For coffee, tea, grog

Santa brought us these adorable harbour mugs last year, so that we don't need to miss Hamburg quite as much. They were crafted by Hildburg Lucardis Wittke and cure thirst and homesickness equally well. The mugs are light as a feather and the harbour scenes in their happy pastel colors are so much more darling than the usual Hanseatic imagery you'd find on a souvenir mug.

Fortunately our yearly visit to Northern Germany is imminent, right in time for the pinnacle of hot beverage season, and so we'll be spending Christmas drinking hot mulled wine (aka Glühwein) and singing a shanty or two.

And for those of you who really feel like having a grog now, there's a recipe in Marion's Kochbuch that'll also teach you how to avoid a hot mess on the kitchen counter.