OK, so about a billion of you have written me about this German pickle tradition – apparently everyone in the world is aware of it except for me, who happens to have married into a German family. Whoops. 

According to German tradition, the pickle ornament brings good luck, and is the last ornament placed on the Christmas tree. On Christmas morning, the children all search for the pickle ornament, and the first to find it is rewarded with a little extra present from St. Nicholas. (The point, it seems, is to encourage children to appreciate the ornaments on the tree, rather than running straight for their gifts.) 

I think it’s a really sweet tradition, and will most certainly do this with our own kids one day.