Random Thought Theater

[sallycinnamon]

Similarly as @ralucutzagy said, Christmas in Hungary is also spent with beloved ones (usually close family members and friends) around a Christmas tree and with lots of food and drink  

We also go to church, but I try to avoid the Christmas Mass because there are just too many people there -  I prefer to go there before or after the Mass when there are less people and say some prayers then. 

 

Christmas Eve is on the 24th and it's the most important day of Christmas here. It is when the closest family members come together and we have a Christmas Dinner together, we give presents to each other, drink and talk a lot  We set up the Christmas tree on the 24th. Our tree is plastic because it's more environment friendly but it's a really pretty one! Decorating the tree is one of my favourite things to do on the 24th. Last year I put golden streamers we got at Rostelecom Cup on the tree and it looked awesome  My family loved it, too especially my mother   So this year I'll put even more golden streamers on it (I managed to take home some streamers this season again )

This year my mother is going to sing in the choir in the afternoon so I'll be probably have time to wrap the presents/decorate the tree/make the table watch Russian? Japanese? Nationals live stream peacefully 

 

We usually eat spicy fish soup, rice, fish sticks and French salad for dinner (French salad is with mayonnaise, potato, pea, carrot), and dessert is always bejgli which is poppy seed roll in English and usually it is filled with either creamy poppy seed or walnut (I always prefer poppy seed without anything else, for exaple currant, or dried fruits in it). Drink is usually champagne and red/white wine.

 

We also celebrate on the 25th and 26th, at our house or we go to my grandfather's place. We eat stuffed cabbage and even more poppy seed roll! My family is big so we (usually uncles, aunts, half-brothers and cousins but often some friends or neighbours also) get together on those two days, and in the last days of december, too. We're often busy until the 30th or 31st. This year my cousine - who lives and studies in the UK - will come to our place and also her godfather who is from Germany. Last year my cousine brought some Christmas Crackers from the UK which was fun because there were jokes in it and also paper crowns for everyone (mine was purple which is my favourite colour). 

I usually don't care about New Years Eve that much, I usually go over to my best friend and watch TV/eat and drink and chat a bit. On 1st January we eat lentil soup and sausages with my family and we have a drink, usually champagne.

 

Here are some food which we usually eat at Christmas:

 

Fish soup:

 

Spoiler

 

Stuffed cabbage:

 

Spoiler

 

Lentil soup:

 

Spoiler

 

Poppy seed and walnut rolls:

 

Spoiler

 

[sweetwater]

1 hour ago, LeadenMyr said:

Pretty much! There's also lots of alcohol drinking involved, so it's become a bit of a joke, this marathon. Like if you say you're doing the Guadalupe reyes people expect you to be drunk all holidays, nonstop 

 

That does sound like a nice tradition! What's your profession? 

 

I have seen osechi in some movies and anime and such, but I've always wondered where did the idea come from, or its meaning, would you be son kind to please explain it? And also, what are the most traditional dishes and your favorite? Thank you! 

I am a translator usually translating English into Japanese. The person enshrined in the shrine is an ancient Japanese bureaucrat who was good at Chinese and sometimes worked as a translator. He is also known as the guardian of people taking an entrance exam.

 

Osechi basically is a set of foods you can stock for a while, which gives you time to relax without worrying about cooking meals. However, osechi is a form of wishing good luck as well. For example, there is a food called kobumaki, rolled seaweed called konbu with fish in it. It is often included in osechi because kobu is included in a word yorokobu, which means happy, delighted, congratulate, etc.

 

ETA: Actually, I don't like any traditional food included in osechi,  but I like toshikoshi soba we eat on the new year's eve. Toshikoshi means saying goodbye to the year and welcoming a new year. Soba is buckwheat noodles. We eat them on that day wishing our longevity because noodles are long.

 

@sallycinnamon, your post is making me hungry!

[LeadenMyr]

33 minutes ago, sweetwater said:

I am a translator usually translating English into Japanese. The person enshrined in the shrine is an ancient Japanese bureaucrat who was good at Chinese and sometimes worked as a translator. He is also known as the guardian of people taking an entrance exam.

 

Osechi basically is a set of foods you can stock for a while, which gives you time to relax without worrying about cooking meals. However, osechi is a form of wishing good luck as well. For example, there is a food called kobumaki, rolled seaweed called konbu with fish in it. It is often included in osechi because kobu is included in a word yorokobu, which means happy, delighted, congratulate, etc.

 

ETA: Actually, I don't like any traditional food included in osechi,  but I like toshikoshi soba we eat on the new year's eve. Toshikoshi means saying goodbye to the year and welcoming a new year. Soba is buckwheat noodles. We eat them on that day wishing our longevity because noodles are long.

 

@sallycinnamon, your post is making me hungry!

