The last days before Christmas is spent buying the few presents remaining, preparing food, hoping for the snow to fall if it is not yet there and thousands of other small things. On December 24, all shops close at noon so everything must be taken care of and bought before this deadline. The day of Christmas Eve, December 24, is one long wait if you are a child and probably quite busy if you are an adult. Christmas dinner is prepared and some families go to church in the afternoon to hear the Christmas Gospel about the birth of Jesus. Finally, in the evening, Christmas dinner is served and it too has a lot of traditions attached to it.
Some families start with rice porridge with sugar, cinnamon and butter.
A whole almond is hidden in the porridge and whoever gets the almond receives the almond present, traditionally but not necessarily a marzipan pig. Afterwards most people have either duck, roast, turkey or goose served with potatoes, gravy, and cooked red cabbage. If you did not start with rice porridge, you have a kind of cold rice porridge for dessert along with cherry sauce and, of course, the whole almond. Christmas beer, a sweet beer with very little alcohol, or juice is served with the porridge and red wine is common with the main course. Finally the presents are opened, and when the unwrapping is done, it is time for coffee and sweets before bedtime.