Chicago Christmas Tastes

German food has become a tradition at the market, too. Bratwurst, potato pancakes (to be slathered with sour cream or applesauce) and wiener schnitzel sandwiches sizzle on grills. And there's strudel, of course. "It’s like you’ve stepped outside the U.S.," Barb says.

Browsers can eat at picnic tables, but many keep moving among stalls brimming with all sorts of German gifts and trims. Shopkeepers, more than half of whom travel from Germany, show off their wares, breaking walnuts in toy-soldier nutcrackers and spinning mouth-blown glass ornaments that catch the light.

Prices range from less than $10 for some glass ornaments to hundreds for cuckoo clocks, handcrafted beer steins and other one-of-a-kind works of art. "We shop for everything here&amber rings, nutcrackers and incense burners for our whole family," Scott says.

Looking festive in twin Santa hats, Donna Zimmerman and her teenage daughter, Tiffany Hammond, both of Jackson, Michigan, have stalled outside Grand Timber Lodge, an indoor heated rest area (also the place to get market maps) to plot their next stop. "I already bought a lot, but there is still stuff on my list, like German chocolate and lace doilies," Tiffany says.

A few booths away, she spots a vendor from Vogtland-Saxony, Germany, selling all kinds of lace, including ornaments, table runners and doilies. Also nearby, chocolate-covered fruits, cookies and marzipan fill a spotless glass case in Frank’s Bavarian Gift Shop.

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