Happy New Year, 2019!

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds
1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a 8 inch round cake pan. Cream the butter and sugar together, then stir in the flour and mix until mealy. Add the eggs, baking powder and milk, mixing well. Then combine the lemon juice and baking soda, stir into the batter. Pour into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes then flip onto cooling rack. Add the coin(s) to the bottom while cooling. (Put on a lazy susan and spin so you don't know where it is.) Once cool, flip right side up onto a plate and decorate with sugar and almonds.

Things we did differently this year:
1. We used multiple coins, and that was more fun. There was still one special winner - the buffalo nickel.
2. The coins sink to the bottom while baking, so you might as well just put it in after its baked. That also keeps them from getting messy.
4. We should cut all the slices first, and decide who gets which slice, before serving. This prevents spoiling the surprise.

5. I put the coins in a bag at the back of the napkin drawer for next year. (I keep forgetting.

)

St. Phanourios and Fanouropita

I'm late late in sharing this one, but I want to remember this recipe from Serious Eats that turned out better than the ones I've used in the past. This one was lovely, with great texture and flavor, not too sweet. I put it together before Liturgy, not because I had lost something, but I realized it was his feast day. Still, I said a prayer for something we've been looking for, and was not disappointed. :)

Ingredients

3 3/4 cups flour

1 TBSP baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp kosher salt

1 cup sugar

3/4 cup olive oil

3/4 cup orange juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

Confectioners sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 with oven rack in middle position. Grease and flour a round pan. Mine sometimes comes out undercooked in the middle, so a bundt pan would probably work well.

2. Mix flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and sugar. Add olive oil, orange juice, and vanilla and stir to combine. Batter will be very thick. Scrape batter into prepared pan and bake until golden and the middle of the cake is done, about an hour. Let cool 10 minutes then release springform and continue to cool on a wire rack. Dust with confectioners sugar before serving.

A Prayer to Christ with the Holy Great-martyr Phanourios by Nun Isidora

Master Lord Jesus Christ our God, the maker of light and source and fount of wisdom and knowledge, the cause of all that is good, the fullness of goodness and the incomprehensible sea of compassion, Who does excellent things and works wonders in His Saints, by whom Your magnificent and All-holy Name is glorified, Who reveals to us the ways of salvation by the knowledge of Your holy commandments, O Good One, and shines upon our souls with Your gladsome and un-waning light, You Whose grace is wondrous through all Your Saints, Your chosen and faithful stewards, to all those who call upon them with their whole heart, who through Your all-working power working awesome and paradoxical wonders, of which there is no number, Who through your Holy Great-martyr Phanourios the newly-revealed, revealed that which was hidden from us and reveals them speedily, Who teaches us to ask faithfully in humility, that richly You may give according to Your compassionate and all-merciful nature, Who wishes that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, Who said that “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life”. Do therefore now, all-good King and Lord of all, by this Your Holy Great-martyr Phanourios the wonderworker whom we entreat, bestow upon us who faithfully honor him, an intercessor towards You armed with Your strength, and grant to us the illumination of Your grace, make us worthy to walk in the paths of Your commandments, to come to the knowledge of Your good and complete will, reveal to us the paths of salvation, show to us the way of repentance, that pleasing You through these, Who works what is beneficial to our souls, reveal to us the treasures of Your knowledge, that to those seeking these, we who entreat You in faith, make our heart the dwelling of Your bright Holy Spirit and a receptacle of Your grace, so that with all Your Saints from the ages we may glorify You O Light-giving Lord, who in these is glorified and to You do we offer up honor and worship, together with Your beginningless Father and Your All-holy and Good and life-giving Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Magiritsa

Before we started our mission church, we traveled 2 hours to attend church in Memphis. We love this church so much, but often felt like we were observing this community from a distance and not able to participate in their life. We attended Pascha, but we couldn't stay for the picnics and parties, and so a lot of our celebrating happened alone. We wouldn't even be Orthodox or have our own mission for a few more years, and so it was lonely at times.

