December 19 - Las Posadas in Mexico

Posted on December 19, 2020

This is an update of my 12/19/2009 post:

Las Posadas is a 9-day Christmas celebration in Mexico and in Mexican communities elsewhere. 

And when I say "9-day," I really mean 9 nights!

Children are chosen to play the roles of Mary, Joseph, angels, and shepherds, and at dusk they dress up and parade through streets, singing songs about needing shelter or lodging (posadas means “inns”). Adults follow with lighted candles.

At most of the neighborhood homes, the procession is turned away (in song), but at the neighborhood home that is hosting that night, the hosts sing a reply and then open their doors to the procession. Party food includes hot ponche, fried cookies called buñuelos, tamales, and so forth. Usually there is a piñata in the shape of a Christmas star as well.

This celebration originated in Spain and is practiced by some in other Latin American countries and communities, but it is most widespread in Mexico. There are of course lots of variations. One example is that, in some towns the child playing Mary rides a donkey or burro; in others, no one plays the part of Mary and Joseph, but instead adults carry large posters picturing them.

The song and some of its lyrics can be found here.

Lots of information and resources can be found here.

Make buñuelos using this recipe:

BUNUELOS DE PASCUA NAVIDENA
Ingredients:

2-1/2 cups flour, sifted three times
2 cups peeled and finely chopped pine nuts
4 spoons white sugar
2 spoons green lemon rind 1 spoon baking powder
4 fresh egg yolks
4 egg whites, beaten
plenty of frying oil

Directions:

• Beat the yolks until they rise. Add the lemon rind, flour (previously sifted with the baking powder, mixing it with the egg whites and the pine nuts) a very thick paste must be formed. If the paste is loose, add some more flour.
• Pour plenty of oil in a pan and when it is hot, take spoons of the paste and fry them on low fire, covering them with oil so they rise.
• Drain the grease and sprinkle with confectioner's sugar.

By the way, buñuelos seem to be made in several different shapes:

Here are more recipes for ponche, buñuelos, and tamales.

Make mini-piñatas using instructions found here.

Decorate with poinsettias! (Real, silk flowers, or paper handcrafts.)

This flower is one of the world's favorite Christmas imports from Mexico! Notice that the red (or pink or creamy white) “petals” are really leaves, and the small yellow “flower centers” are the actual flowers.

Here are some instructions for drawing poinsettias.

Also on this date:

Activist Mary Rice Livermore's birthday 

Inventor Rudolph Hell's birthday

Saint Nicholas Day in the Ukraine

Las Posadas

(December 16 to 24)

(original post)

Anniversary of Samuel Clemens's first patent

National Heroes and Heroines Day in Anguilla

Launch of Gaia

Birthday of the "Father of Black History," Carter G. Woodson

Birthday of Beverly Bond, founder of Black Girls Rock!

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest pages on:

• December holidays 
• December birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in December

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• January holidays 
• January birthdays 
• Historical anniversaries in January
  
  
  

August 10 – S'mores Day

Posted on August 10, 2014

I love a good campfire! Whether your chilling on beach, out in the desert, high in the mountains, or even in your own backyard, stoking a bonfire all night long with a large group of friends or just tossing a few logs on a warm-me-up evening campfire, it's a special kind of cozy outdoor fun.

And, of course, it's a perfect excuse to make s'mores!

S'mores of course get their name from the fact that many a person, faced with the nighttime treat of a roasted marshmallow and a slab of chocolate sandwiched between two graham crackers, wants Some More! This treat may have been invented by Girl Scouts; at any rate, the first recorded recipe for S'mores can be found in a 1927 Girl Scout guide.

If you cannot afford to go on vacation this August, try pitching a tent in your backyard and enjoy a staycation! 

Grab an old wheelbarrow from
a junkyard to make a fire pit!

Here are some helpful hints about building a backyard fire pit. And here are five simple steps to campfire safety. 

Experiment with the flavors of s'mores to create your own special dessert...or try one of these amazing-sounding treats. 

