematics Day
Boxing Day Fruitcake Month
Hogmanay All Innocents Day
1. During this December holiday after lighting candles, singing songs, and reciting prayers you could be enjoying any of these dishes: Latkes, matzah balls, homemade applesauce, brisket, kugel, challah, rugelach, sufganiyot, roasted chicken, babka, or doughnuts._____________________________________
2. This is a day to enjoy Spanish wine mixed with natural citrus fruit flavors. _____________________________________
3. On this day we remember and honor the first American woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for her work to promote peace and international understanding.____________________________________
4. This day honors the United Nations General Assembly’s adoption and proclamation that individuals and societies should strive to secure their universal and effective recognition and right to be treated with dignity._________________________________________________
5. On this day, people make, gift, share, and feast on sugary treats with names life snickerdoodles, Shortbread, ginger snaps, and macarons._________________________________
6. This stew, which has its own day, originated in Marseille, France and is made with fish, seafood, onions, leeks, potatoes, celery, tomatoes, olive oil, and spices. _______________________________________
7. This day celebrates a drink that originated in South America. The Mayans called it Chocolhaa, and the Aztecs named it Xocoatl. Europeans added sugar, heated it up, and the rest is history. ___________________________________________
8. The Scottish term for New Year’s Eve featuring customs such as the first footing, Redding the house, fireworks, bell ringing, and singing._________________________________________
9. This celebration begins the day after Christmas and lasts for seven days. Each day one of the candles of the kinara is lit. The days focus on specific principles in the Black community such as Umoja (Unity), Kujichagulia (Self-Determination), Ujima (Collective Work and Responsibility), Ujamaa (Cooperative Economics), Nia (Purpose), Kuumba (Creativity), Imani (Faith).__________________________________
10. This special day falls on December 3rd in 2024. It’s a day for global generosity ________________________________
11. This day of baking, building, and decorating probably inspired by a Grimms Fairy Tale began in Germany during the 1800s and spread to America with Pennsylvania German immigrants.
______________________________________________________
12. On this day, chosen by bibliophiles to be celebrated on the Winter Solstice, writers and readers like to keep it brief. _______________________________________
13. This is the day to make a salad named for the nectar of the gods__________________________________
14. Celebrate this sweet tradition and honor the trees and their diligent tappers (originally the indigenous peoples of North America) by pouring it over pancakes or French toast. ______________________________________
15. Jolabokaflod also known as _____________________________________began in Iceland during WWII when paper was not rationed. Many Icelanders give books as gifts and spend Christmas Eve reading and eating chocolate or drinking hot chocolate.
16. Also known as Childermas, ______________________________ commemorates the massacre of infant boys in Bethlehem by the orders of King Herod after he learned of Jesus’ birth. These children are considered saints and martyrs of God.
17. This day honors the daughter of a Shoshone chief who at 16 years old left her family to act as an interpreter for the Lewis and Clark expedition. ________________________
18. This day commemorates the day in Mexico when the Virgin Mary is supposed to have appeared to a peasant in 1531. ____________________________________________________
19. On this day, people are supposed to enjoy this holiday libation. ____________________________
20. Celebrated on December 22 in India, _____________________ honors the birth of Srinivasa Ramanujan and his contributions to mathematics.
21. These hand-knit garments were cherished and appreciated more for their warmth than their style after WWII. In the 1980s they became bedazzled, highly decorated, and so extreme they earned their own special day complete with parties and prizes. __________________________
22. This day honors an international movement to improve the lives of children around the world. ________________________________________
23. On this day, people are encouraged to see the value of animals and their right to live free from harm. People are also encouraged to look at how they treat animals and take steps to protect the well-being of all animals.__________________________________
24. Celebrated between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, ______________________
was originally a time for people to box up gifts and deliver them to the less fortunate. Employers also gave their staff Christmas gifts.
25. The shortest day of the year is known as the __________________________.
26. On this day, a flavorful tomato-based vegetable soup which originated in Andalucia is served and celebrated. ___________________________---
27. The entire month of December is dedicated to the most regifted dessert of all time.________________________________
28. Believe it or not there is a national day to celebrate this holiday tret made of layers of chocolate and peppermint with crunchy candy pieces.______________________________
29. The day before one of the most culturally significant celebrations in Christendom and Western society._________________________________
30. This day falls on the first day of winter, the longest night of the year. It recognizes the struggles of unhoused peoples who have experienced homelessness and died on the streets.______________________________________________
31. Ceremonies for this day take place in Oslo, Norway on the anniversary of the death of a Swedish chemist, engineer, inventor, and businessman. ________________________________
32. An annual festival commemorating the birth of Jesus Christ. _________________________