How Christmas Is Celebrated in Eastern Europe

Ritual breads are featured at every important occasion in Eastern Europe and around the world, especially at Christmas time and Easter.

These slightly sweet Eastern European yeast breads are traditionally eaten at Christmas time.

These are memories of Christmas Eve and Christmas celebrations, customs and food in Eastern European families.

About.com's European Food Guides got together to provide these traditional Christmas recipes for Eastern Europe, Germany, France, Spain and England.

These Christmas cookie recipes come from About.com Food Guides around the world.

Every year since 1942, Chicago's Museum of Science and Industry has displayed Christmas trees from around the world, decorated by volunteers from Chicago's ethnic communities. Enjoy this virtual tour that highlights the Eastern European trees in the exhibit.

A pattern, recipes and step-by-step instructions for building a gingerbread house are included, plus the history of this sweet treat.

Polish Christmas Eve - Wigilia - and Christmas Day are two of the holiest days of the year to Roman Catholics along with Easter.

Here are pictures of gingerbread houses and tips on how to build them.

Readers submitted these gingerbread-house-making stories and photos.

These are memories of Christmas Eve and Christmas celebrations, customs and food in Eastern European families.

Here you will find traditional Christmas cookie recipes from Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Ukraine.

Gingerbread houses have a universal appeal and are perfect for Christmas.