In these photos, you should have recognized Arthur with his two brothers: Andrew (in blue) & Peter (in green). There were also sightings of his sister Liz (in gold) with her husband Gabriel and their daughter Abigail. Mr. Plaza is proudly showing off his new watch and Mrs. Plaza has a Polish Santa ornament. Father Arthur, a family friend, stopped by before midnight mass for a shot or two of woda (vodka). (Although, come to think of it, I never did see him at church later that night.) Arthur's other sister Theresa is sitting with her husband Jason who poached an entire Atlantic char salmon for us to eat. Toby the dog was present too (he belongs to Jason and Theresa), but he managed to avoid the photographs.
I always really enjoy Christmas Eve with the Plazas because of the many Polish customs. First there is the ceremonial Christmas wafer, the oplatek (pronounced o-pwa-tek), which is broken and exchanged among all present with your best Christmas wishes. Then there is the Christmas meal called wygilia (vee-gee-lee-ah) which is vegetarian, and therefore features several fish dishes, mushroom, potato/cheese, and sauerkraut piergoi, and red (beet) and white (rye) borscht (bascht). Of course, there is also the exchange of gifts, the imbibing of spirits, and much merriment. Finally, everyone (except the priest and the dozing Mr. Plaza) attends midnight mass together and then crawls into bed.
I hope everyone had a great day. We're off to Italy tomorrow to ring in the new year!
2 comments:
On Christmas Eve we had a wonderful dinner, standing rib roast, baked potato,baked brussel sprouts and rolls. And of course some wine. Watched "It's a wonderful life". Then we exchanged gifts. A very nice evening.
On Christmas Day we headed west to visit with mom and the girls on Urbana Dr. then to the Murray's for dinner.
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
We spent a quiet day at home, feeling better (we got hit with a bug), finishing up our baking and napping! Rita and I made quiche and then we got ready for mass. We went to church, set out cookies for Santa and reindeer food for Ruldolf then headed to bed. We spent another fun day at home on Christmas, enjoying Santa's presents then having a surf and turf dinner with the Whites! A fun and quiet few days!
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