We have celebrated St. Lucia’s Day (13 December) for as long as I can remember as a kind of reminder of the Swedish heritage on my side of the family. I have never really understood how the commemoration of this Italian saint (Santa Lucia) ever migrated to Sweden, a Protestant land that does not have the calendar of saints of the countries of the south, but nevertheless St. Lucy’s Day is an important part of the pre-Christmas festivities in Sweden and has been in our family for many years.
Since the feast day comes on a date close to the shortest day of the year, it is inevitably associated with light, and involves the oldest daughter of the family bringing a plate of warm buns to her family members while wearing a wreath with candles in her hair. These buns, called Lussakattor, are one of our favorite taste sensations of Christmas. If you look up Lussakattor, you will inevitably find them characterized as flavored with saffron. The recipe N has used for years, however, features cardamom. As we have lived in various places—Kansas City, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Connecticut—she has shared these delicious treats with many friends who first learned about this delightful celebration from us. We hope that there are families across the country who remember St. Lucia (and the delicious taste of her buns) from hearing about the feast day from us.
There have been many years that there were no “eldest daughter” to do the honors on the morning of 13 December, but this year we had an eldest granddaughter, G (age 7). E and K’s three oldest children (G, C, and S) came to our house for their first ever sleepover. N kept them busy! They made ornaments for their parents, made chocolate-covered pretzels, and made bread to take home (and, of course, played with all of the special toys kept at our house while managing to watch some Christmas specials on TV). And, G served as St. Lucia early on Saturday morning.
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