Stuffed Cabbage Leaves

Ingredients

The external leaves of a medium cabbage

1/2 kilo minced meat ( half pork+half veal )

1/2 kilo rice

1 cup of alive oil

1 medium onion

parsley

black pepper+pimento

salt

To Prepare

Brown the onion, add the minced meat and brown it, add a cup of warm water and the rest of the ingredients.

Unfold a cabbage leaf, put a full spoon of the stuffing and fold the leafe by giving a long and narrow shape. in a saucepan cabbageleaves in rows, add warm water as far as they are covered. Add a little olive oil and put a plate upside down in order not to move during cooking. Let it stew for an hour. Serve it with egg ane lemon.

CHRISTMAS' CAROLS

It’s New Year’s carols talking about the coming of Christ and Agios Vasilis

( Santa Claus ) on the earth

Kalanta Protochronias

Archiminia ki archixronia

psili mou dedrolivania

ki archi kalos mas chronos

ekklisia me tagio thronos

Archi pou vgike o Christos

agios ke pseymatikos sti gi na

perpatisi ke na mas kalokardisi

Agios Vasilis erchete kai den mas katadecherte

apo tis Kesaria

si se archodissa kyria

Vasta ikona ke charti

zacharoplasti zymoti

charti ke kalamari

des ke me to palikari

To kalamari egrafe

tin mira tou tin egrafe kai to charti omili

Agie mou kale Vasili

GREEK CHRISTMAS TRADITIONS

Traditions from Ipiros

There on Christmas Eve children play a traditional game named walnut. They mark out a line end they put the walnuts next to each other. Then one of the children takes the biggest walnuts and tries to throw the other walnuts out of the line. In the end of the game all walnuts must be in order.

On New Year’s Eve we cut a special pie called “Vasilopita” with a coin in it and the person who finds thin coin is considered to be the lucky person for the whole year ahead.

Traditions from

Macedonia

At the villages in north Greece, the housewife tries to find the strongest and the most beautiful piece of wood in the forest. On Christmas Eve all the family sit in front of the fireplace!!! The housewife puts the wood in the fireplace. They try to hold the wood light until Epiphany.

Traditions from the central Greece

At Christmas Eve the girls go to the fountain of the village. They put honey and butter to the fountain, they let water to run wishing the new year to be better and sweeter than the previous one.

During the Christmas holidays we decorate the Christmas tree. Some people decorate a boat instead. We exchange gifts and most of the housekeepers bake courabiedes and melomakaronies. These are traditional sweets that we make only at Christmas and they are very delicious. All the children sing the Christmas carols. Some of them are dresses up like Sanda Clause. On Christmas day people go to church early in the morning to take priest’s blessing. Then all the family is gathered and have lunch. They usually eat stuffed turkey.

CHRISTMAS TRADIRIONAL RECIPES

Kourabiethes

Materials:

450gr floour,1 teaspoon full of vanilia,1tablespoon full of ouzo,450gr unsalted butter,2 egg yolks,170gr sugar,

1 teaspoon baking powder,½ cup ground almonds or walnuts, icing sugar and clover

To Prepare:

1) Sift flour with baking powder twice. 2) Cream butter and sugar, add ouzo, vanilla and egg yolks, nuts. 3) Blend in flour to make soft but firm dough. For not enough liquid, add another egg yolk. 4) Break off small pieces, put into biscuit shape place on floured baking tray. Insert a clove in each biscuit and bake at 180C for 20 minutes cooked but not browns. 5) While still hot, sprinkle biscuits with icing sugar. 6) Each shortbread should be stuck with one clove to represent the three wire men brought spices to the Christ Child (Jesus).

Greek Christmas Cookies

50 gr grinded almounds

50 gr hazelnuts

280 gr flour 70 gr sugar

Little bit of salt

200 gr unsalted butter

2 yolks of egg

We mix the ingredients together and knead them to make a soft dough. We put the dough in the fridge and leave it there for half an hour. After that we shape the dough in small cookies which we put in a tray and bake in the oven for one hour about 170ο C