Beautiful Prosphora

I still vividly remember the first time I attempted to make little Russian Prosphora loaves. When I handed the bag of finished bread to Fr. George, I said, "I was a little stressed out this past week."

He responded with a smile. "Well, that's obvious."

Truly, our inner state can show in our outer creations. Lord have mercy!

This past year, I visited a fellow Matushka to learn the mysteries of the little loaves. She surprised me when she pulled out some special stamps. How beautiful!

The priest uses five loaves for each Divine Liturgy, and one of them is for the Theotokos. So on special feasts, she takes the time to make separate loaves with the image of the Theotokos.

You see the three little deformed loaves below? That's what was leftover after rolling and cutting out the Holy Bread. She makes one wee loaf for each of her children. My children call these "testers" - to tell me if it turned out ok or not. "Mama, did you make a tester this time?"

The tops rise separately from the bottoms. It's not pictured, but they rise under a very wet dish towel. I was shocked at how wet!

Before placing the tops on, the bottoms get quite a water brushing. And then they really do have to sit for at least 10 minutes to glue together before baking. 

Ask me how I know... hahaha!

I am beginning to learn that I better not try to make prosphora if I'm stressed out. And more importantly, that I need to ask for God's help as I'm going. And really mean it!

Nativity Fast Season Traditions

St. Nicholas Parish

When my husband was growing up in Michigan, they had pizza and a movie every Friday night. We've shifted it to Sunday night for our family and I get cries of "heresy!" if I ever suggest that we finish up the leftovers in the fridge instead of make pizza.

I usually use Auntie Leila's pizza dough (part 1 tutorial) and (part 2 tutorial) because the concept of using a foundation of a recipe and not measuring suits my personality. 

We change up the toppings every week. The kids are just as pleased if I buy frozen pizzas on sale at the grocery store, which is good for busy Sundays! 

But during the fasts?

During the fasts, we keep up our Pizza and Movie tradition. We use Daiya Shreds and add extra olive oil to the crust and shrug our shoulders and say, good enough.

During the fasts, we also try to shift our movie choices to something more spiritually minded - though we don't always succeed! 

Here are a few we've enjoyed:

Ostrov (The Island)

The Brethren: The Documentary About the World's Northernmost Monastery

I realize I definitely have older kids now, because both of those films are in Russian with English subtitles. In fact, this year the 14 yo said, "Now I finally get it. I was always too young to keep up with the subtitles when we watched it when I was little." 

Rise of the Guardians

The Nutcracker Ballet

Mikhail Baryshnikov flies!


White Christmas

It Happened on 5th Avenue

Of course, there are also stories to read and poems to write and crafts to create for St. Nicholas - our parish often has a Creative Arts Festival for St. Nicholas Day.

And cookies to bake for St. Herman's Day and buns for St. Lucia.

And liturgies and Nativity Paraklesis (really quite a beautiful service!) to attend.

And great books to savor.

We also learned "O Pure Virgin" by St. Nektarios this year for the Entrance of the Theotokos in the Temple and the Conception of the Theotokos.

And the music! We often have Handel's Messiah or Nativity music or even Medieval Advent music (curated by Richard Rohlin from Amon Sul) playing in the background. 

After the Feast, we try to enjoy Twelve Days of Christmas with lots of Hot Chocolate, a little Ice Skating, and few campfires in the backyard. And don't forget New Year's Eve at Church for St. Basil and the Circumcision of the Lord.