Today is Christmas, but only the first day of Christmas- the start of the twelve-day festal tide adopted by the Christian Church. In 567 C.E. church leaders proclaimed the days from December 25 to Epiphany as a sacred, festive season.
We've had a lovely 3-day Christmas celebration, beginning on Friday and continuing through last night. (When you have young adults in the family, you need to be flexible... work schedules and travel plans interfere with the traditional timing of things.) And I was so relaxed I didn't get any pictures all weekend!
What we did:
1. Hang our stockings with care
2. Put Baby Jesus in the manger
3. Make Danish Prune Bread
4. Make Seven Fishes Stew
5. Open Gifts
6. Have a feast
7. Continue the Festal Tide
1. Hang our stockings with care:
We met Friday night to decorate the tree and hang our stockings, but I didn't get any photos.
2. Put Baby Jesus in the manger:
Of course, Baby Jesus must arrive in His crib tonight!
I believe that we all have that of God within, and I generally picture it as Light, but the Christ Child is another wonderful image. At Advent, I am a baby again, waiting for birth into wisdom and grace.
3. Make Danish Prune Bread:
Christmas sweet bread is a tradition in most every country. Since I grew up in a Scandinavian-American town, I’m partial to this bread from Denmark. You can easily make the dough and filling in advance and shape it to bake fresh on Christmas morning.
Ingredients:
Yield: 2 loaves-
1- Cut cold butter into chunks; combine with flour, and cut with a pastry blender until the butter is the size of kidney beans.
2- In another large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the cream, cardamom, salt, eggs, and 1/4 c. sugar. Mix very lightly with a fork.
3- Turn flour and butter mixture into the yeast mixture and mix lightly with a fork or spatula just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 4 days).
4- Filling: Put prunes, 1 c. sugar, and 1/4 c. of water into a saucepan. Heat and simmer until prunes are soft and plumped, and have absorbed most of the liquid.
5- Puree in a blender, transfer to a bowl and stir in lemon juice, vanilla and cinnamon. Cool and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
6- You can finish this tonight, or on Christmas morning: Prepare a baking sheet with lightly buttered and floured parchment paper. Take dough out of the refrigerator, divide in 2 parts, and put half back. On a floured surface, roll dough into a 12 x 6-inch rectangle. Place on the baking sheet.
6- Spread half the prune filling down the length of the center of the dough. Cut strips along both sides with kitchen scissors. Fold strips over the filling in a crisscross manner.
7- Repeat for the other half of the dough and filling to make a second loaf.
8- Let rise 1 hour or more, just until the pastry appears puffy (it will not double.)
9- Preheat the oven to 375ºF. Bake about 20 to 25 minutes, until golden.
4. Make Seven Fishes Stew:
In some parts of southern Italy families enjoy a seven fishes dinner on Christmas Eve known as the Feast of the Seven Fishes or La Vagilia. Since I've been learning about Christmas in Italy, I made a version of this, but I didn't take any photos!
We've had a lovely 3-day Christmas celebration, beginning on Friday and continuing through last night. (When you have young adults in the family, you need to be flexible... work schedules and travel plans interfere with the traditional timing of things.) And I was so relaxed I didn't get any pictures all weekend!
What we did:
1. Hang our stockings with care
2. Put Baby Jesus in the manger
3. Make Danish Prune Bread
4. Make Seven Fishes Stew
5. Open Gifts
6. Have a feast
7. Continue the Festal Tide
1. Hang our stockings with care:
We met Friday night to decorate the tree and hang our stockings, but I didn't get any photos.
 |
| Our stockings 2 year's ago |
Of course, Baby Jesus must arrive in His crib tonight! I believe that we all have that of God within, and I generally picture it as Light, but the Christ Child is another wonderful image. At Advent, I am a baby again, waiting for birth into wisdom and grace.
3. Make Danish Prune Bread:
Christmas sweet bread is a tradition in most every country. Since I grew up in a Scandinavian-American town, I’m partial to this bread from Denmark. You can easily make the dough and filling in advance and shape it to bake fresh on Christmas morning.Ingredients:
- 1-1/2 c. chilled unsalted butter
- 3-1/2 c. flour
- 2 tsp. active dry yeast (1 packet)
- 1/2 c. warm water (105-115ºF)
- 1/2 c. heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 2 eggs
- 1/4 c. sugar
- 1 c. pitted prunes, packed
- 1 c. sugar
- 2 Tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/2-tsp. vanilla
- 1/2-tsp. cinnamon
Yield: 2 loaves-1- Cut cold butter into chunks; combine with flour, and cut with a pastry blender until the butter is the size of kidney beans.
2- In another large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the warm water. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir in the cream, cardamom, salt, eggs, and 1/4 c. sugar. Mix very lightly with a fork.
3- Turn flour and butter mixture into the yeast mixture and mix lightly with a fork or spatula just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour (or up to 4 days).
4- Filling: Put prunes, 1 c. sugar, and 1/4 c. of water into a saucepan. Heat and simmer until prunes are soft and plumped, and have absorbed most of the liquid.
5- Puree in a blender, transfer to a bowl and stir in lemon juice, vanilla and cinnamon. Cool and store in the refrigerator until ready to bake.
6- You can finish this tonight, or on Christmas morning: Prepare a baking sheet with lightly buttered and floured parchment paper. Take dough out of the refrigerator, divide in 2 parts, and put half back. On a floured surface, roll dough into a 12 x 6-inch rectangle. Place on the baking sheet.
6- Spread half the prune filling down the length of the center of the dough. Cut strips along both sides with kitchen scissors. Fold strips over the filling in a crisscross manner.7- Repeat for the other half of the dough and filling to make a second loaf.
8- Let rise 1 hour or more, just until the pastry appears puffy (it will not double.)
4. Make Seven Fishes Stew:
In some parts of southern Italy families enjoy a seven fishes dinner on Christmas Eve known as the Feast of the Seven Fishes or La Vagilia. Since I've been learning about Christmas in Italy, I made a version of this, but I didn't take any photos!
We met again on Saturday morning to open our presents, sit by the fire, eat prune bread, cheeses, nuts, and egg nog. It was wonderful, but I didn't get any pictures.
6. Have a feast:
Because of work schedules, we held or Christmas feast on Sunday. We spent the whole afternoon together, doing a puzzle, watching the Dr. Who marathon, playing games and eating. I made a very popular Italian antipasto salad, and I got one photo!
7. Continue the Festal Tide:
Now my family celebrations are finished- a whole day early- and I can decide how to spend the rest of my Christmas time.
In some old traditions, this whole season was seen as a sort of Sabbath: Prepare ahead of time and then spend the Twelve Days doing as little work as possible. It's a good time to rest, reflect, and find peace within. My plan:
- Start the morning with meditation and reading
- Take a bubble bath
- Take a long walk with Sadie and deliver some goodies to friends
- Start a new painting
- Call my family
- Work on a puzzle
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