Christmas Eve Part Three: All the other stuff

December 23, 2014 by glennnner 1 Comment

Last Christmas Eve dinner preparation blog entry. It’s nearing the big day here. I have two working days before the holidays and am feeling pretty righteous as I have almost everything done. Dad’s been busy as well collecting all the ingredients for the family meal and Wednesday we will prepare the meal.

Lots of mental busyness for me right now not related to Christmas. As those of you who live in Alberta know the less than $60 barrel has got everyone distressed. This kind of economic downturn is especially troubling during the holidays. We all want to make the holidays as special as possible for our families and for most of us that means gifts.

As I wrote the last blog entry and remembered all of the very special Christmases I’ve had it was interesting to me that the things I remembered were not the gifts but the people and the situations. (Well to be entirely honest there is one gift related memory. I was five and all I wanted was a turquoise blue EasyBake Oven. I got mini pans and mixes to make in mom’s oven but no EasyBake. I have been scarred by this as many of you know and I reminded my parents of this for about thirty years).

But seriously folks we all KNOW it’s not about the gifts but it’s hard right?

I remember long ago when Andy’s business was young and we didn’t have a lot of money, a friend told me that she had her kids make their lists in September and the she had until December to buy all of the things on the list. All. Not some, all. I remember thinking that that was kind of crazy but it didn’t stop me from feeling lousy because my kids were going to get two things- one from Santa, one from mom and dad. Certainly not “all” the things that they wanted. I thought about that statement over the years and to be honest every year around this time I look at the things I’ve assembled and I wonder-did I get enough? Will they be satisfied? They always are, but a mother worries…

Society has changed too; it seems that we don’t wait for things. So in the past we might want something but we would deny ourselves because it was impractical or because we really didn’t “need” it or we needed the spend the money on something else. New iphones come out we buy them, new game systems launched we buy them, we don’t wait for Christmas so when Christmas comes, what’s left? The older my family gets and more independent, it becomes harder because now they look after themselves,buy things for themselves. I have been trying for the last year to really think about the person I am buying for and what would they find amusing, enjoyable or just plain impractical that they would not purchase for themselves. It’s harder than what they need or want but so far I am pretty happy with the results.

Charlie Brown said it best:

 

 

 

 

So these are the last things I will share this holiday preparation season.

The perishke recipe makes me a bit teary. If you recall my post about the cookies you will remember that in our family everybody has their specialty. At this time of year, I made the perogies- Mom seemed to feel I had a better touch for the dough. But perishke was all Mom’s. She would make the dough in the morning and by early afternoon she would be sitting at the table making the little buns and watching The Young and the Restless. I never touched them – this was her thing.

When she passed away in 2010 I treasured  a bag of perishke until Christmas at which time we remembered her and it made a new kind of Christmas a little less unsettling.

 

Perishke

6 eggs

1/4lb butter

1/4 cup oil

1 cup sugar

3 pkgs yeast (rapid rise)

1 pint milk scalded

1 cup warm water

1 tsp salt

12 cups flour

Beat eggs oil and melted butter. Beat in sugar. Add milk, water salt slowly then add 3-4 cups flour to make soft sponge. Add rapid raising  yeast to the warm sponge Gradually beat in flour until you have a soft dough. * I have always been fortunate enough to have a mixer with a dough hook. If doing by hand follow same steps and get a great arm workout.

But into lightly oiled bowl cover and rise at least 1 1/2 hour. Prepare filling.

Fillings: Potato with dill onion/ garlic; Rice with cottage cheese; Potato with cottage cheese.  Mash the potatoes with butter and milk but don’t make too wet. Add flavorings and cool.

When dough is ready, pinch off small walnut sized pieces flatten in your hand. Place tsp filling and draw dough around to encase. Make sure you pinch edges in well. Put on lightly greased cookie tray and bake 350 about 12 minutes or until a golden color. Cool.

Can be frozen until ready to use.

Creamy Dill Sauce

2 tbsp butter

2 tbsp finely diced onion

2 tbsp finely diced dill

2 tbsp flour

1 1/2 cup cream or half and half (or if you really must evaporated skim milk)

salt and pepper

Melt the butter and saute the onion until translucent. Add dill. Then stir in flour as to make a roux. Remove from heat. Whisk in cream and return to heat. Whisk until smooth and thickened.  Season to taste.

To serve perishke. Warm the perishke in oven about 10 minutes in casserole or roaster. Pour hot cream dill  sauce over and serve.

I never much liked Nachynka when i was a kid. I thought it was like eating porridge for supper. But then in the 90’s we went to a wedding dinner in Derwent and I had the most AMAZING nachynka and I was hooked. This is a bit like Italian polenta (which I also enjoy) but I think it is even more savory and can stand on its own better than polenta.

Nachynka

1/2 onion chopped fine

1/4 cup butter

1 cup cornmeal

5 cups warm milk

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt ( or to taste)

3 eggs

2 tsp baking powder

In roaster or large saucepan,saute onion in butter until translucent. Stir in cornmeal to coat. Gradually whisk in warm milk and seasoning. Whisk over moderate heat until mixture is thick and porridge like. Turn heat down and whisk in beaten eggs (temper the eggs by first adding a bit of hot mix to warm them up and not have them cook then stir the egg mix back in).  Cook two minutes more or until again porridge like. Sprinkle baking powder over top and fold in gently. If you did in a saucepan pour into lightly greased casserole or baking dish. If you did it in roaster it can just stay there. Put in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes until puffed and golden brown.

NOTES: Baba used a bit more sugar and a pinch of nutmeg- not my favorite but some like it sweeter. Personal taste.

Rose (the deep fried perogy recipe) make Bukovinian nachynka which starts out with about three rashers of finely chopped bacon then the onions etc. This is a fantastic version and so very savoury.

All variations can be sliced and pan fried if left over and left over mushroom sauce from the perogies is wonderful on top of this dish.

 

MERRY CHRISTMAS!