December 23, 2007

Happy Christmas and my Christmas Meme

I would like to wish Happy Christmas to all fellow gardeners from all over the world, which I met in the last months and thank for sharing the passion!!
The picture - that's the Christmas Card we have received from my mom this year for Christmas.
I found this meme on Karen's blog and I decided to do mine. I will point my choices at the end of it and you are kindly invited to do it at the time of your most convenient choice - either during or after :) It would be nice to know better your Christmas habits :)
However if you are too busy to make this meme, please just send your mental blessing :)
  • Eggnog or hot chocolate?

Traditionally no alcohol allowed during Christmas Eve, however lifted by church 2 years ago.

For 25th and 26th there was no such limitation.

I love home made coffeenogg. Which is very easy to make.

Proportions are following: 1/2 ltr condensed milk (without sugar), 1 spoon vanilla sugar, 2 spoons instant coffee, 100g sugar and either 1/2 ltr of vodka (abt 40%) or 100 ml of alcohol (90%).

First you cook milk mixed with vanilla sugar, coffee and sugar for about 10 minutes and mix it constantly - please beware - it has strong tendency to boil over, so you need to make the flame small. After it cools down (important) it may need using mixer, cos there might me some bigger particles caused by milk and it is not nice to get surprised by it while you drink :) So when it is cooled down and smooth you add slowly alcohol and mix well.

At this moment it is ready to drink, however tastes litlle bit better next day :)

  • Does Santa wrap presents or just set them under the tree?

Santa is still coming to our house - that's a great time to give presents to people you love. Santa wraps presents in his headquarter, where everything is planned logistically and labelled properly:)

  • Colored lights on the tree/house, or white?

White white white.

  • Do you hang mistletoe?

Not every year, rather not - more often nope.

  • When do you put your decorations up?

I try to put them in December as soon as possible - I like the house to have that extra decoration and lights, when outside is sooooo gray. It cheers up a bit.

Usually in Poland we decorate the Christmas tree and the house in the morning of The Day - which is Christmas Eve 24.12. This year it looks that we will be following the common habit, or do it just one day before - which is today.

  • What is your favorite Christmas dish (excluding dessert)?

In many jokes we divide Poland in 2 parts - both of them follow little different culinary habits: one is doing traditional wild mushrooms soup, the second one is cooking betroot soup with tiny ravioli called 'uszka' (ooshka) stuffed with special sour cabbage with wild mushrooms.

Because our family is not tight with any special part of Poland (due to long family story rooted in second world war 2) we switch the traditions. However I prefer mushrooms :)

And my really favourite dish is the fish that we eat only on Christmas Eve - it is fried carp. It special taste is in my head strongly related to Christmas.

  • Favorite Christmas memory as a child?

Many blurred pictures - no favourite one. Why?

  • Do you open a gift on Christmas Eve?

Santa always arrives before That Most Important Special Dinner on Christmas Eve and puts his presents under the tree. All presents have to be opened just after dinner :)

  • How do you decorate your Christmas Tree?

The main 'tree' - it is difficult to call it 'tree', cos it is a small ready decoration on form of small tree. Many years ago I decided to not have real tree for Christmas - which is wide tradition here - just symbolic decoration. Since years I use same decoration - boring, ha? Nope... just symbol of one stable thing around me.

Aditionally, since moment that my araucarias became big enough, I decorate them too :)

  • Snow! Love it or dread it?

I love it - to walk on it, to look at its sparky lights and most of all I love the sound it makes while you walk on it, when the temperature is below 10 centigrades.

  • Can you ice skate?

No.

  • Do you remember your favorite gift?

No.

  • What’s the most important thing about Christmas for you?

To gather as much family members around one table as possible - maybe because it was not happening often when I was a kid, so for me Christmas was unique time of having all important people around. This time it will be different and I try to not think about it, however I am aware that Christmas Eve will be tough.

  • What is your favorite Christmas dessert?

Poppy-seed cake.... mniam... mniam... its is great and gives a lot of energy :) There is a kind of magic connected with it. Maybe because of.... hmmm....

  • What is your favorite holiday tradition?

Sharing the christmas wafer (poppadum) at Christmas Eve dinner.

  • What tops your tree?

Nothing :)

  • Which do you prefer, giving or receiving?

Giving definately - I hope to make 'them' happy.

  • What is your favourite Christmas song?

Bing Crosby "White Christmas"

As promised at the beginning, that I will ask 3 of you to make your Christmas meme, however if you are too busy, please just send your mental blessings to me :)
So it will be:
Yolanda Elizabet at Bliss
Ida at Surfida
Important: If you make your Christmas meme, please point another 3 persons, however at the beginning you need to refer firstly to the person that pointed you and secondly to origin of this meme, which is Sharkey Malarkey
Have fun during Christmas and don't get stressed!
If you didn't do something it means it was not ment to be done!!

24 comments:

Barbara said...

Merry Christmas to you too and all the very best wishes for the coming year! Looking forward to reading your posts again!
Barbara

FO - 2 said...

Thanks for sharing Ewa. :)
I have just published my last post before Christmas. May be i will post a meme during the week. :)

Wishing you a merry Christmas.
Greetings from Ida in Norway.

