December 4, 2008 – The Springerle House

In Strassburg, an historical town south of Lancaster, there is a delightful bakery called The Springerle House. In the window at this time of year, there is a pyramid tree, the kind whose blades are set in motion by the heat of candles (although this one was powered by electricity).




When you opened the door, the smells of fresh baked springerle greeted you or the licorice scent of anise.

Springerles are cookies made by pressing dough with carved molds, leaving intricate designs.

Historical note: The European tradition of these “picture cookies” are over a thousand years old. Springerle molds first came to Lancaster County around 1710 among the most treasured possessions of the Pennsylvania German immigrants.

I bought some molds – a very hard choice to make from the large selection.

Molds







And here are pictures of some of the cookies. They may look like they’re too pretty to eat BUT…they were delicious with a cup of tea.

Cookies

December 3, 2008 – Christmas Center Museum

A friend and I visited the Christmas Museum, located on route 30, just east of Lancaster. What a wonderful time we had! There were displays of Christmas traditions from around the world.





There was a replica of a Woolworth store, complete with all the trimmings, toys and ornaments from decades ago.








As you wound your way through the museum there were recreated scenes from a storybook called “A Tudor Christmas” with various animals dressed in Victorian costumes.















At the end you walked the narrow streets of ancient Bethlehem, showing what the town was like during Mary and Joseph’s visit. Of course the culmination was the nativity scene.

What impressed me the most, aside from the thousands of ornaments and Christmas decorations, was listening to the comments other visitors were making and how different items reminded them of something from their childhood Christmases.

A wonderful place to visit, especially at this time of year.