All Things Christmassy in Poland

So... was she a heathen? Polish Christmas Eve dinner is supposed to be lenten, which means no meat, no eggs (beyond what's need to fry fish) and no dairy (relaxed in recent years with dishes like herring in cream becoming popular).

True. In my home adults wouldn't eat anything till the dinner, kids were allowed some food but definitely not meat. My favourite was to "steal" few potatoes cooked for the potato salad

Pre war in areas with mixed German / Polish / whatever populations then Ham and goose was quite common. You would often have extended families that mixed traditions. I know that in Lithuania the Christmas meal is pretty much like the Polish one but in Latvia and Estonia it's meat and sauerkraut but with pierogi and Barszcz too

No, a progressive liberal like me.


Isn't 'lenten' some kind of a rose ?


Thank you.
My Dad gave up drinking but we always ate meat during lent.

On the Christmas day goose, ham, or a duck and whatever else i.e. sweet cakes.
In Poland the big day is Xmas Eve and there you have no meat, just beetroot extract with uszka, pierogis (no meat) and some other stuff (that can be googled)

Either you are confused as to which day it was or your family didn't give a hoot about Polish traditions.

Very possible Ironside as that was sixty years ago.
Even though I have broken away from Catholic traditions I still find mid-night mass one of the holiest gathers of the year.

That's because JR is making it up as he goes along and he didn't have a Babcia at all they called her Oma and she wd kill the pig with her bare hands

And teeth, of course. False or real , whatever.

Traditionally we don't eat meat on Christmas Eve.
Even for breakfast. Then you don't eat anything till the dinner. Again no meat, just fish. It's just a Polish tradition as there's no rule in the Catholic church that forbids eating meat on this day.

Pierogi, carp and other fish, sauerkraut with forest mushrooms, beetroot soup or forest mushroom soup, kutia etc.Traditions vary depending on families but generally speaking all dishes are meatless and dishes include fish, forest mushrooms, sauerkraut, poppy seed etc so things that were easily available in the middle of winter.

As for the next two days of Christmas, as far as my family is concerned, we don't have food that is especially eaten on Christmas only (unlike Christmas Eve). Sometimes we have fish, sometimes duck or mushroom soup or beetroot soup with meat filled uszka -we don't have these on Christmas Eve.

The reality is that everyone is pretty full anyway and it's hard to eat more. So when you have guests you try to make them eat what you prepared but they're full. And when you visit people you're full anyway so it's hard to eat anything they serve.

But there's always place for some serniczek.

Within few days you say/hear: Nie jedz. To na Święta which soon changes into: Jedz, jedz, bo się zmarnuje.

One more working day tomorrow and it is holiday time till 17 January.

Oh brother!:)

Yes, I will feel uneasy, no work for such a long time. :):):)

But my kids will make up for it, as usual - they are going to have a lot of home schooling classes. They already got homework for today and tomorrow, then Eve and Christmas Day are free, and we get back on Boxing Day.

What time will you be fishing the carp out of your bathtub?

In my family X-Mas Eve, aka Wigilia, is always the big day. At the sign of the first star (or simply once it gets dark since you can't see stars in urban areas) you pass around oplatek and then have a lenten meal with the exception of fish. There's 12 dishes - things like piergoi, fish (often "Greek/Jewish" style) usually carp and sometimes white fish, kluski, sauerkraut, soups like red borscht, deserts like makowiec, and kompot to drink. You leave an extra chair and plate for a "guest" that maybe doesn't have a place or family with whom to celebrate.

We usually give presents out after the midnight mass instead of like Christmas morning like Americans tend to do.

Similar to our with few exceptions- no 12 dishes as we simply wouldn't be able to eat quarter of it. Unless you count moczka and cakes as dishes.

And we didn't go to midnight mass so the gifts were given after the meal

I'd like to think that you're joking, Pawian, but knowing your thirst for knowledge, you're most probably not!

If they can read, they don't need any classes. If they're interested, they'll teach themselves.

Ha! That old tradition of a Polish aquarium in a bathtub is not longer valid. You should learn that it is forbidden to sell live carp in Poland. Yesterday I bought some carp and salmon and it is all in the freezer now.


No, Delph, when it comes to education, especially my kids`, I seldom joke.


No, they are typical kids who prefer electronic gadgets or PC games. I have always needed to make them study/ learn. But they quickly adopted - the first few months were the worst when they were 3 or 5.

Freedom at last! But the joy of having a long break is already spoiled by the awareness that it is going to pass quickly and to be difficult for me to get back to work after nearly a month. I like resuming work after summer holidays coz they are long enough to start missing school and students. But winter breaks are different - I have a problem with returning to duties. Shyt! Why can`t Poles enjoy life like flippant Southerners but are constantly worried and anticipate the worst??

I can safely say that my Librus inbox is now getting ignored until the 17th. Maybe the 16th, but I doubt it.

That was your fatal error. As I trained in the Montessori system my mantra is ' all children naturally love work, all children naturally want to learn'. We start from that standpoint, so we never force a child to learn. They will do so when they reach the correct developmental level which is different for each child. Basically you observe the child and if they show readiness you introduce something that you think is right for them. If they show no interest, you leave it. For that reason we offer 'no incentives, no rewards, no punishments' and finally 'no correcting mistakes' - and guess what? It works! :)

Today I went to the shopping centre to finish Monday`s purchases. I came at 8 and the car park was still half empty. I left after 9 and it was fully packed. There was a line for carp, which was out of stock, they were still waiting for delivery.

Now I am going to do the chores - regular and Christmas ones. First, I need to clean the cat litter boxes - there are 5 altogether.