The upcoming weekend, December 4-6, is a big one for Christmas events on Cape Cod. And since I am a sucker for holiday traditions, I’m going to have a hard time choosing from among the many unique and wonderfully original activities going on. Here are just a few that piqued my interest:

Holly Days, a month-long celebration of open houses, tree lightings, and concerts that takes place in Sandwich.

12th Annual Festival of Trees, presented by the Chatham Garden Club on December 4th from 1 to 4 PM.

Holly Folly Weekend in Provincetown, which includes a Snow Ball, tree lighting, sing-a-long, farmer’s market, and holiday stroll.

Brewster Sea of Lights, a prelude to the holiday with music, food raffles, band concert, and more.

Eighth Annual Enchanted Village opens at the Cape Codder in Hyannis, featuring over 100,000 lights, Santa’s village, and a bonfire every night, weather permitting.

At the Country Christmas at Green Briar Jam Kitchen in Sandwich visitors can sample fresh fruit jams and mulled cider while enjoying the old fashioned decorations.

The Jolly Jaunt takes place on December 6th at the Hyannis resort and Conference Center. Folks dressed up in holiday costumes will compete in a 5K run and one-mile fun walk to benefit the Special Olympics. This truly is a one-of-a-kind event.

I’ll be putting together a list of my favorite Cape Cod shops and boutiques that always get me in the spirit.  Look for it here in just a few days.

On the first day of Advent, it is a Swedish tradition to take down all the Christmas things from the attic and bake Pepparkokor and Lussekattor. Then everyone goes out and window shops. This Sunday is known as “Skyltsondag”. (more…)

This was one of my mother’s favorite recipes. It can be made with either fresh or frozen blueberries. But I will warn you, it is addictive.

Ingredients:
3 Tablespoons shortening
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg
1 ¾ cup sifted flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup milk
1 ½ cups fresh blueberries (or 1 can, drained)

Crumb Topping:
½ cup flour
½ cup sugar
2 tablespoons soft margarine
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Cream shortening with sugar; beat in the egg. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt together. Add dry ingredients to shortening and sugar mixture alternately with milk. Sprinkle washed, drained blueberries with a little flour to keep them from sinking, and stir into the batter. Pour batter into greased and lightly floured pan, 11 x 7 inches in size. Mix together ingredients for crumb topping until crumbly. Sprinkle batter with crumb topping. Bake in 350 F degree oven until cake tests done, about 40 minutes.

Serves 8-12