There's nothing like a true Polish Christmas celebration. The Aunts hosted a traditional Wigilia celebration the evening before so there was a bounty of traditional cuisine for our Christmas dinner today. There was fresh pierogi (cheese and cabbage/mushroom) drizzled with butter, onions and topped with sour cream. There was beef and lamb kapusta. There was smoked kielbasa and golabki, fasole, marchewki and ziemniaki. There was fish and shrimp and homemade cole slaw. Then came dessert: babka and chruszciki along with the offerings I had made the previous evening. I was so full at the end of the feast that I could barely waddle from the dining room chair to the sink to do the washing up. That was a meal.
My favorite Christmas tradition is the sharing of the oplatek prior to the meal. An oplatek is a blessed communion wafer, the size of a graham cracker and stamped with a religious image. The participants all get a section of the oplatek and they go from person to person, taking a section of each person's oplatek and biding the other good health and prosperity in the new year. It's a lovely and affectionate tradition.
And the capper? The Yule Log is still being broadcast on television. The continuous footage of the 1960s fireplace still burns bright while the dulcet tones of its Christmas carols reign. We listened to that all day--it utterly set the mood.
So here I sit, my refrigerator chock full of four days worth of Polish food. I'm enjoying the last of the Christmas champagne. My heart is full of good tidings and earnest hope for a bright year ahead.
Happy holidays to you all.
5 comments:
I love the channel 11 Yule Log! Michigan needs something like that!
Oh yeah, and Merry Christmas to you and yours. Take care of our Hollerback Girl when she gets back - deliver some bacon to her door or something.
Te beauty of Christmas is getting together with loved ones. Today was the first time in 16 years I have actually been with my siblings and parents on Christma Day, that was gift enough in itself. I'm glad you had a lovely day CW, family traditions should never be exempt from gatherings. Sounds like the feast was bountiful as well. Sorry I missed the log.
I adore The Yule Log for all its retro kitsch as well as its sentimental overtones. Fang is not a fan, but he tolerates it. He refers to it as The Torture Log.
Karen--glad you were able to enjoy the holiday amongst family. It sounds absolutely wonderful.
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