Witamy
!
The feast begins at the light of the first star. At maybe 5 or 6 years old Peter remembers running out on the porch and looking up for that 1st starlight so they could get started with the sharing of the Communion wafer (Oplatek) – an important tradition. Peter’s Mother would always use a communion wafer mailed to her from Poland that had been blessed back there.
The white, almost translucent wafer is a symbol of love, friendship and forgiveness. It is broken into bite size pieces and shared with everyone at the table along with wishes for a happy and healthy new year.
It is customary to set an extra place
at the table for the lonely traveler who may knock at the door...Twelve dishes
were served for the twelve apostles and poppy seeds were always a part of
Christmas Eve supper as a symbol of peacefulness as was honey for
sweetness.
The meal is traditionally
meatless. Our own menu is right out of
our books, starting with clear beet soup, called Barszcz, which is a delicious peppery,
deep red beet broth served in fine china cups.
The second appetizers are Crepes
stuffed with mushroom and sauerkraut, breaded and sautéed lightly in plenty of
butter…our daughter and son-in-law would be perfectly happy if these crepes
were the only menu item for the whole dinner!
White fish - herring or carp - is the
traditional fish course but for years Peter’s Mom would buy a very fresh salmon
and actually freeze it in a block of ice.
With a nod to changing tastes and availabilities, we serve haddock or
flounder or cod or whatever white fish is fresh and available.
For dessert Laura always serves a variety of Polish baked
goods and American Christmas cookies.
The Polish Nut Roll and Poppy Seed Roll are always requirements. Laura usually makes a dozen or so for sharing
with the neighbors. Peter loves trading
sweets with our Greek friends who trade Poppy Seed Rolls for their wonderful
Baklava.
We also love Kolaczki a very
traditional cookie of delicate dough squares wrapped around fruit preserves.
Or our Gingerbread Honey Cake which is so popular and easy to make.
And our dessert table would not be
complete without the stately Warsaw Fruit Cake which is not loaded down with
cloyingly sweet candied fruit. Peter
likes to pour a little Polish brandy over his slice, just for an added
kick.
After Wigilia has ended, Peter’s Mother always insisted that
they sing Christmas carols together – both Polish and English – before opening
their gifts. The evening ends at
Midnight Mass, after which everyone falls into bed stuffed to the top,
exhausted but happy.
All these traditional recipes are in our two cook books –
Polish Classic Recipes
and Polish Classic Desserts.
There are lots of books
on the market with Polish holiday traditions and Christmas recipes, but the
traditions and dishes in our two books are truly authentic heritage recipes
which have been extensively tested (to the delight of our neighbors) and just
updated for modern kitchens. So no more
pinch of this and pinch of that. There
are over 90 beautiful photographs in each book, stories, traditions, and plenty
of tips on preparing each dish successfully.
If you live in the U.S., each book will autographed by the authors –
that would be us – and personally dedicated to whomever you’d like, as long as
you get your order in by December 15th. If you don’t live in the U.S. your best bet
will be Amazon.
So if you haven’t finished your Christmas shopping, or can’t
find Babcia’s recipes, or just want to treat yourself, please click on the “add to the cart” button above, before the 15th, and we’ll do the rest! Thanks!
Wszystkiego Najlepszego, Happy Holidays and Smacznego!
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