Wesolych Swiat ~ Merry Christmas Poland

[Molly53]

From Nana Lee:
CHRISTMAS IN POLAND


Jak będzie Wigilia, tak będzie caly rok.
"As is wigilia, so is the entire year," a Polish proverb.

Christmas Feast/Food
The traditional Christmas Eve (Wigilia) supper consists of 12 dishes representing the twelve months of the year. No meat is served during the supper, only fish, usually herring, carp or pike. Other traditional dishes appearing on the table include Borscht, "Zupa Ze Swiezych Grzybow" Polish Mushroom Soup or fish soup, sauerkraut with wild mushrooms or peas, Dried Fruit Compote - Polish Kompot and Kutia, a dessert especially popular in eastern Poland.

Boiled or fried Pierogies, Polish dumplings with a wide variety of fillings, are among the most popular Polish dishes. For the Christmas Eve supper, pierogis are usually made with sauerkraut and mushrooms.



Additional recipes that might appear for the Christmas Eve meal:
Ryba W Sosie Chrzanowym -- Fish in Horseradish Sauce
Bigos
Pickled Herring (Sledzie Polish)
Crocus Restaurant Dill Pickle Soup
Kluski
Chalka -- Polish Egg Bread
Mackowiec



In Polish families, Christmas is a time for friends to pay each other a visit. That means a glass of Christmas cheer, coffee or tea, and sweets, if not a full-blown meal. That's a lot of entertaining, so weeks before Christmas, families get out the cookie tins and start baking traditional Polish cookies or ciasteczka na święta
Grandma's Kolacky Cookies
Polish Rum Balls
Chrusciki- Bow Knots
Mazurek Migdalowy or Orzechowy (Almond or Walnut Mazurka)
Rogaliki (Polish Croissant Cookies With Jam Filling)
Ciastka Makowe (Poppy Seed Crisps)
Zozworki - Ginger Polish Cookies



This is a link on how to celebrate a Polish Christmas Eve. http://www.ehow.com/how_8773_observe-polish-christmas.html

This(below) is a traditional Christmas Crib from Krakow in Poland. These cribs are designed around the architecture of the Wawel Cathedral which dominates the city square of Krakow, where these cribs are brought during the first week of December to a huge Christmas market and competition. The best are kept in the Ethnographic Museum, which sponsors the competition. The rest are sold at the market.



I wasn't there for Christmas but I was there(the square in Krakow is called the Rynek) for a month in the summer back in the '70s. I spent my last day in Poland there and cried from a broken heart that I had to leave. It was so beautiful! Every noon the trumpeter(a real one!) would play a special song from the tower of the church. It's been a long time but I remember that the song and trumpeter were a reminder of some special event in Poland's history.
The land of my ancestry was very hard to leave!

ETA: If you buy fine glass ornaments, look at the package fro where they are made. Most are made in Poland! Check out Pier 1.
Some examples from PolArt Gift Catalog (link)

[Lorac]

Thanks Molly - Great po0st!

[Molly53]

Aw, you're welcome, but the credit really goes to Nana Lee.

[duonyte]

This is just lovely. I am Lithuanian, but we share at least some of the foods and traditions. Such a wonderful time of the year.

[johnny s]

thank you for the wonderful pictures molly! my family is slovak and it reminded me of home in new jersey. do u have a recipe for poppy seed bread or nut rolls? your food looks tremendous. johnny s.

[Lorac]

Hi!
Here are recipes from the data base for poppy seed bread http://www.food.com/recipe-finder/all/poppy-seed-bread
and nut rolls http://www.food.com/recipe-finder/all/-nut-rolls Hope this helps.

[Molly53]

johnny s wrote:
thank you for the wonderful pictures molly! my family is slovak and it reminded me of home in new jersey. do u have a recipe for poppy seed bread or nut rolls? your food looks tremendous. johnny s.

Thanks, John.

Most of the recipe names in the post are clickable links. Is your version of poppy seed bread anything like the mackowiec or the nut rolls like the mazurek?