I hope you’ve enjoyed my post about things we didn’t have in Brazil, now it’s the time to share things that we used to do and still do there that are not a tradition in the US!
Are you ready? You might love them so much, you will incorporate them into your Christmas traditions!
Picture Christmas in the summer! Yes, that’s what we have in Brazil! 100°F in some places, so we go to the beach in the morning and get together for a late Christmas meal and gathering with family and friends!
- Weather – Have you thought about spending Christmas in summer? That’s what we have in Brazil, gorgeous and sunny, which totally changes the way we see Christmas and explains why some of the traditions celebrated here would never work in a warm weather!
- Food – Well, warm weather, besides being in a different country, the temperature dictates the type of food, so we have cold salads, appetizers and dishes such as rice salad, Brazilian Potato salad, the summer sandwich (a long, layered sandwich, farofa festiva, seafood dishes and the traditional turkey and ham.
- Beverages – we have cider and our most favorite soda, Guarana, which is made of a Brazilian fruit, instead of artificial syrup. Guarana is a must have during the holidays.
- Appetizers – Brazilians have appetizers which are made for most birthday parties, we bring them to Christmas – risoles, kibes, coxinhas, canudinhos, barquetas. I promise to share some recipes!! A table full of goodies, since dinner is usually not served until 11ish… My absolute favorites are canudinhos (below) and click here for cheese bread recipe.
- Desserts – we don’t do cookies. We have many different desserts, such as rabanadas, which come from Portugal, but pudim (flan) and brigadeiro are some of the most famous desserts at Christmas time! I will be sharing Brigadeiro as my first recipe of the 12 days of desserts, a series we start tomorrow!
- Panetone – It’s an Italian tradition that landed in Brazil! A dry bread with fruits or chocolate, which tastes like a little piece of heaven!
- Caroling – We don’t do caroling, no singing usually. I’ve only heard some of the Christmas songs in Portuguese after I moved here, when I was looking to buy a CD to bring some of our music to my home. A song, Botei Meu Sapatinho is one of my favorite ones!
- Shoes – We have Shoes, yes, Santa brings candy to the children shoes left on the window sills or outside the bedroom door when you live in a really tall building, like we did!
- Gifts – We open gifts at Midnight and go to the Midnight Mass and nothing happens on the 25th. Nobody works from Dec 23rd – 26th. (Only hospitals, groceries and essential services.)
- Decorations – We don’t really decorate the whole house like we do here. Just a Christmas tree and pretty table set up with some candles. This one is my sister’s!
Hope you’ve enjoyed hearing all about how we celebrate Christmas in South America, not only in Brazil!
For me, my best memories are of spending time with my family, laughing, enjoying our home! That feeling is the same there as well as here! It’s a season of giving and sharing your home with the ones you love!
I loved sharing our traditions with you!
Have you heard of some of them? What was your favorite?
See you tomorrow when our 12 days of desserts series start! I will be sharing my favorite Brazilian dessert recipes!
Can’t wait to hear what you think! As usual give us a Trendy Shout!
These are great traditions. I would love to find a place to go caroling around here.
I am loving hearing about your Brazilian traditions! The food sounds so good!
christmas in Brazil seems like a dream! I love all your pictures and all the traditions- so much fun and such a DEPARTURE FROM our NYC ones!
These look like wonderful traditions and that food looks amazing. Your photos are so lovely!
wow everything looks wonderful. i love all the goodies and that water is gorg
The weather looks amazing! I would love to spend the holidays someplace warm!
These sound like great traditions. I love that Santa leaves candy in the shoes.
Brazil looks so beautiful. I would love to go and experience the holiday traditions.
These are fantastic Christmas traditions. I would love to spend some time in Brazil.
I would love to go to Brazil for Christmas. It would be amazing to escape the cold.
That sounds like an amazing Christmas traditions! Love all the difference every country has when celebrating Christmas yet still we get to celebrate one important thing during this season.
That weather is enough to convince me. I’d love to add the beach and sun to my holiday traditions!
I love learning about different cultures and how they celebrate. These traditions look like a lot of fun – and the food looks amazing!
Oh my goodness! Everything looks so scrumptious. And the beach. Absolutely gorgeous and the water is calling my name!
I honestly wish it were warm for Christmas. I mean I do love having a white Christmas though with all the snow. It’s very nice. I just don’t like the cold that much.
The Brazilian beverages seem so tasty! I gotta ask my friend if she was born in Brazil if she remembers any of them.
It is always fun to hear about other holiday traditions from around the world. Love this!
I love learning about what other cultures and countries do for the holiday season. I really hope to visit Brazil someday!
I NEED to go down to Brazil! WOW beautiful country and wonderful food! I would love to try some of that food WOW!
I think the food is the biggest thing we’re missing out on with Brazilian Christmas traditions. Their food is like Heaven.
I can’t imagine it being warm for Christmas. Hubby and I were recently in Key West and they were all decorated for Christmas, but we both agreed that it felt wrong.