One year Kh. Susan (who was my first Orthodox friend), wrote about one of their traditions: making Magiritsa on Pascha. A friend had taught her this recipe, which is meant to feed the whole church, and the instructions factor in the timing of the services. After her friend Urania died, Kh. Susan wanted to pass on the tradition to other women in their church. When I read Kh. Susan's writing about making soup with her friend, I wanted so badly to be one of those women learning to make lamb soup in the kitchen at St. John. I don't imagine that Greek soup or red eggs are among the more important parts of Christianity, but they play a really beautiful role, sanctifying our daily lives and connecting us to each other. This special meal on this special day is one of the ways they are bound together in community. I wanted to belong, too.

So I made her soup. At home in my own kitchen. I remember that was the year we were choosing a house site on our land. We put some soup in a thermos and had a picnic during Bright Week on our house site. The kids were just babies, our house was just a dream, and my Orthodox community was in a thermos hours away from the church.

But it was a beginning.

our magiritsa picnic

Now, we have a thriving parish with many friends who teach us their faith. I am grateful for the time my friend Tina spent teaching me to make kolliva; and for Emily, who helped me to make my prosfora loaves more even; and for all the others who share their life and faith with us in these simple and cullinary ways. And now I'm making this soup for my parish, carrying on a tradition of someone I didn't know, but who was well loved.

So anyway, make some soup. You should read her full directions at the link above with directions for making the soup for a large parish around the services, but the proportions I used (about 1/4th recipe) are as follows:

Ingredients:
2 lbs lamb
1 small batch parsley
1 small batch cilantro
1 bunch green onions
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 TBSP fresh dill
2 TBSP butter

Avgolemono Sauce:juice of 3 lemons (9 TBSPs lemon juice)
1 1/4 TBSP cornstarch
4 eggs
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Cook the lamb in a big soup pot. When cooked add the butter and all the chopped herbs and onions. Add enough water to make soup. [ I think I added 8-10 cups of water.] Simmer for 1 hour or longer. Meanwhile, whisk together the Avgolemono sauce. Shortly before serving, slowly add some of the broth to the avgolemono sauce a little at a time, stirring constantly so that the eggs do not curdle. Then add the mixture to the soup pot, and stir constantly. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately. (I always make mine ahead of time and my eggs always curdle from sitting in the crock pot so long. Its still wonderful, though!)

The kingdom of heaven is like leaven...

To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? 

It is like leaven, which a woman took 

and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened.

Some of the most beautiful truths are hidden.

I am finding one of these hidden treasures in the baking of the prosfora. This is what we call the bread offered in church for the Eucharist; it means "offering." I enjoy most any baking because it is so interesting to work the dough and see it change. Yet, this bread, this offering, is offered in the work of the people, the liturgy, and the change taking place is true mystery and beauty.

I remember, in my early encounters with Orthodoxy, questioning why the church uses leavened bread when they used unleavened for the Passover meal of the last supper?

I was told by Fr. John, "well, the Last Supper wasn't the Passover." St. John explains the meal took place "before the feast of Passover" (Jn 13:1), and clearly puts Christ's crucifixion on the day of Preparation of the passover (Jn 19:14, 31, 42; also Mt 27:62, etc). The death of Christ coincides with the ritual slaughter of the passover lamb at the temple, because he is the Passover lamb. The Passover hadn't yet begun, in which case the bread would have been leavened. [links below if you're interested in historical-critical arguments.]

But really that's beside the point. The truth is so beautiful, it can clearly be seen as gospel. "You see," Fr. John explained, "Leavened bread is living bread."

Leavened bread, before yeast was easily bought in stores, was made with a bit of old dough, the starter, a living connection with the past. The yeast living in the starter is a hidden force that invisibly spreads to the rest of the lump. Dough you must work with your hands until it too comes alive. Leavened bread is living bread.

