Day 12. St. Lucy's Day

Today’s guest blogger is Rebecca Mize Harrell.  When we were at OBU together she was Becky Mize, Jodi’s longsuffering roommate, “the nice one”.  After OBU she worked for the Shawnee News Star.  Then when my Paul was 18 months old or so Becky married Kendall.  From all accounts he has done a great job of keeping her happy and entertained. You think boring Nina Garcia is bad? Boring Becky Mize Harrell was the fastest way to get kicked off the island back in the day.  Becky and her family live in Japan. Yes THAT Japan with the earthquakes and nuclear plant disasters.  Last year we tried to persuade her to get Kendall to borrow an aircraft carrier to fly the family back this way for the Christmas party.  Apparently the military frowns on that?  

She looks EXACTLY the same as in college. How is that even possible?!?!? 

In any case this is Becky’s entry about St Lucy’s day… It has nothing to do with the Peanut’s gang as it turns out. 

Happy St. Lucy’s Day! It’s time to light candles and eat braided sweet bread as we mark the feast day of a saint whose name means light. Recipe included for anyone who would like to join in this tradition.

With our first child growing into more of a person each day and limited memories of my own childhood, I felt that our family needed some traditions planted in our minds, and I set about finding us some.

I think these little repetitions help keep us on solid ground. Sometimes life feels a bit shaky, but our traditions give us a pattern to follow when everything around us seems so changeable. In particular, I wanted Christmas to be more memorable and less focused on what’s under the tree. What we have ended up with probably looks like no other Christmas ever, but it reflects our family and I like that.

For the holiday meal, I kept some childhood foods that were always a family must. Homemade noodles made extra yellow with food coloring, now dubbed the neon noodles by a brother-in-law, and a salad of apples, cheese, raisins and mayonnaise. I used to think this salad came from German forebears, but now, I think its origin is the 1950s love of mayonnaise.

We added in some Christian bits early on that were unfamiliar to us at the time, but sounded fun and meaningful. Advent wreath, a chance to enjoy candlelight (play with fire) and talk about peace, hope and love – yes, we’ll take that tradition. Ditto, for St. Lucy’s Day on December 13^th – more candles – and themes of light and hope. This observance comes via Sweden, a country we have no connection to, but we enjoy making and eating a bread crown, although we do forego the part of the tradition that involves someone wearing lighted candles on her head.

On December 6^th, we mark St. Nicholas’ day with a small gift and thoughts and plans about giving to get ourselves into the spirit of the season. There’s also a bread moment with this one, too, but sadly, no fire.

After this, our Christmas started to move in new directions as we embraced things based on where the military had us living at the time and with the addition of a child by adoption.

In Corpus Christi, tamales are a part of Christmas, but I’m too lazy to make them, so we left that one behind. In London, we added Christmas crackers, roasted chestnuts, no open fire, unfortunately, and Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols. My attempts to incorporate traditional English Christmas cake (think fruitcake) into the scene were not well received, so I moved on.

I was also met with resistance to making The Nutcracker an annual event since my people were always ready to leave by halftime.

After London, we landed in Illinois. It took me some moments to figure out why on earth the neighborhood next to us really decorated for Halloween, and then, dead silence for Christmas.

Satanists? A not helpful voice from my Southern Baptist past suggested. No. (shut-up, voice) Jewish. In what is probably the height of our holiday syncretism, we’ve been using Hanukkah candles on the St. Lucy’s day crown for a number of years now to remind us of those days. Hanukkah candles have only one prohibition: they must be used for pleasure, and not for work, so I think we’re OK.

Next, our youngest came to us by way of China. Homemade Chinese dumplings entered our lives, too, and we attached those to the December festivities as well. Now, nothing says Christmas like cookie sheets full of dumplings ready to be dropped into a simmering pot of water.

Then, we were off to Japan. Here, Christmas Eve is a big date night, and the Japanese associate the holiday with fried chicken because of a successful 1970s KFC advertising campaign. KFC in Japan takes reservations at Christmas, and it’s usual for there to be a line to enjoy their fried chicken goodness. Don’t laugh. So sometime during the Christmas season, I fry a chicken. And I might giggle a little.

We have also always enjoyed holiday light displays, and happily, Japan really gets into this with many beautiful holiday illuminations. http://www.mustlovejapan.com/subject/tokyo_german_village_illumination/

However, in a country with earthquakes, the candles of Advent and St. Lucy’s Day have become something requiring more caution. You just never know when the earth might start shaking. But that’s OK. We continue to enjoy these traditions even if the ground is a little unstable around us because the traditions help make us stable.

Here’s hoping that you, too, have tradition. Tradition! To help make memories and to give a solid foundation when the world starts shifting around you.

Recipe

St. Lucy’s Crown

This recipe is adapted from A Continual Feast by Evelyn Birge Vitz

1 cup lukewarm milk

2 packages dry yeast

1/4 cup warm water

1/2 cup sugar

1 teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cardamom

1/3 cup butter

1 egg, lightly beaten

4 cups flour

Grated rind of 1 lemon

4-5 tablespoons almonds, finely chopped

Confectioners’ Sugar Glaze (see below)

Thin Candles

In a small saucepan warm the milk. In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast in the lukewarm water. Stir in 1 tablespoon of the sugar. Set the mixture aside for 5 to 10 minutes, or until frothy.

Stir the rest of the sugar into the milk and add the salt, butter, and cardamom. Stir until the butter is melted. 

Let cool to lukewarm. Stir into the yeast mixture. Add the lightly beaten egg. Stir in the flour gradually, mixing well. Add the lemon rind and almonds.

Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead for about 10 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic. While you are kneading, add more flour if the dough is sticky.

Place the dough in a greased bowl, turning to grease the top. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 to 1 ½ hours.

Punch the dough down. Cut off one-third to make the top braid; set aside. Divide the remaining dough into three parts. Roll each part into a rope about 25 inches long. Place the three ropes close together on a buttered baking sheet and braid them together. (try starting from the middle to make this easier) Form the braid into a circle, pinching the ends to seal.

Divide the reserved dough into three parts. Roll each part into a rope about 24 inches long. Proceed as above; place the three ropes close together on a buttered baking sheet and braid them. Form the braid into a circle, pinching the ends.

Cover both braids lightly and let the bread rise for 30 to 45 minutes, or until almost doubled in bulk.

Bake at 375 degrees. The smaller braid for 15-20 minutes and the larger for 25-30 minutes. If they start to get too brown, cover with foil.

After baking, place the smaller braid on top of the larger. Drizzle it with Confectioners’ Sugar Glaze. Place candles into the crown and light them.

Confectioners’ Sugar Glaze

2-3 teaspoons lemon juice or milk or water

½ to 1 cup confectioners’ sugar

Stir the lemon juice into the sugar; mix well. Add more sugar or lemon juice as needed to produce a proper consistency for drizzling.