The months from October to January are packed with big holidays, events planning, social gatherings and gift giving.  Entertaining a house full of guests for Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s Eve can be stressful.  Between the guest list, the food menu, and shopping, usually the last thing anyone thinks about is what they will use to set the table.   Most people don’t stress over what utensils will be used, or which plates, etc.  However, creating a unique theme at your next social gathering will make your guests think that you went the extra mile to make the night special for everyone.  They will shower you with appreciation and compliments for the hard work you put in and the great time you showed them simply because you put a face on this year’s traditional (otherwise ordinary) holiday gathering.  The good news is that creating a theme and spicing things up a bit doesn’t have to be hard or time consuming.

It took me quite a while to learn how to write German on an English laptop keyboard. Adding the language in Windows XP is not a big deal, remembering the Alt+Shift shortcut to switch between them no problem either, the Umlaute are ok after a while and the y/z switch probably one of the harder things to memorize. But all the signs and symbols is where the cursing starts. That's why this German keyboard is the perfect gift for anyone who writes a significant amount of German letters, articles or whatever, while living in the States. Here are the specs:

Swiss Army Knives
starting $12.25 at
SwissOutpost.com

Swiss Army knives are a childhood dream of mine. I can still remember when I got the first one when I was 13 and it still hurts to think back to the day when I had to give it up at a US airport not too long ago. Everybody should own one, just realized a Swiss Army knive is missing on my Christmas wishlist this year...

Autobahn license plate frame
$14.99 at
Cafepress.com

For the German Car lover or any other German driver in the US ( I have to confess we recently bought a Toyota, but I swear the next one is gonna be a German ) - express your love for the Autobahn by putting this cool license plate frame on your ride. Whether it's a Porsche or one of those sweet VW Golf convertibles, "I'd rather drive on the Autobahn" should always be your motto. 

Jan and Peter are two best friends who try to change the world by screwing with the minds of the wealthy. When the rich go on vacation, these two boys break into their homes and move stuff around. However, when Peter's girlfriend gets into the act for revenge, everythings goes horribly wrong and friendships begin to crack. Even though there is obviously some deeper meaning to this film, it is still interesting enough to keep viewers engaged. The acting is excellent, especially with Daniel Bruehl from 'Good-bye, Lenin!' as Jan. A must-see for everyone, whether you speak German or not.

This is the German-Cookbook I have been looking for - for Years. I was raised close to the Black forest and it has all the recipes my mother and grandmother used to cook. The only (great) difference: It is more "modern", with all the spices you can buy today. In the Fifties and Sixties my mother had only pepper, salt, bayleaves and maggi in her kitchen. Never heard of garlic, basil, rosmaryn etc. . Believe me, you will cook ALL the recipes in this book. The desserts and cakes are wonderful, too. The recipes are easy to follow and the photos are gorgeous. Because I lived only 50 miles away from the Black Forest, the book is double special. I only wished THIS book came out earlier!

Mulled wine, or Gluehwein is the perfect gift to bring to a party during the winter. You can either prepare your own or buy a bottled one. But hey, preparing it yourself is part of the fun, right?

I know, this is technically not a German gift, the roots of raclette are in Switzerland. But we love our raclette, a perfect present that your family and friends will enjoy.

Betthupferl Bib
$8.99 at
SpreadGermanisms.com

Eeewww Baby, Baby!!! This cute German Bib features one of my favorite German words - Betthupferl. It provides great upper body coverage to protect baby's clothes. The sturdy closure makes this one-size bib fit newborns to 36 months.

My absolute favorite kid detective stories as a kid was The Three Investigators, or Die Drei Fragezeichen. The Three Investigators, as the card says, were Jupiter Jones, Peter Crenshaw, and Bob Andrews (Justus Jonas, Peter Shaw und Bob Andrews).  I think there was something about these seemingly normal boys and their adventures solving mysteries and crime that totally captivated me.  They were stationed out of Jupiter’s aunt and uncle’s junk yard, where they had built a secret headquarters out of an RV left in the yard.  Jupiter  invented lots of little devices with the junk in the yard, like communicator devices, etc. And they were sponsored, so to speak, by Alfred Hitchcock (though it took me years to catch on to who he was).