The gospel truth is that Christ is risen. Christ is the living bread.

"I am the bread of life. Your fathers ate the manna in the wilderness, and are dead. This is the bread which comes down from heaven, that one may eat of it and not die. I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world." - John 6:48-51

We don't continue eating the bread of affliction and die as the Israelites, but we have the living bread of the kingdom of heaven, so that we might live.

To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? 

As, I measure the warm water, I take heart. I hide the bubbling yeast in the flour, and thank God for the truth he revealed. I work the dough with joy because Christ is our hermeneutic, who opens the scriptures to us on the road. I offer the prosfora with confidence and humility, because He is our leaven, hidden among us and giving life to all the body.




Research Links

historical-critical arguments for John's timeline:
Biblical Archaeology: Was Jesus Last Supper a Seder?

The Last Supper and Passover 
a theological argument for leavened bread:
Leavened vs. Unleavened Bread: what's the difference?
And a counterpoint, whose conclusion demonstrates the anxiety caused by the historical critical method:
What Kind of Bread did Jesus Use to Institute the Last Supper?

Gift Bread

Baking Christopsomo today for gifts. I get such a kick out of making this cool bread that looks like the bow is baked into it. After the second rise, I called the girls over to see, saying, "Look how nicely my bread has risen." J promptly responded, "Christ is risen!" Ah, yes, God is with us!

Christopsomo (or Greek Christmas Bread) - adapted from the Sunset Cookbook of Breads [The bow idea is from the same book, but for the recipe for German Kuchen]

blend:
2 packages active dry yeast
1/2 cup warm water

Combine:
1/2 cup scalded and cooled milk
1 cup butter
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt

Add yeast mixture and gradually add 6-7 cups unsifted flour.
Knead for 10 minutes on floured board
Let rise 2 hours or until double.

Punch down and divide into 6 small balls. Brush butter around outside, and tie each ball with a strip of brown paper (the same width as your ribbon - for small loaves like mine use a skinny ribbon) and place on greased baking sheets. Let rise 1 hour or until doubled. Bake 30-35 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

Serve warm, or toasted with honey.

Koliva

Most assuredly, I say to you unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it produces much grain. – John 12:24

I love that the church is so physically involved in all the important moments of our life including times of grief. When our parish suffered a difficult loss, I found it helpful to have something tangible to do, to offer for the family.

I used instructions and prayers from the GOA website, although my recipe for kolyva/koliva from a friend varies a little.

The children wanted to help decorate, but I wanted to be sure it turned out nicely, so I let them play decorate some sugar and almonds on a pate, rather than on the kolliva. 

Memory eternal!

St. Brigid's oaten bread

I quit posting much during my pregnancy, but had a few links I wanted to be sure to save and share, like this one. St. Brigid is special to our parish, and so we celebrated this year with some activities and this bread.

Recipe
1 cup flour
1 tablespoon sugar
3/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons butter (cut into small pieces)
3/4 cup uncooked oatmeal flakes
1 egg
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Grease a baking sheet.

Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl. Add butter flakes, cutting them in with a knife until the mixture becomes crumbly. Add oats and mix well. Beat the egg with the buttermilk in a separate bowl. Make a "well" in the dry ingredients, then pour in the egg mixture and mix all with a fork until the crumbs hold together.

Form the dough into a ball and knead (on a floured surface). Add flour if the mass is still too sticky to work with. Form the doughball into a round bread and place it on the baking sheet. Score a cross into the bread (do not cut through).

Bake for fifteeen to twenty minutes, the bread should be medium brown.

Happy New Year!

Christ is born! Wishing you a blessed 2015! We went to bed early last night, but had brunch this morning with this yummy vasilopita recipe. Maybe next year we'll go back to a full size cake!

Our 2015 is a little lopsided, but surely that won't reflect the year ahead, eh?

