Day 358 – The Polish stars
Since meeting the boy, who is half Polish, I have been introduced to many treats and traditions hitherto unknown to me. Though I am a big fan of the drink it straight down sweet kick of krupnik and can munch through many a stick of dried cabanossi my favourite tradition by far is the night of the Polish star.
The night of Christmas eve, the boy and all his family gather together to eat traditional Polish dishes and to exchange gifts. I am a lucky girl in that in spite of all my ills the boy and his family are very understanding of the fact that I am a bit of a crazy person.
Though I will never get her to admit it I am sure that the mysterious dress donor is the boy’s mother. And in this case she must have donated somewhere between thirty and forty dresses to the project which puts her on a par with my fabulous fairy God mother.
The evening is spent catching up and munching on delicious Polish dishes which sound awful but taste rather nice. There is beetroot soup known as barszcz which is served with pierogi floating in the soup which taste a little like mushroom ravioli but far yummier.
The dish is followed by raw herring with onions in a creamy sauce with Polish rye bread. It has taken me four years but this is now one of those dishes that I look forward to. We had a new member of the boy’s family at the table this year who was quite the sweetheart and handled the idea of raw fish on his plate like a Polish pro.
Before the food is eaten there is a pretty little tradition where a piece of holy communion is given to each person. Whether you are a Christian or not the bread is broken between each person where good wishes are then given for the coming year. It is my favourite part of the evening and is usually the time when the boy’s grandma manages to slip something sweet into our exchange about my becoming an official part of the family.
The one thing that chafes on me this year is that I had hoped that with a job at Christmas for the first time in four years that I might be able to report upon better news. Though I have the job I have been in hospital for three months and it makes me sad that I do not have better news to tell.
Regardless, the night is a great start to the festivities of Christmas and though the amount of people is at times overwhelming as the boy reminds me I am with family and an accepting one at that. The Polish stars shine brightly in my mind tonight.
