This is not for the first time that I am experiencing this wonderful magic of virtual world of getting people together. I have got one friend for life through social networking. And now I got this opportunity to participate in this advent calendar. Being a part of one of the best groups on Facebook, I got to know that Jenny is planning an advent calendar. Initially, I had no idea what advent calendar meant. But then I did some research and Jenny made it easier to understand so I couldn’t wait more to participate in it.

Advent calendar is basically a German tradition. The tradition dates back to the mid-19th century, when German Protestants made chalk marks on doors or lit candles to count the days leading up to Christmas. The basic fundament of this calendar is to mark days from the first day of December until the Christmas eve. The origin of this idea is traced back to 19^th Century. Gerhard Lang is widely considered the producer of the first printed Advent calendar in the early 1900s.

Around the same time, a German newspaper included an Advent calendar insert as a gift to its readers. Lang’s calendar was inspired by one that his mother had made for him and featured 24 colored pictures that were attached to a piece of cardboard.

In today’s world, it’s really easy to just tap on your cellphone and check the time and date and count the days but the joy of revealing secrets till Christmas comes is priceless.

I am participating with 23 other food bloggers in this Advent calendar, which has a theme of “Spices”. So we are going to spice up your lives with variety of spices and recipes this holiday season.

I will be posting my surprise after mid-December but worry not, you can open doors to this virtual world’s surprise by checking out these guys:

December 1, Jenny will feature tonka bean in a sweet bread tomorrow on her blog

December 2, Rachel from Dishing Up Dinner will feature nutmeg in a cookie

December 3, Jyoti from The Hungry Belly will feature saffron in a dessert

December 4, Natalie from Natalie Journeys will feature nutmeg in a drink

December 5, Renea from Inspire A Creation will feature peppermint in a dessert

December 6, Samira from Samira’s Recipe Diary will feature cardamom in a dessert

December 7, Markus from Earth Food and Fire will feature cloves in a side dish

December 8, Candi from Make Ahead Meal Mom will feature nutmeg in a dessert

December 9, Rachael from Coloured Plates will feature star anise in a condiment

December 10, Kori from I Rok the Kitchen will feature ginger in a cookie

December 11, Megan from Life on Paradise Drive will feature pumpkin pie spice in a dessert

December 12, Leslie from Deliciously Plated will feature cardamom in a beverage

December 13, Tanya from Food Forage will feature ginger in a dessert

December 14, Ali from Fix Me a Little Lunch will feature bay leaves in a cocktail

December 15, Daniela from Dani’s Cookings will feature cinnamon in a cake

December 16, Neha from Witty Mushroom will feature cardamom in a dessert

December 17, Lizet from Chipa by the Dozen will feature aniseed in a cookie

December 18, Jillian from Simple Sassy Scrumptious will feature cinnamon and cloves in a cookie

December 19, Jennifer from Jennifer Bakes will feature cayenne pepper in a snack

December 20, Angela from Bake It with Love will feature nutmeg in a dessert

December 21, Kaveri from Pretty Little Things will feature ginger in a dessert

December 22, Nataliya from The Friendly Gourmand will feature clove in a side dish

December 23, Myriam from Milly’s Melting Pot will feature vanilla in a cookie

December 24, Jenny will do a roundup on her blog

Hope you all will enjoy these recipes.