The following three entries from the Christmas at Your Home competition are mainly about the meaning and importance of observing Christmas traditions and customs.
The cover photo shows Renáta Jaklovská's table set festively.
The magic of Christmas is family
Miroslav Vojčík
I remember when I was little, on the morning of Christmas Eve, cabbage soup started to be cooked and we didn't eat all day until Christmas dinner. In the morning, they went to the families to wrap their wines and then they waited until 6 p.m. One extra plate on the Christmas table. First, we prayed. Only one person could get up from the table to serve us, the others had to sit, they were not allowed to get up from the table. We put a carp scale and a small coin under the tablecloth.
After dinner, the waiter went to the next room and rang the bell that Santa Claus had come. Then we unwrapped the presents and waited for the midnight mass.
Even now, we give each other practical gifts, not expensive ones. The magic of Christmas is family, when they are together and together. We try to follow some customs to this day.
May the magic remain with us throughout the year
Renáta Jaklovská
I like to spend the most beautiful holidays of the year at home with my family at the Christmas dinner table.
It must not miss our traditional cabbage soup, the recipe of which I have already shared with you once (Renáta won the competition for the best cabbage soup recipe two years ago, according to which the cabbage soup was then cooked in all Delirest kitchens in USSK), as well as carp and potato salad.
Christmas is my favorite time of the year, because people are kinder, more pleasant, more helpful to each other. May the "magic of Christmas" remain with us throughout the year.
Christmas Eve looks traditional in our country: prayer, wafers, toast, dinner and especially gratitude. After dinner, we then move to the Christmas tree, where the youngest members of the family are already eagerly waiting for the opening of presents to see if Santa Claus brought them everything they wished for.
Even though we try to make everything turn out perfectly that day, sometimes we don't quite succeed. Last year, my daughter and I came up with the idea that we would bake Linzer pastries and gingerbread cookies on December 23. The preparations were in full swing, but we talked a bit, so the first half of the cookies managed to burn and the second half was eaten that day. We didn't have cookies, but we had fun. Since then, we know that we have to bake ahead of time and prefer a double batch.
We also remember loved ones who are no longer with us
Igor Lefkanič
During this period, each of us returns memories from childhood, carefreeness, but especially memories of loved ones, who unfortunately will no longer sit with us at the festive table. We try to keep them in their hearts, for example, with the customs they followed at Christmas.
For dinner, cabbage soup with sausage and oyster mushrooms is served, carp coated in flour with paprika and baked in the oven. During one such cleaning, an eviscerated fish jumped out of my plate without a head! The table must not miss berries with poppy seeds and small ones under each plate, as well as carp scales. The festive dinner begins with a prayer, cutting an apple so that a star appears in it, symbolizing health, happiness and family cohesion in the coming year. It continues with a wafer smeared with honey for health.
The best wafers for my family were baked by my grandmother from Zlatá Idka. She held heavy tongs over the stove - "asparagus". She baked them every Christmas from 400 pieces. I can still smell the smell of vanilla to this day. A few times as a child, I also tried to bake them. But during one of my roasts, those heavy tongs fell out of my hands and broke the cast iron plate on the stove.
Santa Claus brings us gifts during the night before Christmas Eve. The look of sleepy children and at the same time their shining eyes, what will be under the tree, is priceless. The beautifully scented fir tree reveals its secret.
Unfortunately, the children have already grown up and each is somewhere else in the world. But at Christmas, we will all get together again and reminisce about childhood moments.
