That Lucia time of year

If Christmas hasn't gotten to me yet, it always will at Lucia, on December 13th. I think it is one of the most wonderful of all Christmas traditions, and the story behind is beautiful as well. Read an old post about it here (and find recipes for saffron Lucia buns).

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a closet Swede, and when I think of Lucia, I do associate it very much with Sweden, but I am delighted that we have adopted the tradition here in Denmark.

Not many schools, kindergartens or shopping malls in Denmark today, without a parade of sweetly singing children, bearing (practical, modern and battery powered) candles and clad in white gowns (worn over their practical GoreTex outfits and winter boots.) Most of the kindergarten kids doing the parade, will make a round of retirement homes and hospitals in their local area.

In Vesterbro in Copenhagen, the church organize a large Lucia street parade, and another wildly popular event is the Kayak Lucia Parade, where hundreds of kayaks, all trimmed with lights and torches, paddle and sing in all the inner city canals. 

Happy Lucia, and may the light of love and compassion shine on you all. 

Photo credits: 
top: Nordiska Museet, Stockholm / unknown / Skansen Museum, Stockholm
bottom: street parade in Copenhagen: Kirken I København / kayaks: aok.dk

Saffron is a necessity

This is the most important purchase I have made for days. I am making 'Lussekatte' for 18 kids tomorrow, and this is the main ingredient that makes these delicious buns what they are. 

I have written about the holy saint Lucia and the saffron buns you eat to commemorate her kindness to the poor, before - and I posted a recipe for the buns as well. They are totally yum, and for some reason I haven't made them the last couple of years, so I look forward to them. 

Here is the recipe for Lussekatte, Lucia Buns, Lucy Cats - or whatever you choose to call them

The day of the holy Lucia is on December 13th, so this gives you a couple of days to get to it!

Malmö

The usual christmas shopping expedition to Malmö - always a bit special, even though I go there several times every year. It is a lovely place for strolling, windowshopping and fika (= relaxing with a cosy coffee break). Fika is of the utmost importance, if you ask me.

This is one of my favourite fika spots in Malmö, Konditori Hollandia, smack in the middle of the central walking street. I happen to know of several people who regularly take an outing to Malmö and have never been there, because it looks a bit too old-ladies-with-hats-and-furcoats like, but that is possibly what I love about the place. Today I had something slightly perverse to go with my lussekatt - a saffron truffle petit four. Yum! Konditori Hollandia is warmly recommended.

'Pappersrader' - Swedish finery

They are called 'pappersrader' - as I mentioned yesterday - and for that I have no intelligent translation,
but it means something like rows of made of paper.
I find them adorable, and have bought several over the years, in museum shops and bookshops.
They even come with easter motifs - and they are used for celebrating graduation as well,
where the table is sometimes decorated with the little folksy dancers (kids in sweden graduating from
high school, sometimes wear their regional festive attire, for the celebrations).

Well, I like the christmassy ones. A couple of them, and some candles, and you are all set.

I have found a couple of good web shops that sell them:

Giftstore
Byggfabriken

It's Lucia today

Here are my little cardboard Lucias - they are a Swedish pappersrad ('paper row'...?), and these
are a particular Swedish christmas thing (as is Lucia), I have never seen them of Danish origin.
They are zig zag folded little paper tableaus, to put in your window, perhaps,  or as a centerpiece
on your christmas table - and very sweet. I will get back to you on those later....

Do you know the story...? That, and the recipe for saffron Lucia buns, you can find right here.

They had a Lucia procession in my sons kindergarten yesterday. They didn't remember all the words
of the song, and didn't march very much in time, but the holy Lucia herself must have heard them.

Happy Lucia

Celebrating the saint Lucia, is not as big a thing in Denmark, as it is in Sweden - but there is one
tradition I do my best to follow every year, as I am a bit of a closet Swede: baking Lussekatte or
Lucia saffron buns. They are delicious and vaguely exotic with the sweet, musky saffron taste.
They are said to originally not celebrate the saint Lucia, but to be symbolizing the fight against the
evil and dark forces = Lucifer, hence the name 'Lussekatte' or, as I have seen them called among the
english speaking: 'Lucy cats'.

Download your recipe here

Update: I have tried this recipe, and it's better, I think. The dough is not quite as buttery rich, and rises better. It's in Swedish - but Google will translate, if you need to!

Here is what Donna G. Genzmer from the University of Wisconsin writes:

Background:

St. Lucia is an Italian saint who has been adopted by the Swedes. She gave her dowry to the poor. Her fiancee denounced her for this. She was blinded and burned. The flames didn't touch her so she was stabbed in the heart. The red sash represents the wound. It is said that she appeared during a famine in Sweden in the middle ages carrying food to the farmers across Lake Vännern.

 

She is associated with the idea of light. In the middle ages, December 13 fell on the shortest day of the year. (In Sweden, the sun is not up very long in winter. In some places it doesn't come up at all.) This holiday celebrates the fact that the days will now get longer.

Today:
On the morning of December 13, the oldest daughter dresses in a special long white dress with a red ribbon around the waist and white socks and no shoes. She puts a wreath made out of leaves on her head. The wreath has 6 - 8 candles on it. Nowadays the candles are usually battery powered light bulbs instead of real candles. Her sisters also wear special long white dresses but they have shiny ribbons around their waists and they have another shiny ribbon around their heads. They carry a candle in their hands. Her brothers wear a special long white gown with a shiny sash and a pointed hat with three stars on it. They carry a baton with a star on it. They are called Star Boys. 
The children serve coffee and special saffron bread to the rest of the family. They walk into the bedroom with the oldest daughter in the front, followed by the next tallest girl, down to the smallest. Then the boys follow with the tallest in the front. As they bring in the Lucia bread and coffee the girls sing "Santa Lucia" (in Swedish, of course), and then the boys sing "Stefan was a Stable-boy." The children then go to their neighbors and teachers and serve them the coffee and bread.

Significance of Symbols:
candles - light 
yellow (saffron) bread - light
bare feet - charity

(Traditionally, you can eat the bread until Christmas, but not before St. Lucia)