Danish Christmas treats - Telegraph Christmas is my favourite time of year. I thrive in the winter months. I love the cold, the blue winter sky and the magical atmosphere when the world goes quiet, covered in snow. I go a little crazy at Christmas. The celebrations start at Advent, on the fourth Sunday before Christmas. In Scandinavia, this time is part of the festivities, leading up to the big event on Christmas Eve. So on the first Advent Sunday I decorate my house and make a gingerbread town. Children visit, and make and decorate their own cookies. In the evening we eat apple æbleskiver 'doughnuts" and drink gløgg. I become pathetically happy when I unwrap my Christmas decorations - all the little glass balls, my antique nisser (elves), the ribbons, candles, stars, and - most of all - my little porcelain snowman. After I have decorated the house I feel, for a short while, that everything is perfect. Christmas is about celebrating life and hygge, a Danish term that is almost untranslatable, but encompasses comfort, camaraderie and good food and drink. My recipes are a mixture of family treasures and my own creations, but they are all founded in Scandinavian Christmas tradition, with little adjustments that I've made here and there. I learnt how to do Christmas baking when I was very young. I think I was trying to create a sense of the festive traditions in a childhood dominated by left-wing activism, where Christmas was taboo. However, my grandparents celebrated Christmas in a wonderful way: my grandmother baked everything and I learnt from her. The reason you have to bake so many different things is that you need enough to last for the whole of December. You can't run out of cakes or, especially, cookies... and you should have at least three or four kinds ready, stored in your kitchen, for family, friends and unexpected visitors. Scandinavian Christmas" by Trine Hahnemann (Quadrille, £16.99) is available for £14.99 plus £1.35 p&p from Telegraph Books (0844-8711515; books.telegraph.co.uk)