Countdown has begun

Oh, Christmas. What a great time of year. During the weeks leading up to it, I always feel like things get a little more special. A little more magical. A little more serene and forgiving. Even in the most crowded of department stores, I actually don't feel like murdering the girl who dug her stiletto into my foot.

This is my second Christmas here in London, and it feels amazing. My first Christmas was also fantastic, but it still felt a bit new and unsettled. This time it feels like home.

My parents are coming up for the holidays, so it'll be their first Christmas over here in the UK. I haven't seen them since April of this year, and the reunion will be so precious. Plus, we've decided to pull out all the stops and cook a traditional Ukrainian feast on the 24th, and then a traditional British lunch on the 25th. Two days of cooking where one day happens to be all these complicated Ukrainian dishes from scratch? Yeah, I may have bitten off more than I can chew.

Just a little information to help you: Christmas lunch in the UK is sort of like America's Thanksgiving- a big bird, lots of veg, loads of wine, wrapped presents called "crackers" that you pull apart and reveal surprises, and then lots of amazing cheeses, biscuits, coffee, etc. It takes a bit of time to prepare, but it's not too bad. And the mister is an amazing cook, so he and I get things sorted quite well.

Now, for the Ukrainians, Christmas (which is actually on the 7th of January, traditionally) is a much more protracted (and meatless) affair. Why meatless? Because traditionally, Ukrainians were said to believe that the farm animals needed one day off a year, so it was therefore frowned upon to eat meat or eggs.

The dinner consists of a total of 12 courses, one for each of Jesus' disciples. No, I will not be attempting to cook all of them.

When Babchya was growing up, she told me that the evening started off with caroling, in about 2 feet of snow. Then, she and her 5 siblings would go back home and wait for the village priest to come by and make a blessing. He would take hay that has been formed into the shape of a man (called a Diduxh- pronounced deeDOOXKH) and bring it three times into the house to bless the house. Then he would place it in the corner of the house by the religious icons. After that blessing, the dinner can begin.

The dinner starts with a prayer, and then while everyone is standing, dry cubes of bread soaked in honey are passed around- from oldest family member to youngest. The bread represents a version of communion. Then, everyone sits down and the first dish that is eaten is called Kutya (it represents the sweetness and richness of Ukraine's land). Kutya is a wheat berry dish with poppy seeds, walnut pieces, dates and honey. The head of the household also takes a spoonful of this and throws it onto the ceiling of the house and if the kutya sticks, then it means that the harvest will be good that year. I can't imagine what 5 years' worth of kutya buildup does to your walls..

After that, comes Borscht (beet soup). This soup is SO delicious, and it usually accompanied with a dollop of sour cream in the middle and a nice crusty piece of bread.

Next we have 2 types of fish dishes (and if you ever forget which goes first, the soup or the fish, we remind ourselves by saying that the soup goes first, so that the fish have something to swim in...): fish in aspic, and white fish in a vegetable/tomato sauce.

After that, come the Pyrohy (Pierogies, as some people pronounce it). It's pretty common to see them around now, but for those of you who don't know, Pyrohy are like Eastern European dumplings. They're shaped in a crescent moon shape, and are filled with either mashed potato and onion, or sauteed sauerkraut and onion, or mushroom and onion. You boil them and serve them with some sour cream (yes, Ukrainians have a habit of drowning things in sour cream). What's really great about these things is that when you have leftovers, the next day you get to fry them up in some butter for breakfast- they're even better on the second day. Yum.

After that, you'll have to unbutton your jeans- because there's more.

Now we have Holubtsi. Holubtsi are boiled cabbage leaves that are stuffed with a rice/mushroom/onion mixture, and covered with a delicious mushroom gravy.

Everything after that is a bit of a blur, because growing up, I remember waiting impatiently for dessert (poppy seed bread, sugared walnut butter cookies, honey walnut bread...mmmm) and then waiting even more impatiently for the adults at the table to finish their drinks and their coffees already so I could launch myself at the presents.

So, how will I attempt all of this? Well, I'll attempt to pre-make certain things the night before, and then when my parents arrive, the mister will take Tato to the pub and get him out of the house and Mamo will help me prepare dinner, so I won't be doing this all by myself. I am amazed that when Babchya had her own family and friends would arrive, she would end up cooking this kind of dinner for 20 people!! All from scratch! I can barely make it through cooking for just the mister and I, so I'm sincerely hoping it'll turn out okay.

But hey, it's the magic of Christmas- even a burnt meal would be special (yes, I'm trying to prepare myself for the worst).

Anyway, here's to Christmas. Lots of food and wine and hugs and togetherness.