 

We still haven't found the coin! This year the girls are old enough to understand and want to win the coin, so we've claimed the rest of the slices and will try again after dinner. :)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds
1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a 8 inch round cake pan (I used a pie pan). Cream the butter and sugar together, then stir in the flour and mix until mealy. Add the eggs, baking powder and milk, mixing well. Then combine the lemon juice and baking soda, stir into the batter. Pour into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove and gently drop the coin in to the half-baked cake. Arrange the nuts and sugar over the cake (I write the year with the almonds then liberally sprinkle sugar all over), then return it to the oven for 20 additional minutes, until cake springs back to the touch. Some add the coin after baking and cover the hole with sugar. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes and serve warm.

Cookies for St. Nicholas Day

my finished cookies! The book shown is the Life of St. Nicholas by St. Nectarios Press.
We also like St. Nicholas: the Real Story of the Christmas Legend

Happy (belated) St. Nicholas day to all!

I love St. Nicholas day! We have enjoyed developing some traditions at our house to remember this great saint, and also his namesake, our child Nicholas. This year, however, St. Nicholas was also named the patron of our new mission church! So in addition to plans at home, I was busy planning for a celebration at church as well. It was such a lot of fun, and we're thrilled to have such a special patron. I really wanted to make a bunch of individual St. Nicholas cookies, and spent WAY too much time figuring out how. In the past I've made a large cookie for our family shaped like St. Nicholas, but to make the same thing, with a fasting recipe, in miniature, times 60 - was quite an ordeal. But I admit to having fun doing it!

I don't know if I'll repeat these next year, but I wanted to be sure to record all the things I wanted to remember to make it easier on myself if I do. Next time, much less trial and error, lets hope. Recipes and tips below!

Our table before breakfast. One little girl had discovered her treats. 

Our St. Nicholas day breakfast table with stickers and treats and stories and shoes. :)

Initially, I started my cookie baking by trying to make a speculaas recipe with a lovely cookie mold I bought months ago. They have lots of tips on this site also (scroll down to find the recipes and tips). Unfortunately, it was a total failure. I'll try again sometime, but I decided to go back to my sugar cookies recipe. 

However, I couldn't find a simple St. Nicholas cookie cutter that wasn't too Santa Claus-y, and I didn't want to shape them all individually. Finally, I created my own cookie cutter from a snowman by flattening the round bottom and squishing the hat into a point instead of a top hat. I traced the cutter on paper to seem the outline as I worked on it, and was pleased it didn't take too long. My cookie cutter was only about 2.5 inches tall, but spread a bit to make a 3" cookie.

I was able to add details with fine tip icing. I just use a baggie with a tiny corner clipped. I based my design on this simple one that is cute and cartoony, but with eastern bishop style from the St. Nicholas Center (scroll down and look on the right side bar for the Ukranian Nykolai Cookies).

Fasting sugar cookies

3 cups flour

1.5 cup sugar

1.5 cup non-butter (earth balance buttery sticks - no less that 60% veg oil!!)

3 tsp baking powder

3 tsp vanilla extract

3 zestlemon /3 TBSP lemon juice

Chill for 1 hour. Roll out and cut shapes. If you plan to leave the cookie face blank for skin, poke holes with a toothpick before baking to create dimples for the eyes. Bake at 345 for 10-15 minutes or until brown. Be sure to let the pans cool between baking. Let cool before glazing. Makes about 5 dozen with a small cookie cutter - which is great for church parties, but takes a long time to glaze and ice all of them! For home, cut recipe in half.

The cookies after baking: they spread a bit while baking, until I reused a pan without letting it cool. Then they held their shape very well, but were just a bit crunchy and too small to work on the details. I ended up liking the bigger ones better. 

Glaze Recipe

Note: if you want to make eyes with icing, you will need to glaze over face and use white icing to create a beard later. I learned this the hard way, which is why mine have no eyes. Pipe on to define shape, then spread with knife. Let harden before icing.

