Stahlke Adoption

Christmas Eve, Part VII

After eating the first half of the meal, the serving attendants brought us steaming bowls of beet soup (borscht), which is the signature dish of Ukraine. I've heard that a Ukrainian cook is judged by the quality and originality of their borscht. It is usually cooked with meat, but due to the Advent fast, the Christmas Eve version is vegetarian.

The next portion of the meal included dumplings (varenyky) stuffed with potato or sauerkraut, and cabbage rolls (holubtsi). Our children adore varenyky, and just last night, Paul offered to prepare them for the family. We didn't have any sauerkraut in the pantry, so he made it from scratch with raw red cabbage, vinegar, and salt. He and Adam then rolled and stuffed dumplings for several hours, and we'll enjoy them tonight.

The second half of Christmas Eve dinner also featured a small dish of ground walnuts, sweetened with honey and spiced with something we couldn't determine. When I search websites of Ukrainian recipes, they always mention the walnuts in kutyia, but not this separate walnut dish. I'll try to ask in person some Saturday when we're at Ukrainian school.

When the last and twelfth dish was brought to our table, Rachel looked particularly pleased. The salad of marinated beets and red beans was one that her birth mother made at Christmastime. Rachel herself has made it for us.

To end the meal, the adults drank hot tea, and the kids received bags of candy. But the evening was not yet over . . .

posted by Stahlkes @ 1:29 PM