And So This Is Christmas...


Various types of kielbasaImage via Wikipedia



Well, it's Christmas eve & it's almost time to start getting ready to be sociable. UGH! Yes, this evening we will be spending with my family. My uncle & his partner are in from Minnesota. The rest of my family will be meeting at my youngest sister's house at 6:00 pm for dinner & Polish traditions.
We usually start with sharing of the oplatek which is a very thin wafer-like square broken & shared with everyone to share good blessings & wishes for the new year. It's pretty much made of the same ingredients that a communion wafer is made of but it's a 5 x7 inch square. Then we sit down to say grace & all each a piece of herring. I know it has some meaning & I need to find that & the Polish spelling. When I do, I will let you know. LOL! We have a meatles dinner of pierogi (dumplings) filled with potato, cheese & plum, fish, kapusta (special sauerkraut with mashed lima beans) & dried plums & apricots. We usually have a few other thigs & dessert as well. After dinner, we sing Christmas carols, Polish & English & the kids will open their gifts. Then it's time to go to midnight mass, which is at 10pm because of the neighborhood or because we are Polish...lol! Those who don't go to church stay behind & cook ham & kielbasa (Polish sausage) for the after midnight meal when meat is able to be eaten. So, when everyone comes back from church, we eat & pretty much go home after that since it's usually around 1-2am.
On Christmas day, we go to my mom-in-laws house for dinner consisting of ham, chicken, sausage (pork & turkey), stuffing, turkey, potatoes, etc. There's a lot of food!!! Then since we exchange names every year, my hubby passes out the gifts. No, he is NOT dressed in a Santa suit. It would be funny, though...shhh, I won't tell him that! LOL. After all the fun is over, we all pack up food & all of our gifts & homemade cookies from my sis-in-law & head home to relax & digest.
I am so looking forward to Saturday when I don't have to do anything! I'll just be here reading blogs, email & playing mahjongg. That is my Christmas gift to me-Rest & Relaxation! I can not wait!
There is one thing my uncle told me yesterday that may be a gift for my whole family. He found out that my middle sis broke up with the idiot guy she got back with after making us happy when she broke up with him earlier in the year. Of course, UGH, they got back together but now we found out that they are no longer together. I certainly hope so. She deserves so much better & needs someone to take care of her instead of her taking care of him & his whole family. Anyway, I'm hoping it's a Christmas miracle. I will let you know, of course!!!


Well, I'm off to the bakery to pick up dessert & bread (that I had to wait a half hour in line to order yeaterday!). Then a nice bubble bath & soon after...The Peace, Joy & Love of Christmas! (cough cough) Sorry, I just choked there for a minute. LOL. Positive thoughts (& lots of cigarettes) will get me through.


Merry Christmas to all & to all Good Luck!!!




Using a Babushka to stifle myself,


Collette


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13 comments:

Ron said...

OMG...your Christmas eve and Christmas day sound very similar to how we use to spend ours in an Italian family. EAT. EAT. EAT. PRAY. PRAY. PRAY. and then EAT. EAT. EAT. And then collapse - HA!

And I know your feelings about how you cannot wait until Saturday to just relax. That's what I'll be looking forward to tomorrow. Retail hell is over for another year - YIPEEEEEE!!!

Wishing you a MERRY CHRISTMAS, my friend!

Enjoy your day!

x

melissa said...

merry christmas to you, my friend!! enjoy!
xoxo

http://howtobecomeacatladywithoutthecats.blogspot.com said...

Happy Polish Christmas, Collette! Same me some leftovers!

xoxoxo
CatLady

ReformingGeek said...

It sounds wonderful and yes, there is SO MUCH food around right now. I'm getting tired of eating.

Merry Christmas!

Moonrayvenne said...

@Ron-Glad you made it through the yearly retail hell in one piece. Amazing how cultural traditions revolve around food!

@Melissa, Thank you. And you enjoy your family during this special time.

@CatLady-There was only a little of food left once we were done being vultures...lol. Merry Christmas to you & yours!

@Reffie-I know & once you get started, you just have to taste everything. Merry Christmas to you & your family.

Jientje said...

Merry Christmas to you too Colette, I'm sorry it rained, White Christmasses are so much more romantic aren't they? I enjoyed reading your Christmas traditions. And um ... Miracles DO happen. Just one, every once in a while but they happen. Let's hope all your wishes come true Colette!

Moonrayvenne said...

@Jientje-I really don't mind not having snow. Besides, we're supposed to get a little the next few days. I do believe we had a miracle here Christmas day. The plane that the terrorist attempted to blow up was at our big airport here about 45 minutes from my house. I think it was a miracle that there his attempt was thwarted.

kathryn said...

Your Christmas Eve and Day traditions sound CHAOTIC, but yummy! I can't believe you eat at 1-2am!?! Do the children stay awake as well?? I cannot imagine!

The food sounds excellent, though...and now I'm hungry.

Hope your holiday was a fabulous one, sweetie!

Anonymous said...

That's one thing to really celebrate: when it's over and you can enjoy your own company WITH food spread out across your belly as you watch TV in golden silence.

Aunt Becky said...

Merry BELATED Christmas and now I'm freaking hungry. Seriously hungry.

MomZombie said...

A belated holiday greeting to you and your family. Thanks for sharing your Polish traditions. My family did the big dinner and then Midnight Mass thing, too, but no one ever made it for another round of food afterward. We were dead tired after services, which were held at midnight or maybe 11:30 for singing with the choir at the earliest. My maternal great-grandmother was Polish and I recall hearing about some of these traditions, especially the oplatek wafer. I remember my grandmother always cooked enough for an army, ate nothing herself but insisted we have seconds and thirds.

Ed & Jeanne said...

Well, my blog roll starts anew tomorrow. I'd be honored if you participate again in 2010. Leave a comment and you're on the blog roll! Thanks for visiting and commenting in 2009.

Moonrayvenne said...

Kinda late with the comments. I'll explain soon!

@Kathryn-There's really not any kids except my 16 y/o daughter & my 14 y/o nephew who has cerebral palsy & he is in bed by 8pm.
@Dana-That was the best part. Having that time off & doing NOTHING!(a little laundry, maybe)
@Aunt Becky-You will probably get hungry much of the time you come here. Being Polish, food somehow seems to get in a lot of conversations!
W@MomZombie-The traditions are very important to my sisters & myself. My babcia is our only grandparent still around so she makes sure we don't forget anything...LOL. Email me your addy. I can send you some oplatek!
@VE-I will be there as soon as I can. Thanks for the reminder!

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