After my post the other day asking for ways to preserve the children's Ukrainian heritage, John's aunt sent me the following links that some of you out there might enjoy. I haven't had a chance to comb through them, but they look fabulous!

Ukrainian recipes
Pysanky
Pysanky

Also, Lisa Sicilian, (a sweetie that I've never met!), was sweet enough to send me a nice and long email with lots of goodies in it. I asked her if I could cut and paste it here, and agreed. THANK YOU SO MUCH LISA!!!


Shelly,

I spoke with my Mom and she was too funny- she told me I HAD to tell you
that these customs might be particular to the region of Ukraine our family
is from. "We" come from Ivano Frankiwsk and Ternopil in Western Ukraine and
just like any country, Ukraine's different regions all have their own
customs, recipes, etc. But I'll share with you our traditions and hopefully
there will be something in there that you can incorporate into your own
celebrations.

As I'm sure you know, Ukrainians are extremely big on hospitality. Ukrainian
women pride themselves on being able to feed an army and turning virtually
nothing into something delicious. To make a guest feel welcome in your home
is the benchmark of success in a Ukrainian housewife's life. When especially
honored guests are received into the home, they are greeted by the woman of
the house with bread, salt and wine. Bread- the staff of life and all that
represents, salt to savor life's riches and wine which symbolizes
fruitfulness and well being. The bread is usually a specially baked babka
and the items are arranged on a tray with a beautifully embroidered cloth on
it. This is also done at any "big" life milestones. Weddings, Christenings,
Birthdays, etc. We did this at my wedding (way back in 1995) and everyone
just thought it was the coolest thing- but I'll do more on that kind of
thing later in this rambling message. Besides, you've got a long, long way
to go before you're the hosts of any weddings!!

Christmas Eve is the "bigger" day. Old School Ukrainians will fast the
entire day and then partake of the meatless feast set out. Usually the meal
consists of 12 different dishes. The first one is a NASTY concoction of
wheat, honey and poppy seeds- but we won't even go there- yeeeeech! Fish is
usually served as well as Borscht and Pierogi.
I don't know if you have any pets in your home, but animals hold a special
place of honor in the Christmas Eve observance. It was felt that not only
did the animals serve us during the year (plowing fields, giving milk,
etc..) but they were more importantly responsible for keeping the Baby Jesus
warm in the manger!! Straw is also placed under the dining room table to
signify the humble birth of Christ. In the villages, the animals are given
fresh hay and even fed whatever is prepared for the family to eat as a
special "thank you" to them! I think it's really cute, and so we feed our
dog Sophia special treats on that night. When I was a little girl, my
Babchi's big concession was to let the family's "outside" cat inside to
sleep in the nice warm house- BUT just for ONE night!! A candle is also
placed in the window so that anyone who is without a family or home on
Christmas Eve will know that they are welcome- an extra place is set at the
table just for this purpose also. I know here in America some Ukrainians and
some Polish that take it a step further and turn on EVERY single light
inside and outside of the house- as well as putting candles in every window
of the home. Traditionally, the feasting did not start until the youngest
member of the family spotted the first star in the sky. Usually, no one can
wait that long to eat!!! All of this eating is capped of with Mass at
midnight and then we greet each other with the saying "Christ is Born". I'll
try to get you the phonetic spelling of all the sayings I'm going to give
you, but I'll need to consult with some of my native Ukrainian speakers. So,
in my family we did these things on Christmas Eve (except for church at
midnight- we could never make it!) Then on Christmas Day we did our big
family dinner with meat this time after church and opening gifts.

On New Year's Day it's traditional to "wash" yourself with money!! The way
we did this was to take coins in our hands and rub them in our hands under
running water. This was done to ensure good fortune and prosperity for the
coming year. Then my Babchi would make a sort of fried-donut type of treat
called Pampushka- but you know, Krispy Kreme's would work just as good!!

