We had a nice day. Cinnamon buns for breakfast (homemade), a candle and a made-up by us rhyme:
"Santa Lucia brings the light
Santa Lucia day over night
Santa Lucia stars in her hair
...Have you ever seen a maiden so fair?"
...with a playdate this afternoon :) Yay!
And Marsha Johnson of Shining Star School says:
"The story of Lucia is an important one in the dark time of this season....she was an Italian girl who was promised in marriage to a man by her father....she wished to dedicate her life to the one lived in the holy places, the sacred spaces, the quiet contemplative retreats of the sisters and nuns in those old days...but her father desired to alighn his ambition through her with another family....
She refused.
Her intended became enraged and was very cruel to Lucia, finally causing her death. Thus the red sash on the white dress...
The story of her life was known and she was regarded as a very holy and special person, who would give up her own life rather then compromise her ideals.
Later, in the far north, was a time of starving. The people were about to die for lack of food, the weather was frigid, the nights were deeply dark and there was no relief in sight.
Then, across the waters, a boat was seen. In the front of the first boat, stood a maiden, dressed in white with a red sash and on her head, a crown of lights burning in the darkness...the boat was loaded with food and behind, tied together, other boats filled with food to sustain life.
The boats slowly came in and beached on the shore...the people took the food and distributed to each family as was its need, and the people survived....and it was known that this WAS Lucia, the dark headed Italian martyr, who had brought this food to the people of Sweden.
It was a miracle.
To this day, we celebrate the bright yellow flaming candlelight of this miracle with S-shaped saffron/cardamom buns and the wreath of candles atop the head of the eldest girl-at-home of the family, each year on Dec, 13.
This is the story...."
And there is a link to Faerie Rebecca's site for Saffron buns:
And the recipe from there:
day we will make our Lussekatter, the saffron buns that Lucy carries. The cookies look like eyes (the Italian saint tore out her own eyes--gotta love the lives of saints!), but we like the idea that they are a reflection of Freya's cats that pull her chariot across the sky. Here's our recipe for Lucy's Cats, gleaned from a long-forgotten internet source years and years ago:
- 1 packet yeast
- 1/4 cup warm water
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 1 cup milk
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 egg
- saffron threads (or powdered saffron, about 1/4 tsp.)
- 4 cups (about 400 grams) all purpose flour
- beaten egg (for brushing)
- raisins or dried cranberries or currants
Dissolve yeast in warm water (I like to add a bit of honey, too, to make the yeast grow more quickly). Melt the butter, stir in milk, and then add this mixture to the yeast. Beat in the sugar, salt, egg, and saffron, blending until smooth. Add in the flour a cup at a time, and work until smooth. Cover and let rise for 30 minutes. Turn the dough out and knead. Pinch off small pieces of dough and twist into an "S" shape and place on baking sheet (I like to use a stone). Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 20 minutes in a warm kitchen. reheat oven to 425 degrees. Add raisins in the curves of the "S" and brush with beaten egg. Bake for about 10 minutes or until golden brown. Makes about 2 dozen of Lucy's Cats.
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