Labas! With Christmas soon approaching (only 2 more weeks!), I am definitely in the Christmas mood. Now that Thanksgiving is over, I am finally able to play all of the Christmas music I want withou…
In the Lithuanian tradition the Solstice is celebrated over two days, called Kucios and Kaleda.
This month at Austin Catholic New Media, the contributors are taking turns sharing some of their family Christmas traditions. While I have some very special ones from my own family of origin, today I'd like to share just a few of the beautiful customs I have experienced in the lovely Lithuanian family
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Tuno salotos: puikus pasirinkimas tiek Kūčių, tiek kasdieniam stalui - ☑️ patiekalas, kurį nesunkiai pasigaminsite pagal šį receptą.🍽️ Išbandyk šį receptą jau dabar!
What an indescribable aroma occurs in home, when the Christmas Eve cookies (Kūčiukai) are baking in the oven!!! It’s just impossible to imagine Christmas Eve (Kūčios) itself without Christmas…
Christmas is a time for tradition. What’s fascinating to me is how much those traditions vary from country to country and even from family to family. Some children post their letter to Santa up the…
Lithuanian Kūčios (Christmas Eve) and Kalėdos (Christmas) celebrations are rich in ceremony and tradition. Try our festive Lithuanian recipes. Linksmų Kalėdų!
On Day Ten of 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas we welcome Daiva Venckus. Daiva is the author of an upcoming book about her experience working for the leaders of the Lithuanian revolution during the collapse of the Soviet Union. For more on her experience please visit her website, and she can be found on twitter @DaivaVenckus and on facebook. In the time before Christianity, Christmas in Lithuania was acknowledged as a celebration of the cycle of the sun. Winter represented the cycle of death and Christmas day celebrated the return of the sun, of the the rebirth of all living beings. Kucios, the night before Christmas, symbolized the transformation of regeneration and the connection between the dead and the living—emphasizing the solidarity of the family as community throughout the eons of time. It’s not a surprise we celebrate the same traditions which speak to a time before Christianity. My grandparents brought these customs that had been practiced for centuries with them when they emigrated to America in 1949 and settled in Los Angeles. We have been celebrating the same rituals for over 65 years; however, it has evolved to include some American customs. I think we sometimes forget why we follow particular rituals since we’ve grown accustomed to our annual event, so it’s good to remind ourselves. Our extended family gathers after the evening star (Venus) appears in the sky (shortly after sunset) on December 24 to celebrate Kucios. The Venckus family numbers approximately thirty to fifty people, depending if everyone is in town. The host’s house is decorated with evergreens and a Christmas tree with straw decorations. In centuries past Lithuanians brought evergreens indoors because since they remained green all year round, they were believed to have magical powers of life and fertility. As everyone arrives we have a dilemma to resolve: Who will be Santa Claus? Our added tradition includes Santa arriving after dinner to give out gifts. The excuses start: “I can’t be Santa, my kids will recognize me!” “I can’t do it either, I have a cold and don’t want to get everyone sick.” “Don’t look at me, I don’t speak Lithuanian well enough!” If we have a guest who is unaware of our tradition, then we talk them into it. They have no idea what they are getting themselves into. Besides the entertainment factor, the Santa costume complete with a beard and boots gets hot! When the last family member arrives we gather at tables connected together to form giant banquet seating. Since our family is huge, there is usually a “kids” table nearby. Before we eat, we rise and say a prayer of thanks and recognize those who are no longer with us. An empty plate is left on the table with a list of names of those family members who are no longer with us, because even in death they are still a part of our family. Candles on the table help to invoke the souls of the dead to join us. We then go around the room, each person (including the older children) names someone who has passed on to personally invite them to join us. Then we share the Christmas wafer (plokstainelis). These are large communion wafers with pictures of scenes of Jesus’ birth that we acquire from our church, Saint Casimir’s. Just as we have settled down at the table chaos ensues. We approach everyone in the room with our wafer and present them with a wish for the new year as they break off a piece. It is bad luck to skip anyone, as well as allow anyone to break off a big piece. Therefore, although this is a solemn practice, there is a lot of laughter as we each try to be sneaky and break off a huge piece. I usually wish the teenagers: “Do well in school,” the college grads: “Find a good job and the love of your life;” and the middle-agers: “Less debt and more happiness;” the older generation: “Good health and a long life.” The little kids just have fun running around trying to break off large pieces. It is a good time to sincerely connect with each family member and give them heartfelt wishes. With such a large family this takes quite some time! Then it's finally time to eat. We have twelve meatless dishes to represent the twelve apostles. Although we reside in America, the dishes are supposed to represent the food naturally available in Lithuania in winter, so we make an effort to do so. However, since some very young American palettes aren’t too keen on traditional herring and such, we add a plate of fish sticks for the kids’ table to ensure they do not starve. And to be truthful, we adults sometimes sneak in a little sushi and caviar on our appetizer platter… Our typical dish line-up includes several herring dishes with different sauces (mushroom, onion, tomato), smoked fish, mushrooms, beet salad (vinegretas), potato salad, green beans with nuts, a white fish platter, black rye bread. Desert includes cranberry pudding (kiselius), slizikai with poppy seed milk and fruit compote. It is the custom to taste a little of each dish—as those who do not will not live to see the next Kucios. In my family we don’t have to twist anyone’s arm to try each dish because everything is unbelievably tasty! Once we finish eating, we move all the chairs to face the Christmas tree. We sing Lithuanian Christmas carols as well as a few American ones. We tell the children that Santa won’t know where to visit when he is flying overhead if they don’t sing loudly and enthusiastically. After a few songs, suddenly, we hear a knock at the door with a jingle of a bell. The kids run to the door and open it to find Santa Claus, carrying a giant bag stuffed with presents. The kids scream with excitement as they dance around Santa and lead him to a chair positioned by the shimmering Christmas tree. Venckus Chistmas 1969 Santa says, “What a long trip I’ve had! I flew over here straight from Lithuania! Does anyone want any presents?” The kids jump up and down in anticipation. They are prepared to receive their gifts; however, nothing comes for free. In our tradition, to receive your gift you must perform for Santa. This requirement includes the adults. That means reciting a poem or singing a song or telling a joke. Some play musical instruments or perform a magic trick. The littlest ones sing Lithuanian nursery rhymes, like Du Gaidelai (Two Roosters). Our Kucios evening is filled with endless laughter and love. We appreciate where we come from and do not take the privileged lives we lead today for granted. We retell the stories of our grandparents’ first Christmas in the Displaced Persons Camps after escaping from Lithuania—how even though they didn’t have presents, they had each other. Our Christmas memories outlast our presents. The Venckus Christmas in 1947 in a German Displaced Persons Camp Kucios provides us a ritual to actively include our loved ones who have passed on in our celebration. By imparting our traditions to the next generation we embody rebirth and strengthen the connection with our ancestors throughout the centuries. Thank you Daiva! It is interesting to see how the Lithuanian Christmas Eve traditions vary from the Latvian ones, especially since many of the dishes you described are familiar from my own Christmas dinners of past and some also appear in the Estonian holiday celebration. Join us tomorrow for one such recipe on Day Eleven of 24 Days of a Baltic Christmas with Marika Blossfeldt, author of Essential Nourishment: Recipes from My Estonian Farm!
Mano brangiausia draugė, dar daug laiko likus iki Kūčių, ieškojo skanių kūčiukų recepto, kad galėtų jais pasimėgauti iki soties. O aš ...
