Merry Christmas Eve to all. As I look at my Christmas tree and the decorations that adorn it, I recall a past that seems to have belonged to someone else.
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~the hand writing is on a yellowed slip of paper; the flip side of a blank prescription, Dr. John J. Gallinatti at the top and it reads as follows:
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Christmas Eve Dinner 1971
Oplatky - Host -
Bread -
D poppie seed balls -
G - Nutroll -
G - Poppie seed roll -
Sauerkaut & mushrooms -
D - Bean & Barley -
Perogy -
Lima Beans -
mashed potatoes -
Prunes -
herring marinitti -
herring sourcream -
~not edited! The "D" stands for Dolly and the "G" for Grandma Scubelek
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I can't recall the afternoons, but I do know the magic that happened on Christmas Eve when I was small.
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Mom would probably spend the morning and early afternoon preparing her part of the feast. Then sometime after lunch we'd have to get ready, into our Sunday best. I'd wear a fancy dress, knee high socks and my patent leather shoes. My curly hair couldn't be tamed, but was pulled back out of my eyes and into a little pony tail, topped with a bow.
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Once ready we all would head to my grandparents; my dad's parents house. The ethnicity was Polish, very different from my other grandparents Italian/Irish mix. There was always an air of 'properness' or formality that prevailed at my G & G Scubelek's.
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The family that gathered numbered 14 or 15. It was the four of us, my dad's older sister, her husband, their five children, my uncle's mom (Grandma Gallinatti), maybe Uncle John's sister (Sister Francis) and my grandparents. Dinner was served in two courses. First the Oplatky with the soup. I do not know if the spelling of Oplatky is correct, but it is blessed host. Every person was given a small two-inch square and expected to go around the table and greet everyone. You hold out your oplatky to another person and say, "health and happiness" as the recipient breaks off a piece of your oplatky and eats it. In return, they say the same to you and you break off a piece from their section and eat it. Once you have spoken to everyone you sit down and eat your bean and barley soup.
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After soup all the other food is placed on the table and passed around. My favorites from that meal were the bean and barley soup, the perogies, the herring in sour cream and the poppy seed roll. There was so much food that I don't even recall dessert nor is it on my "list" of what we had. I recall the adults drinking coffee after dinner, but maybe what else was going on distracted me.
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Sometime late in our meal my uncle, who was a doctor would get an emergency phone call. He would have to leave and go take care of a patient. A little while later something incredible would happen...Santa would knock on my grandparent's door! I do remember a few Christmas' where I was so scared. He knew who I was and how to find me! He'd pat my back and say, "Come here Lisa and sit on Santa's knee. Tell me what you want for Christmas and have you been a good little girl?" He knew me. My parents would put their hand in the middle of my back and push me towards this jolly old elf. "It's okay," they'd say. "It's Santa." After I sat on his knee and listened to his familiar voice he'd reach into his bag and pull out a gift wrapped with my name on it. He'd repeat this with all my cousins and my brother then and we'd all happily unwrap our gift.
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After Santa would leave my uncle would soon return and say his patient was going to be fine. He'd ask if he'd missed anything and we'd all show him our gifts. He'd act so sad that he'd missed Santa once again.
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When my grandparents moved from that home in Glen Park, Santa stopped coming to our Christmas Eve dinner. By then we were all much older and definitely wise to the voice connected with our Santa. We still gathered for that feast though. I still love Bean & Barley soup, perogies and herring in cream sauce. Today I am going to try to make a poppy seed roll.
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When my mom passed away I wanted a few of her cook books. What a treasure trove I have now. Old recipes I thought weren't written down. Hand writing from several of my loved ones who no longer walk on earth. I certainly feel connected to my parents today.