Easter- like I said earlier, the big thing is taking a big basket of yummies
to church to be blessed on Holy Saturday. Ukrainian women get a little
competitive to see who's basket and Babka are decorated the most
beautifully. The baskets are usually decorated with flowers and greenery-
I'm sure you figured out during your trip to UA that plants and flowers are
a huge part of the culture. Anyway, the traditional foods symbolize
different things. Babka is bread that I covered earlier, as well as salt.
Hard boiled eggs symbolize rebirth, renewal and life. Horseradish is to
symbolize the bitterness we've got to take along with everything else. The
meats- ham, kielbasi and cheese (usually pot or farmer's cheese- I'm not
sure what it might be called out by you- I'm from New Jersey) these are all
in there because usually you've been abstaining from these things during
Wednesdays and Fridays during Lent and certainly since the Thursday before
Good Friday!! Mom even puts the butter we put on the Babka in the basket.
This is all covered with another beautifully embroidered cloth that's only
used for this one purpose. (again, more peeking at your neighbor to see
who's is more elaborate) Pysanky can also be added inside of the basket for
more decoration. During the ceremony, candles are lit and held by everyone
while the priest blesses the food. In my little Ukrainian corner of the
world this was done in the church's basement and let me tell you- you put on
5 pounds just breathing in all that good food, then it was upstairs for
confession and to kiss the wounds of Christ. Now I'm pretty sure you're not
Ukrainian Byzantine or Orthodox, but I just figured I'd throw these tid-bits
in. What they would do is put out this life size picture of Christ after he
was taken down off the Cross. This was put at the base of the altar. You
then "walked" on you knees- down the entire length of the aisle and
proceeded to kiss each of Christ's wounds. Needless to say, this was A LOT
easier when you were younger, the old knees just ain't what they used to
be!! Also, on Easter Sunday we greet each other with the phrase "Christ is
Risen" Again, I'll get you the phonetic spelling because that definitely
might be something to teach the kids because I see how very involved you are
with your church and giving them a Christian upbringing. Which leads me to
the other disclaimer Mom insisted I give you. As part of the Ukrainian
Diaspora it was such an essential part of who they were to be able to
practice their Christianity- something they faced the prospect of death for
if they were caught during the communist regime. These observances I've told
you about are things that were brought here 60 years ago and may no longer
(sadly) be the norm in ANY part of Ukraine right now. They are part of a
Ukraine that really no longer exists because this was all before everything
became Russified. Of course, we like to think then that everything is
therefore, somehow "purer" and "more" Ukrainian. I try to tell my Mom that's
not necessarily the case because without even trying I'm sure these customs
have become Americanized on some level- but you'll never win an argument
with a Ukrainian Mother!!

Okay, now that you probably need a nap from reading this novel, I'll just
finish up with a sweet wedding tradition and how we incorporated it into our
blended family. For weddings, Babkas are baked, but then decorated with the
most intricate flowers, birds, braids, etc that you have ever seen- and all
made out of the same dough as the Babka. The flowers and birds of course
symbolize fertility etc. But some of the things are just precious. Sooo, we
had my Ukrainian cousin who came in just for my wedding make over 250 of
these little miniature birds and that's what we attached to our seating
cards. That way when we did the Bread, Salt and Wine ceremony I mentioned
earlier, they all had a little "piece" of something to share along with us.
We were up until 4 a.m. doing those little birds and then NO ONE wanted to
eat them because they were so cute. Also, during our ceremony we stood on a
specially embroidered cloth that signified our standing together through
everything during life. I received two of these because my Teta (aunt) in
Ukraine wasn't sure which style I'd like more. They are extremely precious
to me because they came from Ukraine. My brother and my best friend both
used the same cloth Matt and I did for their weddings.

Whew- I need to come up for air, but as you can tell I'm a little passionate
about my culture. The thing is, even my non-Ukrainian spouse, his family and
our friends enjoy participating in our culture. It's one designed to include
everyone and celebrate what's most important in life- our family, life and
love!

Again, thanks for giving me the opportunity to share with you. I will get
you those recipes.

Most Sincerely,

Lisa Sicilian