Lovely profession  and also that shrine must be really popular 

And ohhhh I see, thank you for the explanation! Sad that you don't like the traditional food included in osechi xD

I've always wanted to eat chilled soba. I had never heard about toshikoshi soba, that's a lovely concept, the wishing for longevity...

 

Also I agree with @sallycinnamon's post making me hungry as hell...I want those poppy seed rollssssssssss so bad!!!!

[ralucutzagy]

Awww, I love this topic and winter holidays! This week, when I'm finished with my house cleaning I intend to go for Christmas presents shopping!  I have to buy quite a few!  It's gonna by crazy traffic and crazy crowded everywhere, but, nevermind, it's  Christmas time, the stores, malls and the city are beautifully decorated so it's worth it! 

[Sombreuil]

Christmas in our family revolves around a very large real Christmas tree, which is decorated with glass ornaments and lights and tinsel - the ornaments range from a handful of rather battered ones that came from my grandparents house, through some that I remember on our tree when I was a child to the ones we bought as our children were growing up, and a few that they made in primary school.  A lot of friends and relatives have colour themed trees, and change the theme every few years, or match it to the decor of the house, but to me the multicoloured mishmash of old and new and the memories that they carry is the best.  I remember a few years ago some friends bringing relatives from SA for drinks at Christmas time and their amazement at the tree and the fact that it was real - one said it looked like the tree in the Nutcracker ballet, filling the big bay window and sending the scent of pine through the house.  Getting it up and stable and decorating it is a big deal, though it gets done in increments these days as people have favourite ornaments that have to be saved until they come home - it won’t be finished until Christmas Eve this year.

 

https://imgur.com/a/bRqr26A

 

 

The least Christmassy tree anyone I know had was a black twig tree with white baubles and purple lights- but it matched their ultra modern sitting room perfectly. 

[rockstaryuzu]

In my family, we do a ton of Christmas baking. 

 

This year I made fruitcakes. I don't do them every year because they have to be aged a month in rum-soaked cheesecloth, which requires planning ahead, which I'm not always free to do. 

 

Everyone in my family, including my brother, bakes gingerbread men for Christmas if we get a chance. And I'm thinking about trying to make my own mincemeat pies this year.

 

What does everyone here do? 

[Sombreuil]

Delegate - a few years ago I used to half kill myself feeding lots of people between 23.12. and 1.1.  Not to mention making Christmas puddings and fruit cakes with marzipan and icing and mince pies in advance for several relatives.  The year I spent pretty solidly in the kitchen from dinner on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, lunch on Boxing Day, a couple of drinks parties, dinner on NYE, and lunch on NYD left me worn out and determined to do it differently.  Now my husband does Christmas Eve dinner, I do the one on Christmas Day, everyone is left to forage in the fridge and freezer  on Boxing Day, and I’ll do either NYE or NYD not both.  If there’s a drinks party I get the food from the supermarket ready made and puddings and cakes get delegated round the family.  My mother was a bit of a Christmas martyr in the kitchen and it was a sobering moment when I realised I was turning into her!

[ralucutzagy]

The only dessert we make for Christmas is our traditional cozonac and it looks kinda like this:

And since I'm not a baking ace, it's my mom's job to do it every year. I usually cook the rest of the food and she helps me but dessert is only her expertise lol.

All other sorts of cookies and cakes, we bake or buy for NYE/D. 

[rockstaryuzu]

7 hours ago, ralucutzagy said:

The only dessert we make for Christmas is our traditional cozonac and it looks kinda like this:

And since I'm not a baking ace, it's my mom's job to do it every year. I usually cook the rest of the food and she helps me but dessert is only her expertise lol.

All other sorts of cookies and cakes, we bake or buy for NYE/D. 

That looks really good!

[Whee1000]

21 hours ago, LeadenMyr said:

Pretty much! There's also lots of alcohol drinking involved, so it's become a bit of a joke, this marathon. Like if you say you're doing the Guadalupe reyes people expect you to be drunk all holidays, nonstop 

 

That does sound like a nice tradition! What's your profession? 

 

I have seen osechi in some movies and anime and such, but I've always wondered where did the idea come from, or its meaning, would you be son kind to please explain it? And also, what are the most traditional dishes and your favorite? Thank you! 

My family  immigrated from Japan a long time ago but we still make some of the osechi for New Year's. I think the idea is to make highly seasoned foods that don't need refrigeration in enough quantity so that you don't have to cook for 3 days. (I think in Japan they take the first 3 days of the new year off, but here in the US it's right back to work. ) So some things that we prepare are mochi, kuromame (sweetened black beans, i think they are for happiness?), kazunoko (herring fish eggs, supposed to be for fertility?),  simmered vegetables like bamboo shoots, lotus root, burdock root. There were a lot more dishes when I was growing up but as the older generations pass away, there are fewer people who know how to make those special dishes here in the US.   I am sure @sweetwater or other Japanese folks on this site can tell you more about what osechi is currently like in Japan and its history. 