4.5 cups confectioners sugar, sifted

4 tablespoons light corn syrup

3-4 TBSPs of water, more if needed, but add sparingly

After cooling, I drew out my plans on a paper. Then I applied a glaze, leaving blank cookie for the face.
I squirted the glaze on to define the shape, and then spread it with a knife. This was a
bit time consuming. Next time I may just use a knife and cover the whole face with the glaze...

Fasting Royal Icing Recipe

After the glaze hardens you can pipe fine details on with a dark red. I added a bit of black to my red so that the icing wouldn't be too orangey red. A very fine tip (or tiny cut corner) will help make finer lines for better details. 

1.5 cups confectioners sugar

4 tsps water

2-3 tsps light corn syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

gel food coloring

Cookies with a dark red icing finely lined over the glaze for details. 

Lazarakia

I have been wanting to make Lazarakia, and this year I finally did, although, just barely. I waited until about 9 PM to start the recipe on Lazarus Saturday to take to church for our Palm Sunday feast. I was up until after midnight making the bread!

I used the recipe from St. Theophan's Academy with only a few changes. I shortened the rising time (since I waited until 9 to start!), and I didn't add the sticky glaze - I just thought it would be too messy for church. I did brush them with olive oil and sprinkle with a mix of cinammon and sugar just before going in the oven, and that made a sweet, non-messy finish. I also left out the ground clove, but used cloves for the eyes.

Also, I couldn't find a gingerbread man cookie cutter! That seemed like such a simple way to go. Instead I braided ropes about 3" long and smooshed a little ball on one end for the head. I saw this somewhere online, and I like how it looks like a shroud. This was very time consuming, but a nice end result, and I spent it quietly listening to "Rejoice, O Bethany."

St. George Day Dragon bread

Christ is risen!

We celebrated Pascha with a little feast and egg hunt at our mission this week. We all traveled to different churches for the feast day, so it was nice to get back together and celebrate as a parish. It also happened to be the feast day of St. George, so I made dragon bread for our feast. 

I've seen several great ideas for dragon-shaped bread, but I didn't remember until the very last minute - so I used canned crescent rolls, twisting and shaping them, making it up as I went. I used olives for the eyes, and put some cheese along the back and some stuffed inside the body. I also used sunflower seeds for the claws, but they fell off after baking. I thought it turned out pretty cute! Next year, we'll try it again from scratch. 

St. Phanourios

My very plain Phanouropita, we had a slice at home, and shared it at church the next day

Some links and resources for St. Phanourios:

• Litya Service to bless Bread or Kolyva offered in honor of a Saint
• Beautiful prayer to Christ with the intercessions of St. Phanourios by Nun Isidora (also reprinted below).
•  I used the recipe below (half a recipe) from my dear friend [but more recently I've found this recipe, which is now my go to]

Phanouropita
3/4 cup oil
1.5 cups sugar
3 cups flour
2.5 tsp baking powder
1.5 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp vanilla
1.5 cups orange juice

bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean

A Prayer to Christ with the Holy Great-martyr Phanourios by Nun Isidora

Master Lord Jesus Christ our God, the maker of light and source and fount of wisdom and knowledge, the cause of all that is good, the fullness of goodness and the incomprehensible sea of compassion, Who does excellent things and works wonders in His Saints, by whom Your magnificent and All-holy Name is glorified, Who reveals to us the ways of salvation by the knowledge of Your holy commandments, O Good One, and shines upon our souls with Your gladsome and un-waning light, You Whose grace is wondrous through all Your Saints, Your chosen and faithful stewards, to all those who call upon them with their whole heart, who through Your all-working power working awesome and paradoxical wonders, of which there is no number, Who through your Holy Great-martyr Phanourios the newly-revealed, revealed that which was hidden from us and reveals them speedily, Who teaches us to ask faithfully in humility, that richly You may give according to Your compassionate and all-merciful nature, Who wishes that all be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth, Who said that “I am the Way and the Truth and the Life”. Do therefore now, all-good King and Lord of all, by this Your Holy Great-martyr Phanourios the wonderworker whom we entreat, bestow upon us who faithfully honor him, an intercessor towards You armed with Your strength, and grant to us the illumination of Your grace, make us worthy to walk in the paths of Your commandments, to come to the knowledge of Your good and complete will, reveal to us the paths of salvation, show to us the way of repentance, that pleasing You through these, Who works what is beneficial to our souls, reveal to us the treasures of Your knowledge, that to those seeking these, we who entreat You in faith, make our heart the dwelling of Your bright Holy Spirit and a receptacle of Your grace, so that with all Your Saints from the ages we may glorify You O Light-giving Lord, who in these is glorified and to You do we offer up honor and worship, together with Your beginningless Father and Your All-holy and Good and life-giving Spirit, now and forever and to the ages of ages. Amen.

Vasilopita

I made vasilopita on December 31st this year. We didn't quite stay up until midnight to eat it, but we did have a little party before bedtime. I explained to my children about the miracle of St. Basil, and that the person who received the coin would be blessed for the year. We agreed we all hoped Daddy would get it, but the girls also thought it would be nice if it was in the slice for the household, so that everyone would be blessed.

I don't have a special coin, so I just looked through what I had. I found a 2005 buffalo nickel - which was at least unique, and from the year we were married. We used the recipe I found several years ago, which is really really yummy. I cut it in half this year, because we also had a phanouropita to eat (more on that later...) Here's my cut-in-half recipe:

Ingredients:
1/2 cup butter
1 cup white sugar
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 eggs
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup warm milk
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1-1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
2 tablespoons blanched slivered almonds
1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, and grease a 8 inch round cake pan (I used a pie pan). Cream the butter and sugar together, then stir in the flour and mix until mealy. Add the eggs, baking powder and milk, mixing well. Then combine the lemon juice and baking soda, stir into the batter. Pour into the prepared cake pan.

Bake for 20 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove and gently drop the coin in to the half-baked cake. Arrange the nuts and sugar over the cake (I write the year with the almonds then liberally sprinkle sugar all over), then return it to the oven for 20 additional minutes, until cake springs back to the touch. Some add the coin after baking and cover the hole with sugar. Cool cake on a rack for 10 minutes and serve warm.

To my delight, the coin was in fact in Daddy's slice, which gave me much hope for the year that our prayers will be answered. Many years, dear!

Happy St. Lucia Day!

On the heels of St. Nicholas day, comes St. Lucia day! We've enjoyed learning about these saints of both history and legend, whose memories have become so closely associated with Christmas in various countries. St. Lucia is my oldest's patron saint, and this is our first real name's day celebration. Learning about these special saints who loved Christ is also a fun way to prepare for Christmas.

Lucy of Syracuse, according to the stories, carried food down to the Christians hiding from persecution in the catacombs. With her arms full of bread, she put candles in a wreath on her head to light the way. She was martyred for her faith during the reign of Diocletian in 304 AD.

Lucy Cats

We made bread the day before so that we could have them for breakfast this morning. I was confused why the buns, called Lussekatter or Lucy cats, were shaped like an S, or what cats had to do with St. Lucia! Quite the mystery, until I read this:

The Lucy cat is an interesting little cake. If you look closely it has the appearance of two eyes. We remember that Jesus told us how the eye is the light of the body. Yet, in the tradition of St. Lucy, her physical eyes were gouged out. Yet, she saw the light of Christ with her spiritual eyes. And so, in the Lucy Cats, she reminds us that we need to open our spiritual eyes so that we can also see the light and not fear the darkness.  During the longest night of darkness, and with a simple pastry, she tells us to have faith and to rejoice and sing. As St. John wrote, “And the light shined in the darkness, and the darkness could not overcome it.” (John 1.5) - source

 What a sweet story for the weeks leading up to Christmas, while we are anticipating for the coming of Christ the true light!