I don’t know if anyone in Lithuania can even imagine Christmas Eve (Kūčios) or Christmas without kissel. This is simply IMPOSSIBLE. Christmas Eve (Kūčios) without kissel, it’s the same …
Skani silkė su džiovintais grybais (baravykais) pagal Beatą - ☑️ patiekalas, kurį nesunkiai pasigaminsite pagal šį receptą.🍽️ Išbandyk šį receptą jau dabar!
Močiutė parodė, kaip gaminama skaniausia silkė kaimiškai - ☑️ patiekalas, kurį nesunkiai pasigaminsite pagal šį receptą.🍽️ Išbandyk šį receptą jau dabar!
How to Make Ausuki (Lithuanian Christmas or Easter Cookies). Here is a Lithuanian recipe for Christmas/Easter cookies, called "little ears", or ausuki (sometimes called kruschiki). These are often an accompaniment to a Christmas Eve Kucios...
My favorite evening of the year Kūčios (Christmas Eve) is almost here. In Lithuania, Kūčios is a very special evening for every family and, of course, in every home it is spend slightly differently…
As I write this I am Lithuania and I thought it would be nice to post something Lithuanian to make for Christmas. Kūčiukai (Lithuanian Christmas Eve biscuits) are very traditional, but they might not be to everybody’s taste. Some might find them too bland but they are definitely fun to make, so please give them […]
My favorite evening of the year Kūčios (Christmas Eve) is almost here. In Lithuania, Kūčios is a very special evening for every family and, of course, in every home it is spend slightly differently…
One of the most important dishes for Kucios, the Lithuanian Christmas Eve supper, is "kucia", a mixture of wheat berries, ground poppy seeds and honey. I've never actually had this (wheat berries being scarce in California markets of 40 and 50 years ago), and since I prefer savory things, I decided to make a salad in the spirit of the traditional kucia, incorporating things that would have been available in a typical Central/Eastern European farmstead. OK, balsamic vinegar and olive oil are a bit of a stretch, but everything else would have been available at my grandparents' farms. If you've never had wheat berries, you'll discover a tasty grain. I have found that this tastes best if permitted to stand overnight, to permit the flavors to meld. Cooking time does not include soaking or standing times.
Salotos su silke ir keptais burokėliais - ☑️ patiekalas, kurį nesunkiai pasigaminsite pagal šį receptą.🍽️ Išbandyk šį receptą jau dabar!
Seni geri sausainiai, šįkart pabandžiau pagaminti taip, kaip darydavo bobutė – su malimo mašinėlės priedu. Gavosi skanūs, paprastučiai sausainiai su nostalgišku prieskoniu, daug ką lemia forma, visgi… Pirmiausiai orkaitėje (50-60C), metaliniame ar stikliniame inde išlydau 1 pok. sviesto (apie 200g) Jam lydantis, išsiplaku 2 kiaušinius su 1st cukraus ir 1vš vanilinio cukraus Galima naudoti buitinę techniką, … Toliau skaityti "Sviestiniai sausainiai"
Silkė su morkomis, obuoliais ir pievagrybiais - ☑️ patiekalas, kurį nesunkiai pasigaminsite pagal šį receptą.🍽️ Išbandyk šį receptą jau dabar!
My favorite evening of the year Kūčios (Christmas Eve) is almost here. In Lithuania, Kūčios is a very special evening for every family and, of course, in every home it is spend slightly differently…
Put down the delivery menu.
In a small bowl, mix together crème fraiche, cream, horseradish, and mustard to make a dressing.
Recipe of Christmas cookies, Lithuanian style. So so delicous
Tucked between Latvia, Belarus and Poland, Lithuania is deep in the clutch of winter by the time Christmas arrives. On the night of Christmas Eve, you might hear sleigh bells ringing over snowy country roads and frozen lakes. The bells herald the arrival of relatives coming home to join their families for Kaledos, the ...
This recipe for Lithuanian potato sausage, or vedarai, can be made entirely meatless or with the addition of chopped, cooked bacon.
Make these traditional Lithuanian bacon buns with this easy-to-follow recipe.
