Christmas table

Christmas Markets the end of Christmas. The last day of this fast, January 6, especiallystrict - you can not eat and drink until the first star. Of course, this applies only to people who believe in fasting. But you can look at it from the other side - why not arrange a day off for yourself on the eve of a holiday? After New Year's salads with mayonnaise, the body will surely be grateful to you!

But will not the festive meal seem too heavy after a day of abstinence from food? Not at all. The fact is that there is two Christmas feasts - on Christmas Eve (Holy Evening) and at Christmas itself,Jan. 7. Christmas table on Christmas Eve - lean, so there is nothing to worry about, lean dishes are not so heavy for the body. But at Christmas itself you can eat meat.

On Christmas Eve at the table sit down after the first star - it reminds us of the Bethlehem star,which told the shepherds of the birth of Jesus Christ. This evening, the Christmas menu can not do without a kutya and a cook. By the way, these Christmas dishes are not only tasty, but also useful. Think about it - maybe you should include kutya in your daily diet? This sweet wheat (or rice) porridge may well replace the "bourgeois" muesli.

The table for Christmas Eve should be abundant - no less than 12 lean dishes (it is believed that they symbolize the 12 apostlesor 12 days of saints). What can I include in the Christmas menu on the Holy evening? If you think that the lean dishes - once or twice and obchelsya, you are mistaken. On Christmas Eve you can serve a variety of soups (lean borsch with mushrooms, skewers), porridges (buckwheat, pea), a variety of fish and mushroom dishes, lean pies and pancakes, cabbage rolls with rice, vareniki with cabbage, caviar. All meals, except soups, are taken to be cold, so that the hostess does not have to rush between the kitchen and the festive table (very prudently, by the way).

Dinner on Christmas Eve is unhurried, lasts about 3-4 hours - so you can catch every dish for a little bit to try, and do not overeat especially. And you have to try it without fail - this is another Christmas tradition.

And on January 7, at Christmas, the Christmas table is rich meat dishes. In the Christmas menu you can turn the friedor a baked bird (for example, a duck with cabbage or a goose with apples), stuffed with buckwheat porridge, a piglet (or at least a chicken), mutton side with porridge, boiled pork, ham, cold meat and homemade sausage. In addition to meat dishes, the Christmas menu often includes jellied fish, pancakes (now no longer lean), a variety of sweet pies and gingerbread.

At Christmas it was customary to bake Christmas carols -small items of their fresh rye dough. They could have very different fillings. They ate themselves and treated them to those who came to caroling on the evening of January 7th. Another one Christmas dessert - Guryev porridge. It is a sweet semolina porridge, flavored with nuts, dried fruits, candied fruits and jam and baked in the oven. It's fat, calorie, but how delicious! Once a year you can afford. Moreover, there is no strict recipe for Guryev porridge - what is not the reason to show culinary fantasy?

"What about alcohol?" - you ask. We answer. On Christmas Eve drinking is very undesirable - the table is lean, and alcohol will not be entirely appropriate. But the Christmas table on January 7 completely allows wine and even vodka. The abundance of fatty and satisfying food will help to slow down the intoxication process and on January 8 not to suffer from a hangover.

Concerning laying the Christmas table - here, too, has its own traditions. In the old days, hay was placed between the table and the tablecloth - it reminded of the manger in which Jesus was born. We will not strongly urge you to abide by this tradition by making a discount on modern conditions. But here's another custom is quite realistic and now: on the table you need to put only the best dishes and cutlery.

The Christmas menu is thought out, the Christmas table is laid ... it's time to invite guests! By the way, earlier it was thought that on Christmas Eve at the table should sit an even number of people. If the number of guests was odd - put on the table one more device, an additional one.

Merry Christmas to you! Even if you are not very important for its religious overtones - take the opportunity to spend this holiday with your family at a set table.