Back in 2019, I read about Jólabókaflóð and was immediately enamored. My inner bookworm wiggled with glee and I sent off an email to my girlfriends suggesting that we have one as our annual girls' holiday party. In case you haven't heard of it, Jólabókaflóð is the Icelandic tradition of giving, receiving, and then reading books and eating chocolates on Christmas Eve. I hosted our first one that year - then the pandemic happened - and we didn't get together again for years. Literally years. I think this one, v.2023, is our third edition.
To keep it simple, this year we went to our favorite Happy Hour spot and did the exchange as a white elephant-style of opening, stealing, or keeping.
Out of the six gifts, more than half were foodie related. I brought Stanley Tucci's memoir Taste: My Life Through Food; I ended up with (hooray!) Bay Area Coffee: A Stimulating History by Monika Trobits; and the only book that ended up being stolen till it was dead was The Unofficial TikTok Cookbook: 75 Internet-Breaking Recipes for Snacks, Drinks, Treats, and More! by Valentina Mussi.
I can't wait to crawl into bed with this book. And I am so grateful that these ladies have been in my life since I was thirteen years old!
Happy Holidays! This is definitely a tradition we are keeping.