Materials: felt cut in squiggly-leafy shaped strips,
green and yellow (and orange) pipe cleaners,
white pony beads and a bit of fabric glue.

The girls and I made St. Lucia wreaths from pipe cleaners and felt. I don't use pipe cleaners often, but a friend suggested this activity and we thought we'd give it a try. The original tutorial is from here, but I used felt cut into leaf shapes instead of fabric. 

fun with beads and pipe cleaners. 

The girls really liked twisting the pipe cleaners and putting the beads on. Getting the bead-candles to stand up was definitely the hardest part. I let the girls go play while I wound the leaves on, and was able to prop the candles of with the leaves. Then they came back to help me glue the berries on. We were pretty pleased with the results. :)

They make a cute table decoration as well, and will store nicely for next year I hope. Happy St. Lucia day! May your eyes be full of light!

The lamp of the body is the eye. If therefore your eye is good, your whole body will be full of light. - Matthew 6:22

Baking and Prosfora resources

I'm baking yeast rolls with the girls today - seems to be the most school I can muster amid my other appointments. I suppose that may sound like a big job if you don't bake, but with two rising periods it has mostly been a lazy day.

It got me thinking about prosfora and baking. I have yet to let the kids help bake it, but hopefully we'll remedy that this year. Below I've collected some resources about the leavened bread we use for the Eucharist that will come in handy when teaching the children about the Eucharist.

Some links:

• Raising Saints podcast - about teaching kids about prosfora - especially emphasizing the significance of each ingredient. 
• Leavened vs. Unleavened
• Orthodox Answers deals with this question in a simple and straightforward manner.

A list of the ingredients used in the bread, with scriptures that go with each one. Each ingredient points to transformation, resurrection and life, which is so fitting.

yeast:

I am the living bread which came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever; and the bread that I shall give is My flesh, which I shall give for the life of the world.  - John 6:51

To what shall I liken the kingdom of God? It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three measures of meal till it was all leavened. Luke 13:21

flour: 

They also who dwell in the farthest parts are afraid of Your signs;You make the outgoings of the morning and evening rejoice.You visit the earth and water it,You greatly enrich it;The river of God is full of water;You provide their grain,For so You have prepared it.You water its ridges abundantly,You settle its furrows;You make it soft with showers,You bless its growth. - Psalm 65

The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. - John 12:23-25

Foolish one, what you sow is not made alive unless it dies. And what you sow, you do not sow that body that shall be, but mere grain—perhaps wheat or some other grain. But God gives it a body as He pleases, and to each seed its own body. - I Cor 15:36-38 

water:

unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. - John 3:6

If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water. - John 4:10

salt:

You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men. - Matt 5:13

Walk in wisdom toward those who are outside, redeeming the time. Let your speech alwaysbe with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one. - Col 4:5, 6 

wine: 

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there. Now both Jesus and His disciples were invited to the wedding. And when they ran out of wine, the mother of Jesus said to Him, “They have no wine.”Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does your concern have to do with Me? My hour has not yet come.”His mother said to the servants, “Whatever He says to you, do it.”Now there were set there six waterpots of stone, according to the manner of purification of the Jews, containing twenty or thirty gallons apiece. Jesus said to them, “Fill the waterpots with water.” And they filled them up to the brim. And He said to them, “Draw some out now, and take it to the master of the feast.” And they took it. When the master of the feast had tasted the water that was made wine, and did not know where it came from (but the servants who had drawn the water knew), the master of the feast called the bridegroom.And he said to him, “Every man at the beginning sets out the good wine, and when theguests have well drunk, then the inferior. You have kept the good wine until now!”This beginning of signs Jesus did in Cana of Galilee, and manifested His glory; and His disciples believed in Him. John 2:1-11

Koulourakia

A friend of mine asked me to try his recipe for Koulourakia. And given my love for baking things in funny shapes, I've made these many times now. They're kind of like the Christmas butter cookies I grew up with, but not nearly as dry. Plus, they're super pretty with sesame seeds sprinkled on top, and they go nicely with hot coffee in the morning. 

