Friday, December 23, 2005

Wesolych Swiat

And so, we are home for Christmas! We moved back into our house last Thursday and I have spent the last week getting things back in order. We still do not have our bedroom back since we are waiting for the mattress and the furniture needs some attention but we are enjoying our stay in the guest room! I assure all future visitors that the bed is extremely comfortable, the sheets are soft and warm and of the highest quality and the room, in general, has a very inviting feel to it.

What has been especially wonderful for me has been being able to put up our first Christmas tree! It is a little small and dwarfish compared to most of the other trees in Chris' family but we love it and it suits our little cozy home.

I have also decided that since this is my first Christmas away from my family that there is no reason why our Polish traditions shouldn't live on and with gusto! And so, I have been baking traditional Polish cakes for Christmas and today I have started preparing some of the dishes for the ever-important Polish Wigilia. Wigilia is celebrated on Christmas Eve and in Polish culture we do not eat any meat that day and so you will not find any turkeys at the table. Instead traditional dishes include a wild mushroom soup, perogies, fried fish and several different varieties of herring, and in our house wild mushroom crepes, as well as all sorts of cakes. The wild mushroom soup is on the stove as we speak, and the perogies I made back in November and they are patiently waiting in the freezer to be pulled out and devoured. I am very excited to be hosting this dinner!! It will just be small, Chris, his parents and me, and the dogs too, but being able to do this is just very special to me because we are back in our house and because it is our first Christmas together. And being able to share my traditions and my culture with Chris and make it a part of our own traditions is especially meaningful.


Here it is, our first Christmas tree!!




Here are some samples of the baking that I have been doing. This poppy seed roll is not as perfect as my mom's always are, but since it was my first one I am still pretty proud.

For over a week now, Dianne has been practicing the two words, Wesolych Swiat. They make up the Polish way of saying "Merry Christmas" and she has been diligently practicing so that she can say it to my parents on Christmas Eve. I am very proud of her progress because typed here you cannot see the accents and Polish can be a pretty tricky language so she has improved quite a bit in the last week.

And I too, would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! May you find yourselves in the company of friends and family, enjoying the many marvels of the season and looking hopefully to the new year which will, no doubt, bring you all many wonderful new adventures and the opportunity to continually pursue your dreams! WESOLYCH SWIAT!!

7 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

WESOLYCH SWIAT DLA CIEBIE I CALEJ NASZEJ POWIEKSZONEJ RODZINY ,MILO CZYTAC CO PISZESZ CHOC TO WSZYSTKO JUZ WIEM Z ROZMOW Z TOBA -LADNY MAKOWIEC I CHOINKA FUFU BUZKA PA !!!!!!!!! TATUS

12/23/2005 9:07 PM  
Blogger Franny said...

Your tree is so beautiful! I wish we were together for Christmas too. And your Polish goodies looked incredible...
Merry Christmas to you and your family both near and far.

12/27/2005 8:09 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

merry xmas, magda. the cakes looked amazing! probably even better than they look too.

it must be great to be home. (:

12/27/2005 7:19 PM  
Blogger Karen said...

Magda:

Your baked goods look SO good! I hope you, Chris and all of your families had a wonderful Christmas. We missed you at our Diva Christmas present exchange. Glad to hear that you're back in your house. All the best for 2006.

12/30/2005 9:02 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

happy new year magda! best to you and your families for health and happiness in 2006. I leave Canada January 9, but will keep you posted on life in Oz. Perhaps this will be an opportunity for many letters :)

1/01/2006 11:50 PM  
Blogger Mark Leslie said...

Okay, those goodies looks so yummy! I hope that you and Chris had a blessed Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

WESOLYCH SWIAT!
(Funny, of all the Polish phrases my Baba taught me, this was never one of them - thanks for helping me learn more)

1/02/2006 4:23 PM  
Blogger Tarun said...

Delicious.

1/29/2006 2:14 PM  

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