December 24, 2011 – Wigilia

Tonight is Wigilia, the traditional, Polish meal on Christmas Eve. The traditions get tweaked form family-to-family and a bit over time, but there is something special about a ritual meal that has been done this way by your family and ancestors for over a thousand years. Some of the traditions go back in Poland long before Christmas, when the Solstice was the holiday celebrated this time of the year. Traditionally the meal is meatless. It should have 12 dishes and with my family includes things like mushroom soup, fruit salad, pickled beets, herring, pierogis and plenty of baked goods. The other tradition is to always put some straw under the tablecloth. Or with today’s piece, there is some straw under and embedded in the art. Wesołych Świąt!

November 5, 2011 – Listopad

When you learn a few foreign language, one of the things that will happen is that you end up with a set of favorite” words. This is a very subjective list of a handful of words that, for some reason, sound really amusing to you, and only you. For example I have a Swedish friend who used to find the English words mushroom and mashed potatoes hilarious. It’s a personal thing.

Listopad is one of my favorite words in the Polish Language. It’s the name for the month of November and literally translates as “leaf fall.” It is also the name for November in Czech. In Croatian, Listopad is the name for October (the leaves must fall earlier in Croatia). November, the eleventh month derives its name from the Latin novem (nine)– but it is no longer the ninth month. We might consider changing November to Listopad — it’s about falling leaves and reminds one a bit of the sound of the rain that start falling this month too.

April 24, 2011 – Butter Lamb

For my entire life there has always been a butter lamb on the Easter table. The butter lamb is a small lamb molded or shaped from butter. The lamb traditionally has a red ribbon around the neck and a red paschal flag in its rump. The eyes are two peppercorns.

The butter lamb is an old Polish tradition that is adhered to in Buffalo (where I was born). Even after my family left Buffalo, we had one sent to us. I used to get one shipped to me here in San Francisco. I now have a mould and have been making my own butter lamb for years. I may very well have the only butter lamb in California.

The only Easter without a butter lamb was the one I spent with cousins in Poland 25 years ago. On Easter morning it was time for ham, kielbasa and the traditional Easter meal. All washed down with plenty of vodka. I asked where the baranek was? Baranek literally means “little lamb” in Polish. Lamb? No, we have ham on Easter was the response. I was trying to explain that I was looking for the butter lamb. My cousin Tadeusz, the oldest member of the family at the table, suddenly realized what I meant. He was surprised that I knew what a butter lamb was. He was even more surprised that people in Buffalo still kept the tradition as no one in Poland did anymore.