There appear to be as many variations of this recipe as there are Greek bloggers. :) This recipe is close to the one I used, but this one is nice, too, with lots of pictures. I took some pictures to show how I twisted the shapes. A good recipe will make a strong dough that's not too sticky so they twist up quickly and nicely. 

Happy New Year (with Christmas Bread)!

The holidays are so often a whirlwind of busy-ness and a call to peacefulness. Ours has been a bit paradoxical, both lovely and lonely. And I am eager to hold on to the lingering lovely moments that we have before our routine returns, to hold on to them and plant them into our routine.

I made an absolutely beautiful loaf of bread, but didn't bother to photograph it until it was almost gone. Yet, its beauty persists each morning as we eat another toasted slice. 

And despite our abnormal schedule and irregular appointments, we are still pouring two cups of coffee each morning and washing the dishes [most days]. This is beautiful, too. This is life and it persists despite our disrupted routines.

I have no idea what is in store this year, what projects we will undertake, what joys and tragedies we will face, but I am going in with my eyes wide open. I am determined to make this a year of love and not argument. I am looking and looking. Wishing you much love and beauty this year!

"Unless we look at a person and see the beauty there is in this person, we can contribute nothing to him. One does not help a person by discerning what is wrong, what is ugly, what is distorted. Christ looked at everyone he met, at the prostitute, at the thief, and saw the beauty hidden there. Perhaps it was distorted, perhaps damaged, but it was beauty none the less, and what he did was to call out this beauty... 

And this is what we must learn to do with regard to each person as an individual, but also - and this is not always as easy - with regard to groups of people or a nation. We must learn to look, and look until we have seen the underlying beauty of this group of people. 

Only then can we even begin to do something to call out all the beauty that is there. 

Listen to other people, and whenever you discern something which sounds true, which is a revelation of harmony and beauty, emphasize it and help it to flower. Strengthen it and encourage it to live." - Met. Anthony Bloom

American Lussekatter

I might as well say "Lucy Cats" since there is nothing Swedish about my bread. I saw lots of talk about St. Lucia day, and since I love an excuse to make shaped bread, AND I loved Kirsten as a kid (and in fact have her tucked away in the attic. Shhh! I don't want to tell the girls I have her until they finally sit through one of the books!) I thought we should have a little last minute St. Lucia day celebration, too. 

At first, I dreamed of the girls letting me sleep in, and then waking me, dressed in pretty gowns and bearing fresh-from-the-oven sweet bread and hot coffee, to serve me breakfast in bed.

But then I woke up and decided a tea party was a better idea.

Unfortunately, I had already started mixing the ingredients before I learned of the vital (and rare and expensive) ingredient saffron. Even more unfortunately, I realized too late that I didn't actually have enough flour to turn this batter into bread. So I stuck the goopy mess in the refrigerator. Yes, this is how I roll.

The next day, I added some flour and cinnamon and a few other entirely non-Swedish-tradition ingredients and braided up this bread.  I intended to shape them all into the cat shapes (sort of a cross made of 2 S's), but it was messy and the kids were yelling, and so I quickly braided the rest into a Lucia crown, and threw them in the oven. 

It was quite ill-planned - nevertheless, we sat down to our tea party with sweet bread, cocoa, candles and a little reading from the end of the Kirsten book. (spoiler! It's St. Lucia day and guess who gets to be St. Lucia!) The girls loved the story and (surprisingly) the bread, although the cocoa was a touch too hot. It's amazing how sticking a candle into your food can get everyone in a festive mood, and plenty of sugar glaze will keep everyone quietly licking their fingers while you read. Yes, it was a good time.