Also on this date:

Independence Day in Ecuador

Smithsonian Day

Missouri Admission Day

"Mr. Summer Time's" birthday

Plan ahead:

Check out my Pinterest boards for:

• August holidays 
• August birthdays 
• Historical anniversaries in August

And here are my Pinterest boards for:

• September holidays
• September birthdays
• Historical anniversaries in September

May 21, 2013 - Strawberries and Cream Day

Strawberries have vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and fiber. And they are naturally sweet. They are even more delicious served with real whipped cream! Or, you can't go wrong with strawberries and ice cream!

Here are some other creamy toppings you can try today:

• Greek yogurt
• Sour cream
• Crème fraiche

Try these cute strawberry-and-cream elves!

You can even make more exotic strawberry / cream treats such as:

• strawberry-and-cream biscuits....

• strawberries and cream with macadamia nuts...
  
  
• strawberries and cream pancakes...

• and strawberries and cream cheese.

Plan Ahead...


Check out my Pinterest boards of June holidays, historical anniversaries in June, and June birthdays.

Here are the boards for the remainder of May: May holidays, historical events in May, and May birthdays.

Also on this date:

Physicist Gespard-Gustave de Coriolis's birthday 

Sheep Festival in Cameroon

Independence Day in Montenegro

December 19, 2011 Saint Nicholas Day in Ukraine

This special day is celebrated in many European nations on December 6 and often features gift giving—including St. Nick leaving toys and sweets in children's shoes. However, in the Ukraine and some other nations, this holiday is often celebrated today, December 19!

Why this later date? It is because people in the Ukrainian Church (and Greek and Russian Orthodox Christians, also) typically use the Julian calendar for holidays, and the Julian calendar is 13 days behind the Gregorian calendar. Christmas isn't celebrated on the Julian calendar until January 7, and New Year's Eve is on January 13.

However, the world is shrinking. Many people move to or visit other countries, people share information globally, and to some extent our customs are evolving as we exchange ideas. It is harder, these days, to try to do business if many others are closed for the day because of a holiday—and it's also hard to close for a holiday on a day when most of the world is still doing business. These things put pressure on Ukrainians to conform to the rest of the world. Most Ukrainian families now exchange gifts on Christmas Eve or morning rather than on St. Nicholas Day, and some families celebrate Christmas twice—on December 25 and January 7!

Saint Nicholas lived in the 4^th century in Myra, Asia Minor, which is now part of Turkey. Nicholas entered a monastery as youth and eventually became a bishop. He was mistreated and imprisoned by some powerful people, but then he was freed by Emperor Constantine. He was generous with others, and there are some stories about him leaving gifts secretly, in the middle of the night. Hmm...does that sound familiar?

Try making Ukrainian Saint
Nicholas Cookies.
Here is a recipe
(you'll have to scroll down).

To find out more about St. Nicholas Day, check out this earlier post.

To find out more about Ukraine, check out this, that, and this other earlier post.

To find out more about the Julian and Gregorian calendars, check out this and that earlier post.

Also on this date...

It's still time for Las Posadas! 

Anniversary of Samuel Clemens's first patent 

October 8, 2011 - National Pierogi Day

There are a lot of ways to spell this Polish treat. There are a lot of flavors available, and there are a lot of ways to prepare them. Do yourself a big favor and try some today!

Pierogies are dumplings made of unleavened dough filled with potato or sweet potato, cheese, ground meat, fruit, or even sauerkraut. They can be boiled, baked, or fried. 

My favorite easy version is Mrs. T's potato-and-cheddar pierogies fried with onions in butter. They can be found in the frozen-foods section.

Homemade pierogies are also awesome, of course – but they're fairly difficult and time-consuming to make! You have to carefully roll out the dough, cut it into circles, put the right amount of filling inside one half, and then fold the dough over and crimp the edges. Here's a recipe if you want to try it! 

Similar foods have different names in different cultures. Ukrainians serve veraniki, for example, and people in Belarus serve kalduny. Turkish manti, Italian ravioli and tortellini, and Chinese wontons and pot stickers are all kinds of dumplings.

Find out more about Polish culture at DLTK's. 

Or try out these playground games from Poland.