Christmas in the Erzgebirge Part II

Since the Erzgebirge has a very varied Christmas tradition, I would like to give a glimpse of what Christmas is like in the region of Annaberg.
Christmas Eve usually starts off with the cutting of Christmas tree in the morning - however, this tradition seems so get lost because many people already put up their trees weeks in advance. The tree is then decorated usually with red baubles and bows. Then it is already time to prepare lunch, which is a part of the famous "Neunerlei" (nine different kinds of food that are eaten on Christmas Eve). For lunch, we always prepare a sweet and sour lentil soup with sausages. As every tradition has a certain cultural meaning, lentils in the Erzgebirge stand for having enough pennies for the upcoming new year.
On Christmas Eve, we never stop eating - in the afternoon we cut the Stollen for the first time and enjoy the first pieces with a cup of coffee. Right after that, the preparations begin for the "Neunerlei" dinner. The main course of the dinner is dumplings (made from cooked potatoes), Sauerkraut and Bratwurst. Here, the dumplings, similar to the lentils, characterize the "Taler" which stand for the "big money". ;) The popular belief is that the more you eat of these dumplings, the more money you will have next year. I ate just two dumplings, let's see if that was enough to have plenty of money in 2015. The other side dishes that belong to the "Neunerlei" are pickled fish salad, cooked celery, blueberries, sweet milk with nuts and rolls (my all-time favorite) and beet salad. These side dishes naturally have all their traditional meanings as well, for example the beet salad is said to be for a healthy look and red cheeks in the following year. If you are interested in the Neunerlei tradition, here is a Wikipedia link: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neunerlei to read on.
After this feast, we normally go for a walk around our village and take a look at the beautifully enlighted windows and gardens. Most of the people exchange presents on Christmas Eve, but we wait until Christmas Day to do so. On Christmas Day, our what I call "Hop-On-Hop-Off Christmas" starts. Christmas is a family celebration and we always try to meet all of our close relatives and spend some time together. The 25th takes place at the house of my parents-in-law together with my boyfriend's grandma and grandpa. On this day, we eat goose, dumplings and red cabbage. On December 26, we hop to the next family members: my boyfriend's dad and his wife and enjoy a delicious dinner and an after dinner walk in Stollberg.
The days after Christmas we try to eat all leftovers from the days before, which is not always easy since no one is really hungry...