 I wonder if Yuzu likes osechi.... LOL

[LeadenMyr]

5 hours ago, Whee1000 said:

My family  immigrated from Japan a long time ago but we still make some of the osechi for New Year's. I think the idea is to make highly seasoned foods that don't need refrigeration in enough quantity so that you don't have to cook for 3 days. (I think in Japan they take the first 3 days of the new year off, but here in the US it's right back to work. ) So some things that we prepare are mochi, kuromame (sweetened black beans, i think they are for happiness?), kazunoko (herring fish eggs, supposed to be for fertility?),  simmered vegetables like bamboo shoots, lotus root, burdock root. There were a lot more dishes when I was growing up but as the older generations pass away, there are fewer people who know how to make those special dishes here in the US.   I am sure @sweetwater or other Japanese folks on this site can tell you more about what osechi is currently like in Japan and its history. 

 I wonder if Yuzu likes osechi.... LOL

Ahh, I really want to eat everything. And I wanna eat everything mochi all the time. 

I wonder if he does, as well. It would be cute to see him with one of those awesome boxes full of food. 

[Figure_Frenzy]

I had such a weird dream last night — I was at a shopping mall with a marble-layered, massive facade with multiple storeys. There I met my ex with his new wife, and I forgot how we exactly interacted it wasn't nice to say the least but it ended up in an argument with him saying his argument and his wife saying something as well. I forgot what exactly their arguments, but I remembered that while it might have been correct, the arguments were incredibly flimsy and emotional, and I was angry when hearing those arguments, but I couldn't come back with a better argument, because I got too emotional already. I left them and then I joined a motorcycle race in the shopping mall (!!) — imagine Super Mario Kart but with Moto GP/Superbike motorcycle 😅. There were two kinds of circuits — normal circuit (passing through the parts of the mall) and monster circuit (passing through the mall's basement, possibly infested with monsters, at least twice the length of the normal circuit). Both circuits had the same start/finish line, so to make sure it is fair to all racers that take either choice the ones that take the normal circuit have a resting time at a certain point in the race. I decided to race on the normal circuit. As the race started, everyone rode their bikes as intended (the race was mixed btw — men and women raced in the same race). Then, when the rest time came everyone in the normal circuit took the rest, and I was invited by three other racers (all women) to lay my book I currently carry on the race on the floor, just to pass rest time. After I laid my book on the floor I waited....and my dream was over, and I woke up...

 

Apologies for derailing the Christmas/Holidays talk by writing my weird dream, but I need to let it off my mind, and I felt like I could let other people know about it (or maybe you don't, so sorry about that 😅😅)

[Xen]

All you posters writing about christmas food and making me envious....just you wait, until February and Chinese New Year's comes around.

[LeadenMyr]

6 hours ago, Figure_Frenzy said:

I had such a weird dream last night — I was at a shopping mall with a marble-layered, massive facade with multiple storeys. There I met my ex with his new wife, and I forgot how we exactly interacted it wasn't nice to say the least but it ended up in an argument with him saying his argument and his wife saying something as well. I forgot what exactly their arguments, but I remembered that while it might have been correct, the arguments were incredibly flimsy and emotional, and I was angry when hearing those arguments, but I couldn't come back with a better argument, because I got too emotional already. I left them and then I joined a motorcycle race in the shopping mall (!!) — imagine Super Mario Kart but with Moto GP/Superbike motorcycle 😅. There were two kinds of circuits — normal circuit (passing through the parts of the mall) and monster circuit (passing through the mall's basement, possibly infested with monsters, at least twice the length of the normal circuit). Both circuits had the same start/finish line, so to make sure it is fair to all racers that take either choice the ones that take the normal circuit have a resting time at a certain point in the race. I decided to race on the normal circuit. As the race started, everyone rode their bikes as intended (the race was mixed btw — men and women raced in the same race). Then, when the rest time came everyone in the normal circuit took the rest, and I was invited by three other racers (all women) to lay my book I currently carry on the race on the floor, just to pass rest time. After I laid my book on the floor I waited....and my dream was over, and I woke up...

 

Apologies for derailing the Christmas/Holidays talk by writing my weird dream, but I need to let it off my mind, and I felt like I could let other people know about it (or maybe you don't, so sorry about that 😅😅)

😂😂😂 OH gods that is one of the strangest dreams I've ever heard of (read?) 

Though it sounds definitely satisfying to run in a motorcycle race after having a heated and emotional argument 😂😂

[Whee1000]

@SombreuilIs that the tree in your home? Looks like a scene out of a Victorian book about Christmas (I am conveniently not seeing the electric lights.)

 

Everyone's baked goods and other food items are making me hungry. I don't do much cooking around Christmas because I do the cooking at Thanksgiving. 

 

@Figure_FrenzyAfter reading about all the good food, you probably had mental indigestion. That's why you had that weird dream.