Andrea's Garden said...

Dear Ewa, thanks for stopping by my blog. I am wishing you and your family a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Andrea from Germany

Anonymous said...

I'll answer... Merry Chrismas.

Hannele på Hisingen said...

(I want to copy the questions, if I'll answer easily... :(

Philosophical Karen said...

What a wonderful way to get to know some of your personal traditions, and some that are specific to Poland.

So now I know, I will have a Polish Christmas this year, with the decorations not going up until the night before Christmas. :-)

(Sometimes we do things much earlier, but this year has been a bit crazy.)

Hannele på Hisingen said...

Wesołych Świąt!

Anonymous said...

Although we're in the U.S. and our heritage is Swedish/Irish (me) and Japanese (my husband), we too, are following Polish tradition this year. We just got our decorations up today! We probably wouldn't have decorated at all, but some friends are coming to dinner tomorrow night.

It was fun reading about your traditions. Thanks for the link back to my blog. Merry Christmas!

Sharkey

teresa g. said...

That was interesting to read!
Merry christmas!

Anonymous said...

Ewa: The spirit of Christmas lives in you! I love that you shared your traditions which are a bit different from those in my family! I wish you much love shared at your table on Christmas Eve and always!

Your American Friend, Layanee

Meems said...

ewa: Merry Christmas to you and thanks for stopping by my blog. I have been too busy to post much these past two weeks but I appreciate reading your Christmas traditions. God bless!

Anonymous said...

Enjoy your blog! Inspired me to do the meme on mine. Merry Christmas!

Clayton said...

Also wanted to say that I correspond with a gardener in Sopot who is helping me to find seed and plant sources of the Edible Blue Honeysuckle.

SchneiderHein said...

Hello Ewa,
right even now I've found a really old question from you in one of our oldest posts: Our old apple trees might be about 7 or 8m. Our plum tree and the mirabelle have perhaps 10 or 11m height. The Trees in our little forest - we don't know, some of them are planted in 1968 and some of the fruit trees can be planted between 1930 and 1950. Sorry that I haven't found your question earlier!
We wish you, your family and your cats a Merry Christmas.
Silke & Wolfgang

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Ewa, Merry Christmas! It sounds like you have several different traditions than I have. It all sounds like so much fun.

Being with family is the best part of the holidays.

Barbara said...

Have a blessed Christmas. After Christmas I will be posting how I spend my Christmas so I will not take up your invitation to do this Meme. Enjoyed reading yours though.

Unknown said...

What a fun and interesting meme, Ewa! I've learned a lot about you and how some traditions go in Poland. I hope it is a very joyous and peaceful Christmas for you, across the miles and the ocean!

Clayton said...

I have copied the meme from Sharkey Malarkey to my blog and linked back to yours as well.
I enjoy your blog.
Have a very Blessed Christmas!

Clayton

www.apririejournal.blogspot.com

Yolanda Elizabet Heuzen said...

Merry Christmas Ewa! I had so much fun reading your Christmas meme right until I came to the end. Oh nooooooo, I'm hit with another meme. ;-) I'll do it as soon as I have a bit of time.
BTW how was the mushroom soup?

Anonymous said...

I have answer your meme now.

Minerva said...

Wesolych Swiat Ewo! Found your Christmas meme on Hanneles web page and with it a memory of Polish Christmases... since I am Polish. But here in the tropical Puerto Rico, Christmas is another matter alltogether... Eggnog or hot chocolate? In the tropics, neither. A bubbly or a tropical cocktail. Presents? Were given and received at the institute's Christmas party. At home I gave a present (toys) to my new kitty. Lights? No tree for me this year. There are lights on huge "fans" of birds of paradise trees just outside my door - white, thanks heavens - colorful would have been too much. My Christmas Eve indulgence food wise was a baked fish stuffed with lobster and shrimp = as close to a Polish tradition I could come. I love snow, but there isn't any here. Ice skate - well yes, there is - the only one in the entire Caribbean? - ice skating ring in a nearby town of Aguadilla... but Ileft the thrill to kids. :-)

Minerva said...

Forgot Christmas song ... I don't have a favorite and right now I am tired of both the traditional ones: "I am dreaming of a white Christmas", "Feliz Navidad", "Stille Nacht, Helige Nacht" "Raeven raskar oever isen" etc etc and of all Puertorican parrandas. But two nights in a row, just before Christmas I was surprised and delighted when from my radio, on my way home from work - 3 miles dribve by the sea and surfing beaches I suddenly heart Lutoslawski's Polish Christmas carols - in Polish!

Ewa said...

Yolanda Elizabet,
Thanks for passing by. I am looking forward to read your new posts and meme :)

Minerva,
Welcome to my blog :) Your Christmas seems to be very different :) but I guess every person has his/hers 'own way to Christmas'.
It looks like Polish carols may be heard anywhere! Was it Polish radio?
Greetings,

Minerva said...

Lutoslawski's Christmas calols were played by American National Public Radio (noncommercial), courtesy of BBC. It seemed to be a london orchestra but the chorus and soloists must have been Polish, since they sang in Polish.
Happy New Year! Szczesliwego Nowego Roku!

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